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#REDIRECT [[The Old Testament#Organization]]
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[[Home]] > [[The Old Testament]] > [[Old Testament: Organization | Organization]]
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The purpose of this page is to explain the logic behind the order in which the books of the King James Old Testament are arranged, and where each book fits within that collection. The place of each book in Israel's history is not discussed here, but is instead addressed at [[Historical Overview of the Old Testament]].  This page (excluding footnotes) should remain short enough to read in about fifteen minutes.
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__toc__
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The human brain has difficulty making sense of more than about five items at a time. This means that people will naturally find it hard to comprehend a list of all 39 books of the Old Testament. If that list can be broken up into something closer to 5 groups of 5 items each, then it becomes much easier to make sense of the Old Testament as a whole, to understand how the parts relate to each other, and to begin conquering the parts one at a time.
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 +
Protestant Bibles, including the King James Version, arrange the 39 books of the Old Testament in four groups, further subdivided into a total of six groups. The books within each group are arranged in mostly chronological order:
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{| cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"
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|- valign="top"
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| width="33%" |
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'''I. The Law'''
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* [[Genesis | Genesis (Gen)]]
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* [[Exodus | Exodus (Ex)]]
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* [[Leviticus | Leviticus (Lev)]]
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* [[Numbers | Numbers (Num)]]
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* [[Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy (Deut)]]
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'''II-a. First History Cycle'''
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* [[Joshua | Joshua (Josh)]]
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* [[Judges | Judges (Judg)]]
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* [[Ruth | Ruth (Ruth)]]
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* [[Samuel | Samuel (1 Sam, 2 Sam)]]
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* [[Kings | Kings (1 Kgs, 2 Kgs)]]
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'''II-b. Second History Cycle'''
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* [[Chronicles | Chronicles (1 Chr, 2 Chr)]]
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* [[Ezra | Ezra (Ezra)]]
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* [[Nehemiah | Nehemiah (Neh)]]
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* [[Esther | Esther (Esth)]]
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| width="34%" |
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'''III. Wisdom / Poetry'''
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* [[Job | Job (Job)]]
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* [[Psalms | Psalms (Ps)]]
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* [[Proverbs | Proverbs (Prov)]]
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* [[Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes (Eccl)]]
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* [[The Song of Solomon | The Song of Solomon (Song)]]
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'''IV-a. Major Prophets'''
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* [[Isaiah | Isaiah (Isa)]]
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* [[Jeremiah | Jeremiah (Jer)]]
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* [[Lamentations | Lamentations (Lam)]]
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* [[Ezekiel | Ezekiel (Ezek)]]
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* [[Daniel | Daniel (Dan)]]
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| width="33%" |
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'''IV-b. Twelve Minor Prophets'''
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* [[Hosea | Hosea (Hosea)]]
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* [[Joel | Joel (Joel)]]
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* [[Amos | Amos (Amos)]]
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* [[Obadiah | Obadiah (Obad)]]
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* [[Jonah | Jonah (Jonah)]]
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* [[Micah | Micah (Micah)]]
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* [[Nahum | Nahum (Nahum)]]
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* [[Habakkuk | Habakkuk (Hab)]]
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* [[Zephaniah | Zephaniah (Zeph)]]
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* [[Haggai | Haggai (Hag)]]
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* [[Zechariah | Zechariah (Zech)]]
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* [[Malachi | Malachi (Mal)]]
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|}
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Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish Bibles differ by including additional books known as the "Apocrypha" and by arranging books in different sequences. See [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/91?lang=eng D&C 91] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_the_Bible Wikipedia: Books of the Bible].
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== The Law ==
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The first group of books in the Old Testament is the "Law," also known as the "Torah," the five books of Moses, or the "Pentateuch." These books set forth the origin of the House of Israel as God's covenant people and the law that Israel had to obey in order to enjoy its God-given right to possess the land of [[Canaan]].
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'''[[Genesis |1. Genesis]]''' is the founding story of the House of Israel. It recounts the creation of the world, Abraham's genealogy back to Adam, Abraham's special covenant relationship with God, the passing of that Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac and then to Jacob, and how that covenant then passed not only to one favored son but to all of Jacob's descendants as a group.
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'''[[Exodus |2. Exodus]]''' recounts God's deliverance of Israel from bondage in [[Egypt]] including the ten plagues, the Passover, and the destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. It also recounts how Israel entered into the Sinai Covenant with God, under which Israel agreed to obey God, including the Ten Commandments, and God promised that Israel would be his covenant people and would be given the promised land of Canaan. Exodus also recounts the construction of the Tabernacle.
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'''[[Leviticus |3. Leviticus]]''', the central book of the five, contains very little narrative apart from the establishment of the Levitical Priesthood. In contrast to Exodus and Deuteronomy, the rules prescribed in Leviticus generally relate to ritual cleanliness and holiness. The central chapter prescribes the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in which Israel is symbolically cleansed and reconciled with God.
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'''[[Numbers |4. Numbers]]''' begins with the preparations for Israel to leave Sinai and go conquer Canaan. In the middle portion Israel refuses to enter Canaan. In response, God accuses Israel of provoking him ten times, as did Pharaoh, and decrees destruction upon this rebellious Generation 1 that came up out of [[Egypt]] with Moses. Forty years later, after all of Generation 1 has finally passed away, faithful Generation 2 is prepared to enter and conquer Canaan.
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'''[[Deuteronomy |5. Deuteronomy]]''' consists almost entirely of a single long sermon by Moses repeating the conditions set forth in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers under which Israel would enjoy possession of Canaan. Generation 2 then renews the Sinai Covenant to obey God, be his people, and to (finally) possess the promised land of [[Canaan]].
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== History ==
 +
 
