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There's a discussion on "defiling the hands"
(tum'at yadayim) in Mishna Kelim in which R. Akiva (early 2nd century CE)
figures prominently. In other words, those books which "defiled the hands" were
canonical, those that didn't - weren't. With no books handy, I remember that
Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes, perhaps others, were being discussed. Talmon
is of the opinio that these books had actually already been canonized and the
discussion was pro forma. Whether this is true or not, it means that by the erly
second century, all the books of the Tanakh had been canonized, and they are all
mentioned in the Baraitha from B.T. Baba Bathra 14b, which dates, according to
what I have read, from the last quarter of the second century. This Baraitha
states the tripartite division of the Tanakh, but Latter Prophets and Writngs
are in a different order.
Josephus is not 1005 clear on what books he
considered canonized, though he is often adduced.
As for Qumran, I'm not up to date. Though all the
Biblical books were found there, others were as well (Community Rule, Damascus
Covenant, etc.), so there's no cleari ndication, as far as I know, as to which
books were actually considered canonized there. But please correct me if I'm not
up to date. Last I heard, Daniel existed in papyrus but not on leather, perhaps
indicating that it wasn't considered canonized.
That's why I didn't write that the books of the
Tanakh had been canonized by the first century CE, and stuck with the more
certain second century date.
Any comments?
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Jonathan D. Safren Dept. of Biblical Studies Beit Berl College Beit Berl Post Office 44905 Israel "sha'alu shelom yerushalayim yishlayu kol
'ohavayikh"
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