A Basic Time-Line of the New Testament
45 A.D. – James writes the Letter of James
50 A.D. – Mark writes the Gospel of Mark
50 A.D. – Paul begins to write 13 Letters including the Letter to the Romans, 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd Letter to the  Corinthians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Philippians, Letter to the Colossians, 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 1st Letter to Timothy, 2ntter to Timothy, Letter to Titus, Letter to Philemon
55 A.D. – Matthew writes the Gospel of Matthew
60 A.D. – Luke writes the Gospel of Luke
60 A.D. – Peter writes the 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Letter of Peter
60 A.D. – Jude writes the Letter of Jude
65 A.D. – Luke writes the Book of Acts
65 A.D. – An Unknown Author writes the Letter to the Hebrew
70 A.D. – Paul finishes writing the last of his 13 letters
90 A.D. – John writes the Gospel of John
90 A.D. – John wrote the 1st Letter of John, 2nd Letter of John, 3rd Letter of John
90 A.D. – John writes the Book of Revelation  The

Full Titles of the 27 New Testament Books
1) The Gospel According to Matthew, 2) The Gospel According to Mark, 3) The Gospel According to Luke, 4) The Gospel According to John, 5) The Book of Acts, 6) The Letter to the Romans, 7) The 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 8) The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, 9) The Letter to the Galatians, 10) The Letter to the Ephesians, 11) The Letter to the Philippians, 12) The Letter to the Colossians, 13) The 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 14) The 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 15) The 1st Letter to Timothy, 16) The 2nd Letter to Timothy, 17) The Letter to Titus, 18) The Letter to Philemon, 19) The Letter to the Hebrews, 20) The Letter of James, 21) The 1st Letter of Peter, 22) The 2nd Letter of Peter 23) The 1st Letter of John, 24) The 2nd Letter of John, 25) The 3rd Letter of John, 26) The Letter of Jude, 27) The Book of Revelation

May the LORD God bless you in the name of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

The Judeo-Christian Bible – Tanakh, the Bible of Judaism

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And I’d say, probably, intellectually I’ve drawn as much from Judaism as any other faith.

– President Barack Obama

The Facts about the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible
– The Jewish Bible is commonly known as the Tanakh (Hebrew: תַּנַ”ךְ‎, pronounced also Tenakh, Tenak, Tanach). It is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible consisting of 24 separate books. The Tanakh has also been known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra.
– The name ‘Miqra’ (מקרא), meaning ‘that which is read’, is a traditional alternative Hebrew term for the Tanakh.
– The word ‘Tanakh’ is, in fact, an acronym created from the first few Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text’s three traditional subdivisions: The Torah (‘Teaching’, also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (‘Prophets’) and Ketuvim (‘Writings’). When the Hebrew letters for Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim are combined together they become the word TaNaKh, thus the name Tanakh stands for the whole Jewish Bible.
– Thus, the offiical Bible of Judaism, the Tanakh, has 3 distinct sections which can be seen as follows:

The Tanakh (Ta = Torah, Na = Nevi’im, Kh = Ketuvim)
Section 1- The Law, or Teaching (Torah)
Section 2- The Prophets (Nevi’im)
Section 3- The Writings (Ketuvim)

– The exact number of 24 books is mentioned in Midrash Koheleth 12:12.
– The 2st century book called ‘Against Apion’, by th Jewish historian Josephus lists only 22 sacred books of the Jewish Bible. In response to this discrepancy (22 versus 24 books), some scholars and researchers ‘have suggested that he considered Ruth part of Judges, and Lamentations part of Jeremiah; as St. Jerome noted in the 4th century AD. Other scholars suggest that at the time Josephus wrote, such books as Esther and Ecclesiastes were not yet considered canonical.’
– According to Jewish tradition, the Tanakh consists of twenty-four books. In stark contrast to Christian Bibles, the Tanakh counts as a single book each Book of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah and it also considers the Twelve Prophets (Trei Asar) as one book.
– The Tanakh is the Hebrew name for the 24 Books of the Old Testament which, in both English and Hebrew, include the following:

1) Genesis (Bereshith), 2) Exodus (Shemot), 3) Leviticus (Vayikra), 4) Numbers (Bamidbar), 5) Deuteronomy (Devarim), 6) Joshua (יהושע/Y’hoshua), 7) Judges (שופטים/Shophtim), 8) Samuel I/II (שמואל/Sh’muel), 9) Kings I/II (מלכים/M’lakhim), 10) Isaiah (ישעיה/Y’shayahu), 11) Jeremiah (ירמיה/Yir’mi’yahu), 12) Ezekiel (יחזקאל/Y’khezqel), 13) The Twelve Prophets including Hosea/Joel/Amos/Obadiah/Jonah/Micah/Nahum/Habakkuk/Zephaniah/Haggai/Zechariah/Malachi, 14) Psalms (תהלים/Tehillim)

15) Proverbs (משלי/Mishlei), 16) Job (איוב/Iyov), 17) Song of Songs (שיר השירים/Shir Hashirim), 18) Ruth (רות/Rut), 19) Lamentations (איכה/Eikhah), 20) Ecclesiastes (קהלת/Kohelet), 21) Esther (אסתר/Esther), 22) Daniel (דניאל/Dani’el), 23) Ezra/Nehemiah (עזרא ונחמיה/Ezra v’Nechemia), 24) Chronicles I/II (דברי הימים/Divrei Hayamim)

– What has usually been called ‘The Book of Twelve Prophets’, a singular text situated as the 13th book in the Tanakh, includes all of the following Christian books: Book of Hosea, Book of Joel, Book of Amos, Book of Obadiah, Book of Jonah, Book of Micah, Book of Nahum, Book of Habakkuk, Book of Zephaniah, Book of Haggai, Book of Zechariah, and Book of Malachi

The Law (Torah)
1) Genesis (Bereshith)
2) Exodus (Shemot)
3) Leviticus (Vayikra)
4) Numbers (Bamidbar)
5) Deuteronomy (Devarim)

The Prophets (Nevi’im)
6) Joshua (יהושע/Y’hoshua)
7) Judges (שופטים/Shophtim)
8) Samuel I/II (שמואל / Sh’muel)
9) Kings (I & II) (מלכים/M’lakhim)
10) Isaiah (ישעיה/Y’shayahu)
11) Jeremiah (ירמיה/Yir’mi’yahu)
12) Ezekiel (יחזקאל/Y’khezqel)
13) The Twelve Prophets (Trei Asar/תרי עשר)

The Writings (Ketuvim)
14) Psalms (תהלים/Tehillim)
15) Proverbs (משלי/Mishlei)
16) Job (איוב/Iyov)
17) Song of Songs (שיר השירים/Shir Hashirim)
18) Ruth (רות/Rut)
19) Lamentations (איכה/Eikhah)
20) Ecclesiastes (קהלת/Kohelet)
21) Esther (אסתר/Esther)
22) Daniel (דניאל/Dani’el)
23) Ezra/Nehemiah (עזרא ונחמיה/Ezra v’Nechemia)
24) Chronicles I/II (דברי הימים/Divrei Hayamim)

– Judaism believes that the books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) were relayed with an accompanying oral tradition passed on by each generation, called the Oral Torah.
– According to the Talmud, most of the contents of the Tanakh were compiled by the ‘Men of the Great Assembly’ by 450 BCE, and have since remained unchanged. Modern scholars tend to assume that the process of canonization of the Tanakh became finalized between 200 BC and 200 AD
– The tradition of dividing the Tanakh into 3 sections is well-documented all the way back to the Second Temple period. Even so, the word ‘Tanakh’ a three-part acronym representing Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, wasn’t used back then, Instead the Bible of Judaism was called Mikra, meaning ‘reading’ or ‘that which is read’ in Hebrew. As one source notes: ‘Mikra continues to be used in Hebrew to this day, alongside Tanakh, to refer to the Jewish scriptures. In modern spoken Hebrew both are used interchangeably.’
– According to the Talmud (Bava Basra 14b-15a, Rashi to Megillah 3a, 14a), most of the contents of the Tanakh were compiled by the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshei K’nesset HaGedolah), a task completed in 450 BCE. The Bible of Judaism has remained unchanged since that date.
– Other scholars state that the ‘evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BCE and 200 CE. A popular position is that the Torah was canonized circa 400 BCE, the Prophets circa 200 BCE, and the Writings circa 100 CE, perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia. This position, however, is increasingly criticised by modern scholars.’
– A few scholars believe that the entire Jewish canon of the Bible was, in fact, decided upon after the Maccabees defeated the Greeks and regained their religious independence sometime during the subsequent Hasmonean royal dyasty in 140-37 BC.
– Formal finalization of the canon has often been ascribed to Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. One researcher Heinrich Graetz has concluded that the 24 Books of the Tanakh were officially canonized ‘at a Council of Jamnia (or Yavne in Hebrew), some time in the period 70-90 CE.’
– Even so, there are still different Rabbinical texts dating from later on which ‘seem to indicate that certain books were disputed as accepted canon (such as Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs and Esther, called the Antilegomena), but it may not necessarily be the case.’ The Talmud, which was written soon after the destruction of the Second Temple, still disagrees with these various writings strongly implying ‘that the books themselves were already accepted canon, but may have been misunderstood on philosophical or ecclesiastical grounds. The Talmud eliminates this misunderstanding.’
– The Hebrew text was originally written with just consonants, having very few, if any applied vowel letters. This made it extremely difficult to learn or to actually study and read. Then, in the early part of the Middle Ages, a group of scholars known as the Masoretes created a single system of pronunciation and vocatization, making the entire text far easier to learn and read.  During the early Middle Ages scholars known as the Masoretes created a single formalized system of vocalization.
– The major force behind the Masoretes was a man named Aaron ben Moses ben Asher who helped to establish the Tiberias school of reading and pronouncing the Tanakh. Because of its mysterious origins, some Orthodox Jews ‘believe the pronunciation and cantillation derive from the revelation at Sinai, since it is impossible to read the original text without pronunciations and cantillation pauses.’ In short, the ability to understand the multi-layered meaning of Scriptures is heavily dependent on this system. One sources put it bluntly: ‘The combination of a text (מקרא mikra), pronunciation (ניקוד niqqud) and cantillation (טעמים te`amim) enable the reader to understand both the simple meaning, as well as the nuances in sentence flow of the text.’

