Prophetic Canonization Illustrated in the Old Testament

We will now dig deeper into this concept of a canonical book being canonized the moment it was written. If the Scripture itself refers to passages and books being canonical the moment they were written, then the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views discussed in chapter 1 are clearly shown to be false.

The first five books of the Bible were recognized as being the word of the Lord right from the time that they were written. Moses wrote the words of the Pentateuch¹ at God’s command (Ex. 17:14; 24:4,7; 34:27; Numb. 33:2; Deut. 28:58,61; 29:20-29; 30:10; 31:9-26) and expected the people to treat these Scriptures as the authoritative words of God (Deut. 29:29; 30:2,8,10-14; 31:9,12; etc.). He said, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29). The people responded to such declarations, “All the words which the Lord has said, we will do” (Ex. 24:3; see also 19:8; 24:7). Thus the Pentateuch had full authority as the word of God from the time it was written by Moses. It did not have to be canonized by any later Jewish council.

A second important thing to note about this initial canon was that as Moses added “books” (and portions of books) by God’s inspiration, he was said to be writing them into “the book.” This “book” that was being added to was the book (or canon) of the Scriptures. For example, God commanded Moses, “write this for a memorial in the book” (Ex. 17:14). This growing “book” was initially called “the book of the covenant” (Ex. 24:7) and “the book of the Law” (Deut. 28:61; 29:21; 30:10; 31:26) and continued to be called “the book of the Covenant” (2 Kings. 23:2,21; 2 Chron. 34:30) and “the book of the Law” (Josh. 1:8; 8:34; 2 Kings 22:8,11; 2 Chron. 34:15; Neh. 8:3; Ga. 3:10) long after Moses had died. Other names for this canon of five books was “the book of Moses” (2 Chron. 25:4; 35:12; Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1; Mark 12:26), “the book of the Law of the Lord (1 Chron. 17:9; 2 Chron. 34:14; Neh. 9:3), “the book of the Law of Moses” (Josh. 8:31; 23:6; 2 Kings 14:6; Neh. 8:1), “the book of the law of God” (Josh. 24:26; Neh. 8:18) or simply “the book” (Exodus 17:14; Neh. 8:8 in context of 8:18). In each case, the entire corpus of Scripture was referred to as “the book.” This is a clear demonstration that canonical status was given to the five books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy almost immediately. The concept of canonicity is thus rooted in the Pentateuch.

Third, there never has been a time when God’s faithful people did not acknowledge the canonical status of the first five books of the Bible. On at least four occasions, Israel swore to submit to this law: under Moses (Exodus 24), at the end of Moses’ life (Deut. 27-29), during the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 23; 2 Chron. 34:29-33) and during the post-exilic period (Neh. 8:1-10:39). It would be a mistake to think that a later recognition of the canon (such as in 2 Chron. 34:29-33) was a canonization of those five books. It is clear that when they “found” the original of the book of the Law in 2 Chronicles 34, they recognized it to already be “the book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses” (vv. 14-15). Thus, the evidence is clear that God, Moses, and the people treated the initial canon of five books as being Scripture from the time that it was written.

The fourth important thing to note about this canon of five books was that provision was made for its multiplication through a careful copying process. This was different from the treatment of other books, which remained in archives. The originals of the canonical books were stored beside the Ark of the Covenant (Deut. 31:24-26),² but copies were distributed throughout Israel so that the people could obey it. We find that the king was commanded to make accurate copies of the Pentateuch (Deut. 17:18-20) and it needed to be checked against “the one before the priests and Levites” (v. 18). This process started with the copy that Joshua read (Josh. 1:7-8; see 11:15) but can also be seen in later kings (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 11:12; 2 Chron. 23:11).

God wanted every believer to live out the whole word (Deut. 8:3; 29:29; 32:45-47), so He ensured that copies would be multiplied amongst the priests and Levites who were scattered throughout Israel (see 2 Chron. 17:9; Ezra 7:6,10,14). We know that these Levites had copies of the sacred Scriptures because their primary duty was to teach the Scripture in every village where they were scattered (2 Chron. 17:9; 35:2; see also Lev. 10:11; Deut. 31:10-13; 33:10; 2 Chron. 34:30; Ezra 3:2; 6:16-18; Neh. 8:1-8; 13:1-3). Thus, it is not surprising to find that by the time of the Maccabees, many Jews had their own copies of the Scriptures.³ The Jews did not have to wait until AD 90 for the Council of Jamnia to make a determination of canon.

