How Many Books are in the Bible?
The current Bible has two distinct sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament.
Little did you know that the Bible is the most read book? It surpassed classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of Frank and favorites like the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings series. According to Business Insider, 3.9 billion copies of the Bible were sold over 50 years.
The Bible is a compilation of different texts or books of various ages, making up the central religious texts of Christianity and Judaism.
How Many Books are there in the Bible?
The Bible consists of 66 books, 39 books in the Old Testament, whereas 27 in the New Testament.
Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 King, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation
Genesis
Genesis is the Bible’s first book, and the first 11 chapters talk about God. They also tell the stories of the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Tower of Babel, The Great Flood, Noah’s Ark, etc. The book’s remainder tells the Patriarchs’ history.
The Books of Exodus and Numbers
These books tell the story of Moses, who led the Hebrews in Egypt out of captivity. They wandered in the desert for about 40 years until a new generation was ready to enter the Promised Land of Canaan.
The Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy
These books discuss the relationship between God and the Hebrews, the chosen people. The book also gives details of the Law regulation every Hebrew’s life aspect.
The Books of the Old Testament
The remainder of these books is divided according to the Christian organizational method into Historical, Wisdom, and Prophecy books.
The Historical Books
These books are composed of Joshua, Kings I and II, Samuel I and II, Judith, Maccabees I and II, Esther, Tobit, Nehemiah, and Ezra. They tell Israel’s history from the time of Moses to hundreds of years before the time of Jesus Christ.
The Wisdom Books
The Proverbs, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and Proverbs include various sayings of practical wisdom to live a holy, successful, and happy life. Ecclesiastes and Job deal with the existence of evil, weightier issues of the meaning of life, and relationship with God. The Song of Solomon is a love song that glorifies a romantic love between a man and woman and is sometimes interpreted as a story about God’s love for the Church or Israel.
The Prophecy Books
These books include Malachi, Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Micah, Jonah, Obadiah, Amos, Joel, Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel, Baruch, Lamentations, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. They give warnings, particular instruction messages, or predictions of the future from God. Each of them is named after famous Hebrew prophets, except for Baruch and Lamentations. God called these prophets to give messages, warnings, and predictions to leaders, kinds, and people in general.
The New Testament’s Four Gospels
These gospels talk about Jesus Christ’s birth, life, teachings, ministry, death, and resurrection. Luke, Mark, and Matthew are pretty similar, while John is more theological and spiritual work. The Acts of the Apostles, mostly centered on apostles Paul and Peter, tells the history of the Christian Church’s first 30 years, written by a similar author and a soft of Gospel of Luke sequel.
The New Testament’s Epistles
Most of the remainder of the New Testament consists of Epistles or letters. The majority of these Epistles were initially attributed to Apostle Paul and different Christian communities. They instruct and encourage people to address particular issues and disputes arising in those communities.
Most of the Christian beliefs and practices originated from apostle Paul’s teachings in his letters to the Romans, Hebrews, Thessalonians, Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, Galatians, and Corinthians, and to Timothy, Philemon, and Titus.
The other Epistles by Jude, John, Peter, and James, encourage, correct, and instruct the early Christians. They also encourage them to trust and put their faith in Jesus Christ and put that faith into action through respect, kindness and loves for all people.
The Book of Revelation
This book is written by John and tells a story through numbers, images, and symbols. It seeks to encourage and comfort Christians that God is in control. It also states that the eternal kingdom of God will come into its fulfillment.
Conclusion
The Bible is a compilation of 66 books written by 40 authors. Even if there is a time gap between the first and last books, there is a consistency of messaging and thought.