• God’s Penmen—Who Were They?
    The Watchtower—1960 | March 15

    • 2 Chronicles and the opening words of Ezra. That they were written in Ezra’s day is clear from the many Chaldaic expressions they contain, obviously acquired in Babylon. Not without good reason, therefore, does Jewish tradition point to Ezra as the writer of 1 and 2 Chronicles.

      The book of Ezra tells of two groups of exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem. Ezra took the lead in the second of these and is the logical one to tell us about it, which he does in the first person in Ezra chapters 7, 8 and 9. Leaving no question as to the writer of the next Bible book, it begins with the expression “The words of Nehemiah.”

      What about the book of Esther? Who was so well qualified as her cousin Mordecai to be its penman? He certainly was in position to know all the facts and had Jehovah’s blessing upon him. The Great Synagogue of the Jews and Josephus reached the same conclusion.

      JOB THROUGH MALACHI

      The book of Job may well be the oldest of all the Bible books, and references to Job at Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and at James 5:11 prove that Job actually lived. As for its penman, all the evidence points to Moses. Job is full of grand and powerful poetry, even as we find at Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32. Similar expressions are found in the book of Job and the Pentateuch. Further, it appears that the events of Job happened about the time when Israel was oppressed and so Moses could have learned about Job while in the wilderness of Midian, after having fled from Pharaoh. Also, leading early Christians credited Moses with being the penman of the book of Job.

      Contrary to popular impression, David did not write all the psalms. He wrote but seventy-two out of one hundred and fifty. Among other penmen of the psalms were Moses, Solomon, Asaph and the sons of Korah. Thirty-four of the psalms are anonymous. As for the next book, Proverbs, it itself shows that Solomon wrote the first twenty-nine chapters, Agur the thirtieth and King Lemuel the thirty-first. The book of Ecclesiastes (1:1, 12) identifies King Solomon as its penman, even as does the title of the next book, The Song of Solomon.

      The penmen of the next five books of the Bible were Isaiah, Jeremiah (two), Ezekiel and Daniel. There has been a veritable flood of literature trying to prove that Isaiah did not write all the book bearing his name. His detractors, however, cannot agree whether the book was written by two, three or even more different “Isaiahs.” But cannot a book have various styles to match varying messages without requiring a number of writers? Surely! For Christians the inspired apostle Paul settles the matter, for he quotes from the supposedly different sections of the book and credits Isaiah with all of them. See Romans, chapters nine and ten.

      The prophet Jeremiah is rightfully credited with being the penman of the book of Lamentations. The style of writing, as well as the time of its writing, points unmistakably to him.

      The book of Daniel has ever been a choice target for the higher critics. They all seem agreed that it could not have been written until hundreds of years after Daniel lived. However, much of their attack has been dulled by archaeological findings, and for Christians the words of Jesus Christ settle the question, for he quoted from the book and credited it to Daniel.—Matt. 24:15.

      Following Daniel come twelve so-called minor prophets, each of which prophecies is identified by the name of its penman. If there is an exception, it might be Malachi, whose name means “Messenger of Jah,” and which may have been a pseudonym used by the prophet Nehemiah so as not to draw attention to himself. All the facts perfectly fit the time of Nehemiah, and yet Malachi is not mentioned by Nehemiah. The zeal of Malachi certainly is comparable to that manifested by Nehemiah.

      THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES

      As far as can be ascertained, Moses began Bible writing about 1513 B.C., and the Hebrew Scriptures were completed with the writing of Nehemiah or Malachi about 442 B.C. For almost five centuries there was no inspired writing by any penman of God. Why? Doubtless because events during that time were without prophetic significance. But when the Son of God came to the nation of Israel as their promised Messiah, such was no longer true. Now events of the greatest importance were happening and there were new revelations of God’s will for his servants upon earth. This resulted in the adding of twenty-seven books to the Word of God, the Christian Greek Scriptures, misnamed “New Testament,” even as the Hebrew Scriptures are misnamed “Old Testament.”

      Who were the penmen of the books of the Christian Greek Scriptures? Ancient papyrus manuscripts and the testimony of the early Christians invariably help to answer that question. They credit the four Gospels to the ones whose names they bear. Luke’s reference to his own Gospel in the book of Acts, as well as his use of the first person in telling of some of his travels with Paul, proves that he did indeed write both books. While some have insisted that it was not the apostle John that wrote the Gospel by his name, they are proved wrong by an archaeological find of a fragment of his Gospel, written between the years 100 and 150 and which was found down in Egypt. For a fragment to get down to Egypt by that date shows that John’s Gospel must have been written in his lifetime and not some fifty years later as the higher critics claim.

      As for the next fourteen letters, written by Paul, all but the last one identify him as the writer. That he also wrote the letter to the Hebrews is made clear from the following facts: Early Christians name Paul as the writer; an early list of all his letters includes Hebrews; the style of writing, the use of logic and the marshaling of Scriptural testimony are all in the best Pauline manner. As for the remaining writings of the Christian Greek Scriptures, these all name their own penmen: James, Peter (two letters), John (three letters and Revelation) and Jude.

      Thus we have some thirty-five penmen, beginning with Moses and ending with the apostle John, covering a period of some 1,600 years and being used to pen the sixty-six books of the Bible. The facts and the circumstantial evidence combine to prove that the writers of these books actually lived in the time they claimed to have lived and to have written. Such information is not only a matter of interest but also very strengthening to our faith. Further, it enables us to answer attacks made upon the authenticity of the Word of God, which endures in spite of all the efforts of its enemies to destroy it.—1 Pet. 1:25.