The thread of this chapter will be the combination of oral and written communication and transmission in the formation and dissemination of the Hebrew scriptural canon. Let us begin by asking who knew the contents of the canonized literature, when and in what form. In Hecataeus of Abdera's account of Jewish history (end of fourth century BCE; for the text see Stern 1976: I, 20–35), one can see the outline of a Pentateuchal narrative, at least from Exodus to Numbers or Deuteronomy, suggesting that this Greek living in Egypt was familiar, at first or second hand, with the story they contained. However, since he goes on to say that the Jews have never had a king, he and his sources were apparently unaware of the stories of Joshua–Kings or of Chronicles. Perhaps these had simply not been translated into Greek, but if his sources were written, why does he deviate from even the Pentateuchal narrative? A century later, Ben Sira seems to know the content of most of the books, and a scroll of twelve prophets—but probably not Ezra or even parts of the Pentateuch. Another century later the writer of 1 Maccabees is aware of Abraham, Joseph, Phinehas, David, Elijah and the book of Daniel—or at least some of its stories (2:51–60)—while the more or less contemporary writer of Jubilees knows the Pentateuch in detail.