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Depending on How You Count, There Could Be Up to 263 Books in the Bible!
by Dr. Hal Taussig
The Bible is far bigger than almost anyone thinks.
It has more books in it. Its content is broader, deeper, more diverse, funnier, more controversial, and stranger than most people notice. And perhaps most surprising is that almost no one—including people who read scripture all the time and people who think they know what is in the Bible—knows even close to what is in it.
My main point is that ‘scripture’ or ‘the Bible’ has more to actively teach us than most of us realize. And it deserves more credit than most Bible thumpers would ever propose. This is an invitation to thump less and read more.
But it is also the case that coming to terms with the enormity of scripture/Bible makes many aware of how narrow and self-serving our ideas of scripture and Bible can be. If one actually engages in the majority of scripture over time, one encounters a very broad spectrum of thoughts, meanings, and movements.
First, I’ll summarize how big scripture (or the Bible) really is. Then we’ll take a look at how tiny many of us make it. And finally I’ll suggest some strategies for enjoying and engaging with the bigger Bible(s).
Different Bibles, different sizes
The Jews are probably the earliest community that had a Bible. Most Jewish Bibles contain 39 books, but the earliest versions included somewhere between 5 and 22 books. The Ethiopian Bible, which is perhaps the oldest Christian Bible, includes somewhere between 81 to 84 books, depending on different factors. The Roman Catholic Bible has 73 books, and the Greek Orthodox Bible—without an official number—is somewhat larger, with somewhere between 75 and 79 books. The Syriac Bible also has quite a wide range of different books. And the Protestant Bible (which in some ways American culture prioritizes) has 66 books—39 of an ‘Old Testament,’ and 27 of a ‘New Testament.’ If one would total all of the books in these different collections, there would be a total of around 100 books, far more than the 27 books of the Christian New Testament and the range of 5 to 39 books in the Hebrew Bible.
Beyond these various numbers of books in Bibles, the question of what texts are authoritative has become rather wonderfully and confusingly difficult to determine. In many ways Judaism deserves the most credit for coming up with a collection of books beginning with Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and so on. Sometimes Judaism even gives other collections of ancient writings more authority. Two ancient collections that Jews have read in many different settings—the Mishna and Gemara—are each called Talmud. But both have enjoyed very similar functions in Jewish communities and individual religious learning and practice for more than a thousand years. These differences are not based on Jewish communities disputing the authority of their Bible or Talmud, but rather on their wide ranges of ways to find different and similar meanings and practices. There are 63 tractates (writings) in the Talmud, almost all of which broaden the Hebrew Bible.
Additional biblical writings
More recently, in the last 170 years, many new ancient writings have been found in northern Africa and the Near/Middle East that sound like biblical writings. But they are not in any of the biblical texts. Most of these newly discovered texts do not seem to have been known by those who eventually put their Bibles together. And, fascinatingly, many of these new discoveries are attracting much attention from readers in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. That many contemporaries find much meaning, help, and historical significance in these new discoveries has prompted disputes and much study. If one added only those recently discovered writings that include biblical topics and meanings, they would add around 100 new “biblical” writings.
So, counting both Talmud tractates and newly discovered ancient biblically related writings, there are about 263 biblical books.
In some cases, the arguments about what belongs to various kinds of ancient or modern Bibles have lasted a long time.
Provocative questions from the Wisdom of Solomon
For me, the writing called The Wisdom of Solomon has provoked suggestive questions, and deep discussions have occurred among (but not between) both Jews and Christians.
This book was composed somewhere between the third century BCE and third century CE, and most likely in the first century CE. But it has been discussed widely for more than a thousand years and is still read in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This writing was written primarily about two things: 1) the person of Wisdom herself as a female divinity; and 2) the history of Israel and Wisdom’s relationship to Israel. The title of this writing—Wisdom of Solomon—is a mistake, since the historical character of Solomon was neither the author of the writing nor a primary character in it, and the actions of the divine person Wisdom occur much later in Israel’s history than when Solomon lived. That is, although this book has the title of Wisdom of Solomon, it directly addresses a much later time period, which probably included the lifetime of Jesus and the period of the Roman Empire.