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The Facts about Section 1- The Law, or Teaching (Torah)
– The 1st section of the Tanank called the Law, or ‘Teaching’ (תּוֹרָה/Torah) consists of 5 books, commonly referred to as the ‘Five Books of Moses’ or Pentateuch. Printed copies of the Torah are often called Chamisha Chumshei Torah or simply, a Chumash.
– In Hebrew language, the five books of the Torah are identified using the first prominent word which has been written at the beginning of each book. Thus, the actual names of the Torah books has nothing, or little, to do with the book’s entire contents. This is quite different from the English names for them which originate from the Greek words originally given to the books in the Septuagint. These Greek words attempted to describe or summarize the book’s contents.
– According to Rabbinic tradition the five books of the Torah were all written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy which describe his death. The past 200-300 years of modern research has changed this assumption so that now ‘the majority of scholars agree that the Pentateuch does not have a single author, and that its composition took place over centuries.’
– In short, the Torah consists of the following five books:

The Law (Torah)
1. Bereshith – Genesis (Bereshith)
2. Shemot – Exodus (Shemot)
3. Vayikra – Leviticus  (Vayikra)
4. Bamidbar – Numbers   (Bamidbar)
5. Devarim – Deuteronomy (Devarim)

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The Facts about Section 2- The Prophets (Nevi’im)
– The 2nd section of the Tanakh, called the Prophets (Nevi’im) has 8 books. They include: 6) Joshua (יהושע/Y’hoshua), 7) Judges (שופטים/Shophtim), 8) Samuel I/II (שמואל/Sh’muel), 9) Kings I/II (מלכים/M’lakhim), 10) Isaiah (ישעיה/Y’shayahu), 11) Jeremiah (ירמיה/Yir’mi’yahu), 12) Ezekiel (יחזקאל/Y’khezqel), 13) The Twelve Prophets named Hosea/Joel/Amos/Obadiah/Jonah/Micah/Nahum/Habakkuk/Zephaniah/Haggai/Zechariah/Malachi
– This section covers the time period from the beginning of the Israelite settling of the Holy Lands (Israel) up until the time of the destruction of the First Temple, the Temple of Solomon, and the subsequent Babylonian captivity. This era is known as the ‘period of prophecy’
– The Prophets section are also sometimes divided into two parts called the Earlier Prophets and Later Prophets.
– The Prophets contain 8 Books according to Judaism. These same Books total 21 in the Christian Old Testament. The reason why is because Samuel I and II are counted as one book, as is Kings I and II. The single Book of the Twelve Prophets, known as the minor prophets, becomes 12 separate Christian Books of hte Old Testament.
– The Prophets (Nevi’im), which are the 6th through 13th Books in the Tanakh, can be listed as follows:

The Prophets (Nevi’im)
6) Joshua (יהושע/Y’hoshua)
7) Judges (שופטים/Shophtim)
8) Samuel I/II (שמואל / Sh’muel)
9) Kings (I & II) (מלכים/M’lakhim)
10) Isaiah (ישעיה/Y’shayahu)
11) Jeremiah (ירמיה/Yir’mi’yahu)
2) Ezekiel (יחזקאל/Y’khezqel)
13) The Twelve Prophets (תרי עשר/Trei Asar)

Contents of the Twelve Prophets (תרי עשר/Trei Asar)
I. Hosea (הושע/Hoshea)
II. Joel (יואל/Yo’el)
III. Amos (עמוס/Amos)
IV. Obadiah (עובדיה/Ovadyah)
V. Jonah (יונה/Yonah)
VI. Micah (מיכה/Mikhah)
VII. Nahum (נחום/Nakhum)
VIII. Habakkuk (חבקוק/Havakuk)
IX. Zephaniah (צפניה/Ts’phanyah)
X. Haggai (חגי/Khagai)
XI. Zechariah (זכריה/Z’kharyah)
XII. Malachi (מלאכי/Mal’akhi)

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The Facts about Section 3- The Writings (Ketuvim)
– The Writings (Ketuvim), the third and final section of the Tanakh, which consists of 11 books, is also known as the ‘Hagiographa’, a Greek word,
– The 4th through 8th Book, in the third section of the Tanakh called the Writings, are traditionally knows as the Five Scrolls (Megillot). They are as follows: I. Song of Songs, II. Ruth, III. Lamentations, IV. Ecclesiastes, V. Esther
– Sometimes the Writings (Ketuvim) are divided in the following manner: I. The Books of Truth (Psalms, Proverbs, Job), II. The Books of Widsom (Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs) III. The Books of Poetry (Psalms, Lamentations, Song of Songs), and IV. The Books of History (Ezra/Nehemiah, Chronicles I/II)
– Because of differences in organization, these 11 Jewish books of the Writings (Ketuvim) equal 13 Books of the Christian Old Testament. This is because in Judaism, Chronicles I and II, along with Ezra and Nehemiah, are counted as one book each.
– The 3 Books of Truth are also known in Hebrew as Sifrei Emet (ספרי אמת, literally “Books of Truth”)
– The exact ordering and names of the Writings, both in Hebrew and English, can be seen as follows: 1) Psalms (תהלים/Tehillim)
2) Proverbs (משלי/Mishlei), 3) Job (איוב/Iyov), 4) Song of Songs (שיר השירים/Shir Hashirim), 5) Ruth (רות/Rut), 6) Lamentations (איכה/Eikhah), 7) Ecclesiastes (קהלת/Kohelet), 8) Esther (אסתר/Esther), 9) Daniel (דניאל/Dani’el), 10) Ezra/Nehemiah (עזרא ונחמיה/Ezra v’Nechemia), 11) Chronicles I/II (דברי הימים/Divrei Hayamim)
– The Writings (Ketuvim) which are the 14th throuth 21st Books in the Tanakh can also be divided into 3 distinct sections, they can be listed in the following manner:

The Books of Truth (Sifrei Emet)
14) Psalms (תהלים/Tehillim)
15) Proverbs (משלי/Mishlei)
16) Job (איוב/Iyov)

The Five Scrolls (Megilot)
17) Song of Songs (שיר השירים/Shir Hashirim)
18) Ruth (רות/Rut)
19) Lamentations (איכה/Eikhah)
20) Ecclesiastes (קהלת/Kohelet)
21) Esther (אסתר/Esther)

The Rest of the Writings
22) Daniel (דניאל/Dani’el)
23) Ezra/Nehemiah (עזרא ונחמיה/Ezra v’Nechemia)
24) Chronicles I/II (דברי הימים/Divrei Hayamim)

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Some Additional Facts about the Tanakh
– Like the Christian Bible, the original Jewish Bible had no chapters or verses. They eventually adopted the same basic system used by Christianity, but even today, ‘chapter divisions and verse numbers have no significance in the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, they are noted in all modern editions of the Tanakh so that verses may be located and cited.’
– Some Tanakhs even note the ‘division of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into parts I and II is also indicated on each page of those books in order to prevent confusion.’
– The inclusion of numbered chapters, and then later verses, in the Jewish Bible ‘began in the late Middle Ages in Spain, partially in the context of forced clerical debates which took place against a background of harsh persecution and of the Spanish Inquisition (the debates required a common system for citing biblical texts).’
– Because of this ugly history of conflict with Christianity, Judaism does not rely so heavily upon the numbered chapter and verse format. Indeed, as one source notes: ‘From the standpoint of the Jewish textual tradition, the chapter divisions are not only a foreign feature with no basis in the mesorah, but are also open to severe criticism of three kinds:..Nevertheless, because they proved useful for citations, they are often included in most Hebrew editions of the biblical books.’
– In older versions of the Jewish Bible, the Christian-based chapter and verse numbers were featured very prominently on each page. In the past fifty years or so, things have changed and there is now a ‘major trend towards minimizing the impact and prominence of the chapter and verse numbers on the printed page. Most editions accomplish this by removing them from the text itself and relegating them to the margins of the page.’
– The only significant difference in the numbering system between Jewish and Chrisian Bibles occurs in 1 Chronicles. Other than that the numbered chapter and verse system typically coinicides between the two religions.
– For the most part, there are two main approaches to the study, analysis, and interpretation of the Tanakh. The traditional approach is to assume that the Bible has a Divine, supernatural, origin. The modern approach is to assume exactly the opposite, namely that the Tanakh is nothing more than the writings of man.
– Because more than a few professionals and professors of what is called Biblical Studies do not have any religious faith, their commentary and conclusions are often different from that of believers. As one source states: ‘Biblical criticism seems to contradict commitment to the idea that the Bible was written by prophets inspired by God. Indeed, this practice, when applied to the Torah, is generally considered heresy by the entire Orthodox Jewish community. As such, much modern day Bible commentary written by non-Orthodox authors is considered treif (forbidden) by rabbis teaching in Orthodox yeshivas.’
– Even so, numerous Rabbinical experts from the past such as Abraham Ign Ezra, Gersonides, and Maimonides still managed to use the same techniques of modern Biblical scholarship including in-depth historical and scientific analysis of the Bible. There is a crucial difference, however, between these classical Rabbis and modern experts. Put bluntly, the Rabbis from centuries past truly believed that ‘God revealed the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.’ Many of the modern scholars do not.
– In the modern world of today, the two non-Orthodox branches of Judaism, called Conservative and Reform Judaism now tend to ‘accept the validity of both traditional and secular approaches to Bible studies.’

