What is the Oldest Book in the Bible?

Question

I say it's Job...my wife say's it's Genesis.

We've decided to let you all decide....we'll count the votes

Go!

Answer 1

Many scholars agree that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, written by an unknown Israelite about 1500 B.C. Others hold that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are the oldest books in the Bible, written between 1446 and 1406 B.C.

The oldest book of the New Testament?
Probably the book of James, written as early as A.D. 45.

The first translation of the Bible made into English.
1382 A.D., by John Wycliffe.

The oldest almost-complete manuscript of the Bible now in existence.
The Codex Vaticanus, which dates from the first half of the fourth Century. It is located in the library of the Vatican in Rome. There are older fragments of the Bible that are still preserved however-- the oldest being a tiny scrap of the Gospel of John was found in Egypt, dating back to the beginning of the second century. (It is currently in the Rayland's Library in Manchester, England).

Answer 2

A real problem exists when a story predates it's first written account. There is little doubt that most of the books of the Bible were part of oral history prior to their recording in books. Therefore, the oldest story may be Job while the oldest books may be the Torah or Pentateuch.

A second problem is scholars who choose to make pronouncements of authenticity and Fiction/Fact arguments based on a non-spiritual basis. They often post date prophecy until after the fulfillment to derive a timeline.

Answer 3

The books that compose the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) were probably the first to be reduced to the written word. Genesis (by the way the word means "Beginnings") also records the events surrounding the creation of the universe, so it is reasonable to assume that even the oral tradition the preceded the book being are the oldest. Many believe that the events described in Job preceded the written record (others believe Job is a work of fiction, a protracted parable that never really happened but was used to illustrate the nature of God), but they could not have happened before the creation of the universe. Incidentally, the Gospel of John begins with the words, "In the beginning", then continues to describe how the "Word" (Logos) existed before creation and through whom the creation was accomplished. Therefore the Gospel of John actually describes events that occurred before the events of Genesis.

Answer 4

,It seems that the first 5 books of the Bible were written by Moses, so they are probably the oldest books, however, the book of Job seems to talk about peoples that may be more ancient than Abraham. I have a feeling Moses wrote that book also. I believe that when Moses lived in Egypt he was like a Hebrew scholar and he went around collecting stories from the people and wrote them down, much as the Brothers Grimm. He may have been one of the earliest people to be able to write phonetically. In fact it would make sense for God to inspire Moses to invent writing when there was something really important to write. All of the books of the Bible are old, but more importantly they are good. Read them all.

Answer 5

Genesis 1-1

Answer 6

You both could be right. They appear to have been written so closely in time with one another (within only a few decades), that either have some claim to the title. And actually Genesis and Exodus were probably written simultaneously. The stories in Genesis & Exodus, however, predate their inscription, having been passed on via oral tradition for several hundred years. Job may also have been a longstanding story, but it is only one story, and could have been composed by the author during the era of the Wisdom tradition among the Israelites.

Answer 7

"Many scholars agree that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, written by an unknown Israelite about 1500 B.C. Others hold that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are the oldest books in the Bible, written between 1446 and 1406 B.C."

So I would go with Job.

Answer 8

I checked the introduction to the book of Job. It says there are three possible time periods for its writing: the time of Isaiah, after the fall of Jerusalem, and 4th century BC.

Each of these is after the time of Moses, who is usually credited for writing Genesis.

However, it appears that Job lived a patriarchal lifestyle, offering sacrifices for his children and such suggest a pre-Mosaic date for the story. So the story may be older than the writing of Genesis.

Call it a draw and bring peace to the family. ;)

Answer 9

The ones written by Enoch and Noah... but they're not included in the Bible. And the jury's still out as to the timeline of when Job was actually around, i.e. whether he was before or after Moses' time.

Peace be with you!

Answer 10

Genesis