We’ve been cruising through the Bible’s 66 books this summer, and I’ve certainly enjoyed the ride so far. I hope you have too! It’s our own version of “Route 66,” which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
This Sunday, we’re going to take a brief break from the Old Testament before we finish it and instead spend some time with Jesus. We’ll “ride low and slow” through the four Gospel accounts and the book of Acts, which is sometimes called the Gospel of the Holy Spirit. It’s a great Sunday to pray for, invite, and expect some of our new VBS families to join us for worship.
Don’t forget about our midweek study, Detours & Discoveries, at 6:30 p.m. It’s an hour of Bible study that extends the previous Sunday’s sermon to some extent. Next Wednesday (July 1), Pastor Sean will host. Then I’ll be leading the study for the following three Wednesdays (July 8, 15, and 22).
Speaking of Route 66, I need to make a correction and offer a few clarifications from last week’s article.
Well, I had a mistake in there that I didn’t catch until after it was published. While most of what I wrote was technically correct, it nevertheless felt incomplete and could have led to some misunderstandings. So, with fear and trembling that I might somehow make things worse, I offer the following corrections and clarifications.
In Protestant Bibles, the Old Testament contains 39 books arranged in four sections – sometimes classified as five if the Prophets are divided into “Major” and “Minor” Prophets.
The Law (5 books):
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
The History (12 books):
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Wisdom (5 books):
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)
The Prophets (17 books):
First, what we call the Major Prophets (larger books): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations (a smaller book associated with the time of Jeremiah), Ezekiel, and Daniel.
Second, the Minor Prophets (shorter books): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
Our Jewish friends arrange these same Scriptures differently. They do not call it the Bible or the Old Testament. Instead, they call it the TaNaKh, an acronym formed from the names of its three major sections: Torah (Law or Instruction), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). In this arrangement, there are 24 books total.
Torah (“Law”) – 5 books:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Nevi’im (“Prophets”) – 8 books:
Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1 and 2 Samuel counted as one book), Kings (1 and 2 Kings counted as one book), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the “Book of Twelve” (counted as one book and containing Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi)
Ketuvim (“Writings”) – 11 books:
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (counted as one book), and Chronicles (1 and 2 Chronicles counted as one book)
Notice that the first five books are the same in both arrangements. Notice also that what is called the Prophets includes many books we classify as History – notably because there are prophets or prophet-like figures play in them – while Lamentations and Daniel are placed elsewhere. Notice the distinctive ordering of the books in the Writings compared to where they appear in our Bibles and in relation to one another.
In the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures known as the Septuagint, there are seven additional books. These books are often referred to as the Apocrypha. They are included in Roman Catholic Bibles and are typically placed between the Old and New Testaments or grouped as a separate section within the Old Testament after Malachi.
Phew. I’m glad you allowed me the time to clarify. But hey, taking the time to look at something like this is sort of like our own biblical sightseeing!
