Some less familiar ones.

1. Some less familiar ones. • (30) Asaph. • Listed as one of “they whom David set over the service of song in the house of Jehovah” (1 Chron. 6:31).

2. Of Kohath, Heman the singer (1 Chron. 6:33), of Gershom, Asaph (1 Chron. 6:39-43), and of Merari, Ethan or Jeduthun (1 Chron. 6:44). • These three are mentioned prominently in the organization of the worship of the Lord in connection with the sanctuary (1 Chron. 25:1-8). • Particularly, their sons are divided up into three groups to sing and play various instruments in praising God.

3. Psalm 50 and Psalms 73-83 are attributed to Asaph. • It seems that not all of these could have personally been written by him, such as 79, which describes the destruction of Jerusalem and the defiling of the temple (79:1), because these things would have happened long after he was dead. • Hezekiah commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with “the words of David, and Asaph the seer” (2 Chron. 30:30).

4. (31) Jeduthun. • Psalm 39 is “for Jeduthun.” • Psalms 62 and 77 are “after the manner of Jeduthun.” • Psalm 77, though written “after the manner of Jeduthun,” is called “a Psalm of Asaph.” • Therefore it is uncertain whether Jeduthun wrote any of these Psalms or whether they were merely written in a style he used, or for his performance.

5. (32) Heman. • One of the three mentioned above with Asaph and Jeduthun. • He was also one of the “sons of Korah” (1 Chron. 6:33-37). • Psalm 88 is attributed to him.

6. (33) Ethan the Ezrahite. • Psalm 89 is attributed to him. • This was not one of these three singers, but a wise man who was a contemporary of Solomon (1 Kings 4:31). • He was a man of Judah, one of the sons of Zerah (1 Chron. 2:3, 6).

7. (34) Sons of Korah. • These “sons” included men such as Heman whom we have already mentioned. • Therefore these songs written by the sons of Korah may have been written in part by Heman. • A number of the Psalms are attributed to them (42, 44-49, 84-85, 87).

8. (35) Nathan. • A very prominent prophet in the days of David, and a personal friend. • He wrote of the acts of David. • “Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer” (1 Chron. 29:29).

9. He was prominent in arranging the Levites for the worship of the Lord. • “And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and Gad the king’s seer. And Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah by His prophets” (2 Chron. 29:25).

10. He also wrote of the acts of Solomon. • “Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?” (2 Chron. 9:29).

11. (36) Gad. • One of the earliest of the prophets to deal with David (1 Sam. 22:5). • He was still alive and dealing with David much later (1 Chron. 21:9-18). • He wrote the “history of Gad the seer” (1 Chron. 29:29). • He was likewise prominent in arranging the Levites for the worship of the Lord (2 Chron. 29:25).

12. (37) Ahijah the Shilonite. • Ahijah prophesied toward the end of Solomon’s reign and into the time of Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:29-39). • The rest of the acts of Solomon were written in the “prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite” (2 Chron. 9:29).

13. (38) Iddo the seer. • We know nothing more about Iddo from the historical accounts. • The rest of the acts of Solomon were recorded in the “visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat” (2 Chron. 9:29). • The rest of the acts of Rehoboam are recorded in the “histories of Iddo the seer” (2 Chron. 12:15). • The rest of the acts of King Abijah are recorded in “the commentary of the prophet Iddo” (2 Chron. 13:22).

14. (39) Shemaiah. • Shemaiah was a prophet in Judah who was sent to Rehoboam to tell him not to go up to fight against Jeroboam to bring his kingdom back together (1 Kings 12:21-24; 2 Chron. 11:1-4). • The acts of Rehoboam were written in the “histories” or “words” of Shemaiah (2 Chron. 12:15).

15. (40) Writer of the book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18). • Jasher merely means “the upright,” and is probably not the name of a man. • We do not know who wrote this book, but it spanned far too long a time to be someone who wrote the entire thing as it happened. • It was known, however, as a book to the writers of the histories of the Old Testament.

16. (41) History of Hozai (the seers) (2 Chron. 33:19). • We know nothing specifically about this word, but it may include the works of men like Samuel, Gad and Iddo, all of whom were called “seers.”

17. As we come to the end of our survey of writers of the Old Testament there are several things that need to be said. • There were written records kept of the reigns of the various kings of Israel, just as there were in other lands and times. • I want to show you some of these.

18. Book of the acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41). • These records of the political, military, economic, and social deeds of the kings were not wholly reproduced in the Bible. • The Bible is a religious history. • Some of the facts included in the Bible about Solomon and other kings may have come from these other records, but there was no attempt to include them totally.

19. There is a reference that occurs over and over in 1 and 2 Kings. It is the “Book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.” • Following is a list of references where this “Book” is mentioned. • Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:19). • Nadab (1 Kings 15:31). • Baasha (1 Kings 16:5). • Elah (1 Kings 16:14).

