The Integrity of the Biblical Canon in Light of Its Historical ...

114 Bulletin for Biblical Research 6
and the Kings, the latter being two books, not four) are also, and
obviously, balanced with the four Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets—the latter Twelve were
always combined into one book). He claims that collection of twentythree
books was possible only during one period in Israel's history,
namely, in the postexilic Persian period when the Hebrew alphabet
included twenty-three characters. He contends that this augmentation
came when #$ and #& were two distinct forms in the Hebrew
alphabet. 47 He even argues that the final editors of the Hebrew biblical
canon, without the addition of Daniel, were Ezra and Nehemiah. 48
Although Freedman offers a unique suggestion supplying us with
impressive data and helpful information on the development of the
Hebrew alphabet, as well as adding clarity to our understanding of
Psalms 25 and 34, there are difficulties with his proposals, some of
which are quite obvious. First, it is interesting that with the amazing
parallels that he has found with the use of the computer that this symmetry
was not noticed or observed earlier in the rabbinic tradition.
Second, why is it that this twenty-three book canon is never mentioned
in antiquity? The virtual silence about the matter is puzzling
if a balanced symmetry was intended by the ancient scribes and
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necessary if the books were in immediate sequence, that is, if Psalms, Job, and Proverbs
were placed between Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. If this is correct, it would
dull the argument made by Bruce regarding Luke 11:49-51 which we noted above
(The Canon of Scripture, 31).
47. A part of Freedman's evidence for this proposal comes from Psalms 25 and 34,
which have 23 lines rather than the 22 when it is obvious that the limits of the Hebrew
alphabet is intended to parallel the lines of the two psalms. Notice, for instance, that the
first line of Psalm 34 begins with the letter aleph ()), the middle line begins with lamed
(l), the middle of the Hebrew alphabet, and the concluding line begins with the letter
taw (t), the conclusion of the alphabet, but the total number of lines is 23 instead of 22.
Compare this to the organization of Psalm 119, which begins each section with a successive
letter of the 22 character Hebrew alphabet. According to Freedman, this condition
of a 23 letter Hebrew alphabet existed only between 450 and 350 BCE. He argues
that the near perfect symmetry of the 23 book Hebrew Bible and the 23 character
alphabet coincided at only this time in history, and the later attempts to establish 22 or
24 book canons based on the Hebrew alphabet varied because this 23 character alphabet
was not considered, and consequently books like Ruth (which belongs to the Writings
and more specifically the megillot, or smaller books of the Writings) and Lamentations
(another of the megillot) were added to Judges (Former Prophets) and Jeremiah (Latter
Prophets) respectively. The Hebrew Bible, he says, contained 24 books only when the
Book of Daniel was included. Freedman shows a number of other parallels to argue his
case, including that the variations in actual letter counts come as a result of the later
tendencies to add more vowels than did the earlier writers of the Hebrew Bible ("Symmetry"
103-4).
48. Freedman, "Symmetry," 105-6. We should note that the association of Ezra's
name with the Books of Moses in rabbinic tradition is quite strong and also includes
his name on the Torah. See t. Kelim B. M. 5.8.