Page "Tanakh" Paragraph 5

According to the Talmud ( Bava Batra 14b-15a, Rashi to Megillah 3a, 14a ), much of the contents of the Tanakh was compiled by the Men of the Great Assembly ( Anshei K ' nesset HaGedolah ), a task completed in 450 BCE, and have remained unchanged since that date.

Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BCE and 200 CE.

A popular position is that the Torah was canonized circa 400 BCE, the Prophets circa 200 BCE, and the Writings circa 100 CE, perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia.

This position, however, is increasingly criticised by modern scholars.

Some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty ( 140-37 BCE ).

Today, there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Jewish canon was set.