this synod (first and foremost the Mishna-tractate: Yad. 3.5) only say that it was confirmed that the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes ‘make the hands unclean’, that is, they were inspired. This did not silence all discussion, however.17 Later on, ‘the doubt’ was sometimes extended to include even the books of Ruth and Esther (b. Meg.7a).18 Evidently, there was no need for a definitive or explicit delimitation until c. CE 100. In the period before this date, we can only point to those writings which