How We Got the Bible“DISCOVERING” THE LAW

General Outline1. Introduction, Canon, & Inspiration2. Oral Transmission & Early Forms3. “Discovering” the Law (Josiah & Ezra)4. Apocryphal Writings

Conclusions From Last Week• We do know that early oral stories were passed

down from ancient times.• We do not know what form the earliest writings

took (beyond a certain stone tablet).• We do know that a “Moses” figure is needed to

make sense of what we have.• We do know that the content of the Pentateuch

is authentically dated to the era of the Exodus.• We do not know how much editing might have

been done by scribes after Moses.

An Example Case• Before Moses, Genesis 14:14 (ESV) When

Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

• After Moses, Joshua 19:47 (ESV) … the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem … they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.

God Uses ScribesPassages Mentioning Scribes• 1 Chronicles 2:55• Psalm 45:1• Jeremiah 36:32• Ezra 7:6• Matthew 13:52 (ESV) And he said to them,

“Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

God Uses Scribes• Matthew 23:34 (ESV) Therefore I send you

prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,

• We should think of scribes and their custodial work of preservation and even editing as part of God’s plan for the Scriptures.

Bird’s Eye ViewMoses wrote.• Exodus 17:14• Exodus 24:4• Exodus 34:27-28• Number 33:2• Deuteronomy 31:9, 22, 24

Bird’s Eye ViewMoses gave rules for the acceptance of “prophesy.”• Deuteronomy 13:1-5• If a prophet looks legitimate but says, “Let us

go after other gods,” then that prophet is to be put to death.

• Deuteronomy 18:20-22• If a prophet speaks words that do “not come

to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken.”

Bird’s Eye ViewThe work of other prophets are accepted according to these rules.• Joshua, the successor of Moses, wrote,

Joshua 24:26.• Samuel, a prophet, wrote, 1 Samuel 10:25.• Later prophets wrote, Jeremiah 36:2.• Scribes were the custodians of these texts.

Tikkun Soferim• Later Jewish scribes wrote down the rules

that they had been passed as to how to treat the text.

• The Tikkun Soferim contains the text of the Torah, rules concerning the decorative flourishes, regulations on spacing, and more.

• The scribe writing a Torah scroll is forbidden to rely on memory and has to write from a copy.

Tikkun Soferim• When writing a Torah scroll a scribe must

prepare himself to write the names of the Lord with proper devotion and in ritual purity.

• It was customary that he immerse himself in a ritual bath before beginning his work.

Hilkiah Finds “The Book”2 Kings 22• This demonstrates the existence of a written

book prior to this time period.• Barnes speculates that some priest had

hidden it during the idolatry of Manasseh.• Clarke: “The rabbins say that Ahaz,

Manasseh, and Amon endeavored to destroy all the copies of the law, and this only was saved by having been buried under a paving-stone.”

The Book In Exile• The compiler of Chronicles and of Ezra are

aware of Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 36:20-21; Ezra 1:1; Jeremiah 25:12).

• Cyrus is under the impression that “YHWH, the God of Heaven” has charged him to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1).

• Daniel, who knew Cyrus, was familiar with the writings of the prophets, including Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1-2) and possibly Isaiah (Isaiah 44:24-28).

The Post-Exilic BookEzra 7• v. 1-10, Ezra comes in a later return to

Jerusalem.• v. 11-12, Ezra is both a priest and scribe.• v. 28, Ezra seems to be narrating.• Nehemiah 8:1-8, The Book exists and is read.• Ezra and his crew of scribes are attractive

candidates for compiling and editing portions of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The Scriptures Are Not “Purged”Whatever editing takes place, the editors did not feel at liberty to “purge” or “sanitize” the Scriptures.• The book of Samuel (early) depicts David’s

flaws, whereas the Chronicles (late) do not.• In the days of the kings, people needed to

know the flaws of human kingship.• In the days of exile, people needed to know

the importance of abstaining from idolatry.

The Scriptures Are Not “Purged”• Certain Psalms challenge other Psalms.• Proverbs contains “general wisdom” whereas

Ecclesiastes questions how much we can really know.

• Ecclesiastes 1:17-18 (ESV) And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Conclusions• Scribes are custodians of the Scriptures.• Editors of the Scriptures acted according to

God’s will.• Editors of the Scriptures did not have liberty

to alter the Scriptures upon human whim.• Stories can be told in different ways to

emphasize different points. Alterations of a story do not necessarily mean that either way is “untrue.”

Conclusions• For Next Week …• Josephus: “It is true, our history hath been

written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that time;”