 +
The second group of books in the Old Testament is history. These historical books are arranged in two subgroups or "cycles." The first cycle was written before the Babylonian Captivity, and the second cycle was written after the Babylonian Captivity.
 +
 
 +
=== First history cycle ===
 +
 
 +
The first historical cycle from Joshua to Kings is also known as the "Former Prophets." It is also known as the "Deuteronomistic History" because it recounts Israel's successes and failures in maintaining an inheritance in the promised land under the covenant of complete conquest as those terms were spelled out in Deuteronomy.
 +
 
 +
The Law given through Moses spells out the laws that Israel must obey. In contrast, the Deuteronomistic History does not continue adding to that list of laws. This distinction explains why Genesis - Deuteronomy and Joshua - Kings are placed in separate groups, even though there is no gap at all as the story moves from one book to the next, and even though the books in both groups explain Israel's prosperity in terms of its obedience to those laws.
 +
 
 +
'''[[Joshua |6. Joshua]]''' picks up the story less than a month after Deuteronomy left off. The prophet Joshua succeeded Moses and led the faithful Generation 2 to conquer much of [[Canaan]].
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'''[[Judges |7. Judges]]''' recounts how the next Generation 3 violated three key requirements of the covenant of complete conquest: no idolatry, no intermarriage with foreigners, and no foreign alliances. The "covenant of complete conquest" was therefore replaced with a "covenant of partial conquest" in which gentiles were left in the land to stir up the Israelites to remember God, in much the same way that the Lamanites would later scourge the Nephites. By the end of Judges the Israelites had spiraled nearly into self-destruction.
 +
 
 +
'''[[Ruth |8. Ruth]]''' married Boaz during the time of the Judges. This book suggests that individuals, even non-Israelites such as Ruth, can live faithfully and be blessed by God, even though Israelite society as a whole is descending into wickedness.
 +
 
