The Rabbis on the Authorship of Biblical Books

And who wrote [the books of the Bible]? Moses wrote his own book, [i.e., the Torah,] and the portion of Balaam [in the Torah], and [the book of] Job. Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses in the Torah, [which describe the death of Moses]. Samuel wrote his own book, [the book of] Judges, and [the book of] Ruth. David wrote the book of Psalms by means of ten elders [of previous generations, assembling a collection that included compositions of others along with his own. He included psalms authored] by Adam the first [man], by Melchizedek [king of Salem], and by Abraham, and by Moses, and by Heman, and by Jeduthun, and by Asaph, and by the three sons of Korah.

Jeremiah wrote his own book, and the book of Kings, and Lamentations. Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote [the following, and] a mnemonic [to remember which books they wrote is] yod, mem, shin, kuf: Isaiah (Yeshayah), Proverbs (Mishlei), Song of Songs (Shir ha-shirim), and Ecclesiastes (Kohelet). The members of the Great Assembly wrote [the following, and] a mnemonic [to remember these books is] kuf, nun, dalet, gimmel: Ezekiel (Yeḥezkel), and the Twelve Prophets (Sheneym ‘asar), Daniel (Daniel), and the Scroll of Esther (Megillat ’Esther). Ezra wrote his own book and the genealogy of [the book of] Chronicles until his [period].

[This] supports Rav, as R. Judah says [that] Rav says: Ezra did not ascend from Babylonia [to the land of Israel] until he established his own genealogy, and [after that he] ascended. [This genealogy is what is written in the book of Chronicles.] And who completed [the book of Chronicles for the generations following Ezra]? Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah.

[The Gemara elaborates on the particulars of this baraita:] The Master said [above that] Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses of the Torah. [This baraita] is taught in accordance with the one who says that [it was] Joshua [who] wrote the last eight verses in the Torah. [This point is subject to a tannaitic dispute,] as it is taught [in another baraita]: And Moses the servant of the Lord died there (Deuteronomy 34:5); is it possible that after Moses died, he himself wrote And Moses died there? Rather, Moses wrote [the entire Torah] until this point, [and] Joshua wrote from this point forward; [this is] the statement of R. Judah. And some say [that] R. Nehemiah [stated this opinion].

R. Simeon said to him: Is it possible [that the] Torah scroll was missing a single letter? But it is written: Take this Torah scroll (Deuteronomy 31:26), [indicating that the Torah was complete as is and that nothing further would be added to it]. Rather, until this point the Holy One dictated and Moses repeated [after Him] and wrote [the text]. From this [point] forward, [with respect to Moses’ death,] the Holy One dictated and Moses wrote with tears. [The fact that the Torah was written by way of dictation can be seen] later, as it is stated [concerning the writing of the Prophets]: And Baruch said to them: He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the scroll (Jeremiah 36:18).