This chapter seeks to examine afresh the passage in the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b–15a, the locus classicus for Rabbinic views on the order and authorship of the Biblical books, referred to as such in the standard Introductions to the Old Testament; usually, it must be said, without any real understanding either of the passage itself or the nature of the Talmudic literature in general. Among modern introductory works in which reference is made to this passage are W. Robertson Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church; S. R. Driver, An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament; R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament; A. Bentzen, Introduction to the Old Testament; O. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament An Introduction; and Peake's Commentary to the Bible. In these and similar works the passage is quoted as the views of ‘the Rabbis’, with little attempt at considering questions of dating or how typical the passage is of Rabbinic opinion or whether, indeed, the passage forms a unit or is a composite work.

Before looking at the passage in detail, one or two observations are in order regarding its place in the Talmudic literature. Tractate Bava Batra deals with jurisprudential topics – conveyancing, inheritance, and the like – and seems, at first glance, to be the last place in which to expect a discussion on the Biblical books. The reason why the passage appears where it does is, following the usual pattern of Talmudic material, by association.