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A Brief Publishing History of the Tanakh
– The first ever printed Hebrew Chumash simply had Biblical text with Rashi on the page, and since then many editions have appeared.
– The first Masoretic Mikraot Gedolot was printed in 1524-1525 in Venice, edited by Daniel Bomberg. The Soncino edition was printed in 1527 in Venice. Many editions of Mikraot Gedolot have been made since then.
– Rudolf Kittel’s Biblia Hebraica appeared in 1906 and was reprinted in 1913.
– The Leningrad Codex, an ancient version of the Tanakh still intact, was originally edite under Paul E. Kahle as the Biblia Hebraica (BHK) and was published in Stuttgart in 1937.
– The Leningrad codex was also used for Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) in 1977 and will continue to be used for Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ). The Leningrad Codex lists a different order for the books of the Ketuvim and has ‘also served as the basis for two important Jewish editions of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh).’
– Aharon Dotan’s Edition is viewed as the official Tanakh of the Israeli military which includes which was reprinted with ‘a concise commentary’. It has been updated recently as the ‘Codex Leningradensis’.
– The Koren Tanakh (Bible) Edition (1962) is considered the first edition in alomst 500 years that was ‘designed, edited, printed, and bound by Jews.’
– The Aleppo Codex Edition (1977) has been called  the ‘first edition to include a reconstruction of the letters, vowels, and cantillation marks in the missing parts of the Aleppo Codex.’
– Jerusalem Crown: The Bible of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Edition (2000) has been written and edited ‘according to the method of Mordechai Breuer under the supervision of Yosef Ofer’, two prominent Hebrew Bible scholars.

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Traditional Jewish Quotes about the 24 Books of the Tanakh

It is prohibited to add to the canon of the Bible, consisting of twenty-four books. (Numbers Rabba 14)

A preacher must be well conversant with the whole twenty-four books of the Bible. If he is deficient in the knowledge of one of these books it is as bad as if he had no acquaintance with any of them. He must be meek, and even humble; every act of his life should testify to his worth, and withal if his hearers do not like his preaching he is to desist from it. (Midrash Songs 4)

There is no hard and fast rule as to any part with which books in Holy Writ should open. (Midrash Ecclesiastes 1)

Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Exact Sequence of the Tanakh

Our Rabbis taught- The order of the Prophets is, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. Let us examine this. Hosea came first, as it is written, ‘God spake first to Hosea.’ But did God speak first to Hosea? Were there not many prophets between Moses and Hosea? R. Johanan, however, has explained that what It means is that he was the first of the four prophets who prophesied at that period, namely: Hosea, Isaiah, Amos and Micah. Should not then Hosea come first? – Since his prophecy is written along with those of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, and Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi came at the end of the prophets, he is reckoned with them. But why should he not be written separately and placed first? – Since his book is so small, it might be lost if copied separately. Let us see again. Isaiah was prior to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Then why should not Isaiah be placed first? Because the Book of Kings ends with a record of destruction and Jeremiah speaks throughout of destruction and Ezekiel commences with destruction and ends with consolation and Isaiah is full of consolation; therefore we put destruction next to destruction and consolation next to consolation.,  (Baba Bathra 14b)

The order of the Hagiographa is Ruth, the Book of Psalms, Job, Prophets, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther, Ezra and Chronicles. Now on the view that Job lived in the days of Moses, should not the book of Job come first? We do not begin with a record of suffering. But Ruth also is a record of suffering?  – It is a suffering with a sequel of happiness, as R. Johanan said: Why was her name called Ruth? – Because there issued from her David who replenished the Holy One, blessed be He, with hymns and praises. (Baba Bathra 14b)

Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Authors of the Tanakh

Who wrote the Scriptures? Moses wrote his own book and the portion of Balaam and Job. Joshua wrote the book which bears his name and the last eight verses of the Pentateuch. Samuel wrote the book which bears his name and the Book of Judges and Ruth. David wrote the Book of Psalms, including in it the work of the elders, namely, Adam, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Heman, Yeduthun, Asaph,  (Baba Bathra 14b)

Jeremiah wrote the book which bears his name, the Book of Kings, and Lamentations. (Baba Bathra 15a)

Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. (Baba Bathra 15a)

The Men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther. (Baba Bathra 15a)

Ezra wrote the book that bears his name and the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles up to his own time. (Baba Bathra 15a)
This confirms the opinion of Rab, since Rab Judah has said, ‘Ezra did not leave Babylon to go up to Eretz Yisrael until he had written his own genealogy.’ Who then finished it the Book of Chronicles? – Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. (Baba Bathra 15a)

You say that Joshua wrote his book. But is it not written, And Joshua son of Nun the servant of the Lord died? – It was completed by Eleazar. But it is also written in it, And Eleazar the son of Aaron died?  – Phineas finished it. You say that Samuel wrote the book that bears his name. But is it not written in it, Now Samuel was dead?  – It was completed by Gad the seer and Nathan the prophet. You say that David wrote the Psalms, including work of the ten elders. Why is not Ethan the Ezrahite also reckoned with? – Ethan the Ezrahite is Abraham. The proof is that it is written in the Psalms, Ethan the Ezrahite, and it is written elsewhere, Who hath raised up righteousness from the East. (Baba Bathra 15a)

That King Solomon held the fear of God in high estimation we glean from the fact that his two great books, those of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, conclude by saying that the fear of God is above everything. (Midrash Ecclesiastes 3)

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Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Torah (First 5 Books of the Tanakh)

The Torah or knowledge increases, and the intellect becomes keener by proper study, and any difficult matter submitted to scholars will find solution; as a structure will be satisfactorily erected by skilful workmen each contributing his skill.–Mid. Songs 5.

In one sense there is an advantage in failing memory; if man’s memory did not fail, there would be no study of the Torah. (Midrash Ecclesiastes 1)

You are not permitted to select injunctions of the Torah which you consent to observe, and reject others for the observance of which you can find no reason. In accepting God’s word one is bound to implicit obedience to it. (Tanchum, Mishpotim)

Whilst the Torah teaches peace and goodwill to one’s fellow-man, it likewise teaches the necessity of standing up against evil deeds and even rebuking the evil-doer. Moreover, though all reverence and deference are due to one’s teacher, yet in the matter of censurable conduct it becomes the pupil’s duty to protest against it. Bad conduct is contaminating. One is apt to fall into the same error if one sees any evil act and does not lift up one’s voice to protest against it. (Tanchum. Mishpotim)

The Torah was given in the wilderness, and like the wilderness it is free and open to all comers without formalities or introductions: all that wish to do so can enter into it. (Tanchum. Vayakhail)

God gave the Torah to Israel, but all nations are to benefit by it. (Tanchum. Devorim)

Torah borrows from righteousness, and righteousness from the Torah; all without charging any interest. Is man, and man only, not to extend a helping hand to his fellow-man without exacting usury for a kind act? (Tanchum, Mishpotim)

The Torah was given in the wilderness, and like the wilderness it is free and open to all comers without formalities or introductions: all that wish to do so can enter into it. (Tanchum, Vayakhail)

Whilst the Torah teaches peace and goodwill to one’s fellow-man, it likewise teaches the necessity of standing up against evil deeds and even rebuking the evil-doer. Moreover, though all reverence and deference are due to one’s teacher, yet in the matter of censurable conduct it becomes the pupil’s duty to protest against it. Bad conduct is contaminating. One is apt to fall into the same error if one sees any evil act and does not lift up one’s voice to protest against it. (Tanchum, Mishpotim)

The Torah was to God, when He created the world, what the plan is to an architect when he erects a building. (Genesis Rabba 1)

There is a limit to everything except to the greatness and depth of the Torah. (Genesis Rabba 10)

You are not permitted to select injunctions of the Torah which you consent to observe, and reject others for the observance of which you can find no reason. In accepting God’s word one is bound to implicit obedience to it. (Tanchum, Mishpotim)

The Torah is full of holy fire; it was written with a black fire upon a white fire. (Tanchum, Bereshith)

The Torah has meekness as its footgear, and the fear of God as its crown. Hence Moses was the proper person through whose hands it should be delivered; he was meek, and with the fear of the Lord he was crowned. (Tanchum, Bereshith)

You cannot expect to occupy yourself with the study of the Torah in the future world and receive the reward for so doing in this world, you are meant to make the Torah your own in this life, and to look for reward in the life to come.(Tanchum, Bereshith)

God consulted the Torah when about to create man, but the Torah was dubious about calling man into existence, for since his days would be so short and his ways so perverted he would require much forbearance. God’s reply was, ‘By thee (Torah) I declare myself as a God merciful, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and in truth.’ (Tanchum, Pekudai)

Ben Azai was in a deep study, and to those who passed him it seemed as if he was sitting in the midst of a flame. They told Rabbi Akiba of it, who went to him and asked him whether he was studying any mystery. ‘Not at all,’ said Ben Azai. ‘I was looking up the Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Hagiographa, and rejoiced over their contents as though I had been one of those who received the Torah at the foot of Sinai when God proclaimed His word in the midst of fire.’ (Midrash Songs 1)

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Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Prophets of the Tanakh

With the death of the three last of the latter prophets, viz. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the Holy Spirit (prophecy) ceased, but use was made of the echo. Once at the assembly of the wise men in Jericho they heard the echo proclaim, ‘There is one amongst you who is well worthy of the Holy Spirit, but alas the present generation is unworthy of it.’ They thought of Hillel the elder. At his death they lamented him with the words, ‘Oh that saintly man, that meek man, that pupil of Ezra.’ (Midrash Song of Songs 8)

All the prophets started with admonitions and ended with words of comfort. Jeremiah alone had no words of comfort to offer.(Midrash Psalms 4)

The order of the Hagiographa is Ruth, the Book of Psalms, Job, Prophets, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther, Ezra and Chronicles. Now on the view that Job lived in the days of Moses, should not the book of Job come first? We do not begin with a record of suffering. But Ruth also is a record of suffering?  – It is a suffering with a sequel of happiness, as R. Johanan said: Why was her name called Ruth? – Because there issued from her David who replenished the Holy One, blessed be He, with hymns and praises. (Baba Bathra 14b)

