For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9
Spring 2003 Volume 4, Issue 2 |
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The Old Testament is a library of 39 books, written in the Hebrew language, with minor portions written in the Aramaic language. The purpose of this article is to take a look at the books of the Old Testament and their division. We will also take a look at how the Hebrews divided the books. THE HEBREW DIVISION The first people to divide the Old Testament scriptures were the Hebrews. The Hebrew scriptures were divided into the same 39 books that we use in our English Bible today, but they were not in the same order and they only had three divisions: the Law, Prophets, and Writings. The Law: The Hebrews called the first five books of the Old Testament the Law. These books also have other names; Torah, Five Books of Moses, and Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word that means five books. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the books included in this section of Hebrew scriptures. The Prophets: This section of Hebrew scripture has a total of 21 books included some historical information but mostly these books dealt with the messages and instructions given to God's people through the prophets in the Old Testament. Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Writings: The final 13 books of the Hebrew scriptures were called the Writings. There were 13 of these books and they were "known as the Hagiographa" and were divided into 3 sections: (1) Job, Psalms, and Proverbs were called the devotional books. They were used during services held in the synagogue. (2) Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther were known as the Five Rolls. It is believed that these books were read as lessons during festivals. (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles were |
considered supplements to the other books that spoke of the History of the Hebrew people. The Hebrews worked very hard to ensure that good copies of the scriptures were passed on from generation to generation. The books the Hebrews used for the Old Testament were finally compiled and put together around A. D. 90. During the next section of our lesson we take a look at the English Bible and its division of the Old Testament. THE ENGLISH BIBLE DIVISIONS The English Bible also has 39 books in its Old Testament. The English version of the Bible has divided the books of the Old Testament in many different ways. For the purposes of this lesson we will take a look at the following division of the Old Testament: Law, History, Poetry, and Prophecy. The Law: The first five books of the English Bible are also called the Law. These books were written by Moses and teach us about the creation, the law, priesthood, sacrifices, and other valuable lessons. These books also go by other names (refer to the section on Law under the Hebrew Division). Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the books of Law in the English version of the Bible. The Books of History: The next 12 books are called the Books of History. These books teach us about the History of the Hebrew (Jewish) people. Specifically, these books teach us about the Jewish people and God's dealings with his people before they went into captivity for disobeying his word. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are the Books of History in the English Bible. The Books of Poetry: The next five books are called the Books of Poetry. Some people refer to these books as Devotional Books because it is believed that at least two were read as lessons during times of festival. | |
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