Twenty-Two Books

And this is naturally done, or rather by necessity, given that not everyone is permitted to become a writer of his own accord; nor is there any disagreement as to what has been written. But only the prophets, by way of divine inspiration, learned the accounts related to the most distant and ancient times, and they composed clearly what took place in their own time, just as it happened.

We do not have endless numbers of books lacking harmony and contradicting one another; rather, there are only twenty-two books, comprising the records of the entire past, that are rightly believed. And among these, five belong to Moses, which contain both the laws and the traditions spanning the origins of mankind until [Moses’] death. This time span is slightly less than three thousand years. As for the time from the death of Moses until the reign of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia who succeeded Xerxes, the prophets who followed Moses wrote down the events of their own times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life. From the period of Artaxerxes until our present time, all events have been committed to writing, but they are not considered of the same authority as the earlier records, because there has not been a strict line of prophetic succession since that time. And it is evident by our actions how we approach our own scriptures. For despite so many ages having already passed, no one has been so bold as to either add, remove, or change anything in them. And it is natural to all Judeans, immediately from birth, to esteem these [scriptures] as the ordinances of God and to abide by them and even to die with pleasure on their behalf if it should be necessary. Many of our war captives, therefore, have often been seen in the theaters enduring torture racks and deaths of all kinds by reason of not giving up one word contrary to our laws and the records that contain them.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted by Aaron Samuels.