Our Rabbis taught- The order of the Prophets is, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. Let us examine this. Hosea came first, as it is written, ‘God spake first to Hosea.’ But did God speak first to Hosea? Were there not many prophets between Moses and Hosea? R. Johanan, however, has explained that what It means is that he was the first of the four prophets who prophesied at that period, namely: Hosea, Isaiah, Amos and Micah. Should not then Hosea come first? – Since his prophecy is written along with those of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, and Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi came at the end of the prophets, he is reckoned with them. But why should he not be written separately and placed first? – Since his book is so small, it might be lost if copied separately. (Baba Bathra 14b)

Let us see again. Isaiah was prior to Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Then why should not Isaiah be placed first? Because the Book of Kings ends with a record of destruction and Jeremiah speaks throughout of destruction and Ezekiel commences with destruction and ends with consolation and Isaiah is full of consolation; therefore we put destruction next to destruction and consolation next to consolation.,  (Baba Bathra 14b)

Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Book of Psalms

The Psalms were composed by ten individuals: Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, Korah’s three sons (taken as one of the composers), and Ezra. But although they were composed by ten different individuals, David’s name alone is connected with them. It is like a company of musicians who appear before a king, and are told: ‘Although you are, everyone of you, efficient in your art, yet I wish the one with the sweetest voice to sing before me.’ (Midrash Songs 4)

Traditional Jewish Quotes about the Book of Job

You say that Moses wrote his book and the section of Balaam and Job. This supports the opinion of R. Joshua b. Levi b. Lahma who said that Job was contemporary with Moses – The proof is that it is written here (in connection with Job), ‘O that my words were now written,’ and it is written elsewhere in connection with Moses, ‘For wherein now shall it be known.’  (Baba Bathra 15a)

– But on that ground I might say that he was contemporary with Isaac, in connection with whom it is written, Who now is he that took venison?  (Baba Bathra 15a)

– Or I might say that he was contemporary with Jacob, in connection with whom it is written, If so now  do this? or with Joseph, in connection with whom it is written, ‘Where they are pasturing?’ (Baba Bathra 15a)

– The proof that Job was contemporary with Moses is that] it is written [in continuation of the above words of Job], Would that they were inscribed in a book, and it is Moses who is called ‘inscriber’, as it is written, ‘And he chose the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver’s’ portion reserved. (Baba Bathra 15a)

– Raba said that Job was in the time of the spies. The proof is that it is written here in connection with Job, ‘There was a man in the land of Uz, Job was his name,’ and it is written elsewhere in connection with the spies, ‘Whether there be wood therein.’ Where is the parallel? In one place it is Uz, in the other EZ? – What Moses said to Israel was this: ‘See if that man is there whose years are as the years of a tree and who shelters his generation like a tree.’ (Baba Bathra 15a)

A certain Rabbi was sitting before R. Samuel b. Nahmani and in the course of his expositions remarked, Job never was and never existed, but is only a typical figure. He replied: To confute such as you the text says, There was a man in the land of Uz, Job was his name. But, he retorted, if that is so, what of the verse, The poor man had nothing save one poor ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up etc. Is that anything but a parable? So this too is a parable. If so, said the other, why are his name and the name of his town mentioned? (Baba Bathra 15a)

R. Johanan and R. Eleazar both stated that Job was among those who returned from the (Babylonian) Exile, and that his house of study was in Tiberias. An objection [to this view] was raised from the following: ‘The span of Job’s life was from the time that Israel entered Egypt till they left it.’  (Baba Bathra 15a)

Job was born when the Jews went down to Egypt; he married Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, and he died when the Israelites left Egypt.(Genesis Rabba 57)

Job probably never existed, and if he did exist, the events recorded concerning him never took place. The whole narrative is intended as a moral lesson.  (Genesis Rabba 57)

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The Bible of Judaism (Tanakh)
1) Genesis (Bereshith) – 1st Book of the Law (Torah)
2) Exodus (Shemot) – 2nd Book of the Law (Torah)
3) Leviticus (Vayikra) – 3rd Book of the Law (Torah)
4) Numbers (Bamidbar) – 4th Book of the Law (Torah)
5) Deuteronomy (Devarim) – 5th Book of the Law (Torah)
6) Joshua (Y’hoshua) – 1st Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
7) Judges (שופטים/Shophtim) – 2nd Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
8) Samuel I/II (שמואל / Sh’muel) – 3rd Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
9) Kings (I & II) (מלכים/M’lakhim) – 4th Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
10) Isaiah (ישעיה/Y’shayahu) – 5th Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
11) Jeremiah (ירמיה/Yir’mi’yahu) – 6th Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
12) Ezekiel (יחזקאל/Y’khezqel) — 7th Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
13) The Twelve Prophets (תרי עשר/Trei Asar) – 8th Book of the Prophets (Nevi’im)
14) Psalms (תהלים/Tehillim) – 1st Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
15) Proverbs (משלי/Mishlei) – 2nd Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
16) Job (איוב/Iyov) – 3rd Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
17) Song of Songs (שיר השירים/Shir Hashirim) – 4th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
18) Ruth (רות/Rut) – 5th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
19) Lamentations (איכה/Eikhah) – 6th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
20) Ecclesiastes (קהלת/Kohelet) – 7th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
21) Esther (אסתר/Esther) – 8th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
22) Daniel (דניאל/Dani’el) – 9th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
23) Ezra/Nehemiah (עזרא ונחמיה/Ezra v’Nechemia) – 10th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)
24) Chronicles I/II (דברי הימים/Divrei Hayamim) – 11th Book of the Writings (Ketuvim)

May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Samuel, St. Jeremiah, and St. Isaiah.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

Strange, Unique, and Astounding Words and Deeds of the Holy Bible

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Some Strange and Astonishing Numbers of the Bible
– The King of Bashan was apparently so huge he had a bed measuring 13 and 1/2  feet long long and 6 feet wide. (Deutronomy 3:11)
– Absalom once had 6.5 pounds of actual hair removed during his annual haircut. (2 Samuel 14: 26)
– King Solomon had 700 wives, 300 concubines, and 12,000 horses. (1 Kings 11:1-3)
– An Army of 185,000 wound up being destroyed in a single night (Isaiah 37:36)
– Rehoboam was a father of 88 children. (2 Chronicles 11:21)
– King Zimri is said to have reigned for only 7 days. (I Kings 16:15)
– Methuselah, a son of Adam, lived to be 969 years old. (Genesis 5:27)
– Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark, and 950 years old when he died. (Genesis 7:6 and Genesis 9:29)
– Adam was 930 years old when he died. (Genesis 5:5)
– One man supposedly had 12 fingers and 12 toes. (2 Samuel 21:20)
– A Biblical army once consisted of 700 left-handed men. (Judges 20:16)

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Strange and Impossible Occurrences in the Bible
– A large group of men actually drank water like dogs. (Judges 7:5)
– A soaking wet sacrifice was then burnt through a supernatural occurrence. (1 Kings 18:17-40)
– A man named Balaam was once directly spoken to by a donkey. (Numbers 22:28-30)
– Women shaved their heads completely before getting married. (Deuteronomy 21:11-13)
– The once sun stood still for an entire day. (Joshua 10:13)
– One man increased his overall lifettime by 15 years simply with prayer. (Isaiah 38:1-5)
– The sun is purported to have gone backward, from west to east. (Isaiah 38:8)
– A prostitute named Rachab truly was an actual ancestor of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:5)
– The Prophet Elijah once outran a chariot. (1 Kings 18:41-46)
– An axe head made of iron ended up floating on top of the water. (2 Kings 6:1-6)
– A desperate woman eventually boiled and ate her son  (2 Kings 6:29)
– The wicked Jezebel eventually had her body eaten by dogs. (2 Kings 9:30-36)
– Jacob once used a stone for a pillow. (Genesis 28:1)
– A baby named Zarah once had scarlet thread tied around her hand before birth. (Genesis 38:28-30)
– The Prophet Isaiah allegedly walked around naked for three years. (Isaiah 20:2-3)
– The Bible is described as being cut with a pen knife. (Jeremiah 36:20-2)
– John the Baptist supposedly ate only locusts and honey for food. (Mathew 3:4)
– A woman personally killed a man by driving a nail through his head. (Judges 4:17-21)
– Moses once caused a victory on the battlefield simply because he stretched out his hand (Exodus 17:11)
– The life of Hezekaih was increased by 15 years because he prayed. (Isaiah 38:1-5)
– Seven women once wanted and sought after the same man.  (Isaiah 4:1)
– Obviously dead, dry bones were then miraculously brought to life. (Ezekiel 37)
– God is described as having had a wash pot (Psalms 60:6-8)
– An ancient bottle of milk is also described. (Judges 4:19)
– Someone is reputed to have been the first left-handed man in history. (Judges 3:15)
– There are 2 men in the Bible who never died but were instead caught up into Heaven are Enoch, from Genesis, and Elisjah: 1) Enoch, who walked with God and was no more (Genesis 5:22-24), and 2) Elijah, who was caught up by a whirlwind into heaven (II Kings 2:11).
– In ancient Israel, men closed a deal by exchanging sandals. (Ruth 4:7)
– Once when Ezekiel was just sitting in his house alone, a gigantic hand suddenly picked him up by the hair of his head and took him somewhere between heaven and earth. (Ezekiel 8:3)

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The Biblical Roots of Odd and Original Phrases
A thorn in the side (2 Corinthians 12:7)
The Powers that be (Romans 13:1)
The handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5)
Can a leopard change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23)
Holier than thou (Isaiah 65:5)
A drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15)
Woe is me! (Isaiah 6:5
Like a lamb to slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)
Do not throw pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6)
Fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24, Revelation 21:8)
The forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17)
Eat, drink and be merry (Luke 12)
Money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10)
The skin of our teeth (Job 19:20)
A land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)
Feet of Clay (Daniel 2:33-34)
Taking a Sabbatical (Leviticus 25:1-7, Deuteronomy 15:1-11)
Spare the rod, spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24)
By the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:17,19)
It is better to give than to receive. (Acts. 20:35)
A leopard cannot change its spots. (Jeremiah 13:23)
The love of money is the root of all evil. (Timothy 6:10)
Nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. (John 8:7)
Fly in the ointment. (Ecclesiastes 10:1)
Salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)

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+ The Biblical Origins of 10 Specific Phrases +

1) Spare the rod, spoil the child-

He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

– Proverbs 13:24

2) By the sweat of your brow-

To Adam he said, Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. … By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’

– Genesis 3:17,19

3) It is better to give than to receive-

In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

– Acts. 20:35

4) A leopard cannot change its spots-

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil

– Jeremiah 13:23

5) Money is the root of all evil-

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

– Timothy 6:10

6) Nothing new under the sun-

That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.

