Editing Old Testament (section)

==Composition==
{{Further|Composition of the Torah|Dating the Bible|Documentary hypothesis}}
The first five books—[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] and [[Deuteronomy]]—reached their present form in the [[Yehud Medinata|Persian period (538–332 BC)]], and their authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled the [[Second Temple|Temple]] at that time.{{Sfn | Blenkinsopp | 1998 | p = 184}} The books of [[book of Joshua|Joshua]], [[book of Judges|Judges]], [[book of Ruth|Ruth]], [[books of Samuel|Samuel]] and [[books of Kings|Kings]] follow, forming a history of Israel from the [[Conquest of Canaan]] to the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|Siege of Jerusalem {{circa|587}} BC]]. There is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work (the so-called "[[Deuteronomistic History]]") during the [[Babylonian exile]] of the 6th century BC.{{Sfn | Rogerson | 2003 | pp = 153–54}}

The two [[Books of Chronicles]] cover much the same material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC.{{Sfn | Coggins | 2003 | p = 282}} Chronicles, and [[Ezra–Nehemiah]], was probably finished during the 3rd century BC.{{Sfn | Grabbe | 2003 | pp = 213–14}} Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two (Catholic Old Testament) to four (Orthodox) [[Books of the Maccabees]], written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

These history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. Of the remainder, the books of the various prophets—[[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and the twelve "[[minor prophets]]"—were written between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, with the exceptions of [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]] and [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], which were written much later.{{Sfn | Miller | 1987 | pp = 10–11}} The "wisdom" books—[[Book of Job|Job]], [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], [[Ecclesiastes]], [[Psalms]], [[Song of Songs]]—have various dates: Proverbs possibly was completed by the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic time]] (332–198 BC), though containing much older material as well; Job was completed by the 6th century BC; Ecclesiastes by the 3rd century BC.{{Sfn | Crenshaw | 2010 | p = 5}}