The proper arrangement of the books of the Old Testament is in
the order named in the foregoing list. Both Jews and Christians,
however, have varied the order. The books of the Hagiographa, with the
exceptions of Ruth which follows Judges, Lamentations which follows
Jeremiah, and Daniel which appears among the Prophets, have been placed
between the Earlier and Later Prophets. In later Jewish versions
the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther,
called the five rolls, come immediately after the Pentateuch. In the
Christian Bibles of the Eastern churches, including the two most noted
ancient manuscripts, the Vatican and Alexandrian, the seven Catholic
Epistles, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude,
follow Acts and precede the Pauline Epistles.
In the accepted Hebrew the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament
formed but twenty-two, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. Judges and Ruth formed one book, First and Second
Samuel one, First and Second Kings one, First and Second Chronicles
one, Ezra and Nehemiah one, Jeremiah and Lamentations one, and the
twelve Minor Prophets one.
The books of the Pentateuch (Pente, five; teuchos, volume) now bear
the Greek names given them by the Septuagint translators, with the
exception of the fourth, Arithmoi, which is called by the English name,
Numbers. The Hebrew names for these, as well as many other books of the
Old Testament, are the initial words of the books. The name of Genesis,
as translated, is "In the Beginning;" Exodus, "These Are the Words;"
Leviticus, "And He Called;" Numbers, "And He Spake;" Deuteronomy,
"These Are the Words." Joshua originally belonged to this collection,
and to the six books modern scholars have given the name Hexateuch.
About one-half of the books of the Bible, Joshua, Isaiah, Matthew,
etc., are named after their alleged authors. A few, like Ruth and
Esther, take their names from the leading characters of the books. The
Pauline Epistles bear the names of the churches, people, or persons
to whom they are addressed. The titles of Judges, Kings, Chronicles,
Psalms, Proverbs, and a few others, indicate the subjects of the books.
The division of the books of the Bible into chapters was made in
the thirteenth century; the division into verses, in the sixteenth
century. These divisions are to a great extent mechanical rather
than logical. Paragraphs are frequently divided in the formation of
chapters, and sentences in the formation of verses.
Canonical and Apocryphal Books of the Old and New Testaments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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