Books of the Bible

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Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Jews, and Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox Christians, although there is overlap.

Old Testament (including Tanakh)

The Tanakh, or Jewish scriptures, have the following standard arrangement.

  • the Law
    • Genesis
    • Exodus
    • Leviticus
    • Numbers
    • Deuteronomy
  • the Prophets
    • the Former Prophets
      • Joshua
      • Judges
      • Samuel
      • Kings
    • the Latter Prophets
      • Isaiah
      • Jeremiah
      • Ezekiel
      • the Twelve Prophets
        • Hosea
        • Joel
        • Amos
        • Obadiah
        • Jonah
        • Micah
        • Nahum
        • Habakkuk
        • Zephaniah
        • Haggai
        • Zechariah
        • Malachi
  • the Writings
    • Psalms
    • Proverbs
    • Job
    • the Five Rolls
      • Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon)
      • Ruth
      • Lamentations
      • Ecclesiastes
      • Esther
    • Daniel
    • Ezra (including Nehemiah)
    • Chronicles

The Protestant Old Testament is identical to the Tanakh in contents, but different in arrangement. The Roman Catholic Old Testament includes additional books (marked here with *) and passages in other books (marked with †).

  • historical books
    • Pentateuch
      • Genesis
      • Exodus
      • Leviticus
      • Numbers
      • Deuteronomy
    • Joshua
    • Judges
    • Ruth
    • Samuel (2 books)
    • Kings (2 books)
    • Chronicles (2 books)
    • Ezra
    • Nehemiah
    • Tobit*
    • Judith*
    • Esther**
    • 1 Maccabees
    • 2 Maccabees
  • teaching books
    • Job
    • Psalms
    • Proverbs
    • Ecclesiastes
    • Song of Songs
    • Wisdom*
    • Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach)*
  • prophetic books
    • Isaiah
    • Jeremiah
    • Lamentations
    • Baruch*
    • Ezekiel
    • Daniel**
    • Hosea
    • Joel
    • Amos
    • Obadiah
    • Jonah
    • Micah
    • Nahum
    • Habakkuk
    • Zephaniah
    • Haggai
    • Zechariah
    • Malachi

The Eastern Orthodox Church has never considered it important to define a definite canon of scripture. On the whole, it theoretically recognizes only the Protestant canon of the Old Testament as fully canonical inspired scripture, but other works are regarded as part of the scriptures and in practice treaed little differently. These include the works asterisked above and others, varying between branches: this too does not seem to be considered important.

New Testament

In general, among Christian groups the New Testament canon is agreed-upon, although book order can vary.

Catholic, most Protestant,

almost all Orthodox

Luther Bible Slavonic Bible
The Gospels
Matthew Matthew Matthew
Mark Mark Mark
Luke Luke Luke
John John John
The History
Acts Acts Acts
The Pauline epistles The Pauline epistles The General epistles
Romans Romans James
1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1 Peter
2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 2 Peter
Galatians Galatians 1 John
Ephesians Ephesians 2 John
Philippians Philippians 3 John
Colossians Colossians Jude
1 Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians The Pauline epistles
2 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians Romans
1 Timothy 1 Timothy 1 Corinthians
2 Timothy 2 Timothy 2 Corinthians
Titus Titus Galatians
Philemon Philemon Ephesians
The General epistles The General epistles Philippians
Hebrews 1 Peter Colossians
James 2 Peter 1 Thessalonians
1 Peter 1 John 2 Thessalonians
2 Peter 2 John 1 Timothy
1 John 3 John 2 Timothy
2 John Books questioned by Luther Titus
3 John Hebrews Philemon
Jude James Hebrews
Apocalypse Jude Apocalypse
Revelation of Christ to John Revelation of Christ to John Revelation of Christ to John

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a few additional books in its canon: Jubilees, Book of Enoch, the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, Acts of Paul, and some uniquely Ethiopian books. There is a matter of some controversy as to what constitutes "canon" in this religious body. The Peshitta excludes 2-3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation, but Bibles of the modern Syriac Orthodox Church includes later translations of those books. Third Epistle to the Corinthians was once considered part of the Armenian Orthodox Bible.

See also

Notes

Return links: Tanakh/TanakhNew Testament

External links