Old Testament · book 4
Numbers
What tradition claims
Moses
1410 BC – 1400 BC
Critical scholarship
700 BC – 450 BC
The gap
Claimed start: 1410 BCGap: 780 yearsEarliest MS: 625 BCtoday
Earliest manuscript: Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls
Earliest complete copy
Claimed start: 1410 BCGap: 2,413 yearsEarliest MS: 1008today
Earliest manuscript: Leningrad Codex
Notes
Numbers 6:24-26 (the Priestly Blessing) is the only passage from the entire Hebrew Bible directly attested in pre-exilic archaeology — engraved on the Ketef Hinnom silver amulets (~625 BCE).
All witnesses on file (1)
- Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls · 650 BC – 587 BC (~625 BC)