OTB1 – Groups of the Old Testament books
© Jeff Stacey | Last updated: 11 May 2020
The Old Testament (OT) is over 75% of the whole Bible. It is not a single volume but a collection of 39 separate documents or “books”. These were written and/or compiled, then gathered into collections at various times during at least 1100 years, between about 1450BC and 350BC. They were written in the ancient Hebrew language except for four short sections in Aramaic (also known as Chaldean).1
The Hebrew (Jewish) Scriptures and English Protestant Old Testament contain the same books. The Catholic Old Testament includes an additional seven books mostly dating from after 400BC and known as The Apocrypha.2 The OT books are grouped as follows:-
TABLE OTB1
| HEBREW SCRIPTURES | ENGLISH PROTESTANT OLD TESTAMENT | CATHOLIC OLD TESTAMENT |
| Torah (Law) 5 books | Law 5 books | Law 5 books |
| Prophets Former (4), Latter (15) | History 12 books | History 14 books (2 from Apocrypha) |
| Writings Truth (3), Scrolls (11) | Poetry 5 books | Poetical and Wisdom 7 books (2 from Apocrypha) |
| Major Prophets 5 books | Prophetical Literature 20 books (3 from Apocrypha) | |
| Minor Prophets 12 books |
FOOTNOTES
1. These are Ezra 4:8 – 6:18, 7:12-26, Jeremiah 10:11 and Daniel 2:4 – 7:28. (Return to reading).
2. The Apocrypha has not been used in this website. (Return to reading).