#24 Twenty Four Authors of Scripture

Hebrew Old Testament

• Job / Jobab from Uz near Edom – one of the earliest examples of writing
• Moses – wrote the 5 books of the Law
• Joshua
• Samuel – wrote 2 books
• King David – Psalms
• King Solomon – wisdom literature, 3 books
• Baruch (secretary of Jeremiah) scribe – wrote 6 books plus one not in the Hebrew / Protestant canon
• Ezra priest and scribe – wrote 6 books plus one not in the Hebrew / Protestant canon

= 8 Old Testament writers

Each prophet wrote his own book for the most part, but Jeremiah did not.  The main prophets were Isaiah and Ezekiel apart from Jeremiah, but also Daniel.  This adds 3 authors.

The twelve minor prophets came from different eras and just wrote shorter books.  This adds 11 authors if Malachi was Ezra.

Thus, there were 8 authors, 3 major prophets who wrote their own books and actually 11 minor prophets if Malachi was Ezra = 22 authors.

Septuagint Old Testament in Greek

In addition to the above authors:

• Tobit wrote the book of Tobit (where the first person is used).
• Judas Maccabeus wrote 2 Maccabees.
• Simon Maccabeus wrote 1 Maccabees.
• Yeshua ben Sira wrote most of the book of Sirach.

= 4 more authors

The Hebrew and Protestant Bibles recognize 22 authors, but they should recognize 24 authors of the Old Testament.  Two books are missing from the canon. 

Why 24 authors of Scripture?

The last book of the Bible, at the end of the New Testament, is the book of Revelation. In chapter 4 there are 24 elders seated on 24 thrones in heaven, dressed in white, wearing golden crowns.  The 24 elders worship God on His throne in heaven (Rev. 4:4).  What do the 24 elders represent?

I think, having looked at the canon of Scripture, that they represent the 24 authors of Old Testament Scripture. If this is the case, the Hebrew canon of Scripture  taken up by Protestants at the Reformation is correct except that it lacks two books and two authors. 

I think that Tobit written by Tobit and Sirach written by Yeshua ben Sira should be recognized as part of the canon as these two Apocryphal books were originally written in Hebrew.

1 and 2 Maccabees recount the history of the Jews between the Old Testament and the New Testament. These two books were written in Greek not Hebrew. They throw light on New Testament history, but are maybe not actually part of the Old Testament.

The New Testament authors number 9: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James and Jude. This makes the total number of authors of Old and New Testaments = 33.