How Did We Get The Old Testament Bible?

The formation of scriptures into the bible we have today is termed as the 'canon'. Its original meaning is the carpenter's ruler or measuring tool. Later, this term came to mean 'standard'. In Christianity, the term canon came to mean holy scriptures which have absolute authority and is the highest standard of the faith.

The formation of the bible did not happen in an instance nor was did it dropped from heaven. Its was formed through a period of time. It was formed by the Holy Spirit moving through the Christian church. This process is the known as the 'Formation of Canon' or 'Canonical Process'.

Formation of the Old Testament

The Old Testament bible is also known as the Hebrew bible. It is received from Judaism and therefore thought as revealed and completed（达成） through the Jews. "First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God." Romans 3:1-2. Judaism is though of as the medium through which the O.T. canon came.

The Hebrew bible includes three portions. The 'Pentateuch' or 'Torah/Law', 'the Prophets' and the 'Writings.'

The Hebrew bible was formed firstly through oral communication/tradition. Later, the contents of the oral message was written down. The records were consolidated between 8th BC - 3rd BC. The Torah was consolidated around 4th BC. The prophets and writings were consolidated around 5th-3rd BC - 1st AD.

The confirmation of the OT canon began only after the second destruction of the holy temple in 70 AD.  It was done by  the rabbis who confirmed which books belonged to the canon. At the Synod of Jamnia in AD 70, it confirmed the 24 books in the Hebrew bible (??). We should take note, that though the OT was only confirmed then, in actual fact, many of the books were already affirmed by the Jewish community as part of the canon. For e.g., Jesus and the disciples used many O.T. verses and termed these as 'the Writings/Scriptures', Mt 22:29, Mk 12:24, Lk 24:32,45...

Thus, what we have discussed is the last confirmation（确立） of the canon (AD 70) and not to say that that is the date where it was accepted （接受）as the canon.

Essentially, the Rabbis used three principles to decide which book were to be in the canon.

First, it had to be authored before the time of Malachi. It had to be a work completed before 400 BC. This is because the Jewish rabbis felt that because of the disobedience of the Israelites, God's spirit left the Israelites, thus after Malachi, God did not reveal anymore.

Second, the books needed to be authored in Hebrew. A minor portion of text in the Hebrew bible was written in Arabic. The rest were written in Hebrew.

Thirdly, the books needed to be generally affirmed and accepted by the Jews and recognized it as having sacred authority. It also had to have general authority.

Thus, the rabbis chose form large amounts of books, and then affirmed it to be the OT we see today.