– Ecclesiastes 1:9

7) Let him who is without sin cast the first stone-

But when they persisted in asking Him, Jesus straightened up, and said to them, ‘Let He who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.’

– John 8:7

8) A Fly in the ointment-

Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

– Ecclesiastes 10:1

9) The Salt of the earth-

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

– Matthew 5:13

10) Being Used as a Scapegoat-

The goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

– Leviticus 16:10

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May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Elijah.

Bible – The New Testament Basics

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

+ The New Testament Basics +

The English Bible – a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power.

– Julia Crawford

The Basic Aspects of the New Testament
– The New Testament has exactly 4 Gospels, 2 Books, and 21 Letters totalling 27 different texts in all.
– The 4 Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
– The Four Gospels are all first person narratives about the life and death of Rabbi Joshua the Messiah (0-33 AD), Three of them are commonly known as the Synoptic Gospels because of the vast similarity in content. The Gospel is considered to be the only exception.
– In chronological order, the 27 Books of Christian New Testament (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) are as follows: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of Apostles, 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, Revelation
– The New Testament has been a collection of exactly 27 different documents since the very beginning of Christianity. Nearly 2,000 years later, every form of Christianity still uses the same 27 books as the official Canon of their religious faith.
– Among confessions of faith drawn up by Protestants, several identify by name the 27-books of the New Testament canon, including the French Confession of Faith (1559), the Belgic Confession (1561), and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647).
– The New Testament is mainly about the life and death of Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph, the Nazarene. Therefore the vast majority of the New Testament takes places from O BC to 33 AD, starting out with His birth in Bethlehem and ending with His crucifixion, death, and burial in Jerusalem 33 years later.
– Various passages which speak of Jesus Christ as God include John 1:1, John 20:28, Romans 9:5, Philippians 2:11, and Colossians 1:16.
– Other passages which speak of Jesus Christ as Man can be listed as follows: John 1:14, Luke 2:7, Luke 2:40, Luke 8:23, John 4:6 and Hebrews 4:15.
– The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is dramatic, with over 5,300 known copies and fragments in the original Greek, nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000 AD. Some manuscript texts date to the early second and third centuries, with the time between the original autographs and our earliest existing copies being a remarkably short 60 years. Interestingly, this manuscript evidence far surpasses the manuscript reliability of other ancient writings that we trust as authentic every day.
– The heroic saga known as ‘Iliad’, by Homer, still considered the most renowned book of ancient Greece, has 643 copies of manuscripts to prove itself the authentic writings of Homer. Even so, there are still 764 disputed lines of text which have yet to be determined as authentic. In comparison there are only 40 lines in all the New Testament manuscripts which remain subject to dispute.
– The supporting literature and commentary on the New Testament also provides a strong foundation of reliability as to its origins. If one tried to rewrite the entire text, even without having an actual copy of the New Testament, literally all of it, except eleven verses, ‘can be reconstructed from the writings of the early church fathers in the second and third centuries.’

The Basic Use of Names in the New Testament
– Jesus had many names including Immanuel, Alpha and Omega, Bright and Morning Star, Good Shepherd, I Am, King of Kings, Lamb of God, Master, Prince of Life, Root of Jesse. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Revelation 1:11, 22:16, 19:16, John 10:14, 8:58, 1:29, 38, 15:1, Acts 3:15, Isaiah 11:10, 9:6).
– The names of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as described in the Book of Revelation, are called Conquest, Slaughter, Famine, and Death.
– The names of the ‘Three Wise Men’ are known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar as these names were detailed in an early 6th century Greek manuscript.
– The various gifts of the ‘Three Wise Men’ were as follows: Melchoir (means king of light) offered Gold; Gaspar (means the white one) offered Frankincense (Frankincense is a gum resin used as a base for incense); and Balthazar (means lord of treasures) offered Myrrh (Myrrh is a gum resin, was valued as a perfume and unguent used in embalming).
– Although it is written nowhere to be found in the New Testament, the two robbers crucified next to Jesus were named Dismas and Gestas.

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What can I do with respect to the next world without my Bible?

– John Bacon

The Basic Timeline of the New Testament
45 A.D. – James writes the Letter of James
50 A.D. – Mark writes the Gospel of Mark
50 A.D. – Paul begins writing his 13 Letters
55 A.D. – Matthew writes the Gospel of Matthew
60 A.D. – Luke writes the Gospel of Luke
60 A.D. – Peter writes the 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Letter of Peter
60 A.D. – Jude writes the Letter of Jude
65 A.D. – Luke writes the Book of Acts
65 A.D. – An Unknown Author writes the Letter to the Hebrews
70 A.D. – Paul finishes writing his 13 Letters
90 A.D. – John writes the 1st Letter of John, 2nd Letter of John, 3 Letter of John
90 A.D. – John writes the Gospel of John
90 A.D. – John writes the Book of Revelation

NOTE: The 13 Letter of Paul are Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

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+ The Basic Gospels, Books, and Letters of the New Testament+

The Traditional Names of the 4 New Testament Gospels
1) The Gospel According to St. Matthew, 2) The Gospel According to St. Mark, 3) The Gospel According to Luke, 4) The Gospel According to St. John

The Traditional Names of the 2 New Testament Books
1) The Book of Acts of the Apostles, 2) The Book of Revelation of St. John

The Traditional Names of the 21 New Testament Letters
1) The Letter to the Romans, 2) The 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 3) The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, 4) The Letter to the Galatians, 5) The Letter to the Ephesians, 6) The Letter to the Philippians, 7) The Letter to the Colossians, 8) The 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 9) The 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 10 ) The 1st Letter to Timothy, 11) 2nd Letter to Timothy, 12) Letter to Titus, 13) Letter to Philemon, 14) Letter to the Hebrews, 15) Letter of James, 16) 1st Letter of Peter, 17) 2nd Letter of Peter, 18) 1st Letter of John, 19) 2nd Letter of John, 20) 3rd Letter of John, 12) the Letter to Jude.

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+ The Basic Authorship of the New Testament +

The English Bible has been a greater influence in the course of English literature than all other forces put together. It is impossible to read standard authors intelligently without knowing something about the Bible, for they all assume familiarity with it on the point of their readers…….to any young man or woman, eaten with ambition to become a writer, I shall advise first of all, KNOW THE BIBLE.

– William Lyon Phelps, Prof. of English Literature at Yale University

The Basic Facts about the Authors of the New Testament
– The 27 Books of the New Testament were all written by only  8 different authors whose actual names include the following: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Paul, 6) Peter, 7) James, and 8) Jude
– These 8 individual New Testament authors, along with the names of the various 27 books they are responsible for writing, can be seen as follows: 1) Matthew = Gospel of Matthew,  2) Mark = Gospel of Mark, 3)  Luke = Gospel of Luke, Book of Acts,  4) John = Gospel of John, 1st Letter of John, 2nd Letter of John, 3rd Letter of John, Book of Revelation, 5) James = Letter of James, 6) Peter: 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Letter of Peter, 7) St. Jude = Letter of Jude, 8) St. Paul = Letter to the Romans, 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Philippians, Letter to the Colossians, 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 1st Letter to Timothy, 2nd Letter to Timothy, Letter to Titus, Letter to Philemon
– Some of the traditional names given to the 8 New Testament authors include the following: Matthew the tax collector (Matthew), John-Mark (Mark), Luke the Physician (Luke), John the Disciple that Jesus loved (John), Paul (Saul) of Tarsus (Paul), Peter of the Twelve (Peter), James, the brother of Jesus (James), Jude, the brother of James (Jude)
– John, Paul, and Luke are credited with writing the vast majority of the New Testament, including 20 out of 27 total Books. To be specific, Luke is the author of 2 Books (1 Gospel, 1 Book). John wrote 5 Books (1 Gospel, 1 Book, and 3 Letters), while Paul is credited with 13 Books (13 Letters). The can be represented in the following manner:

The 3 Primary Authors of the New Testament (20 Books)
1) John (1 Gospel, 1 Book, and 3 Letters): Gospel of John, 1st Letter of John, 2nd Letter of John, 3rd Letter of John, Book of Revelation
2) Paul (13 Letters): Letter to the Romans, 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Philippians, Letter to the Colossians, 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 1st Letter to Timothy, 2nd Letter to Timothy, Letter to Titus, Letter to Philemon
3) Luke (2 Books): Gospel of Luke, Book of Acts

– Only two, out of the eight New Testament authors, namely St. Peter and St. Matthew, were ever considered to be actual Apostles, a group of Twelve men previously chosen by Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph (Rabbi Jesus, the Nazarene) to carry on in His name and to serve as the chosen leaders of His growing religious movement.The other six authors were seen instead as Disciples, a name given to a much larger, constantly expanding, circle of followers and associates who had chosen Joshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) as their LORD and Savior.
– The epistles of James and Jude are traditionally attributed to Jesus’ brothers James and Jude.
– The alleged author who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews has remained anonymous and completely unknown for nearly the past 2,000 years

I Thoroughly believe in a University education for both men and women, but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college education is more valuable that a college education without the Bible.

