[The Pentateuch of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—was written by Moses. Moses was raised in the palace. He was a scholar, a politician, and a military leader. According to the world, he was also a religious leader. The Pentateuch was written by him at Mount Sinai and in the wilderness.
The book of Joshua was written by Joshua. He was a military leader and a politician. He wrote most of this book in Canaan and a smaller portion in the plains of Moab.
There are a lot of contentions about the authorship of Judges, and they are hard to verify. However, many authorities have postulated that it was written by Samuel.
The book of Ruth is connected to the preceding book of Judges and the following books of Samuel in history and in time. Therefore, it was most probably written by Samuel.
The first twenty-four chapters of 1 Samuel were probably written by Samuel. Chapter twenty-five, verse 1 says that Samuel died. Therefore, from chapter twenty-five on, the rest of 1 Samuel and the whole book of 2 Samuel were surely not written by him. First Chronicles 29:29 says that regarding the things of David, there was not only the recording of Samuel, but also the recordings of the prophets Nathan and Gad. Bible scholars have concluded from this verse that the recordings in the books of Samuel after the death of Samuel must have been continued by the prophets Nathan and Gad.
Why was 2 Samuel called by that name even though it was not written by Samuel? This is because these two books form one group in history. Therefore, the author or authors continued to write from chapter twenty-five of 1 Samuel until the end of 2 Samuel. Moreover, in the original Hebrew Old Testament, the two books of Samuel were a single book, not two. It was only when the Old Testament was translated into Greek in the Septuagint that Samuel was divided into the first and second books, because it was too long and difficult to roll up into one scroll.
Samuel was a Nazarite consecrated to God. He became a priest, and he also became a judge and a prophet. In addition, he brought in the kingship. It is certain that his book was written in Canaan.
Both Nathan and Gad were seers. It is also certain that their records were written in Canaan.
The books of 1 and 2 Kings were one book in the Hebrew Old Testament. They were divided by the Septuagint. It is hard for Bible scholars to ascertain who was the author of Kings, but some think that Jeremiah was the author.
The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles were also one book in the Hebrew Old Testament. It was also divided by the Septuagint. This book has been generally ascertained by many authorities to have been written by Ezra. If we compare the ending of Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra, we can see that the style, the grammar, and the phrases are all very similar and have to be from the same author. Therefore it has been proposed that Chronicles was written by Ezra.
The book of Ezra was certainly written by Ezra. Ezra was a very learned scribe and priest. He knew the laws of God very well and therefore was also a lawyer. His books were written in Jerusalem.
The book of Nehemiah was certainly written by Nehemiah. Ezra was a descendant of Levi, the tribe of the priests. Nehemiah was a descendant of Judah, the tribe of the kings. One attended to religion, and the other attended to politics. At that time, the Persian Empire treated Judea as a province, and Nehemiah became the governor of Judea. His book was also written in Jerusalem.
It is hard to ascertain the authorship of the book of Esther. Probably Mordecai was the author, because in 9:20 and 23 it is mentioned that Mordecai recorded the happenings then. He was one who loved God and loved the Jews. If it was written by him, it was written in the heathen city of Shushan.
There is a greater contention about the authorship of the book of Job. The things recorded in this book took place before the time of Moses and may have been concurrent with Abraham, which is about two thousand years before Christ. Some have said it was written by Elihu, and some have said that Moses was probably the author.
Among the Psalms there are some that do not mention any author, but the authorship of most of them is identified. Among the one hundred fifty psalms, at least seventy-three are designated clearly as the Psalms of David. In addition to these, there are quite a few that were clearly written by David, even though the author was not clearly stated. Therefore, David wrote the largest number, nearly one hundred psalms. In addition, there were Asaph, Heman, Ethan, the sons of Korah, Solomon, and Moses. Therefore, at least seven authors were clearly indicated. The sons of Korah are plural in number in the manuscript, and this may therefore refer to more than one person. All the psalms of these people were probably written in the land of Israel. David was first a shepherd and then a king. Quite a number of his psalms were written while he was being persecuted in the wilderness. Some were written while he was reigning in the palace. We are not very clear about Asaph, Heman, and Ethan. It may be that they were common people. The sons of Korah were the descendants of Korah. Bible scholars admit that this Korah is the Korah recorded in Numbers 16 as the one leading the rebellion against God. However, from the descendants of this rebellious one, there came out such godly and God-loving people. They did not want to divulge their own names. They would rather show forth the greatness of the grace of God by acknowledging that they were the descendants of the rebellious one against God.
Most of the book of Proverbs was written by Solomon. There were a few words by Agur and Lemuel. Hence, Proverbs was written by at least three persons. Solomon was the most glorious king and the wisest one in human history. All his books were written in Jerusalem. Agur may have been a common person, and Lemuel was a king.
The book of Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon.
The Song of Solomon was also written by Solomon.
There are seventeen books of the prophets from Isaiah to Malachi. They are written by sixteen prophets, with Jeremiah and Lamentations both written by Jeremiah.
Isaiah was a minister serving the king and was also a historian (2 Chron. 26:22; 32:32). His book was written in Jerusalem, the capital city.
Jeremiah was born a priest and became a prophet. He spent most of his time in Judea and the last period in Egypt.
Ezekiel was a priest turned prophet. He wrote the book of Ezekiel in the land of captivity in Babylon.
Daniel was of the tribe of Judah. His book should have been written in the land of captivity in Babylon and Ulai.
Amos was the most peculiar among the sixteen prophets. He was a shepherd, a caretaker of mulberry trees, and probably would not have received much education. His book should have been written in the land of Israel.
Jonah probably wrote his book in Nineveh.
Zephaniah was a royal descendant turned prophet. His book was written in the land of Judea.
Zechariah was also a priest turned prophet. His book was also written in the land of Judea.
In addition to these, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Haggai, and Malachi, eight altogether, were most probably common people who became prophets. Their books were written either in Judea or in the land of Israel.
Therefore, there were at least thirty-two authors of the Old Testament from Moses to Malachi. If Job was written by Elihu, and if more than one of the sons of Korah wrote, then there were more than thirty-two authors. Among them, all except Elihu, the probable Gentile author, and Agur and Lemuel, whose tribal sources are unknown, were Israelites. Among these authors of the Old Testament, there were people of various levels and backgrounds. There were scholars, religious persons, politicians, military leaders, kings, priests, prophets, common people, shepherds, and farmers. Some were highly educated, and some, without much education. Some were persecuted and oppressed, and some enjoyed glory and honor. Some were living in Israel, and some were in the land of the Gentiles in captivity.]