The christian old testament books are divided into the following categories. A passagebypassage analysis follows, which draws useful insights on old testament ritual from modern social anthropology. Wellillustrated with color photos, charts, and maps, and written in an easy, informal style, this survey discusses the themes of the various groups of old testament books. Many scholars have thus maintained that the first six books of the old testament form a literary unit, of which numbers is an integral part. Most modern versions of the bible contain 66 books, 39 in the old testament and 27 in the new testament. The old testament contains 39 protestant, 46 catholic, or more orthodox and other books, divided, very broadly, into the pentateuch torah, the historical books, the wisdom books and the prophets. On the other hand the books of the new testament were written after the birth of jesus of nazareth.
Originally, the number of books in the bible was 49. Who has not read the old testament and the new testament. As you may know, the catholic and protestant bibles differ in the number of books that each considers to be divinely inspired. Exodus enslavement, moses, ten plagues, passover, leave egypt, red sea crossing, mt. While protestant and jewish bibles have thirtynine old testament books, the bible used by roman catholic and eastern orthodox christians include the thirtynine books and several additional writings. Together with the new testament, the total number of books is 49 which is the. In christianity, the old testament is the name of the first part of the bible, the one written before jesus christ. How many chapters, verses, and words are in the bible. The number of books constituting the canon of old testament scripture varies among different religious groups. The stories of the old testament take place over a period of 2,000 years. How many chapters in the bible old testament new testament. David brackett sent in a better method for remembering the number of books in the bible. The number of old testament books not counting the apocrypha stands at 39.
Number of books in the old testament a knowledge archive. Which also happens to be the number of books in the old testament. The quran calls the first five books of the old testament the tawrat in judaism, the collection of inspired books is known as tanakh. If israel is disobedient, though, god will send destruction and famine and abhor the israelites 26. Both jews and christians believe these texts to be holy. At one time, numbers may have contained an account of the occupation of canaan that was dropped when the tetrateuch genesis, exodus. As the name suggests these five books contain what is called israels. On the other hand, the new testament is a collection of 27 books. This is why many christian teens get confused about the stories in the old testament. The old testament contains the origin and creation of the universe, the exodus from egypt, the formation of israel the prophets and the wisdom books. The old testament or jewish tanakh is the first book of the bible. I have written a short article on this subject if you wish to study it further catholic vs.
In the old testament period, god did not reveal his word to humanity by means of just one book, but rather by a number of books that were written over a one thousand year time span. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series. Chapters and verses of the bible old testament bible stats number of verses by book and chapter old testament thebible. The number of books in the bible differs between branches of religious faith. In total, the old testament has 260 chapters, which in this piece are divided among 27 books. In the end, god promises to give israel great abundance and success if it obeys these laws. Structure of the old testament for christian teens. Mouseover table to find how may verses are in a book by chapter. While all christians have the same twentyseven new testament books, they disagree regarding the number of books in the old testament canon. If you took a run of the mill, you would have the following. Pentateuch law of moses the book of genesis answers the question, where did all this come from. A popular survey of the old testament is designed to help ordinary people enrich their understanding of old testament people and events.
Versions of the old testament the old testament was written in hebrew, with a small portion in aramaic parts of the books of daniel, ezra, and jeremiah. Each bible will have a different number as the translators try to accurately communicate the sense of the original hebrew, aramaic and greek, but the differences should be small. They discuss the creation of man and the development of the nation of israel. Number of verses per book in the bible new testament number of verses by book and chapter new testament bible stats. It would be a mistake to suppose that all of the contents found in the old testament books that bear the names of prophets. As the books now stand, the promise is fulfilled in the book of joshua. Osee hosea the author of the book of zechariah about b. If you count the letters in the words old testament there are three letters in old and nine in testament. The author of the first five old testament books is believed to be moses. Ecclesiastes, the song of songs, job, the books of the prophets isaiah.
Number of books in the new testament a knowledge archive. Books of the king james bible kjv including the new testament and old testament from the king james bible online. The first 17 books of the old testament are considered historical, because they outline the history of the hebrew people. Genesis speaks of beginnings and is foundational to the understanding of the rest of the bible. The first books of the old testament to appear in the approximate form in which we have them today are the ones attributed to the prophets. The protestant bibles have 39 books and the catholic bibles have 46 which include an. See old testament books back to bible history online. The 66 books of the bible can be split into nine sections. But the laws in leviticus also set aside an annual day of atonement during which the priest is to offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of the.
The hebrew bible roughly equates to the 39 books of the protestant old testament, but it is composed of 24 books that are. In the original bible, there were 22 books in the old testament as this number was significant to the hebrew peoples. Then take 3 x 9 27, the number of books in the new testament. The book of the bible is also known as holy bible or sacred scriptures and texts. List of books and articles about old testament online. Genesis is the story of how israel began as a nation, but the author tells this story as a series of beginningsstarting with the creation of the universe gn 1. Interestingly, these writings included parts of every single book of the old testament minus the book of esther. The first five genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy are also known at the pentateuch, and they define hebrew law.
Instead of a few manuscripts, scholars uncovered a library of writings from the essene community including various books from the old testament, commentaries on old testament books, and other extrabiblical literature. The canon of the old testament during the fourth, and first half of the fifth, century in this period the position of the deuterocanonical literature is no longer as secure as in the primitive age. Questions concerning the origin and contents of the single books are proposed and answered in articles on the respective books. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying orders, and sometimes divide or combine books. In the protestant canon, the bible has 66 books in total, with 39 in the old testament and 27 in the new testament, according to ministerbook. Prophetic books isaiah to malachi excluding lamentations. The number of books and chapters in most protestant bibles will be the same. The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of. The old testament is represented by the first 39 books in most christian bibles. There are 39 books or 46 books in the old testament scripture depending on which biblical canon you accept.
Sometimes judges and ruth are also conflated, as are jeremiah and lamentations, making for 22 books, the number attested by josephus c. What is the total number of books in the old testament and. Old testament 39 books catholic old testament 46 books eastern orthodox old testament 49 books original language torah law. The 66 books of the bible study resources blue letter bible. The books of the old testament, though, are not necessarily placed in chronological order. The discrepancy occurs because ezra and nehemiah are counted as one book, as are each of the followingfirst and second kings. The doubts which arose should be attributed largely to a reaction against the apocryphal or pseudobiblical writings with which the east especially. Then 3 squared equals 9, so there are 39 books in the old testament. If you count the letters of old testament there are three letters in old and nine in testament. There are 39 total books in the old testament, divided into five groups. But in almost all modern versions it is common to numerate the old. The following table contains a list of the 39 old testament books as listed in a typical protestant bible. The old testament abbreviated ot is the first part of the christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the twentyfour books of the hebrew bible or. The old testament has 39 books total, which consist of.
Both the roman catholic and protestant bibles have thirtynine books in the old testament and twentyseven in the new. Easily memorize the old testament books with a phone. A list of books with brief descriptions of contents. It is important to know which books belong in the old testament since it makes. The twelve the minor prophets, considered one book. Exodus describes the history of the israelites leaving egypt after slavery. What is the number the books in the old testament answers. First century jews believed there were 22 holy books that comprised the complete number of their divine scriptures. In christianity, the old testament is the collection of books that form the first of the twopart christian biblical canon.
1227 496 841 1616 1491 192 1583 636 933 628 1078 822 184 219 1146 1360 945 1308 516 182 345 362 719 1126 1200 85 1457 500 460 738 842 1252 1518 252 1479 248 74 626 95 1116 510 1467 276 1199 1441 656 680 815 569 1475