History Fact Finder | Religion - When Was The Bible Written?

When was the Bible written?

The Old Testament (also known as the Hebrew Bible), the first books of the Christian Bible, was written more than 2,000 years ago. Although scholars disagree about exactly when or how these first books were written, the consensus is that the Bible originated during the time of Moses (also called Moshe), who lived about the fourteenth to thirteenth century B.C. Jews and Christians believe that God inspired Moses to write the first five books—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—which make up the Law of Moses, also called the Pentateuch (penta means five).

Because many books of the Bible were probably recited aloud before being written down, scholars find it difficult to determine their dates of origin. They estimate that the books of the prophets (divinely inspired leaders) Joshua, Isaiah, Samuel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel date from about 1020 to 722 B.C., while the...

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