Old Testament Bible Books
Genesis
The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit. Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people.
Exodus
The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Bible. It is a narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites leaving slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of their deity named Yahweh, who according to the story chose them as his people.
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Torah and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses.
Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final form is possibly due to a Priestly redaction of a Yahwistic source made sometime in the early Persian period.
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Torah, where it is called Devarim and the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to the Israelites by Moses on the Plains of Moab, shortly before they enter the Promised Land.
Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders.
Ruth
The Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings, of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the historical books and placed between Judges and 1 Samuel.
1 Samuel
The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God’s law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
2 Samuel
The Book of Samuel is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books that constitute a theological history of the Israelites and that aim to explain God’s law for Israel under the guidance of the prophets.
1 Kings
The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
2 Kings
The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
1 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tanakh, the Ketuvim.
2 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tanakh, the Ketuvim.
Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible which formerly included the Book of Nehemiah in a single book, commonly distinguished in scholarship as Ezra–Nehemiah. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the early 16th century, following late medieval Latin Christian tradition.
Nehemiah
The Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, largely takes the form of a first-person memoir by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile and the dedication of the city and its people to God’s laws.
Esther
The Book of Esther, also known in Hebrew as “the Scroll”, is a book in the third section of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Scrolls in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament.
Job
The Book of Job, or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Scholars generally agree that it was written between the 7th and 3rd centuries BCE.
Psalms
The Book of Psalms, also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Hebrew Bible called Ketuvim, and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns.
Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs is a book in the third section of the Hebrew Bible traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students later appearing in the Christian Old Testament.
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes is one of the Ketuvim of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word קֹהֶלֶת.
Song of Solomon
The Song of Songs, also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is an erotic poem, one of the five megillot in the Ketuvim, the last section of the Tanakh.
Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament.
Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as “the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah”.
Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim as one of the Five Megillot alongside the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther although there is no set order.
Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a biblical apocalypse authored during the 2nd century BC, and set during the 6th century BC.
Hosea
The Book of Hosea is collected as one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi’im in the Tanakh, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. According to the traditional order of most Hebrew Bibles, it is the first of the Twelve.
Joel
The Book of Joel is a Jewish prophetic text containing a series of “divine announcements”. The first line attributes authorship to “Joel the son of Pethuel”. It forms part of the Book of the twelve minor prophets or the Nevi’im in the Hebrew Bible, and is a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament.
Amos
The Book of Amos is the third of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament and the second in the Greek Septuagint tradition. According to the Bible, Amos was an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, and was active c. 750 BC during the reign of Jeroboam II of Samaria, while Uzziah was King of Judah.
Obadiah
The Book of Obadiah is a book of the Bible whose authorship is attributed to Obadiah. Obadiah is one of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the final section of Nevi’im, the second main division of the Hebrew Bible.
Jonah
The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi’im in the Hebrew Bible, and an individual book in the Christian Old Testament. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, but attempts to escape his divine mission.
Micah
The Book of Micah is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Ostensibly, it records the sayings of Micah, whose name is Mikayahu, meaning “Who is like Yahweh?”, an 8th-century BCE prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah.
Nahum
The Book of Nahum is the seventh book of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Nahum, and was probably written in Jerusalem in the 7th century BC.
Habakkuk
The Book of Habakkuk is the eighth book of the 12 minor prophets of the Bible. It is attributed to the prophet Habakkuk, and was probably composed in the late 7th century BC. The original text was written in the Hebrew language.
Zephaniah
The Book of Zephaniah is the ninth of the Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and Tanakh, preceded by the Book of Habakkuk and followed by the Book of Haggai. Zephaniah means “Yahweh has hidden/protected,” or “Yahweh hides”. Zephaniah is also a male given name. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Haggai
The Book of Haggai is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and is the third-to-last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. It is a short book, consisting of only two chapters. The historical setting dates around 520 BC, before the Temple had been rebuilt. The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew.
Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is a Jewish text attributed to Zechariah, a Hebrew prophet of the late 6th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the text is included as part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, itself a part of the second division of that work.
Malachi
The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Neviim contained in the Tanakh, canonically the last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In most Christian orderings, the grouping of the prophetic books is the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before the New Testament.