 +
'''[[Samuel |9-10. Samuel]]''' begins about 1050 BC. It recounts the reign of the final judge Samuel and of the kings Saul and David. During this time Israel had kings, but it was still using the tabernacle rather than a temple.
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'''[[Kings |11-12. Kings]]''' tells the 400 year story the first Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Solomon. The first part recounts the reign of Solomon and the dedication of the temple in 961 BC. After Solomon, the kingdom divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. A century later, around 850 BC, the middle part of Kings dwells on the ministries of Elijah and his successor Elisha. Another century later in 723 BC [[Assyria]] conquered the Northern Kingdom and carried off the Lost Ten Tribes. The last part of Kings relates the story of the remaining Southern Kingdom of Judah until it submitted to [[Babylon]] another century later in 605 BC. Many were carried away north to [[Babylon]], others fled south to [[Egypt]], and following two Jewish rebellions, [[Babylon]] destroyed the temple in 587 BC.
 +
 
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So far the organization of the Old Testament has been straightforward from Genesis through Kings.
 +
 
 +
=== Second history cycle ===
 +
 
 +
The second subgroup of historical books is often called the "Post-Exilic Historical Cycle" because it was written after the Babylonian Captivity or Babylonian Exile. Judaism after the Babylonian Captivity is also known as "Second Temple Judaism," so this cycle is also often called the "Second Temple Historical Cycle."
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'''[[Chronicles |13-14. Chronicles]]''' was written after the Babylonian Captivity (605-538 BC). But Chronicles does not pick up the story where Kings left off. Chronicles instead begins with nine chapters of genealogy going back to Adam, a chapter on King Saul (r. 1049-1009 BC), nineteen chapters on King David, and generally covers the same five hundred years of history as Samuel and Kings. Chronicles ends with four verses recounting the Babylonian Captivity, the fall of [[Babylon]] to [[Persia]], and the Persian emperor Cyrus’s announcement in 538 BC allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.
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'''[[Ezra |15. Ezra]]''' picks up the story as Zerubbabel and the first group of exiles returns to Jerusalem and in 516 BC dedicated the second Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Zerubbabel. Ezra then led a second group of returning exiles in 458 BC.
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'''[[Nehemiah |16. Nehemiah]]''' led the third and last known group of returnees to Jerusalem in 444 BC and rebuilt the city wall. Ezra and Nehemiah are often treated as two parts of a single book.
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'''[[Esther |17. Esther]]''' is set between Ezra and Nehemiah and tells how Esther married the [[Persian]] king and then in 474 BC prevented a palace plot to destroy the Jews.  This concludes the second historical cycle and recounts the last historical events in the Old Testament.
 +
 
 +
== Wisdom / poetry ==
 +
 
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The third group of books in the Old Testament is generally called either wisdom literature or poetry.
 +
 
 +
'''[[Job |18. Job]]''' follows a single narrative plot throughout its 42 chapters. Job is narrative poetry, much like the Greek epics and Beowolf, but without the violence. Job likely lived at least as early as the Israelite exodus from Egypt to Canaan.
 +
 
 +
The other books grouped as wisdom or poetry, '''[[Psalms]]''', '''[[Proverbs]]''', '''[[Ecclesiastes]]''' and the '''[[The Song of Solomon | Song of Solomon]]''', are collections of short poems that generally stand on their own without reference to the order in which they are arranged, although Proverbs does have some structure in the opening and closing chapters. Much of Psalms is attributed to David, and the other three books are traditionally attributed to Solomon.
 +
 
 +
== Prophets ==
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 +
The fourth and last group of books in the Old Testament is the prophets, often called the "latter prophets" to distinguish them from the "former prophets" of Joshua-Kings. A distinction is commonly drawn between the four major prophets and the twelve minor prophets.
 +
 
 +
=== Major prophets ===
 +
 
 +
'''[[Isaiah |23. Isaiah]]''' was the first of the major prophets. He ministered in the Southern Kingdom when the Northern Kingdom was carried off by [[Assyria]].
 +
 
 +
'''[[Jeremiah |24. Jeremiah]]''' ministered a century later when the Southern Kingdom was carried off by [[Babylon]].
 +
 
 +
'''[[Lamentations |25. Lemantations]]''' is a short book of five poems written by the prophet Jeremiah. It is not grouped with the other books of wisdom and poetry, but instead grouped with the major prophets immediately following the book of Jeremiah.
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 +
'''[[Ezekiel |26. Ezekiel]]''' also ministered when the Southern Kingdom was carried off by [[Babylon]].
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'''[[Daniel |27. Daniel]]''' was carried off to [[Babylon]] as a child.
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=== Minor prophets ===
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The twelve minor prophets are often referred to collectively as the "Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets" or simply the "Book of the Twelve."
 +
 