20. Zimri (1 Kings 16:20). • Omri (1 Kings 16:27). • Ahab (1 Kings 22:39). • Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:18). • Jehu (2 Kings 10:34). • Jehoahaz (2 Kings 13:8). • Joash (2 Kings 14:15). • Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:28). • Zechariah (2 Kings 15:11). • Shallum (2 Kings 15:15). • Menahem (2 Kings 15:21). • Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:26). • Pekah (2 Kings 15:31).

21. There are a couple of interesting things about this list. • First, the omissions. • Jehoram, who was killed by Jehu in that bloody uprising, and Hoshea, the last king of Israel.

22. Second, these references prove the point that I made that the writers of the Biblical accounts made no effort to include everything written about a king’s reign, because time after time, one can look for information about these kings in the book of 2 Chronicles, but about most of them there is no information at all.

23. Likewise there is a reference that occurs over and over in the books of 1 and 2 Kings about the kings of Judah. • Book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. • Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:29). • Abijah (1 Kings 15:7). • Asa (1 Kings 15:23). • Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:45). • Jehoram (2 Kings 8:23).

24. Joash (2 Kings 12:19). • Amaziah (2 Kings 14:18). • Azariah (2 Kings 15:6). • Jotham (2 Kings 15:36). • Ahaz (2 Kings 16:19). • Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:20). • Manasseh (2 Kings 21:17). • Amon (2 Kings 21:25). • Josiah (2 Kings 23:28). • Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:5).

25. Likewise a couple of comments about this list. • The omissions are Ahaziah, who was slain at the time Jehorah was slain, and corresponding statements are missing for both of them.

26. Perhaps more is included from these “chronicles” about the kings of Judah, but the book of 2 Chronicles should not be equated with the chronicles of the kings of Judah referred to in all these passages. • These “chronicles” would have included a lot more information than we have. • But the records we have were chosen and preserved for specific spiritual purposes.

27. We need to remember that over the entire Old Testament the New Testament places the mantle of inspiration in such passages as 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Pet. 1:21 and all the many quotations we have given about the approval of these books by Jesus and the apostles.

28. We also have this interesting quotation from Josephus: "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have,] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times . . . . How firmly we have given credit to those books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them or take anything from them, or to make any change in them" (Against Apion, Book I, paragraph 8).

29. The Jews commonly list the number of books in the Old Testament as being 24. • They are: • Genesis - Deuteronomy (1-5). • Joshua (6). • Judges (7). • Samuel (1&2) (8). • Kings (1&2) (9).

30. Isaiah (10). • Jeremiah (11). • Ezekiel (12). • Minor Prophets (13). • Psalms (14). • Job (15). • Proverbs (16). • Ruth (17).

31. Song of Songs (18). • Ecclesiastes (19). • Lamentations (20). • Esther (21). • Daniel (22). • Ezra & Nehemiah (combined) (23). • Chronicles (24).

32. The 22 books referred to by Josephus are arrived at by including Ruth as a part of Judges and Lamentations as a part of Jeremiah. • In the years of silence the Jews recognized the same 39 books we recognize in the Old Testament, and Josephus acknowledges this.

33. The New Testament. • (42) Matthew. • From the earliest times, ascribed to Matthew. • He was an apostle of Jesus (Matt. 10:3). • Records his call (Matt. 9:9). • Probably the first to be composed.

34. (43) Mark. • Mark does not refer to himself by name in his account. • Many think that the record of Mark 14:51-52 is Mark’s reference to himself. • The New Testament refers to him often in Acts and the epistles. • He probably wrote after Matthew, sometime in the mid to latter sixties.

35. (44) Luke. • By comparing the introductions of Luke and Acts, plus internal evidence in the book of Acts we can clearly identify Luke as the writer of both books. • He, too, would have written his gospel not far from the time that Matthew and Mark wrote theirs. • Sometime in the sixties.

36. (45) John. • The last gospel to be written also wrote 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. • Refers to himself indirectly as “one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (13:23). • Written in large part to combat the rise of Gnosticism. • Late in the first century.

37. (46) Paul. • Identifies self by name in all his epistles. • The apostle to the Gentiles. • Wrote 13 epistles.

38. (47) Peter. • Identifies himself by name as the writer of 1 and 2 Peter. • An apostle of Jesus Christ.

39. (48) James. • Brother of the Lord. • Prominent in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21; Gal. 2:9). • (49) Jude. • Probably another brother of the Lord (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). • Written after 2 Peter.

40. (50) The Hebrew writer. • Many consider to writer to be Paul. • The style is very different from all Paul’s other letters. • He includes himself in the group to whom the apostles confirmed the message of salvation. • Probably written before the fall of Jerusalem.