Book of Numbers twelve princes, one of each tribe. The majority of modern biblical scholars believe that the Torah (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) reached its present form in the post-Exilic period (i.e., after c.520 BCE), based on pre-existing written and oral traditions and "contemporary geographical and demographic details but even more importantly from contemporary political realities". The five books are often described as being drawn from four "sources" - schools of writers rather than individuals - the Yahwist and the Elohist (frequently treated as a single source), the Priestly source and the Deuteronomist. There is ongoing dispute over
Development of the Old Testament canon Church, first found as last chapter of the eighth book of the Apostolic Constitutions. Canon n. 85 of the "Ecclesiastical Canons of the Same Holy Apostles" is a list of canonical books, includes 46 books of Old Testament canon which essentially corresponds to that of the Septuagint. The Old Testament part of the Canon n. 85 stated as follows: Karl Josef von Hefele argues that "This is probably the least ancient canon in the whole collection"; even he and William Beveridge believe that the writings of the Apostolic Canons dating from end of the second or early of the third