 +
(1) '''[[Joel]]''' could have been either the first or among the very last of the twelve minor prophets, or almost anywhere in between. There is no scholarly consensus on this point.
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 +
(2-5) Four of the minor prophets ministered during the divided kingdoms period: '''[[Jonah]]''' and '''[[Amos]]''' ministered in the Northern Kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam II. '''[[Hosea]]''' and '''[[Micah]]''' later ministered in the Southern Kingdom at the same time as Isaiah when [[Assyria]] conquered and carried off the Northern Kingdom and then invaded but failed to conquer the Southern Kingdom.
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 +
(6-8) Another three ministered in the Southern Kingdom between the [[Assyrian]] and [[Babylonian]] invasions: '''[[Nahum]]''', '''[[Zephaniah]]''', and '''[[Habakkuk]]'''.
 +
 
 +
(9-12) The last four ministered after [[Babylon]] conquered the Southern Kingdom. '''[[Obadiah]]''' probably ministered soon after the Babylonian conquest. Following [[Babylon | Babylon's]] fall to [[Persia]], Ezra mentions that both '''[[Haggai]]''' and '''[[Zechariah]]''' ministered after the Jews returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the temple. '''[[Malachi]]''' ministered later, about the same time as Nehemiah.
 +
 
 +
Of the minor prophets, only Obadiah is probably arranged far out of chronological order.
 +
 
 +
== Resources ==
 +
 
 +
''This heading is for listing links and print resources, including those cited in the notes. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →''
 +
 
 +
 
 +
== Notes ==
 +
 
 +
''Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves, such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word. In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources are preferable to footnotes.''
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* This page takes its historical facts from [[Historical Overview of the Old Testament]] and relies upon that page's documentation.
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<references/>
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----
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  Go to the [[The Old Testament | Old Testament]] main page

Revision as of 00:31, 23 December 2017

Home > The Old Testament > Organization


The purpose of this page is to explain the logic behind the order in which the books of the King James Old Testament are arranged, and where each book fits within that collection. The place of each book in Israel's history is not discussed here, but is instead addressed at Historical Overview of the Old Testament. This page (excluding footnotes) should remain short enough to read in about fifteen minutes.



The human brain has difficulty making sense of more than about five items at a time. This means that people will naturally find it hard to comprehend a list of all 39 books of the Old Testament. If that list can be broken up into something closer to 5 groups of 5 items each, then it becomes much easier to make sense of the Old Testament as a whole, to understand how the parts relate to each other, and to begin conquering the parts one at a time.

Protestant Bibles, including the King James Version, arrange the 39 books of the Old Testament in four groups, further subdivided into a total of six groups. The books within each group are arranged in mostly chronological order:

I. The Law

II-a. First History Cycle

II-b. Second History Cycle

III. Wisdom / Poetry

IV-a. Major Prophets

IV-b. Twelve Minor Prophets

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish Bibles differ by including additional books known as the "Apocrypha" and by arranging books in different sequences. See D&C 91 and Wikipedia: Books of the Bible.

The Law

The first group of books in the Old Testament is the "Law," also known as the "Torah," the five books of Moses, or the "Pentateuch." These books set forth the origin of the House of Israel as God's covenant people and the law that Israel had to obey in order to enjoy its God-given right to possess the land of Canaan.

1. Genesis is the founding story of the House of Israel. It recounts the creation of the world, Abraham's genealogy back to Adam, Abraham's special covenant relationship with God, the passing of that Abrahamic Covenant to Isaac and then to Jacob, and how that covenant then passed not only to one favored son but to all of Jacob's descendants as a group.

