"Who wrote the Bible?" has two honest answers, and Christians have always given both. The first is a list of people: by the traditional count, around forty authors writing over roughly fifteen hundred years, in three languages, on three continents. The second is one word: God. The Bible describes itself as written by human beings and, at the same time, as "God-breathed." This guide takes the two answers in turn, then explains how the individual books came to be gathered into one.

What the Bible says about its own authorship

The clearest statement is Paul's:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

— 2 Timothy 3:16, Berean Standard Bible

"God-breathed" (one Greek word, theopneustos) is a claim about origin: the words come from God. Peter describes the mechanism:

For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

— 2 Peter 1:21, Berean Standard Bible

"Men spoke," and they were "carried along." Both are true in the same sentence. The Bible does not present itself as dictated to passive secretaries; the human authors' personalities, vocabularies, and circumstances are everywhere in the text. Luke says he "carefully investigated everything from the beginning" like a historian (Luke 1:3). Paul dictated his letters to a scribe and signed them in his own hand (Romans 16:22, 1 Corinthians 16:21). Jeremiah dictated to Baruch (Jeremiah 36:4). These were real writers doing real work, and Christians believe God was at work in them.

Hebrews opens by summarizing the whole process: "On many past occasions and in many different ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets" (Hebrews 1:1). Many occasions, many ways, many people, one speaker.

The human authors of the Old Testament

Moses and the Law. The first five books (Genesis to Deuteronomy) are traditionally attributed to Moses, and the text repeatedly describes him writing: "Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD" (Exodus 24:4); "When Moses had finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end" (Deuteronomy 31:24). The final chapter of Deuteronomy records Moses's own death, so at minimum a later hand completed the work. Scholars debate how much of the Pentateuch was written by Moses and how much was compiled from older sources and edited later; Jewish and Christian tradition has always held Moses as its authoritative source.

Joshua, Samuel, and the historians. Joshua "recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God" (Joshua 24:26). The books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles are anonymous; Jewish tradition connects Samuel, Jeremiah, and Ezra with some of them, and the books themselves cite earlier records that no longer survive.

David and the psalmists. About half the Psalms carry David's name in their headings. His last words describe his own understanding of how they came: "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue" (2 Samuel 23:2). Other headings name Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, and Moses, whose prayer is Psalm 90. Roughly a third of the Psalms are anonymous.

Solomon and the wisdom writers. Proverbs opens, "These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel" (Proverbs 1:1), and includes collections by other named sages and a section "copied by the men of Hezekiah" two centuries later (Proverbs 25:1). Ecclesiastes is by "the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem," traditionally Solomon. The Song of Songs bears his name. Job is anonymous and its date is unknown.

The prophets. The prophetic books are named for the prophets whose words they contain: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve shorter books from Hosea to Malachi. Some wrote directly ("Take a large scroll and write on it," God tells Isaiah in Isaiah 8:1); some dictated; some books were assembled by disciples from a prophet's spoken oracles. They span about three centuries, from the eighth to the fifth century BC.

The human authors of the New Testament

The four Gospel writers. Matthew and John were apostles, eyewitnesses of Jesus's ministry. Mark, according to the earliest church tradition, wrote down Peter's preaching. Luke was a physician and Paul's traveling companion who, by his own account, interviewed eyewitnesses and wrote "an orderly account" (Luke 1:1–4); he also wrote Acts as the sequel (Acts 1:1). John's Gospel ends with a note vouching for its author: "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down" (John 21:24). The Gospels do not name their authors in the text; the names come from the earliest Christian communities, who attached them within a generation or two.

Paul. Thirteen letters bear Paul's name, from Romans to Philemon, written between roughly AD 48 and 65 to churches and individuals. He dictated to scribes and often added a closing in his own handwriting: "See what large letters I am using to write to you with my own hand!" (Galatians 6:11). Remarkably, Peter already treats Paul's letters as Scripture within Paul's lifetime or soon after, mentioning people who "distort" them "as they do the rest of the Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16).