– William Lyon Phelps

The Basic Conclusions about the New Testament Authors
~ The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew in 55 A.D.
~ The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark in 50 A.D.
~ The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke in 60 A.D.
~ The Gospel of John was written by John in 90
~ The Book of Acts was written by Luke in 65 A.D.
~ The Letter to the Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon were all written by Paul from 50 to 70 A.D.
~ The Letter to the Hebrews was most likely written by Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos in 65 A.D.
~ The Letter of James was written by James in 45 A.D.
~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of Peter were all written by Peter in 60 A.D.
~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of John were all written by John in 90 A.D.
~ The Letter to Jude was written by Jude in 60 A.D.
~ The Book of Revelation was written by John in 90 A.D.

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Jesus loves me – this I know, For the Bible tells me so.

– Anna Bartlett Warner

The Basic Organization of the New Testament
– The New Testament is believed to have been written in the years 45 – 90 A.D. Some scholars continue to dispute this, claiming that all, or some of the Books, were written much later.
– In chronological order, the New Testament of the Christian Bible, including all Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Bibles, consists of the following 27 different Books: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Acts, 6) Romans, 7) 1 Corinthians, 8) 2 Corinthians, 9) Galatians, 10) Ephesians, 11) Philippians, 12) Colossians, 13) 1 Thessalonians, 14) 2 Thessalonians, 15) 1 Timothy, 16) 2 Timothy, 17) Titus, 18) Philemon, 19) Hebrews, 20) James, 21) 1 Peter, 22) 2 Peter, 23) 1 John, 24) 2 John, 25) 3 John, 26) Jude,  27) Revelation.
– The Canon of the New Testament, consisting of the same 27 books listed above, has remained unchanged for nearly 2,000 years. The first official lists of these books were published at the Council of Nicea and at the Council of Carthage.
– The 27 Books of the New Testament has exactly 4 Gospels, 2 Books, and 21 Letters.
– The 4 Gospels include the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, and the Gospel of John.
– The 2 Books are commonly known as the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation.
– The Book of Acts, usually seen as a Historical book, was written by Luke, the same author who wrote the Gospel of Luke.
– The Book of Revelation, written by St. John of Patmos, is a terrifying series of prophetic visions as personally experienced by St. John, the author. Because of this, the Book is categorized as Apocalyptic. This book has also been called the Apocalypse of John.
– Most scholars, including the Roman Catholic Church itself, believe that the prophecy of the Beast, and anti-Chrsit, has already been fulfilled many centuries ago. Thus, the actual identity of the infamous Beast, whose number is 666, was non other than Caesar Nero, the Emperor of Rome.
– The 4 Gospels are all first person narratives about the life and death of Rabbi Joshua the Messiah (0-33 AD), Three of them are commonly known as the Synoptic Gospels because of the vast similarity in content. The Gospel of John is considered to be the only exception to the other three.
– Luke, one of the Gospel authors was also a medical doctor. (Colossians 4:14)
– The 21 Letters, can be further divided into two basic groups, commonly known as the 13 Pauline Letters, and the 7 General, or Catholic, Letters. The last letter, Letter to the Hebrews, is the only New Testament Book with an unknown author.
– Overall, these 21 Letters, as they are written in the New Testament, include the following: 1) Romans, 2) 1 Corinthians, 3) 2 Corinthians, 4) Galatians, 5) Ephesians, 6) Philippians, 7) Colossians, 8) 1 Thessalonians, 9) 2 Thessalonians, 10) 1 Timothy, 11) 2 Timothy, 12) Titus, 13) Philemon, 14) Hebrews, 15) James, 16) 1 Peter, 17) 2 Peter, 18) 1 John, 19) 2 John, 20) 3 John, 21) Jude.
– The 13 Letters authored by Paul are traditionally known as the Pauline Letters, or Pauline Epistles. They are as follows: 1) Romans, 2) 1 Corinthians, 3) 2 Corinthians, 4) Galatians, 5) Ephesians, 6) Philippians, 7) Colossians, 8) 1 Thessalonians, 9) 2 Thessalonians, 10) 1 Timothy, 11) 2 Timothy, 12) Titus, 13) Philemon,
– The other 7 Letters, not including Hebrews, have usually been referred to as the Catholic Letters, the General Epistles, or Catholic Epistles. They can be listed as follows: 1) James, 2) 1st Peter, 3) 2nd Peter, 4) 1st John, 5) 2nd John, 6) 3rd John, 7) Jude

The Basic Organization of the New Testament Letters
– As described previously, they 21 Letters of the New Testament have always been categorized into two main groups called the 13 Letters of Paul and 7 Catholic Letters of the New Testament.
– The 13 Letters authored by Paul are traditionally known as the Pauline Letters, or Pauline Epistles. They are as follows: 1) Romans, 2) 1 Corinthians, 3) 2 Corinthians, 4) Galatians, 5) Ephesians, 6) Philippians, 7) Colossians, 8) 1 Thessalonians, 9) 2 Thessalonians, 10) 1 Timothy, 11) 2 Timothy, 12) Titus, 13) Philemon
– The other 7 Letters, not including Hebrews, have usually been referred to as the Catholic Letters, Catholic Epistles, or the General Epistles. They can be listed as follows: 1) James, 2) 1st Peter, 3) 2nd Peter, 4) 1st John, 5) 2nd John, 6) 3rd John, 7) Jude
– In brief, the Seven Catholic Letters (General Epistles) of the New Testament are as follows: 1) James, 2) I Peter, 3) II Peter, 4), I John, 5) II John, 6) III John, and 7) Jude
– The 2 letters attributed to St. Peter are traditionally referred to as the Petrine Epistles
– The 3 letters attributed to St. John are traditionally referred to as the Johanine Epistles
– The 13 letters attributed to St. Paul are traditionally referred to as the Pauline Epistles
– The General epistles, or Catholic Epistles, are individual books of the New Testament in the form of letters.
– Traditional full length names and titles of these letters are: the Epistle of James, First Epistle of Peter, Second Epistle of Peter, First Epistle of John, Second Epistle of John, Third Epistle of John, Epistle of James, Epistle of Jude
– These Letters have been called ‘general’ because for the most part, their intended audience seems to be Christians in general rather than individual persons or congregations as is the case with the Pauline epistles.
– 2nd John and 3rd John are included as General Epistles despite the fact they are addressed to the ‘elect lady’, thought by many scholars to be the Church itself, and to ‘Gaius’, about whom there has been much speculation but little in the way of conclusive proof as to his actual identity.
– Even today, some scholars continue to question the actual authorship of these works. Some believe 2 Peter to be a pseudepigraphal work.
– The epistles of James and Jude are traditionally attributed to Jesus’ brothers James and Jude.
– The alleged author who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews has remained anonymous and completely unknown for nearly the past 2,000 years
– The Letter to the Hebrews has been deemed the work of an unknown author since the very beginning of Christianity. More than one Church Father declared that only God would ever know the actual identity of the author who wrote Hebrews. Even so, numerous theories and conjectures as to who really wrote it have been circulating throughout the Church for many centuries. Some believers have contended that St. Paul is the real author. A careful reading of the text, however, reveals that ‘the grammar and use of certain key Pauline terms is markedly different from the whole body of his identified (written) work.’ In other words, there is substantial linguistic evidence that someone else besides St. Paul wrote the Letter to the Hebrews.
– Considering the fact that quite a few Old Testament books were also wtitten by unknown authors, one could rightfully say that occasional anonymity is actually a key aspect of the overall Biblical (Judeo-Christian) tradition. In other words, it may well be considered an authenticlly Hebrew tradition to include anonymous sacred writings into Scriptures. As one source puts it bluntly, ‘Most of the writings in the Old Testaments are authored by anonymous Israelites, and in many cases it is not known whether they were compiled by individuals or groups.’ Thus, the anonymous nature of the Letter to the Hebrews is nothing new to the the Bible or to the religions of Judaism and Christianity
– The Syrian Orthodox Peshitta, ‘excludes 2-3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation, but Bibles of the modern Syriac Orthodox Church include later translations of those books along with the Letter of Baruch (sometimes included as part of 2 Baruch).’ Even today, the educational program for this particular Eastern Christian Sect: ‘presents lessons from only the twenty-two books of Peshitta, the version to which appeal is made for the settlement of doctrinal questions.’
– The Third Epistle to the Corinthians and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs were once considered part of the Armenian Orthodox Bible, but are no longer printed with modern editions.

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0 A.D. – The Birth of Rabbi Joshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ)
33 A.D. – The Death of Rabbi Joshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ)

The Basic Dates, Books, and Authors of the New Testament
45 A.D. – Letter of James (James)
50 A.D. – Gospel of Mark (Mark)
50 A.D. – Beginning of Paul’s 13 Letters (Paul)
55 A.D. – Gospel of Matthew (Matthew)
60 A.D. – Letter of Jude (Jude)
60 A.D. – 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Peter (Peter)
60 A.D. – Gospel of Luke (Luke)
65 A.D. – Book of Acts (Luke)
65 A.D. – Letter to the Hebrews (Unknown)
70 A.D. – End of Paul’s 13 Letters (Paul)
90 A.D. – 1st Letter of John, 2nd John, 3rd John (John)
90 A.D. – Gospel of John (John)
90 A.D. – Book of Revelation (John)

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The Basic Chronological List of the New Testament
1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Acts, 6) Romans, 7) 1 Corinthians, 8) 2 Corinthians, 9) Galatians, 10) Ephesians, 11) Philippians, 12) Colossians, 13) 1 Thessalonians, 14) 2 Thessalonians, 15) 1 Timothy, 16) 2 Timothy, 17) Titus, 18) Philemon, 19) Hebrews, 20) James, 21) 1 Peter, 22) 2 Peter, 23) 1 John, 24) 2 John, 25) 3 John, 26) Jude,  27) Revelation

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The Basic Conclusions about the New Testament

1) The Gospel of Matthew was probably written by the Apostle Matthew in the year 55 A.D. or later

