Authorship
Religious Jews and Christians consider God to be the ultimate author of Scripture, using humans to communicate His message. There are many questions about the human authorship of the books of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. This list is not meant to settle the issue, but to provide a list of the commonly-accepted authors for each book. There will always be someone, somewhere, who expresses doubts about virtually everything. This list is presumed to be accurate in a simplistic sense, based on the consensus of the best scholarship I could find. For the Old Testament, Jewish tradition is a primary source.
Notes, by Book
Genesis – Deuteronomy:
Moses’ authorship is assumed, but many assume that a number of different authors contributed to the final version. I can find no clear evidence to support this conclusion.
Deuteronomy:
Tradition assumes that the section detailing Moses’ death was added later by Joshua.
Joshua:
It’s assumed that the section detailing Joshua’s death was added later.
Esther:
It’s presumed that Esther was compiled from Mordecai’s personal notes after his death.
Psalms:
The psalms were written by David, Asaph, Ethan, Ezra, Heman, Moses, the sons of Korah, and unnamed others
Matthew:
Jesus’ disciple, also known as Levi
Mark:
John Mark was a ministry companion of Simon Peter, Jesus’ disciple
Luke/Acts:
Luke was a ministry companion of the apostle Paul
John:
John was Jesus’ disciple, brother of James
Romans – Philemon:
Paul was also known as Saul of Tarsus
Hebrews:
Presumed to be written by Paul, possibly Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos
James:
James, also called Jacob, was the brother of Jesus and Jude
1st and 2nd Peter:
Peter was Jesus’ disciple, also known as Cephas, Simon, and Simon Peter
1st, 2nd, and 3rd John:
John was Jesus’ disciple, brother of James
Jude:
Jude wasn’t a disciple, but was the brother of Jesus and James
Revelation:
John was Jesus’ disciple, brother of James
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