The Formation of the Jewish Canon

The word canon means a list of biblical books understood as being inspired by God, and therefore normative, enumerated according to a given order and in a determined number. There were three great theories about the canon: Levita (1538), Grabe (1715) and the classic theory (end of the nineteenth century), according to which the canon results from a historical process, first the canonization of the Law (between 450 and 400 BCE), then Prophets’ one (third century), and last Writings’ one (during the Hasmonean period or at the end of the first century in Jabneh). Rectifications to the classic model must be provided. In the second stage, it is inappropriate to speak about a canonization of the Prophets; this canonization included both the Torah and the Prophets: they are not two separate orders, but a single corpus at the same level. On the other hand, one must distinguish two Jewish canons. The first one is defined by Law and Prophets and can be dated back to the third century BCE. The second one involves three orders with a ranking: first, the Torah that, second, the Prophets repeat and reinforce, and which, third, the Writings repeat. It dates back to the years 200 CE. So, maybe the classic three-stage model has to be changed into a two-stage model: first, the Torah and the Prophets; second, the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. In other words, the canonization involving only the Torah may never have occurred. But this scenario is not fully established and the classic theory must be kept for the moment.