The English word “Bible” comes from the Latin “biblia” and the Greek “biblos”. The term means book, or books, and may have originated from the ancient Egyptian port of Byblos (in modern-day Lebanon), where papyrus used for making books and scrolls was exported to Greece.
Other terms for the Bible are the Holy Scriptures, Holy Writ, Scripture, or the Scriptures, which mean sacred writings.
The Bible is a compilation of 66 books and letters written by more than 40 authors during a period of approximately 1,500 years. Its original text was communicated in just three languages. The Old Testament was written, for the most part, in Hebrew, with a small percentage in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek.
The Old Testament has 39 books. The New Testament has 27 books. The Old Testament was written before Christ. The New Testament was written after Christ. The Old Testament deals with Origins and Israel under the Law. The New Testament deals with Grace, with Christ fulfilling the Law for all mankind, with the Holy Spirit separating a ‘Church’ unto Himself.
The Bible is divided into two sections. The first section, called the Old Testament, takes up origins, as well as the history, of the Jews; the nation through whom the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come. The second section, called the New Testament, begins with the birth and life of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. It then proceeds to trace the origin of the church, as well as the teachings and principles given to the church.
According to Jewish custom, the Old Testament is divided into three major sections: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Neviim) and the Writings (Kethuvim). Often, the Jewish Bible is referred to as the “Tanak,” an acronym based on the Hebrew names of the division of the Old Testament.
Most Protestants divide the Old Testament into five sections: 1-The Law, 2-History, 3-Poetry, 4- Major Prophets, 5-Minor Prophets.
The first five books of the Bible, traditionally ascribed to Moses, are historically named the “Pentateuch”, since the second century A.D. “Penta” is from the Greek prefix “Pente”, meaning “five”. So the “Pentateuch” means the “five rolls,” denoting the five scrolls these books were written upon.
Law:
The five books of Moses, in the Old Testament, are as follows:
1-Genesis, 2-Exodus, 3-Leviticus, 4-Numbers, 5-Deuteronomy
The works of Moses are generally considered “Law”; with the term originating from the Hebrew word “Torah”, meaning “instruction” to the Israelites.
Highlights from the Pentateuch include: the promise of a Savior (Genesis 3:15), the stories of the fathers, or patriarchs of Israel, the captivity and exodus of Israel from Egypt, and the commissioning of Joshua as the leader of Israel.
History Books:
The English Bible classifies the following books of the Old Testament as Historical books: 1-Joshua, 2-Judges, 3-Ruth, 4-1 & 2 Samuel, 5-1 & 2 Kings, 6-1 & 2 Chronicles, 7-Ezra, 8-Nehemiah, 9-Esther.
These books contain the history of Israel, from the death of Moses to the captivity of Israel by the Babylonians. While these books do contain the history of Israel, they do not read like modern history books. The history of Israel is interpreted and written in light of their theology and understanding that God controls all acts of history.
Highlights from the historical books include: The leadership of Joshua, The military occupation of Canaan, The rise of two Israelite Kingdoms — North and South, The Babylonian captivity of Israel.
Poetry and Wisdom Books of the Old Testament:
In the Protestant Bible, the following books are contained in the Poetry and Wisdom books of the Bible: 1-Job, 2-Psalms, 3-Proverbs, 4-Ecclesiastes, 5-Song of Solomon.
These books contain wisdom proverbs, poetry, prayers and songs from the Hebrews.
Some highlights and facts from the Poetry and Wisdom books of the Bible: approximately one-third of the Old Testament is in poetic form; Solomon, considered the wisest man to live in the Bible, contributes writings in the Wisdom books; Rhyme is not a feature of Hebrew Poetry; and Contrast of the “wise” and the “foolish” in the Wisdom books.
The Major Prophets:
There are 17 prophetic books of the Old Testament; which may further be divided into the Major and Minor prophets, on the basis of the respective length of each book. The distinction does not denote importance or theological contribution. We know that the distinction between the Major and Minor prophets has been in place since the time of St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.).
The role of the prophet was to pronounce the Word of God. Martin Luther states that contributions of the prophets are two-fold: 1. their prophecies regarding salvation to come through the Promised Messiah and 2. the preaching of the Law and the Commandments to the people.
The activity of the prophets ranged from the 8th century B.C. to the 5th century when prophetic activity ceased. Thus, there is overlap of the activity of the prophets and the Historical books of the Old Testament.
The Bible books of the Major Prophets include: 1-Isaiah, 2-Jeremiah, 3-Lamentations, 4-Ezekiel, 5-Daniel.
Facts and Highlights from the Major Prophets include: 1-Christians believe that the “Suffering Servant” portions of Isaiah (Is.52:13-53:12) speak of Jesus Christ. 2-Ezekiel has a vision of the New Temple. 3-Daniel is the only apocalyptic book in the Old Testament.
The “Minor” Prophets:
Twelve of the 17 books of the Prophets in the Bible are the so-called “Minor Prophets.” In the Hebrew Bible, these Minor Prophets are styled “The Twelve” and were grouped together in the early second century B.C.
The books of the Minor Prophets, or “The Twelve”, are: 1-Hosea, 2-Joel, 3-Amos, 4-Obadiah, 5-Jonah, 6-Micah, 7-Nahum, 8-Habakkuk, 9-Zephaniah, 10-Haggai, 11-Zechariah, 12-Malachi.
Themes and highlights from the Minor Prophets include: Israel’s spiritual adultery, God’s faithfulness to Israel, Jonah is swallowed by a great sea monster, Joel and Malachi describe the Day of the Lord, The prophet Amos was a shepherd and “fig-picker” before being called as the Lord’s prophet (Amos 7:14), Habakkuk contains the verse “…the righteous shall live by faith”, moving Martin Luther to bring about the Reformation.
To summarize, there are four major divisions in the Old Testament:
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1-The Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch (Genesis – Deuteronomy)
2-The Historical Books (Joshua – Esther)
3-Poetry and Wisdom Books (Job – Song of Solomon)
4-The Prophets (Isaiah – Malachi; may be further divided into the Major and Minor Prophets)
By understanding the divisions of the Old Testament books of the Bible, you will readily understand what portions of Scripture you are reading and how they relate to the other major divisions of the Bible.
Click here to go to Lesson Two – Overview of the Bible – New Testament