HEBREW SCRIPTURES

The 39 divinely inspired books from Genesis to Malachi, according to the common arrangement today, constitute the major portion of the Bible.

The books of the Hebrew Scriptures as they appear in most Bible versions may be divided into three sections: (1) Historic, Genesis to Esther, 17 books; (2) Poetic, Job to The Song of Solomon, 5 books; (3) Prophetic, Isaiah to Malachi, 17 books. Such divisions are rather general, since the historical section contains poetic portions (Ge 2:23; 4:23, 24; 9:25-27; Ex 15:1-19, 21; Jg 5) as well as prophetic (Ge 3:15; 22:15-18; 2Sa 7:11-16); the poetic section contains historical material (Job 1:1–2:13; 42:7-17) as well as prophetic (Ps 2:1-9; 110:1-7); and in the prophetic section historical information and poetic material are found (Isa 7:1, 2; Jer 37:11–39:14; 40:7–43:7; La 1:1–5:22).

By combining and rearranging these same 39 books in a different order, the Jews counted only 24 or 22 books and, according to their traditional canon, arranged them as follows: First, there was the Law (Heb., Toh·rahʹ), also called the Pentateuch, consisting of (1) Genesis, (2) Exodus, (3) Leviticus, (4) Numbers, and (5) Deuteronomy. (See PENTATEUCH.) Second came the Prophets (Heb., Nevi·ʼimʹ), divided into the “Former Prophets,” (6) Joshua, (7) Judges, (8) Samuel (First and Second together as one book), (9) Kings (First and Second as one book), and the “Latter Prophets,” subdivided into the “Major” Prophets, (10) Isaiah, (11) Jeremiah and (12) Ezekiel, and (13) Twelve “Minor” Prophets (a single book composed of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi). The third section was called the Holy Writings (Hagiographa or, in Hebrew, Kethu·vimʹ), beginning with (14) Psalms, (15) Proverbs, and (16) Job; then came the “Five Megilloth” or five separate scrolls, namely (17) The Song of Solomon, (18) Ruth, (19) Lamentations, (20) Ecclesiastes, and (21) Esther, followed by (22) Daniel, (23) Ezra-Nehemiah (combined), and (24) Chronicles (First and Second together as one book). The book of Ruth was sometimes appended to Judges, and Lamentations to Jeremiah, to give 22 books, a total corresponding to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, although this is not the usual arrangement in Hebrew Bibles today.

Not all the early catalogs had the books of the Hebrew Scriptures arranged in the above order. This is because at the time the individual books were in separate scrolls. To illustrate: In the Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 14b), it is stated: “Our Rabbis taught: The order of the Prophets is, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.” (Translated by M. Simon and I. Slotki) This may explain why Jeremiah precedes Isaiah in a number of Hebrew manuscripts written in Germany and France.

Canon of Hebrew Scriptures. The books of the Hebrew Scriptures do not appear in our Bibles in the order in which they were written. Joel, Amos, and Jonah lived about two centuries or so before Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Nor do the titles of the books always disclose their writer. The book of Job, for instance, was apparently written by Moses; the book of Ruth, by Samuel. Details about the individual books, as to when and by whom each was written, are set out in the “Table of Bible Books in Order Completed” in the article BIBLE. See the articles on the individual books for contents, importance and significance, proof of authenticity, and other information.

The canon of the Hebrew Scriptures was well established when Jesus Christ was on earth, as is evidenced by his statements recorded in the Christian Greek Scriptures. For example, he referred to the three-section arrangement when he spoke of “all the things written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms.” (Lu 24:44) His followers wrote of or spoke of “the public reading of the Law and of the Prophets,” “the Scriptures,” “the law of Moses and the Prophets,” “the holy Scriptures,” and “the holy writings.”​—Ac 13:15; 18:24; 28:23; Ro 1:2; 2Ti 3:15; see CANON.

Noteworthy too is the fact that no Apocryphal writings were admitted into the Hebrew canon. From the days of Ezra and Malachi, in the fifth century B.C.E., the completed canon of the Hebrew Scriptures has been guarded and protected against the inclusion of any writings of questionable nature. (See APOCRYPHA.) Scrupulous care was exercised by the manuscript copyists called Sopherim, who at a later time were succeeded by the Masoretes.