Eran Viezel

BT Bava Batra 14b–15a brings a list of all the books in the Bible, attributing an author to each one. This list, and the ensuing discussion, impacted Jewish tradition and rabbinical biblical research deeply. Sages who related to the question of the biblical authors considered themselves obligated to remain faithful to this list, and few deviated from it and offered original proposals of their own. This list was the focus of several studies which systematically considered it, and some of its details were discussed over the generations by dozens, if not hundreds, of rabbinic scholars. Common to all these deliberations and discussions is the assumption that the list of authors was compiled as a Tannaitic baraita. In accordance with this dating, some traditions regarding details in the list of authors were understood to postdate the baraita and generally were presented as influenced by it. Details in the list of authors that appear questionable were explained in the context of its early composition. In the following discussion, I wish to reexamine the list of authors, its sources, and its principles. As opposed to my predecessors, this examination will be unrestrained by the accepted premise that the list is a Tannaitic baraita. As will be clarified below, not only was the list not composed during the Tannaitic period, it should even be dated to after the Amoraic era. This new chronological understanding will allow me to fully reveal its sources, closely examine its composers’ considerations, and solve several difficulties and details included in the list which were explained, over the generations, only partially and sometimes even erroneously.