How many authors wrote the Bible?

Answer 1

There are approximately 40 authors of the Biblical books:

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, & Job by Moses

Joshua by Joshua

Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel by Samuel/Nathan/Gad

1 & 2 Kings by Jeremiah

1 & 2 Chronicles by Ezra/ Nehemiah

Esther by Mordecai

Psalms - primarily David with several others

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, & Song of Solomon by Solomon

Isaiah by Isaiah

Jeremiah & Lamentations by Jeremiah

Ezekiel by Ezekiel

Daniel by Daniel

Hosea by Hosea

Joel by Joel

Amos by Amos

Obadiah by Obadiah

Jonah by Jonah

Micah by Micah

Nahum by Nahum

Habakkuk by Habakkuk

Zephaniah by Zephaniah

Haggai by Haggai

Zechariah by Zechariah

Malachi by Malachi

New Testament

Matthew by Matthew

Mark by John Mark

Luke & Acts by Luke

John & Revelation by John

Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon by Paul

Hebrews by an unknown author, probably Paul

James by James

1& 2 Peter by Peter

1, 2, & 3 John by John

Jude by Jude

All chapters are written in pure Hebrew without Aramiaisms or Babylonian terms both of which characterize known post-exilic books. Also Isaiah's use of the prophetic perfect verb tense is a marked stylistic trait throughout the book in places like 5:13, 8:23, 9:1-7, 41:25, 45:13, and 53:1-12, future events were essentially accomplished in the purposes of God. This is the type of unity and similarity we see throughout the text. Isaiah can be identified as a prophetic book that reveals only one author. Perhaps Isaiah in his older age had some write for him producing the text in a different viewpoint.

Answer 2

It is not easy to say how many authors wrote The Bible, as many books were written anonymously or pseudonymously. In addition, many of the books had significant content added or modified long after the books were first written; these additions are known as interpolations. And if the interpolators are counted as 'authors', the number would grow substantially.

There are 66 books in the Protestant Bible. However, some authors contributed to more than one book, while some books had more than one main author. The Book of Psalms had many authors, although tradition attributes most of the psalms to the two legendary kings, David and Solomon. Some important examples of other books with multiple authors, and authors of multiple books follow:

The first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, are traditionally regarded as having been written by Moses. However, scholars say that the real authors were anonymous, but now known as the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist and the Priestly author. A further author, the Redactor, compiled the Pentateuch into much the same form as we knwo today, and made some minor changes.

The Deuteronomist is also credited with writing the Deuteronomic History - Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. The anonymous author now known as the Chronicler, wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles.

The Book of Isaiah had three main authors, now known as First Isaiah, Second Isaiah and Third Isaiah. 'First Isaiah' was Isaiah, son of Amoz, but the other tow authors are anonymous. They differ in style, language and material.

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah are believed by some to have been written by the same author.

Tradition says that Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon had one author, Solomon. However, it is clear that they were really written long after the time attributed to Solomon, and they had different authors.

Thirteen epistles are attributed to the Apostle Paul, but scholars say that he really only wrote between five and seven of the epistles, with various other authors writing the remainder, long after the death of Paul. Two epistles are generally attributed to Peter, but they clearly had two different authors.

We do not know who wrote 1 and 2 Peter, but the two epistles did have two authors, neither of whom was the apostle Peter.