Bible Basics
Jewish Bible/Old Testament and Apocrypha
There are 39 books in Protestant Old Testament, plus seven more in the
Roman Catholic Old Testament and a few besides that in certain versions
of the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint or LXX), which are used by
various Eastern Orthodox churches. The Jewish Bible is composed of the
same material found in the Protestant Old Testament, but the
arrangement is slightly different.
In the Protestant Old Testament, the arrangement of the books are as
follows:
- Five books of the Law (Torah, or the Pentateuch): Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
- Twelve books of History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2
Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.
- Five books of Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and
Song of Solomon.
- Five books of Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, and Daniel.
- Twelve books of Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi.
Note the pattern 5-12-5-5-12.
New Testament
There are 27 books in the New Testament. The contents and arrangement
are the same among Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox.
- Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
- The Acts of the Apostles
- Fourteen "Pauline" Epistles: Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy,
Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews. (Hebrews is almost certainly not Pauline
in authorship, and many scholars dispute some of the rest, but the
series of fourteen is still useful for mnemonic purposes, as we shall
see...)
- Seven General or "Catholic" Epistles: James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John,
Jude.
- The Book of Revelation (which begins with a series of seven
letters to churches in Asia).
Note the pattern 14-7-7.
How to Find a Bible Passage
Biblical references use numbers, colons, and dashes to locate material.
When numbers appear alone, they refer to chapters; when numbers are
followed by a colon, chapter and verse are indicated. Dashes indicate
that a passage extends between two locations. 1 Corinthians 13
indicates the First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13. Luke 2:52
indicates the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 and verse 52. Matthew 1-2
indicates the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 1 and 2. Luke 6:12-13
indicates the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, verses 12 and 13. Ephesians
5:21-6:9 indicates a passage that begins with the Letter to the
Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 21 and continues through chapter 6, verse 9.
Hint: Look for the colon. If none appears, the passage covers one or
more chapters; if one colon appears, the passage covers verses within a
single chapter; if two colons are present, the passage covers parts of
two (or more) chapters.
Best Hint: Ask for help if you are confused.