Endnote 2 – Susanna

This is known as the Alexandrian Canon Hypothesis. It was first proposed by J.S. Semler, Abhandlung von freier Untersuchung des Canons, I (Halle, 1771). Scholars subscribing to this theory could point out that for a Jewish scroll to be canonical (literally “to defile the hands”) it had to be not only divinely inspired (literally “spoken by the Holy Spirit” [Tosefta Yadayim 2:14; Babylonian Talmud Megillah 7] but must also be written on parchment, in ink, in the original Hebrew or Aramaic language, and in the square script (Mishnah Yadayim 4:5).