It is also clear that all the rest of our present canonical books were inserted into the canon the moment they were written, and were treated by believers as being canonical from the moment they were written. For example, Joshua did not write a book and wait for it to be determined as canonical by the church. As a prophet of God, He was directed by the Lord to make the book of Joshua canonical while he was writing. Joshua 24:26 says, “Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God.” Since “the Book of the Law of God” was a reference to the entire Pentateuch,⁴ it is clear that Joshua wrote these words into the existing canon and Joshua was canonical as it was being written. Indeed, Joshua did write the last chapter of Deuteronomy (chapter 34), so it was literally true. Thus Moses wrote Gen. 1:1 through Deut. 33 and Joshua wrote Deut. 34:1 through Josh. 24:28. The canon now had six sections, which comprised one “book.”

The reason this point is so critical is that it demonstrates the Protestant principle that only God can determine canonicity and it disproves the Romanist and the Eastern Orthodox views that the church determined canonicity. There is no evidence that Joshua had to wait for any church or any group of people to evaluate the book of Joshua. At the very moment the book of Joshua was being written, it was being added to the canon (Josh. 24:26). If the church determines canonicity, then there is a higher authority than the Bible. If God’s very prophetic inspiration of the prophets determined which books would be canonical and which ones would not, then it was God Himself who determined canonicity by His self-authenticating word. Nor can it be objected that the prophet represented a human authority over the canon, since “no prophecy of Scripture ever comes by the prophet’s own imagination, for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:20-21 NET).

The fact that the rest of the historical books follow the example of Moses and Joshua reinforces what we have already said. For example, the “colophon principle” of having a successor prophet write the ending of his predecessor’s book is followed.⁵ This well-known literary technique made a tight connection within the sections of the canon. Joshua (the prophetic successor of Moses) wrote the end of Deuteronomy, giving the account of Moses’ death (Deut. 34:1-12). The author of Judges (Samuel) wrote the last five verses of Joshua, giving the account of Joshua’s death (Josh. 24:29-33 – see Judges 2:7-9). The genealogies of David were added to the end of Ruth (Ruth 4:18-22) after David became king. Compare the last four verses of Samuel-Kings (2 Kings 25:27-30) with the last four verses of Jeremiah (Jer. 52:31-34). Though many scholars question the traditional view that Jeremiah wrote Kings, this is one of many lines of evidence to support the traditional view.

This tight-knit integration of books would be impossible if books were just written and much later determined to be canonical or not canonical. The historical books bear the imprint of canonicity by the very way they were written. Only God can make a book canonical, and His supervision is abundantly evident throughout the process.

Compare the last two verses of 2 Chronicles and the first three of Ezra:

This may indicate the same author penned both books⁶, but it certainly places a verbal linkage connecting both books. Similar verbal links can be seen between other books.

That writing a book into an already existing body of canonical Scriptures was deliberate can be seen from Joshua 24:26 (already quoted) and 1 Samuel 10:25. The latter verse says, “then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the LORD.” This indicates that what Samuel wrote, he wrote “in the book” in much the same way that Joshua did (Josh. 24:26). Samuel added the writings of Judges through Ruth (cf. Judges 1:1) by forming a fitting conclusion to the book of Joshua (Josh. 24:29-33).

The story of the kings of Israel was written by a succession of prophets, each adding a piece to the canon. David’s story was written by Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (1 Chron. 29:29); the history of Solomon was written by Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo (2 Chron. 9:29); the history of Rehoboam was written by Shemaiah and Iddo (2 Chron. 12:15); the history of Abijah was written by Iddo (2 Chron. 13:22); the history of Jehoshaphat was written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chron. 20:34); the history of Uzziah and Hezekiah was written by Isaiah (2 Chron. 26:22; 32:32). These histories were written over 400 years, and the next book could not be added without the clear recognition that it was Scripture since it was woven with the rest.

This process of later prophets adding to the writings of earlier prophets may at first seem strange, but the truth of the matter is that Scripture treats canonization as occurring even at the chapter and verse level.⁷ As each chapter of a book of Scripture is written, that chapter is considered to be part of the canon. For example, Isaiah 34:16 says, “Seek from the book of the LORD, and read…” and he proceeds to give his own prophecy (the very chapter he is writing!) as being part of the book of the Lord. This verse not only reinforces the point already made (that Scripture alone can judge Scripture – it is self-authenticating), but it shows how the chapter that Isaiah had just finished writing was already being treated by him (and by God) as part of the canon of Scripture.⁸ The book of Isaiah was being added to the canon verse by verse. The church did not have to wait for the whole book of Isaiah to be written before it could treat Isaiah’s writings as Scripture. God inspired and canonized the Scriptures at the same time!