The other letter writers. James and Jude were brothers of Jesus. Peter wrote two letters; John wrote three plus the Gospel and Revelation. Hebrews is anonymous; it was sometimes attributed to Paul, but its style is different, and the third-century scholar Origen concluded that only God knows who wrote it. That verdict has held.

John and Revelation. The last book identifies its author as "His servant John," exiled on the island of Patmos, who was told, "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches" (Revelation 1:1, 11).

When it was written

Section Approximate dates
Law (Genesis to Deuteronomy) Traditionally the 15th to 13th century BC, with later editing
History, Psalms, Wisdom 11th to 5th century BC
Prophets 8th to 5th century BC
Gospels and Acts About AD 55 to 95
Paul's letters About AD 48 to 65
Other letters and Revelation About AD 45 to 95

Dates for the Old Testament are debated among scholars, sometimes by centuries; the New Testament dates are much more secure and fall entirely within the first century, within living memory of the events.

How the books were collected

No committee sat down to write the Bible. The books were written over centuries, and the collecting happened gradually as God's people recognized which writings carried his authority.

The Old Testament was essentially settled by the time of Jesus. He referred to it in its three traditional divisions, "the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44), the same structure as the Hebrew Bible today. The deuterocanonical books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and additions to Esther and Daniel) were included in the Greek Old Testament used by many early Christians; Catholic and Orthodox Bibles keep them, Protestant Bibles do not. That difference dates from the Reformation and concerns these books only; the other thirty-nine are shared by everyone.

The New Testament formed through use. Paul asked that his letters be read aloud and passed between churches (Colossians 4:16). The four Gospels were being read together by the mid-second century. A list from Rome around AD 170 (the Muratorian fragment) already includes most of the twenty-seven books, and the first surviving list of exactly the twenty-seven we have today is in an Easter letter by Athanasius of Alexandria in AD 367. The church councils of the late fourth century confirmed what congregations had been reading for generations. The tests they applied were simple: was the book written by an apostle or an apostle's close associate, was it consistent with the teaching received from the apostles, and had the churches been using it from the beginning?

So who wrote the Bible?

Moses, David, Isaiah, Luke, Paul, John, and dozens of others: shepherds, kings, priests, a physician, a tax collector, fishermen, and a tentmaker, writing law, history, poetry, letters, and visions over fifteen centuries. And, on the Bible's own account, God, speaking through every one of them so that the result is one book with one story, from creation in Genesis 1 to the new creation in Revelation 21. Our guide to how the Old and New Testaments fit together traces that single story.

Jesus promised his disciples that the Spirit "will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you" (John 14:26). The New Testament is, among other things, the record of that promise being kept.

FAQ

How many people wrote the Bible?

By the traditional count, about forty, over roughly fifteen hundred years. Some books are anonymous, so the exact number is unknown. They include Moses, David, Solomon, the prophets, the four Gospel writers, Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John.

Did God write the Bible or did people?

Both, according to the Bible itself. Paul calls Scripture "God-breathed," and Peter says "men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The human authors wrote with their own styles and in their own situations; Christians believe God was the ultimate author working through them.

Who wrote the first five books of the Bible?

Traditionally Moses, and the text describes him writing the law. Deuteronomy ends with his death, so later editing is evident, and scholars debate the extent of Moses's direct authorship. Jewish and Christian tradition treats him as the source of the Law.

Who decided which books are in the Bible?

The Old Testament was recognized by the Jewish community before Jesus, who cited it in its three divisions. The New Testament books were recognized through use in the churches over the first few centuries; the first list of exactly the 27 books dates to AD 367, and later councils confirmed it.

Who wrote the Gospels?

Matthew and John were apostles; Mark recorded Peter's preaching according to early tradition; Luke was a physician who interviewed eyewitnesses and also wrote Acts. The Gospels are formally anonymous; the names were attached by the earliest churches.