The structure of the Old Testament in most English Bibles follows four main sections arranged by type of writing: the Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom, and the Prophets. Together they contain 39 books written over roughly a thousand years, mostly in Hebrew. Jewish Bibles arrange the same material into three parts, but either way, the Old Testament tells one story that points forward to Jesus.
What Is the Old Testament?
The word “testament” means “covenant,” a binding relationship established by God with his people. The Old Testament is called “old” simply because it came first, before the New Testament. It’s also sometimes called the Hebrew Bible, since it was the Scripture of Israel long before Jesus was born.
Even within the Old Testament, God promised that a new covenant was coming, one that would change people from the inside out.
Jeremiah 31:31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
Jesus fulfilled that promise, which is why Christians read the Old Testament as the first part of one unified story. Its books were written over about a thousand years, traditionally from around the time of Moses (roughly 1400 BC) to the prophet Malachi (around 430 BC), though scholars debate some dates. Most of it was written in Hebrew, but parts of Daniel and Ezra are in Aramaic, the common language of the Babylonian and Persian empires, where many Jews lived during and after the exile. Aramaic remained widely spoken among Jews for centuries and was very likely the everyday language of Jesus and his disciples.
The Four-Part Structure of the Old Testament
Protestant Bibles contain 39 Old Testament books, arranged by literary genre rather than strict chronological order. The first section is the Law, also called the Pentateuch, a Greek term meaning “five scrolls.” These five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy, aren’t just lists of do’s and don’ts. They tell the story of creation, the fall, God’s call of Abraham, and the formation of Israel as God’s people.
The second section is History, twelve books from Joshua to Esther. They follow Israel into the promised land, through the rise and fall of its kings, into exile in Assyria and Babylon, and back home again. The third section is Poetry and Wisdom, five books from Job to Song of Songs, which teach us how to pray, worship, lament, and live wisely. The final section is the Prophets, seventeen books from Isaiah to Malachi, which call God’s people back to him and look ahead to the Messiah.
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Each section serves a different purpose, but all of them are God’s Word. Knowing the genre of a book helps you read it well. You read a psalm differently than a law code, and a prophecy differently than a historical narrative, but each one is meant to build our endurance, encouragement, and hope.
How the Hebrew Bible Arranges the Same Books
Jewish Bibles contain the same content but organize it differently, into three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Ketuvim). They also count the books differently. For example, 1 and 2 Samuel are one book in the Hebrew arrangement, as are 1 and 2 Kings, and the twelve minor prophets are counted together as one.
Jesus referred to this threefold arrangement after his resurrection, when he explained to his disciples how all of Scripture pointed to him.
Luke 24:44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
“The Psalms,” the largest book in the Writings, stood for that whole third section. Jesus’ point was that every part of the Old Testament, not just a few scattered prophecies, finds its fulfillment in him. When you read the Old Testament with that in mind, its laws, stories, songs, and prophecies come together into one story of God’s plan to rescue his people.
The Takeaway
The structure of the Old Testament in English Bibles has four sections: the Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom, and the Prophets, while Jewish Bibles arrange the same books into three parts. Every section was written to teach us and give us hope, and together they point to Jesus.
