In The Beginning... The Books of the Bible

Figure 1.1: The Books of the Bible

Name	Approx. Date Written +/-	Approx. Historical Period	Original Lang.	Order in Jewish Bible	Order in Catholic Bible	Order in Protestant Bible (KJV)	No. Pages in Oxford KJV
*The Old Testament*	*(BCE)*

*The Torah*
Genesis	850-560*	Creation	Hebrew	1	1	1	64
Exodus	850-560*	1250-1240	Hebrew	2	2	2	54
Leviticus*	750-560*	1240	Hebrew	3	3	3	40
Numbers*	750-560*	1240-1200	Hebrew	4	4	4	57
Deuteronomy	620-560*	1200	Hebrew	5	5	5	46

*The Prophets and The Writings*
Joshua	620-560*	1210-1180	Hebrew	6	6	6	32
Judges	620-560*	1180-1030	Hebrew	7	7	7	32
Ruth		1100	Hebrew	31	8	8	4
1 Samuel	620-560*	1030-1000	Hebrew	8	9	9	41
2 Samuel	620-560*	1030-1000	Hebrew	9	10	10	35
1 Kings	620-560*	1000-620	Hebrew	10	11	11	40
2 Kings	620-560*	1000-620	Hebrew	11	12	12	39
1 Chronicles	430	-1000	Hebrew	38	13	13	37
2 Chronicles	430	960-530	Hebrew	39	14	14	44
Ezra	350	460-450	Hebrew	36	15	15	13
Nehemiah	350	450-430	Hebrew	37	16	16	18
Esther			Hebrew	34	19	17	10
Job		n/a	Hebrew	29	22	18	33
Psalms		1000	Hebrew	27	23	19	83
Proverbs		960	Hebrew	28	24	20	28
Ecclesiastes (Qoholoth)	250	960	Hebrew	33	25	21	9
Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)		960	Hebrew	30	26	22	5
Isaiah		750	Hebrew	12	29	23	62
Jeremiah		610-580	Hebrew	13	30	24	60
Lamentations		560	Hebrew	32	31	25	6
Ezekiel		580	Hebrew	14	33	26	65
Daniel	160	580	Hebrew/Aramaic	35	34	27	19
Hosea		750	Hebrew	15	35	28	9
Joel			Hebrew	16	36	29	3
Amos		750	Hebrew	17	37	30	7
Obadiah		580	Hebrew	18	38	31	2
Jonah		570	Hebrew	19	39	32	2
Micah		750	Hebrew	20	40	33	6
Nahum		570	Hebrew	21	41	34	2
Habakkuk		610	Hebrew	22	42	35	3
Zephaniah		610	Hebrew	23	43	36	3
Haggai		530	Hebrew	24	44	37	2
Zechariah			Hebrew	25	45	38	10
Malachi		530	Hebrew	26	46	39	4

*Apocrypha*
1 Esdras			Hebrew			40^	20
2 Esdras			Hebrew			41^	35
Tobit	220		Hebrew		17	42^	11
Judith	160		Hebrew		18	43^	19
Esther (rest of)			Hebrew		19	44^	5
Wisdom	60		Hebrew		27	45^	19
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)	220		Hebrew		28	46^	50
Baruch, with the Epistle of Jeremiah			Hebrew		32	47^	9
Song of the Three Children			Hebrew			48^	3
The Story of Susanna			Hebrew			49^	3
The Idol Bel, and the Dragon			Hebrew			50^	2
The Prayer of Manasses			Hebrew			51^	1
1 Maccabees		168	Hebrew		20	52^	40
2 Maccabees		168	Hebrew		21	53^	28

*The New Testament*	*(CE)*

*The Gospels*
Matthew	90	33	Greek		1	1	41
Mark	80	33	Greek		2	2	26
Luke	90	33	Greek		3	3	44
John	90	33	Greek		4	4	33

Acts	90	40	Greek		5	5	42
Romans	57	57	Greek		6	6	17
1 Corinthians	55	55	Greek		7	7	16
2 Corinthians	55	55	Greek		8	8	11
Galatians	50	50	Greek		9	9	6
Ephesians	55	55	Greek		10	10	5
Philippians	55	55	Greek		11	11	4
Colossians	55	55	Greek		12	12	4
1 Thessalonians	50	50	Greek		13	13	4
2 Thessalonians	50	50	Greek		14	14	2
1 Timothy	60	60	Greek		15	15	4
2 Timothy	60	60	Greek		16	16	3
Titus	60	60	Greek		17	17	2
Philemon	60	60	Greek		18	18	1
Hebrews	100	60	Greek		19	19	12
Epistle of James	100	60	Greek		20	20	4
1 Peter	100	60	Greek		21	21	4
2 Peter	100	60	Greek		22	22	3
1 John	100	60	Greek		23	23	5
2 John	100	60	Greek		24	24	1
3 John	100	60	Greek		25	25	1
Jude	100	60	Greek		26	26	1
Revelation	100	Future	Greek		27	27	20

*First date is when text originally written, second date is when the original was edited into current form.

**Estimated date is subject to debate; could have been written many years earlier or later. Author�s date should be useful for providing perspective on the writings.

***No date given as historical information is insufficient for any useful estimate. Was written after 560 BCE and prior to 168 BCE.

^Included in Protestant Bible, but not part of canon.

Notes regarding dates:

� BCE is the same as B.C. CE is the same as A.D. Use of BCE and CE has become standard in presenting dates, and will be used here.

� The above dates are not exact, they are consensus estimates based on dating schemes employed by different scholars. They are based on the best information currently available. However, few scholars agree with each other regarding the precise dates. This is one of the areas where there is great debate. However, whether Genesis was written in 850 BCE or 800 BCE does not really affect our conclusions. Generally, all of the dates included are in the correct temporal sequence, and this is of greater importance.

� In addition, it should be noted that dates after the death of Jesus (33 CE) are significantly more reliable than earlier dates. Dates older than the destruction of the first Temple (587 BCE) are significantly �fuzzier� than the more recent dates. The accuracy of dates is correlated to the number of cross-references to events, which is in turn correlated to the total number of writings of the period. There are many more surviving documents as we move close and closer to the present. This accounts for the ability to date accurately (or inaccurately) many events.

� Elsewhere throughout this article, dates given will follow this same scheme. Dates will be presented with [+/-] where the range is more than a few years.