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The Old Testament > Organization

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Introduction

The King James Version of the Bible arranges the books of the Old Testament in four groups:

1. The Law: Genesis to Deuteronomy

2. History: Joshua to Esther

3. Poetry or Wisdom: Job to Psalms

4. Prophecy: Isaiah to Malachi

Within each group (except poetry), books are arranged in generally chronological order.

The main focus of this page is on the relation of each book to its place in the Old Testament. Click here for a page focused primarily on Old Testament history and the relationship of each book to that history.

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; Wikipedia: Books of the Bible.

The Law, or the five books of Moses

The first group of books in the Old Testament is the five books of Moses, also known as the "Law," the "Torah," or the "Pentateuch."

Genesis is the background. It explains the creation of the world and mankind, Israel’s special relationship with God through the Abrahamic Covenant, and the establishment of the House of Israel when Israel's son Joseph forgives his brothers and, for the first time, the birthright son and his brothers remain together. The first half of Exodus recounts the ten plagues, the Passover, and Israel's escape from Egypt probably around 1300 BC.

In the middle of Exodus, Moses ascends Mount Sinai and receives the Ten Commandments. But while Moses is on the mountain, the people reject God by building and worshipping a golden calf. In the middle of the fourth book, Numbers, the Israelites and ten of the twelve men sent to spy out Canaan refuse to enter the promised land. In response the Lord accuses Israel of testing him ten times, as did Pharaoh, and decrees destruction on this 1st Generation that came up out of Egypt with Moses. Zion can be understood as a covenant relationship involving a king, a people, a law, and a place. And in the Doctrine & Covenants, the law of the Ten Commandments is repeatedly associated with the establishment of Zion.^[1] In Exodus the people rejected the king as the law was being received, and in Numbers when the people also reject the place, the Lord rejects the people.

The central book of the five is Leviticus, which contains very little narrative history apart from the establishment of the Levitical Priesthood. The central chapter prescribes the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year. The central passage in that chapter recounts the placing of the congregation's sins on a single scapegoat and the sacrifice of a second goat to make reconciliation between God and the entire congregation. This central passage of the five books of Moses points to Christ and his atoning sacrifice.

The second half of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy recount Moses’ efforts to prepare the 2nd Generation to enter the promised land. Most of Deuteronomy consists of three long speeches in which Moses lays out the "Deuteronomistic Covenant," or the conditions under which Israel will - as part of the Abrahamic Covenant set out at the beginning in Genesis - be blessed to conquer and occupy 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.

Deuteronomistic history, or former prophets

The first subgroup from Joshua to Kings is often called the "Former Prophets." It is also called the "Deuteronomistic History" since it recounts Israel's successes and failures in maintaining an inheritance in the promised land under the terms spelled out in the covenant of complete conquest in Deuteronomy.

Joshua succeeded Moses probably around 1250 BC and led the faithful 2nd Generation to conquer much of Canaan.

Judges recounts how the succeeding generations violated three key requirements of the covenant of complete conquest: throwing down pagan altars, not intermarrying with gentiles, and not forming alliances with gentile nations. The "covenant of complete conquest" was therefore replaced with a "covenant of partial conquest" in which gentile peoples are left in the land to stir up the Israelites unto remembrance of their 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. During this time Ruth married Boaz.

Samuel begins probably around 1050 BC. It recounts the reigns of Saul and David. During this time Israel had kings, but it was still using the tabernacle rather than a temple.

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 about 960 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 721 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 fell to Babylon another century later in 597 BC. Many were carried away north to Babylon, others fled south to Egypt, and within a few years Babylon destroyed the temple in 586 BC.

Post-exilic historical cycle

So far the organization of the Old Testament has been straightforward from Genesis through Kings. The second subgroup of historical books is often called the "Post-Exilic Historical Cycle" since it was written after the Babylonian Captivity or Babylonian Exile.

During the Babylonian Captivity the Jews were prohibited from returning to Jerusalem. But Persia conquered Babylon in 538 BC and a year later allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Chronicles was then written. 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, nineteen chapters on King David, and generally covers the same historical ground as Samuel and Kings. Chronicles ends with four verses recounting the Babylonian Captivity, the fall of Babylon to Persia, and the Persian emperor Cyrus’ announcement in 537 BC for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

Ezra picks up the story in 537 BC as the first group of exiles returned to Jerusalem and in 515 BC dedicated the second Jerusalem temple, also known as the Temple of Zerubabbel. Esther married the Persian emperor Xerxes and in about 484 BC prevented a palace plot to destroy the Jews. Nehemiah then returned to Jerusalem in 444 BC and rebuilt the city wall. Ezra and Nehemiah are often treated as two parts of a single book. This concludes the second historical cycle and recounts the last historical events in the Old Testament.

Poetry, or wisdom

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

Job follows a single narrative plot throughout its 42 chapters. It is narrative poetry, much like the Greek epics and Beowolf, but without the violence. Proverbs has some structure in the opening and closing chapters, but many chapters in the middle simply collect one-line sayings.

The other books of poetry, Psalms, 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.

Lamentations is a short book of five poems written by Jeremiah, so it is placed immediately following Jeremiah rather than being grouped with the other books of poetry.

Prophets, or latter prophets

The 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 and the twelve minor prophets.

Major prophets

The first of the major prophets was Isaiah, who ministered in the Southern Kingdom when the Northern Kingdom was carried off by Assyria. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both ministered a century later when the Southern Kingdom was carried off by Babylon. Daniel was another generation younger and 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) There is no scholarly consensus regarding when Joel lived. He could have been either the first or among the very last of the twelve minor prophets.

(2-5) Four of the minor prophets ministered during the divided kingdoms period: Jonah and Hosea in the Northern Kingdom, Amos who lived in the southern Kingdom but preached in the Northern Kingdom, and then Micah who lived in the Southern Kingdom at the same time as Isaiah when the Northern Kingdom was conquered by Assyria.

(6-9) Another four ministered in the Southern Kingdom after the Northern Kingdom was carried off by Assyria but before the Babylonian Captivity: Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Only Obadiah is arranged obviously far out of chronological order.

(10-12) The last three ministered shortly after the Babylonian Captivity. Haggai and Zechariah are both mentioned by Ezra, and Malachi ministered probably after Ezra but before Nehemiah.

Footnotes

1. ↑ D&C 42, 59, 68, 136

Additional resources

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