2) The Gospel of Mark was probably written by the Disciple Mark in the year 50 A.D. or later

3) The Gospel of Luke was probably written by the Disciple Luke in the year 60 A.D. or later

4) The Gospel of John was probably written by the Disciple John in the year 90 A.D. or later

5) The Book of Acts was probably written by the Disciple Luke in the year 65 A.D. or later

6) The Letter to the Romans was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

7) The 1st Letter to the Corinthians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

8) The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D.or later

9) The Letter to the Galatians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

10) The Letter to the Ephesians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

11) The Letter to the Philippians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

12) The Letter to the Colossians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

13) The 1st Letter to the Thessalonians was probably  written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

14) The 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

15) The 1st Letter to Timothy was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

16) The 2nd Letter to Timothy was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

17) The Letter to Titus was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

18) The Letter to Philemon was probably written by the Disciple Paul in the years 50-70 A.D. or later

19) The Letter to the Hebrews was probably written by an unknown author in the year 65 A,D. or later

20) The Letter of James was probably written by the Disciple James in the year 45 A.D. or later

21) The 1st Letter of Peter was probably written by the Apostle Peter in the year 60 A.D. or later

22) The 2nd Letter of Peter was probably written by the Apostle Peter in the year 60 A.D. or later

23) The 1st Letter of John was probably written by the Disciple John in the year 90 A.D. or later

24) The 2nd Letter of John was written by the Disciple John in the year 90 A.D. or later

25) The 3rd Letter of John was probably written by the Disciple John in the year 90 A.D. or later

26) The Letter of Jude was probably written by the Disciple Jude in the year 60 A.D. or later

27) The Book of Revelation was probably written by the Disciple John in the year 90 A.D. or later

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May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Jude

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

+ The Bible of Judaism and/or the Bible of Christianity +

God gave the Torah to Israel, but all nations are to benefit by it.

– Tanchum. Devorim

A Comparison of the Jewish and Christian Bibles
– The Bible is the most commonly used English word referring to the collection of sacred writings representing the religion of Judaism and/or Christianity. In general, the Jewish Bible is called the Tanakh, while the Christian Bible is commonly known as the Holy Bible.
– The Bible of Judaism, known as the Tanakh in the Hebrew language, is also called the Jewish Bible, the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, or even the Old Testament. It consists of 24 different books which have been divided into three separate groups known as the Law, or Torah in Hebrew (5 books), the Prophets, or Neviim in Hebrew, (8 books), and the Writings, or Ketuvim in Hebrew (11 books).
– The Bible of Christianity, commonly known as the Holy Bible, also called Scriptures, is composed of two completely different sections called the Old Testament (originally written in Hebrew) and the New Testament (originally written in Greek).
– Some versions of the Christian Old Testament (written in Hebrew) include books which Judaism never fully accepted as Scriptures. Because of these historical differences in opinion, the total number of book in the Christian Bible can vary from 66 books up to 78 books. The New Testament, however, remains the same 27 books for every single form of Christianity.
– The Protestant Christian Bible includes 66 total books (39 in Old Testament, 27 in New Testament), the Catholic Bible has 73 books (46 in Old Testament, 27 in New Testament), and the Eastern Orthodox Bible contains 78 books (51 in Old Testament, 27 in New Testament).
– In terms of the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, there are 39 books in Protestant Christianity, 46 books in Catholic Christianity, and 24 books in Judaism.
– Most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, the language spoken by the Israelites.Except for a few words and sentences, the New Testament was composed in Greek, the common language in the Hellenistic world.
– The Seven additional Old Testament Books are called “deuterocanonical” by the Catholic Church and “apocryphal” by Protestants, who’ve removed them from their Bibles.
– As just mentioned previously, the Bible of Judaism, called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, includes a total 24 different books, all of which are included in the Judeo-Christian Old Testament. However, the Christian Bible has been arranged differently so that the 24 books of the Jewish Bible has been organized into the 39+ books of the standard Protestant Christian Old Testament. Here are just a few relevant quotes concerning the sequencing of the Tanakh taken from ancient Jewish sources:

Our Rabbis taught- The order of the Prophets is, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.

– Baba Bathra 14b

The order of the Hagiographa is Ruth, the Book of Psalms, Job, Prophets, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther, Ezra and Chronicles.

– Baba Bathra 14b

– Traditional Judaism, much like traditional Christianity, continues to believe in the age-old folk-lore concerning the actual identity of who wrote the various books of the Bible. They also have several ancient, non-Biblical sources to support their cliaims. Here are just a few examples:

Who wrote the Scriptures? Moses wrote his own book and the portion of Balaam and Job.

– Baba Bathra 14b

Joshua wrote the book which bears his name and the last eight verses of the Pentateuch.

– Baba Bathra 14b

Samuel wrote the book which bears his name and the Book of Judges and Ruth.

– Baba Bathra 14b

David wrote the Book of Psalms, including in it the work of the elders, namely, Adam, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Heman, Yeduthun, Asaph,

– Baba Bathra 14b

The Psalms were composed by ten individuals: Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, Korah’s three sons (taken as one of the composers), and Ezra. But although they were composed by ten different individuals, David’s name alone is connected with them.

– Midrash Songs 4.

Jeremiah wrote the book which bears his name, the Book of Kings, and Lamentations.

– Baba Bathra 15a

Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote Isaiah, Proverbs, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.

– Baba Bathra 15a

The Men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Minor Prophets, Daniel and the Scroll of Esther.

– Baba Bathra 15a

Ezra wrote the book that bears his name and the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles up to his own time.

– Baba Bathra 15a

You say that Moses wrote his book and the section of Balaam and Job. This supports the opinion of R. Joshua b. Levi b. Lahma who said that Job was contemporary with Moses

– Baba Bathra 15a

That King Solomon held the fear of God in high estimation we glean from the fact that his two great books, those of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, conclude by saying that the fear of God is above everything.

– Midrash Ecclesiastes 3

– A number of modern scholars remain skeptical concerning the authenticity of any single individual contribution. One must remember that, for the most part, ‘Few of the books of the Bible specifically name their author.Instead, they believe that most of the various Biblical books represent ‘the work of many persons over many centuries…very few of them are the work of the individuals whose names have been attached to them by tradition.’ They also suspect that even if they are authentic copies of the original texts of the Prophets, ‘the majority have been heavily edited to the point where their original form and history of composition are today uncertain.’

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You are not permitted to select injunctions of the Torah which you consent to observe, and reject others for the observance of which you can find no reason. In accepting God’s word one is bound to implicit obedience to all of it.

– Tanchum, Mishpotim

The Bible of Judaism
– The Bible of Judaism, known as the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh in Hebrew), is composed of 24 books in total which has been divided into three different sets of writings. They include the following: Part I. The Law (Torah in Hebrew) which has 5 books, Part II. The Prophets (Neviim in Hebrew) which has 8 books, Part III. The Writings (Ketuvim in Hebrew) which has 11 books. Here are two quotes from traditional Jewish sources that originate from many centuries ago:

It is prohibited to add to the canon of the Bible, consisting of twenty-four books.

– Numbers Rabba 14

A preacher must be well conversant with the whole twenty-four books of the Bible. If he is deficient in the knowledge of one of these books it is as bad as if he had no acquaintance with any of them.

– Midrash Songs 4

– Part I. The Law (Torah): This first section of the Jewish Bible, known simply as the Law, or the Torah, contains 5 individual books including: (1) Genesis, (2) Exodus, (3) Leviticus, (4) Numbers, and (5) Deuteronomy. This same group of texts are also referred to as the Five Books of Moses, or the Pentateuch, by Christianity.
– Part II. The Prophets (Neviim): This second section of the Jewish Bible, called the Prophets, or Neviim, contains the following 8 books: (6) Joshua, (7) Judges, (8) Samuel, (9) Kings, (10) Jeremiah, (11) Ezekiel, (12) Isaiah, and (13) the Book of the Twelve. In Christianity, this same collection is organized into 21 different Old Testament books.
– Part III. The Writings (Ketuvim) This third and final section of the Jewish Bible is known as the Writings, or Ketuvim, is composed of 11 books which include: (14) Ruth, (15) Psalms,  (16) Job, (17) Prophets, (18) Ecclesiastes, (19) Song of Songs, (20) Lamentations, (21) Daniel,  (22) Esther, (23) Ezra and (24) Chronicles. In Christianity, these same documents are traditionally divided into 13 different Old Testament books.
– In the Jewish Bible, the last book in the second section of ‘The Prophets’ (Neviim), called the Book of the Twelve, contains 12 books of the Christian Old Testament books, including: 1. Hosea, 2. Joel, 3. Amos, 4. Obadiah, 5. Jonah, 6. Micah, 7. Nahum, 8. Habakkuk, 9. Zephaniah, 10. Haggai, 11. Zecariah, 12. Malachi. These are known as the 12 minor prophets.
– In summary, the Tanakh, the official Bible of Judaism, includes 24 total books which have been divided into three specific segments known as the Law (Torah) consisting of 5 books, ‘The Prophets’ (Neviim) containing 8 books (or 21 Christian books), and ‘The Writings’ (Ketuvim) which contain 11 books (or 13 Christian books). These 24 individual books (39+ Christian books), listed in chronological order as they appear in the Jewish Bible, can be seen as follows:

Part 1. The Law, or Torah (5 Books)
1) Genesis
2) Exodus
3) Leviticus
4) Numbers
5) Deuteronomy

Part II. The Prophets, or Neviim (8 Books)
6) Joshu
7) Judges
8) Samuel
9) Kings
10) Jeremiah
11) Ezekiel
12) Isaiah
13) Book of the Twelve

Part III. The Writings, or Ketuvim (11 Books)
14) Ruth
15) Psalms
16) Job
17) Prophets
18) Ecclesiastes
19) Song of Songs
20) Lamentations
21) Daniel,
22) Esther
23) Ezra
24) Chronicles

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With the death of the three last of the latter prophets, namely Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, the Holy Spirit (prophecy) ceased, but use was made of the echo.

