Editing Twelve Minor Prophets (section)

===As a collection===
It is not known when these short works were collected and transferred to a single scroll, but the first extra-biblical evidence for the Twelve as a collection is c. 190 BCE in the writings of [[Ben Sira|Yeshua ben Sirach]],{{sfn|Ben Zvi|2004|pp=1139–42}} and evidence from the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] suggests that the modern order of the [[Tanakh]], which would potentially include the twelve, had been established by 150 BCE.{{Sfn |Redditt|2003|p=1}} It is believed that initially the first six were collected, and later the second six were added; the two groups seem to complement each other, with ''Hosea'' through ''Micah'' raising the question of iniquity, and ''Nahum'' through ''Malachi'' proposing resolutions.{{Sfn|Coggins|Han|2011|p= 4}}

Many, though not all, modern scholars agree that the editing process which produced the Book of the Twelve reached its final form in [[Jerusalem during the Achaemenid period]] (538–332 BCE), although there is disagreement over whether this was early or late.{{Sfn |Redditt|2003|pp=1–3, 9}}

The comparison of different ancient manuscripts indicates that the order of the individual books was originally fluid. The arrangement found in current Bibles is roughly chronological. First come those prophets dated to the early Assyrian period: Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah; Joel is undated, but it was possibly placed before Amos because parts of a verse near the end of Joel (3.16 [''4.16 in Hebrew'']) and one near the beginning of Amos (1.2) are identical. Also we can find in both Amos (4.9 and 7.1–3) and Joel a description of a plague of locusts. These are followed by prophets that are set in the later Assyrian period: Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Last come those set in the Persian period: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, although some scholars date "Second Zechariah" to the Hellenistic Era.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mb-soft.com/believe/txs/zecharia.htm|title = Book of Zechariah}}</ref> However it is important to note that chronology was not the only consideration, as "It seems that an emphatic focus on Jerusalem and Judah was [also] a main concern.{{sfn|Ben Zvi|2004|pp=1139–42}} For example, Obadiah is generally understood as reflecting the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE,{{Sfn |Ben Zvi|2004|pp = 1193–94}} and would therefore fit later in a purely chronological sequence.