Many hands
~0writers
Human authors
Kings and shepherds, a doctor and a tax collector — writing across 1,500 years.
Debated
The story
Traditional attribution counts roughly 40 human authors: Moses, David the king, Solomon, the prophet Amos (a shepherd and fig-farmer), Daniel (an exile in Babylon), Luke (a physician), Matthew (a tax collector), Peter (a fisherman), and Paul (a Pharisee turned missionary), among others. The exact number is approximate because some books are anonymous and a few authorship questions are debated.
How we count
'~40' is traditional. Several books are anonymous, and some authorship is debated by scholars.
Sources
See our full methodology on the How we count page.