2. Exodus recounts God's deliverance of Israel from bondage in Egypt including the ten plagues, the Passover, and the destruction of Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea. It also recounts how Israel entered into the Sinai Covenant with God, under which Israel agreed to obey God, including the Ten Commandments, and God promised that Israel would be his covenant people and would be given the promised land of Canaan. Exodus also recounts the construction of the Tabernacle.

3. Leviticus, the central book of the five, contains very little narrative apart from the establishment of the Levitical Priesthood. In contrast to Exodus and Deuteronomy, the rules prescribed in Leviticus generally relate to ritual cleanliness and holiness. The central chapter prescribes the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in which Israel is symbolically cleansed and reconciled with God.

4. Numbers begins with the preparations for Israel to leave Sinai and go conquer Canaan. In the middle portion Israel refuses to enter Canaan. In response, God accuses Israel of provoking him ten times, as did Pharaoh, and decrees destruction upon this rebellious Generation 1 that came up out of Egypt with Moses. Forty years later, after all of Generation 1 has finally passed away, faithful Generation 2 is prepared to enter and conquer Canaan.

5. Deuteronomy consists almost entirely of a single long sermon by Moses repeating the conditions set forth in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers under which Israel would enjoy possession of Canaan. Generation 2 then renews the Sinai Covenant to obey God, be his people, and to (finally) possess the promised land of Canaan.

History

The second group of books in the Old Testament is history. These historical books are arranged in two subgroups or "cycles." The first cycle was written before the Babylonian Captivity, and the second cycle was written after the Babylonian Captivity.

First history cycle

The first historical cycle from Joshua to Kings is also known as the "Former Prophets." It is also known as the "Deuteronomistic History" because it recounts Israel's successes and failures in maintaining an inheritance in the promised land under the covenant of complete conquest as those terms were spelled out in Deuteronomy.

The Law given through Moses spells out the laws that Israel must obey. In contrast, the Deuteronomistic History does not continue adding to that list of laws. This distinction explains why Genesis - Deuteronomy and Joshua - Kings are placed in separate groups, even though there is no gap at all as the story moves from one book to the next, and even though the books in both groups explain Israel's prosperity in terms of its obedience to those laws.

6. Joshua picks up the story less than a month after Deuteronomy left off. The prophet Joshua succeeded Moses and led the faithful Generation 2 to conquer much of Canaan.

7. Judges recounts how the next Generation 3 violated three key requirements of the covenant of complete conquest: no idolatry, no intermarriage with foreigners, and no foreign alliances. The "covenant of complete conquest" was therefore replaced with a "covenant of partial conquest" in which gentiles were left in the land to stir up the Israelites to remember God, in much the same way that the Lamanites would later scourge the Nephites. By the end of Judges the Israelites had spiraled nearly into self-destruction.

8. Ruth married Boaz during the time of the Judges. This book suggests that individuals, even non-Israelites such as Ruth, can live faithfully and be blessed by God, even though Israelite society as a whole is descending into wickedness.

9-10. Samuel begins about 1050 BC. It recounts the reign of the final judge Samuel and of the kings Saul and David. During this time Israel had kings, but it was still using the tabernacle rather than a temple.

11-12. Kings tells the 400 year story the first Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Solomon. The first part recounts the reign of Solomon and the dedication of the temple in 961 BC. After Solomon, the kingdom divided into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. A century later, around 850 BC, the middle part of Kings dwells on the ministries of Elijah and his successor Elisha. Another century later in 723 BC Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom and carried off the Lost Ten Tribes. The last part of Kings relates the story of the remaining Southern Kingdom of Judah until it submitted to Babylon another century later in 605 BC. Many were carried away north to Babylon, others fled south to Egypt, and following two Jewish rebellions, Babylon destroyed the temple in 587 BC.

So far the organization of the Old Testament has been straightforward from Genesis through Kings.

Second history cycle

The second subgroup of historical books is often called the "Post-Exilic Historical Cycle" because it was written after the Babylonian Captivity or Babylonian Exile. Judaism after the Babylonian Captivity is also known as "Second Temple Judaism," so this cycle is also often called the "Second Temple Historical Cycle."

