<P> Many scholars believe that the limits of the Ketuvim as canonized scripture were determined by the Council of Jamnia c. 90 CE . Against Apion, the writing of Josephus in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "...no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable ..." For a long time following this date the divine inspiration of Esther, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes was often under scrutiny . </P> <P> The Tanakh was mainly written in biblical Hebrew, with some small portions (Ezra 4: 8--6: 18 and 7: 12--26, Jeremiah 10: 11, Daniel 2: 4--7: 28) written in biblical Aramaic, a sister language which became the lingua franca for much of the Semitic world . </P> <P> The Septuagint, or the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and some related texts into Koine Greek, begun in the late 3rd century BCE and completed by 132 BCE, initially in Alexandria, but in time it was completed elsewhere as well . It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised . </P> <P> As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Greek Bible expanded . The Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the Nevi'im, had various hagiographical works incorporated into it . In addition, some newer books were included in the Septuagint, among these are the Maccabees and the Wisdom of Sirach . However, the book of Sirach, is now known to have existed in a Hebrew version, since ancient Hebrew manuscripts of it were rediscovered in modern times . The Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like Daniel and Esther, are longer than those in the Jewish canon . Some of these deuterocanonical books (e.g. the Wisdom of Solomon, and the second book of Maccabees) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek . </P>

It is what it is in the bible