Origin of the Old Testament
Traditional Judaism and Christianity accept that God is the ultimate source of the Old Testament. This belief is generally accepted because it is clear from a reading of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that the first century Jews believed that to be the case. Also, in the New Testament, Peter writes “all scripture is given by inspiration of God”. (Since the New Testament had not yet been compiled at the time Peter wrote those words, he was talking about what you and I now call the Old Testament.)
Additionally, various Old Testament passages convey the belief that it originated from God. For example David said in Psalm, “thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11) and “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” Psalm 119:105. These, and other passages convey that first century and Old Testament saints believed that God originated the Old Testament.
However, there are no available original writings, referred to as original manuscripts. There are only early copies of original manuscripts, none of which are believed to be the first made copies. In other words, there are only copies of copies. I will address this further at a later time, probably under the Tough Topics section on this website.