Besides
the Law, it appears that several other religious texts also informed the faith
and life of early Israelite history after the fifth century BCE. These other
texts, for example, include several lost religious texts circulating in Israel
well before, during, and after the time of Josiah’s reform in 621 BCE and they
apparently had some affect as religious texts on the Jewish people until around
the fifth to fourth centuries. These lost books include:
A.
In the Law or Torah: Books of the Wars of the Lord (Num 21:14)
B.
In Joshua, Judges, and 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings:
1. Book of Jashar (Josh 10:12-13; 2 Sam 1:18-27; 1 Kgs 8:12-13 in LXX)
2. Book of the Annals of the Kind of Judah (1 Kgs 14:19; 15:7, 23; 22:45; 2 Kgs
8:23; 12:18; 14:18; 15:6, 36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17, 15; 23:28; 24:5)
3.
Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel (1 Kgs 14:19; 15:31; 16:5, 14, 20,
27; 22:39; 2 Kgs 1:18; 10:34; 13:8, 12; 14:15, 28; 15:11, 15, 21, 26, 31)
4.
Book of Acts of Solomon (1 Kgs 11:41)
C.
In Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah:
1.
Book of the Kings of Israel (1 Chr 9:21; 2 Chr 20:34)
2.
Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chr 16:11)
3.
Book of Kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chr 27:7)
4.
Annals of the Kings of Israel (2 Chr 33:18)
5.
Records of the seer Samuel (1 Chr 29:29)
6.
Records of the seer Gad (1 Chr 29:29)
7.
Records of the seer Nathan (1 Chr 29:29)
8.
History of the Prophet Nathan (1 Chr 29:29)
9.
Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Chr 9:29)
10.
Visions of the seer Iddo (2 Chr 9:29)
11.
Records of the Prophet Shemaiah and the seer Iddo (2 Chr 12:15)
12.
Annals of Jehu the son of Hanani (“which are recorded in the Book of the Kings
of Israel”; 2 Chr 20:34)
13.
Records of the seers (2 Chr 33:19)
14.
Story of the prophet Iddo (2 Chr 13:22)
15.
Commentary on the Book of the Kings (2 Chr 24:27)
16.
A book written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz containing the history of
Uzziah (2 Chr 26:22)
17.
A vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Book of Kings of Judah and
Israel (2 Chr 32:32; cf. Isa 1:1)
18.
Annals of King David (1 Chr 27:24)
19.
Annals of your ancestors (Ezra 4:15)
20.
Book of the Annals (Neh 12:23)
21.
Additional book: “Laments” in 2 Chr 35:25 is not a reference to
Lamentations, but rather to a book evidently produced for or by Josiah that is
now lost.
Most
of these references come after the Josiah reforms and the exile, but some are
earlier and show that various unknown religious and historical texts played an
influential role in the life of ancient Israel before, during, and after
Josiah. . . . These books are all now lost, but they were evidently
authoritative books in ancient Israel. It appears that these informed the
authoritative collection of written texts before, during, and after the reforms
of Josiah. It is difficult to draw any conclusions about these lost books since
we do not know what was in them, though we have some broad indication from the
citations of the book of Jashur, but more importantly, the references to
prophets and seers are about those who were perceived to receive from God and
communicate to the people the will and word of God. (Lee Martin McDonald, The
Formation of the Biblical Canon, 2 vols. [London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark,
2017], 1:128-29)
