Old Testament – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, book of Numbers and Deuteronomy – reached their present form in the Persian period (538–332 BC), and their authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled the Temple at that time. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, forming a history of Israel from the Conquest of Canaan to the Siege of Jerusalem c. 587 BC. There is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work (the so-called "Deuteronomistic history") during the Babylonian exile of the 6th century BC. The two Books of Chronicles cover much the same material
Leviticus Rabbah 23, 31-34, 36, 37). In this, Leviticus Rabbah differs from the Pesikta, for in the Pesikta the individual explanations are seldom lacking. And while the Pesikta rarely quotes lengthy homiletic excerpts after the proems, Leviticus Rabbah quotes such materials after the conclusion of a proem, in the course of each chapter, and even toward the end of a chapter. These excerpts have often very slight reference to the context. But otherwise Leviticus Rabbah carefully follows the form of the Pesikta. The end of each chapter in Leviticus Rabbah, like the Pesikta, consists of a passage containing a Messianic prophecy. The