13-14. Chronicles was written after the Babylonian Captivity (605-538 BC). But Chronicles does not pick up the story where Kings left off. Chronicles instead begins with nine chapters of genealogy going back to Adam, a chapter on King Saul (r. 1049-1009 BC), nineteen chapters on King David, and generally covers the same five hundred years of history as Samuel and Kings. Chronicles ends with four verses recounting the Babylonian Captivity, the fall of Babylon to Persia, and the Persian emperor Cyrus’s announcement in 538 BC allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

15. Ezra picks up the story as Zerubbabel and the first group of exiles returns to Jerusalem and in 516 BC dedicated the second Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Zerubbabel. Ezra then led a second group of returning exiles in 458 BC.

16. Nehemiah led the third and last known group of returnees to Jerusalem in 444 BC and rebuilt the city wall. Ezra and Nehemiah are often treated as two parts of a single book.

17. Esther is set between Ezra and Nehemiah and tells how Esther married the Persian king and then in 474 BC prevented a palace plot to destroy the Jews. This concludes the second historical cycle and recounts the last historical events in the Old Testament.

Wisdom / poetry

The third group of books in the Old Testament is generally called either wisdom literature or poetry.

18. Job follows a single narrative plot throughout its 42 chapters. Job is narrative poetry, much like the Greek epics and Beowolf, but without the violence. Job likely lived at least as early as the Israelite exodus from Egypt to Canaan.

The other books grouped as wisdom or poetry, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, are collections of short poems that generally stand on their own without reference to the order in which they are arranged, although Proverbs does have some structure in the opening and closing chapters. Much of Psalms is attributed to David, and the other three books are traditionally attributed to Solomon.

Prophets

The fourth and last group of books in the Old Testament is the prophets, often called the "latter prophets" to distinguish them from the "former prophets" of Joshua-Kings. A distinction is commonly drawn between the four major prophets and the twelve minor prophets.

Major prophets

23. Isaiah was the first of the major prophets. He ministered in the Southern Kingdom when the Northern Kingdom was carried off by Assyria.

24. Jeremiah ministered a century later when the Southern Kingdom was carried off by Babylon.

25. Lemantations is a short book of five poems written by the prophet Jeremiah. It is not grouped with the other books of wisdom and poetry, but instead grouped with the major prophets immediately following the book of Jeremiah.

26. Ezekiel also ministered when the Southern Kingdom was carried off by Babylon.

27. Daniel was carried off to Babylon as a child.

Minor prophets

The twelve minor prophets are often referred to collectively as the "Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets" or simply the "Book of the Twelve."

(1) Joel could have been either the first or among the very last of the twelve minor prophets, or almost anywhere in between. There is no scholarly consensus on this point.

(2-5) Four of the minor prophets ministered during the divided kingdoms period: Jonah and Amos ministered in the Northern Kingdom during the reign of Jeroboam II. Hosea and Micah later ministered in the Southern Kingdom at the same time as Isaiah when Assyria conquered and carried off the Northern Kingdom and then invaded but failed to conquer the Southern Kingdom.

(6-8) Another three ministered in the Southern Kingdom between the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions: Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk.

(9-12) The last four ministered after Babylon conquered the Southern Kingdom. Obadiah probably ministered soon after the Babylonian conquest. Following Babylon's fall to Persia, Ezra mentions that both Haggai and Zechariah ministered after the Jews returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the temple. Malachi ministered later, about the same time as Nehemiah.

Of the minor prophets, only Obadiah is probably arranged far out of chronological order.

Resources

This heading is for listing links and print resources, including those cited in the notes. A short comment about the particular strengths of a resource can be helpful. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →


Notes

Footnotes are not required but are encouraged for factual assertions that average readers cannot easily evaluate for themselves, such as the date of King Solomon’s death or the nuanced definition of a Greek word. In contrast, insights rarely benefit from footnoting, and the focus of this page should always remain on the scriptures themselves rather than what someone has said about them. Links are actively encouraged on all sections of this page, and links to authoritative sources are preferable to footnotes.




                                                                 Go to the Old Testament main page