The Old Testament was written between 1400 BC and 400 BC. It is divided into five sections - the Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy), historical books (Joshua to Esther), poetic books (Job to Song of Solomon), major prophets (Isaiah to Daniel), and minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi). Scholars use internal evidence like writing style, people and places mentioned, as well as external evidence like historical records, to determine the approximate dates of authorship for each book. Dating is also done through cross-referencing between biblical books and historical events described within.

1. What year was each book of the Old
Testament written?
The Old Testament is divided into five sections: the Pentateuch
(Genesis through Deuteronomy), the historical books (Joshua through
Esther), the poetic books (Job through Song of Solomon), the Major
Prophets (Isaiah through Daniel), and the Minor Prophets (Hosea
through Malachi). The Old Testament was written from approximately
1400 B.C. to approximately 400 B.C. The Old Testament was written
primarily in Hebrew, with a few small sections written in Aramaic
(essentially a variation of Hebrew).
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2. The Old Testament deals primarily with the relationship between God
and the nation of Israel. The Pentateuch deals with the creation of
Israel and God establishing a covenant relationship with Israel. The
historical books record Israel's history, its victories and successes
along with its defeats and failures. The books give us a more intimate
look at God's relationship with Israel and His passion for Israel to
worship and obey Him. The prophetic books are God's call to Israel to
repent from its idolatry and unfaithfulness and to return to a
relationship of obedience and spiritual fidelity.
We have a few basic ways of knowing when the individual books of
the Bible were written: a combination of internal and external
evidence and, particularly in the Old Testament, traditional accounts.
Internal evidence might consist of the style of writing and mentions of
people or places who can be more precisely dated. For example, while
the book of Ruth is set during the time of the judges, scholars place
the literary style as that of the time of the Israelite monarchy—the
Kings—based on other writings more accurately dated to that time.
The mention of David (Ruth 4:17, 22) also implies a date some time
after David’s reign.
Another example: the book of Daniel uses a literary style and specific
Persian and Greek words that place it around the time of Cyrus the
Great (ca. 530 B.C.). Linguistic evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls
gives us authentically dated examples of Hebrew and Aramaic
writing from the second and third centuries B.C., when Daniel was
written.
Other internal evidence might be the concerns the author is
addressing. For example, the two books of Chronicles tell the history
of the Jewish people and how they came under God’s judgment in the
form of the exile to Babylon.
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3. Traditionally, believed Ezra to be the author of these books, because
the following two books, Ezra and Nehemiah (also written by Ezra),
deal with the return from exile and the need to be obedient to God’s
law, and they are written in nearly the same literary style.
The date of that return, which began under Cyrus the Great, can be
correlated to historical records outside the Bible that place his reign
from approximately 559 to 530 B.C. The dedication of the new temple
in Jerusalem, in 516 B.C., is corroborated by the records of Darius I,
and a second return of exiles was allowed under Artaxerxes I, whom
we know ruled Babylon from 465 to 424 B.C. All these things help us
to closely place the writings of those particular books of the Old
Testament. Biblical cross-referencing is used to date other books of the
Old Testament.
In the New Testament, books are generally dated by the concerns
being addressed, e.g., the growing Gnostic heresy, and how much they
quote from other New Testament writings and a cross-referencing of
events such as the collection for the needy in Jerusalem discussed in
Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians. We also have historical, extra-
biblical accounts such as that by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus
to corroborate events described in the Bible.
The Gospels are often dated by something that is not mentioned: Jesus
predicted the fall of Jerusalem in Matthew 24:1-2, and we know from
historians such as Josephus that the city fell in A.D. 70. It seems logical
that if such a prominent prophecy had been fulfilled before the
writing of the Gospels that it would have been mentioned, as is the
fulfilled prophecy of Christ’s resurrection as found in John 2:19, 22.
It’s important to note that even among scholars who believe the Bible
to be God’s inspired, inerrant Word there is some disagreement as to
the exact dating of the biblical books.
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