Although this book does not actually contain anything directly about Jesus, and it stays completely within the people of Israel, in many ways the person of Wisdom herself often seems a lot like Jesus. Like the first nine chapters of the biblical book of Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon’s character of Wisdom often sounds like the somewhat divine Jesus in the biblical gospels:
“God of our ancestors, Lord of mercy, who by your word have made the universe, and in your wisdom have fitted human beings to rule the creatures you have made…, grant me Wisdom, consort of your throne…Dispatch her from the holy heavens, send her forth from your throne of glory….” (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-3,10).
This is why the Wisdom of Solomon is found in Israel’s Greek version of the Septuagint—which is Israel’s first full copy of Torah, the prophets, the psalms, and Proverbs together. Composed around the same time, an early list of Christ people’s writings— the Muratorian fragment—also cites the Wisdom of Solomon as part of gospel writings, even though the word “Jesus” is not even found in the Wisdom of Solomon.
Because the Wisdom of Solomon belonged to early collections of Israel’s scripture as well as early Christ people writings, today’s Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopalian Bibles include the Wisdom of Solomon. So even though the Wisdom of Solomon is not recognized by Protestant Christians, it is a widely celebrated Christian scripture, and its picture of the divine female Wisdom is associated with Jesus by Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
Shrinking or increasing the size of our Bibles
This is one of many examples of how some Christian groups, persons, and denominations make their scripture smaller and narrower. This not only happens with the fiat of many Christian denominations, but it also represents the way millions of Christians treat and practice the Bible.
When many Christians claim later and narrower Christian creeds as a defining part of their beliefs, they unintentionally or deliberately leave out many parts of the broader Bibles (like the Catholics’ scriptures and the ancient and modern Ethiopian Bibles). This then has become a way that Christian biblical practice has for many groups, denominations, and persons made the Bible into a judgmental, narrow, and hurtful instrument.
My proposal is to own the larger reality of Bibles and scripture in which the poetry, stories, letters, and wisdom take their largest and most flexible expressions. May we breathe more deeply, let a wider variety of this literature marinate inside us, and allow contradictions, innovations, open-ended meanings to loosen our grips and invite more learning from Bible and scripture.
What a beautiful, helpful post! Thank you so much for this.
The Mind is like a parachute, It Only Works When It’s Open ! Wisdom Is The Application Of Knowledge! The Fear Of God Is The Beginning Of Knowledge, It is To Be Desired More Than Silver Or Gold !
Solomon is not the author of “The Wisdom of Solomon”, nor is Jesus mentioned. Yet, wisdom is a female deity that resembles Jesus? The divine female wisdom. A substitute. Expand your mind, right, about female deities? There are historical books written by man, where we gain info. about historical facts, and there is Scripture, sacred texts given by God. The Books of the Old Testament are 39 in Protestantism, and 27 in the New Testament. Wisdom comes from God when reading His Word. Faith is strengthened, knowledge expanded, inspiration given. Bottom line, Jesus is Lord and Savior. That is all anyone needs to know. The New Testament proves The Old Testament prophecies. The Jew believes with his mind. He needs evidence. The Christian believes with his heart. He has been redeemed, and feels it. Both are important for reaching the supernatural truth about God.
One must keep an open mind. Les you be misled. These books have been revealed for a reason. We have the choice to believe what we want. What your Spirit tells you is right. There is always 3 sides to the truth. Yours, Mines & The Truth. It is possible to be taught something for years that is not correct. That’s why you must read it for yourself, investigate it for yourself. The God in you will remove the falsities. Man lies, God does not! Man twists things! God does not! Don’t be upset with someone if they don’t believe as you do. We are not Robots! God gave us CHOICE!
I agree.
Well said Shawna. I say all the time to people that it is the spirit of Wisdom within you that is to determine what is worthwhile and what is not with regards to the Truth with a capital T. I’d like to suggest that anyone interested in the Book of Wisdom, which to me is a revelation of the holy Spirit herself, choose the “Jerusalem Bible” (Alexander Jones editor)
NOT “The NEW Jerusalem bible” which is the officially approved Catholic version. The New Jerusalem bible totally dumbs down the poetry nature of the 1966 version and so its ability to transport the reader is lost. If you put them side by side and compare passages you will see what I mean. J.R.R. Tolkein of Lord of the Rings is one of the translation collaborators of the 1966 jerusalem but his name only appears in the hard cover version.
