The Old Testament is the collection of biblical books written about the period of history between the Creation of the world and the coming of God’s Son into the world as the man Jesus Christ (although there is a 400 year gap between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament). It consists of 39 books in total. The Jews order them differently, but modern Bibles organise them as follows:
- The Books of the Law (the Torah or Pentateuch) - the first five books. Historical accounts concerning the creation of the world and the formation of the nation of Israel;
- History Books - the next twelve books. Historical accounts of God’s people before and after the exile (the Jews call these books The Former Prophets to indicate that God is speaking through the events that are recorded);
- Wisdom Books - the next five books. Poetic writings, proverbs and songs;
- Major Prophets - the next five books. Larger books of prophecy;
- Minor Prophets - the final twelve books. Smaller books of prophecy (they are not ‘minor’ in the sense of ‘less important’).
See also
Torah
Pentateuch