A passagebypassage analysis follows, which draws useful insights on old testament ritual from modern social anthropology. The hebrew bible roughly equates to the 39 books of the protestant old testament, but it is composed of 24 books that are. There are 39 books or 46 books in the old testament scripture depending on which biblical canon you accept. In the end, god promises to give israel great abundance and success if it obeys these laws. The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of. Pentateuch law of moses the book of genesis answers the question, where did all this come from. In christianity, the old testament is the name of the first part of the bible, the one written before jesus christ. On the other hand the books of the new testament were written after the birth of jesus of nazareth. Mouseover table to find how may verses are in a book by chapter. 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 christian old testament books are divided into the following categories. 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. Ecclesiastes, the song of songs, job, the books of the prophets isaiah. 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. The discrepancy occurs because ezra and nehemiah are counted as one book, as are each of the followingfirst and second kings. 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. The twelve the minor prophets, considered one book. If you count the letters in the words old testament there are three letters in old and nine in testament. The stories of the old testament take place over a period of 2,000 years.
Originally, the number of books in the bible was 49. Sometimes judges and ruth are also conflated, as are jeremiah and lamentations, making for 22 books, the number attested by josephus c. In christianity, the old testament is the collection of books that form the first of the twopart christian biblical canon. At one time, numbers may have contained an account of the occupation of canaan that was dropped when the tetrateuch genesis, exodus. Then 3 squared equals 9, so there are 39 books in the old testament. They discuss the creation of man and the development of the nation of israel. As the name suggests these five books contain what is called israels. If israel is disobedient, though, god will send destruction and famine and abhor the israelites 26. On the other hand, the new testament is a collection of 27 books. There are 39 total books in the old testament, divided into five groups. The author of the first five old testament books is believed to be moses. How many chapters, verses, and words are in the bible. Books of the bible list order complete new and old testament. Structure of the old testament for christian teens.
Who has not read the old testament and the new testament. Both the roman catholic and protestant bibles have thirtynine books in the old testament and twentyseven in the new. If you took a run of the mill, you would have the following. 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.
Number of books in the old testament a knowledge archive. Easily memorize the old testament books with a phone. List of the divisions in the hebrew scriptures old. Most modern versions of the bible contain 66 books, 39 in the old testament and 27 in the new testament. Exodus describes the history of the israelites leaving egypt after slavery. The first 17 books of the old testament are considered historical, because they outline the history of the hebrew people. Number of verses per book in the bible new testament number of verses by book and chapter new testament bible stats. Exodus enslavement, moses, ten plagues, passover, leave egypt, red sea crossing, mt. 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.
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. Number of books in the new testament a knowledge archive. If you count the letters of old testament there are three letters in old and nine in testament. As the books now stand, the promise is fulfilled in the book of joshua. Genesis creation, the fall, the flood, the spread of the nations, abraham, isaac, jacob, and joseph. Then take 3 x 9 27, the number of books in the new testament.
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. How many chapters in the bible old testament new testament. How many books are in the old testament, and how many in the. Both jews and christians believe these texts to be holy. The first five genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy are also known at the pentateuch, and they define hebrew law. Questions concerning the origin and contents of the single books are proposed and answered in articles on the respective books. Osee hosea the author of the book of zechariah about b. 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. The number of old testament books not counting the apocrypha stands at 39. 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 old testament has 39 books total, which consist of.
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. The old testament or jewish tanakh is the first book of the bible. This is why many christian teens get confused about the stories in the old testament. In total, the old testament has 260 chapters, which in this piece are divided among 27 books. The following table contains a list of the 39 old testament books as listed in a typical protestant bible. Old testament 39 books catholic old testament 46 books eastern orthodox old testament 49 books original language torah law.
Books of the king james bible kjv including the new testament and old testament from the king james bible online. 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. The number of books constituting the canon of old testament scripture varies among different religious groups. Together with the new testament, the total number of books is 49 which is the. A popular survey of the old testament is designed to help ordinary people enrich their understanding of old testament people and events. The quran calls the first five books of the old testament the tawrat in judaism, the collection of inspired books is known as tanakh.
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. Which also happens to be the number of books in the old testament. First century jews believed there were 22 holy books that comprised the complete number of their divine scriptures. 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. Prophetic books isaiah to malachi excluding lamentations. But in almost all modern versions it is common to numerate the old. Genesis speaks of beginnings and is foundational to the understanding of the rest of the bible. The book of the bible is also known as holy bible or sacred scriptures and texts. The protestant bibles have 39 books and the catholic bibles have 46 which include an. What is the number the books in the old testament answers. It is important to know which books belong in the old testament since it makes.
What is the total number of books in the old testament and. 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. The doubts which arose should be attributed largely to a reaction against the apocryphal or pseudobiblical writings with which the east especially. It would be a mistake to suppose that all of the contents found in the old testament books that bear the names of prophets.
The old testament is represented by the first 39 books in most christian bibles. In the original bible, there were 22 books in the old testament as this number was significant to the hebrew peoples. The 66 books of the bible study resources blue letter bible. The 66 books of the bible can be split into nine sections. I have written a short article on this subject if you wish to study it further catholic vs. A list of books with brief descriptions of contents. 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 books of the old testament, though, are not necessarily placed in chronological order. List of books and articles about old testament online.