About Authors of the Bible

Five years ago, when historical researcher and journalist Fred Glynn first began an inquiry into how and when and by whom the Bible was written, he was surprised to find that the writing hadn’t begun with Genesis as would have seemed natural. Instead, it gradually became obvious that the writing of the Bible had begun with David’s composing a song lamenting the deaths of Israel’s first king, Saul, and Saul’s son, Jonathan. While the text of David’s song can still be found at the beginning of the Second Book of Samuel, it originally appeared in the now long-lost Book of Jashar which also contained stories of David and the legendary heroes of the dozen tribes that became Israel.

Authors of the Bible looks at recent archaeological discoveries to determine the setting in which the Bible was written. Who, for example, were the Israelites and where did they come from? How did they come to be under Egyptian domination? And for how long? Where and when did the worship of Yahweh begin?

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Relying upon a combination of three hundred and fifty years of work by bible scholars and the accounts of English, American, and Israeli archaeologists in the last century, Glynn traces the history of the writing of the Bible from David’s Book of Jashar to the completion of the Book of Psalms around 140 BCE.

As Glynn introduces each author, he discusses each of the authors’ motives. Why, for example, had David composed his Elegy? Why had Solomon’s Court Historian devoted two chapters of the Second Book of Samuel to accuse David of seducing Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba? Why had the author of the original books of Genesis and Exodus referred to God using two different names--Yahweh and Elohim? Why had King Hezekiah destroyed a gilded copper serpent said to have been carved by Moses? What was the story behind the discovery of the Book of Deuteronomy during King Josiah’s reign? What was the connection between the return of the exiles from Babylon and the laws introduced by Ezra in the Book of Leviticus? What is the connection between the writings of the fourth century BCE philosopher, Epicurus, and the Book of Ecclesiastes?

Authors of the Bible provides fresh, thoughtfully researched answers to all of these questions and many more. The reader is provided with endnotes for each chapter along with an extensive bibliography, a valuable guide which an interested reader may use to find supplemental information.