KNOWING THE BIBLE
Chapter 3
AND THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE BIBLE
WEEK 3 - Tuesday
Bible Reading: Ps 40:7; Mk 12:26; 2 Co 3:15
Read and pray: “Then He said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” (Lk 24:44)
THE SUBDIVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ACCORDING TO THE JEWS OR THE RABBIS
The Old Testament was originally in the hands of the Jews. Some teachers among them were biblical expositors of great authority. The Jews called them rabbis. The word rabbi means teacher. In ancient times, the subdivision of the Old Testament among the rabbis was as the Lord Jesus said in Luke 24:44. In other words, the words of the Lord in Luke 24:44 were based on the subdivision of the Old Testament into three categories made by the rabbis.
A. The Law of Moses
This term refers to the Pentateuch. Sometimes the Jews shortened the Pentateuch of Moses to “Moses.” When the Jews mention Moses, they are not always referring to the person of Moses but to the five books of the Law written by him. These five books are sometimes simply called “the Law.” When the Jews say “the Law,” they mean the Pentateuch.
Therefore, among Christians and Jews, there are five different ways to refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, namely: the Pentateuch of Moses, the Pentateuch, the Law of Moses, the Law, and Moses.
B. The Prophets: Divided into Former Prophets and Latter Prophets
1. The Former Prophets: These are four books. The first is Joshua. The Jews treat the book of Joshua as one of the books of the Prophets rather than a historical book, as we see it. The second book is Judges, which is also treated as a prophetic book.
The third book is Samuel. The first and second books of Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew Bible. There was no difference between 1 and 2, and it was called the book of Samuel. The fourth book is Kings. The first and second books of Kings were also one book in the Hebrew Old Testament.
Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were divided into first and second books in the Septuagint, when the Old Testament was translated, because these books were very long and it was not convenient to roll them into a single scroll of sheepskin. In the original Hebrew Old Testament these books were whole, with no distinction between first and second books.
The Jewish rabbis call these four books — Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings — the Former Prophets.
2. The Latter Prophets: These are also four books, namely: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets. The Minor Prophets here include the twelve books, which the Jewish rabbis considered as one book.
Historically, the order of the Minor Prophets is not always the same. Sometimes one is placed first, sometimes another. The most common order is as follows: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Sometimes the order is slightly changed. The Jewish rabbis usually treat the books that come after the Pentateuch simply as the books of the Prophets, which, as we explained above, total eight books.
C. The Other Books
The remaining books include: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles, making eleven books. The Jews consider Ezra and Nehemiah as one book, as well as 1 and 2 Chronicles. These eleven books plus the eight prophetic books total nineteen books. With the five books of the Law of Moses, there are in all twenty-four books.
The ancient “church fathers” combined these books in such a way that they totaled twenty-two, to match the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. That is why during the first, second, and third centuries they were called the twenty-two books of the Old Testament. Josephus, who was the historian of greatest authority among the Jews, also called them the twenty-two books of the Old Testament when he referred to them.
IV. THE SUBDIVISION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BY THE LORD JESUS
The Lord Jesus also had a way of dividing the Old Testament. It is mentioned in Luke 24:44. It is very similar to that of the Jewish rabbis; there is not much difference between the two. He also divided it into three categories:
A. The Law of Moses: the first five books.
B. The Prophets: including the historical books.
C. The Psalms: including Song of Songs.
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