Catholicism has Mary being the feminine representation within God but that is false as the Book of Wisdom shows.
The Holy Spirit is representative of the feminine within God
and the Word, is the masculine. (the word was made flesh)
Christianity endlessly uses “The Word” relegating its meaning to the bible alone.
But one cannot say, “in the beginning was the Bible”
but it CAN be said, “In the beginning was the Word.”
End of Genesis One
And God said, “Let US create man and woman in our image.”
Who is this “us”?
That was the Word speaking to the Holy Spirit !
All that was created, came to birth through the Holy Spirit, through the feminine,
just as we came to birth through our mothers who are God’s created imagery of the Holy Spirit.
“Apply your minds to reason and your hearts to the Truth” and study the Book of Wisdom, especially starting in chapter 7
with the Spirit as your measure as to what the true meaning is. I know it from an experience in 1971 but it is easily proven in the Book of Wisdom, that the Holy Spirit, Wisdom is the feminine within the Creative/Receptive, the Masculine/Feminine of God.
The fact that Jesus said, “If you receive the Spirit that I will send, you receive me.” doesn’t change the fact that the Spirit is the mother, the comforter.”
Similarly Jesus said, “How often have i longed to gather you under my wings as a MOTHER hen receives her chicks.”
All the best to all you honest seekers.
Terry
Where can I find a list of these 263 books? Thanks
Hey so I didn’t grasp it as first but if you compile the bibles from Ethiopia, Judaism, Catholic, Christian, Greek Orthodox, Protestant and Syriac, you should be able to get the first 100 books or so.
Then you get the Talmud and add the 63 tractates from there that’ll leave you at 163 books. Then add the newest 100 ancient biblical related writings that have been discovered in the last 3 centuries or so, you get the 263 or so books he mentions. Not sure if this helps you but I needed to figure it out myself.
If your looking for a straight up list that states each of the 263 books/ writings, it occured to me after maybe that’s what you meant, not sure where to find it but if you do please write back to me here or even email me. I would also like that list myself. Maybe it’s up to one of us to compile it.
Dear Many Colleagues who have responded to my July 28, 2021, “Bible and Beyond” for the Early Christian Texts,
And thank you for all comments both within this Early Christian Texts website, your personal comments to me, and the many frames of reference you have found in The Bible and Beyond blogs.
I’m not sure next steps I can provide. I doubt that there is a much more definitive and/or complex writing blog level to be produced without doing something on the level of a book. But in that regard, I already have written 16 books, most of whom have primarily biblical frames of reference. And, of course, my book called A New New Testament: A Bible for the Twenty-First Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts, that is 603 pages long, is broadly hailed, and is still selling at a good pace after 12 years.
The next thing to say is that my work is not perfect, even though it is one of the most broad contemporary efforts. Alongside the obvious imperfections, all of this kind of work also must be seen as a broad set of lenses and kinds of “Bibles.” That is, there is simply not a singular Bible. As this recent blog post of mine says clearly: those biblical projects of the last something like 3,250 years of “bibles” has a whole lot of different dimensions.
Or another way of framing this huge bunch of kinds of “Bibles” recognizes that Bibles are a combinations of them that are ancient in ways that show how many of those ancient Bibles now no longer are completely understandable and there are other Bibles that will be bigger, smaller, and different in the future.
Many thanks for your engaging many kinds of Bibles and for contributing to future versions of them.
Is there a book that has all 263 books inside one book if so where can I find it
If only! Wouldn’t that be great to find a book with all these texts neatly laid out for us? It hasn’t happened yet. I think the point Dr. Taussig is making is that when the printing press began to collect books into certain groupings, and various Christian groups began to organize their preferred texts, we started having ‘books’ called Bibles. But if someone were to try to gather ALL of the known texts together, we would be able to find about 263 of them. And yet, who knows? There may yet be more still to be discovered! And then we’d need to make another, bigger Bible.