The Pentateuch developed the same way. Moses included in his account of Genesis, the earlier writings of Adam (Gen. 5:1), of Noah (Gen. 6:9), of Shem (Gen. 11:10), etc.⁹ God had preserved the canonized portions of these ancient prophets’ writings. Likewise, the moment Moses wrote a new verse or chapter, it was being written “in the book.” Thus Moses is told to write some words “in the book” in Exodus 17:14. Later he wrote more words in Exodus 24:4, still more in Exodus 34:27, continued writing in Numbers 33:2, wrote an extended portion in Deuteronomy 31:9 and added a song in Deuteronomy 31:22. At each stage he “wrote all the words of the LORD” (Ex. 24:4). They were seen as God’s Word at the moment of writing, not when the book was finished. Thus, for the books of Genesis through Joshua the canon was being increased verse by verse, not simply book by book.

The fact that the canon was being developed as it was written verse by verse also helps to explain the inspired editing of books by later prophets. Solomon not only wrote many proverbs, he also edited the order of previously written proverbs.¹⁰ The inspired prophet Hezekiah did further arranging of the book of Proverbs.¹¹ Hezekiah not only composed an inspired Psalm (see Isaiah 38:9-21), but was also one of three prophets who were involved in editing and arranging the Psalter in its present canonical form.¹² The closing of the Old Testament canon with 2 Chronicles is affirmed by Christ when he refers to the Jewish canonical order of Genesis to 2 Chronicles in Matthew 23:35.¹³ Thus, no section of the Old Testament is without prophetic signature.

An early Jewish tradition (also supported by Jerome) says that Ezra edited the Torah in ten places, bringing explanation to contemporaries who would not have understood certain historical statements.¹⁴ Whether this is true or not has been vigorously debated, but even if it were true, it would be no more irreverent for an inspired prophet Ezra to make ten minor additions to the Torah than it would have been for the inspired prophet Joshua to write the last verses of Deuteronomy.¹⁵ In both cases it is God Himself adding to His canon since “prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men … were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21).

The bottom line is that the inclusion or exclusion of any inspired writing was not the arbitrary decision of a church council, but the inspired and inerrant work of a prophet of God. Ezra also finalized the ordering of the Hebrew Bible, and Ezra’s final canon contained the same books that the Protestant Old Testament contains.

One more contribution that Ezra made was to change the style of the Hebrew letters from the old Phoenician script used by the early prophets to the “square script” of more modern Hebrew. This enabled the people of Ezra’s day to quickly distinguish the heretical Samaritan manuscripts (written in the old script) from the established canonical text of the Hebrews.¹⁶ Ernest L. Martin says that Jesus upheld the right of Ezra to do this when he referred to the abiding character of every “jot and tittle” of the Old Testament (Matt. 5:18), a reference to the small horn-like projections that were used in the more modern square script, but which were absent from the older text. These jots and tittles made it more difficult to confuse some letters with each other. This illustrates that every facet of canonization down to the minutiae of the script to be used was determined by God Himself through the revelation of His inspired prophets. Thus the whole question of cessation of prophecy (which will be more fully addressed in the second half of this book) is a critical question. Prophets alone could arrange or add to the text.

The order and categorization of the books that Ezra gave to the Jews of his day is follows:

1. THE LAW (TORAH)
   1. Genesis
   2. Exodus
   3. Leviticus
   4. Numbers
   5. Deuteronomy
2. THE PROPHETS 6. Joshua/Judges 7. The Book of Kingdoms (Samuel/Kings) 8. Isaiah 9. Jeremiah 10. Ezekiel 11. The Twelve (Hosea to Malachi)
3. THE HOLY WRITINGS (or THE PSALMS) 12. Psalms 13. Proverbs 14. Job 15. Song of Songs 16. Ruth 17. Lamentations 18. Ecclesiastes 19. Esther 20. Daniel 21. Ezra/Nehemiah 22. The Book of Chronicles

If this is an inspired order, it may be prudent for the church to once again return to that order in our Bibles. Certainly Jesus upheld this order of books when He spoke of “all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (Matt. 23:35). Zechariah was definitely not the last prophet murdered when viewed by date, but he was the last martyr mentioned in the Hebrew canon. Abel’s murder is recorded in the first book of the Canon (Genesis) and Zechariah’s murder was recorded in the last book of the Old Testament Canon (Chronicles). This is similar to our saying, “from Genesis to Revelation,” but using the existing canonical order of that day. Jesus was in effect saying, “all murders of prophets from Genesis to 2 Chronicles.”