– Midrash Song of Songs 8

The Bible of Christianity
– The Bible of Protestant Christianity contains 66 books (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament); the Roman Catholic Bible contains 73 books (46 Old Testament, 27 New Testament); the Eastern Orthodox Bible contains 78 books (51 Old Testament, 27 New Testament). All of them include the entire text of the Hebrew or Jewish Bible, which is traditionally organized into only 24 books.
– The Protestant Old Testament consists of 39 different Books which is extremely similar in content to the official Jewish Bible, the Tanakh. These books are as follows: 1. Genesis, 2. Exodus, 3. Leviticus, 4. Numbers, 5. Deuteronomy, 6. Joshua, 7. Judges, 8. Ruth, 9. 1 Samuel, 10. 2 Samuel, 11. 1 Kings, 12. 2 Kings, 13. 1 Chronicles, 14. 2 Chronicles, 15. Ezra, 16. Nehemiah, 17. Esther, 18. Job, 19. Psalms, 20. The Proverbs, 21. Ecclesiastes, 22. The Song of Songs, 23. Isaiah, 24. Jeremiah, 25. Lamentations, 26. Ezekiel, 27. Daniel, 28. Hosea, 29. Joel, 30. Amos, 31. Obadiah, 32. Jonah, 33. Micah, 34. Nahum, 35. Habakkuk, 36. Zephaniah, 37. Haggai, 38. Zechariah, 39. Malachi
– The Roman Catholic Old Testament consists of 46 different Books. In chronological order, they are as follows: 1. Genesis, 2. Exodus, 3. Leviticus, 4. Numbers,  5. Deuteronomy, 6. Joshua, 7. Judges,  8. Ruth,  9. 1 Samuel, 10. 2 Samuel, 11. 1 Kings, 12. 2 Kings, 13. 1 Chronicles, 14. 2 Chronicles, 15. Ezra, 16. Nehemiah, 17. Tobit, 18. Judith, 19. Esther (includes additions to Esther), 20. 1 Maccabees, 21. 2 Maccabees, 22. Job, 23. Psalms, 24. Proverbs, 25. Ecclesiastes, 26. Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), 27. Wisdom of Solomon, 28. Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), 29. Isaiah, 30. Jeremiah, 31. Lamentations, 32. Baruch (includes Letter of Jeremiah), 33. Ezekiel, 34. Daniel (includes Susanna & Bel and the Dragon), 35. Hosea, 36. Joel, 37. Amos, 38. Obadiah, 39. Jonah, 40. Micah, 41. Nahum, 42. Habakkuk, 43. Zephaniah, 44. Haggai, 45. Zecariah, 46. Malachi
– The New Testament, for every form of Christianity, consists of the same 27 individual books They are as follows: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Acts of Apostles, 6) Romans, 7) 1 Corinthians,  8) 2 Corinthians, 9) Galatians, 10) Ephesians, 11) Philippians, 12) Colossians, 13) 1 Thessalonians, 14) 2 Thessalonians, 15) 1 Timothy, 16) 2 Timothy, 17) Titus, 18) Philemon, 19) Hebrews, 20) James, 21) 1 Peter, 22) 2 Peter, 23) 1 John, 24) 2 John, 25) 3 John, 26) Jude, and 27) Revelation
– The Twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament are as follows: 1. Hosea, 2. Joel, 3. Amos, 4. Obadiah, 5. Jonah, 6. Micah, 7. Nahum, 8. Habakkuk, 9. Zephaniah, 10. Haggai, 11. Zecariah, 12. Malachi
– Bible translations developed for Catholic use are complete Bibles. This means that they contain the entire canonical text identified by Pope Damasus and the Synod of Rome (382) and the local Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), contained in St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation (420), and decreed infallibly by the Ecumenical Council of Trent (1570). This canonical text contains the same 27 NT Testament books which Protestant versions contain, but 46 Old Testament books, instead of 39. These 7 books, and parts of 2 others, are called Deuterocanonical by Catholics (2nd canon) and Apocrypha (false writings) by Protestants, who dropped them at the time of the Reformation.
– The Deuterocanonical texts are Tobias (Tobit), Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Wisdom, First and Second Maccabees and parts of Esther and Daniel. Some Protestant Bibles include the “Apocrypha” as pious reading.
– The Vulgate Bible, the Latin Bible for the Catholic Church, is an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible, largely the result of the labors of Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of old Latin translations. It became the definitive and officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.

May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Moses and St. Peter.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

The Old Testament Canons of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christianity

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The Three Old Testament Canons of Christianity
I. Protestant Christianity: 39 Books
II. Roman Catholicism: 46 Books
III. Eastern Orthodoxy: 51 Books

– The Protestant Old Testament Canon of 39 Books is less than 500 years old. It contains the exact same text of the Hebrew, or Jewish, Bible that is also called the Tanakh. Even though the Tanakh consists of only 24 Books, the same set of documents has been organized into the 39 Books of the Protestant Old Testament. The Protestant Canon comes mostly from Bibles translated into the German, Scandinavian, and English languages
– The Catholic Old Testament Canon of 46 Books is more than 1,600 years old. The earliest list comes from the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and comes mainly from Bibles translated into the Latin and sometimes Greek languages.
– The Eastern Orthodox Old Testament Canon of 51 Books is nearly as old as the Catholic Canon and comes mainly from the Septuagint, a Bible that was translated into Greek centuries before Christianity even began.

I. The 39 Books of the Protestant Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The Book of Ezra, 16) The Book of Nehemiah, 17) The Book of Esther, 18) The Book of Job, 19) The Book of Psalms, 20) The Book of Proverbs, 21) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 22) The Song of Solomon, 23) The Book of Isaiah, 24) The Book of Jeremiah, 25) The Book of Lamentations, 26) The Book of Ezekiel, 27) The Book of Daniel, 28) The Book of Hosea, 29) The Book of Joel, 30) The Book of Amos, 31) The Book of Obadiah, 32) The Book of Jonah, 33) The Book of Micah, 34) The Book of Nahum, 35) The Book of Habakkuk, 36) The Book of Zephaniah, 37) The Book of Haggai, 38) The Book of Zechariah, 39) The Book of Malachi

II. The 7 Additional Books of the Catholic Old Testament
40) The Book of Tobit
41) The Book of Judith
42) The 1st Book of the Maccabees
43) The 2nd Book of the Maccabees
44) The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon
45) The Book of Sirach
46) The Book of Baruch

III. The 5 Additional Books of the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament
47) The 1st Book of Esdras
48) The 3rd Book of the Maccabees
49) The 4th Book of the  Maccabees
50) The Book of Odes
51) The Letter of Jeremiah

I. Protestant Canon = 24 Books of the Hebrew Bible (Judaism) = 39 Books of the Old Testament
II. Roman Catholic Canon = 39 Protestant + 7 Catholic = 46 Books of the Old Testament
III. Eastern Orthodox Canon = 39 Protestant + 7 Catholic + 5 Orthodox = 51 Books of the Old Testament

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The Current Uncertainty about the Books of the Old Testament
– The traditional dating of the Books which comprise the Old Testament appear to be based upon assumptions that remain inconclusive, at least according to the criteria of today’s Biblical scholarship.
– Since around the 19th century, a number of Biblical scholars have raised doubts about the assumed dates and supposed authors of the Christian Old Testament.
– To rectify the uncertainty surrounding the authors and dates of the Old Testament, some modern Biblical scholars have proposed a series of alternative dates and conclusions concerning certain Old Testament Books.
– Basically, a number of modern Biblical scholars now claim that at least some Old Testament Books were written later on by a greater number of authors who remain unknown.
– To give credit both to the traditional dating and authorship of the 39-51 Books of the Christian Old Testament and to the modern skeptics who doubt them, the following tentative statements have been compiled to provide an overall understanding of this particular Biblical subject.
– The first 39 Statements listed below describes the official Protestant Old Testament Canon, the first 46 Statements describe the official Catholic Old Testament Canon, while all 51 Statements describe the official Orthodox Old Testament Canon. This can be understood in the following manner:

Protestant Old Testament Canon: Statements 1 to 39
Roman Catholic Old Testament Canon: Statements 1 to 46
Eastern Orthodox Old Testament Canon: Statements 1 to 51

– To simplify the conflicting evidence and numerous conclusions of today’s Biblical scholars, the following Statements have been written for each and every Book included in the three different Canons of the Christian Old Testament.
– These Statements do not represent any final conclusions about the exact dates and authors of the 39-51 Book being discussed, but are simply an attempt to clarify the current chaos, confusion, and uncertainty resulting from the on-going debates among many different Biblical scholars who have many different perspectives and who originate from different sects of Christianity.

– The 51 Statements on the Books of the Old Testament –

1. The Book of Genesis was probably written by the Prophet Moses in the year 1,400 B.C. or later.

2. The Book of Exodus was probably written by Prophet Moses in the year 1,400 B.C. or later.

3. The Book of Leviticus was probably written by Prophet Moses and completed in the year 1,400 B.C. or later.

4. The Book of Numbers was probably written by the Prophet Moses and completed in the year 1,400 B.C. or later.

5. The Book of Deuteronomy was probably written by Moses and completed in the year 1,400 B.C. or later.

6. The Book of Joshua was probably written by Joshua and completed in the year 1,350 B.C. or later.

7. The Book of Judges was probably written by the Prophet Samuel and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

8. The Book of Ruth was probably written by the Prophet Samuel and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

9. The 1st Book of Samuel was probably written by the Prophet Samuel and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

10. The 2nd Book of Samuel was probably written by the Prophet Samuel and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

11. The 1st Book of Kings was probably written by the Prophet Jeremiah and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

12. The 2nd Book of Kings was probably written by the Prophet Jeremiah and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

13. The 1st Book of Chronicles was probably written by the Prophet Ezra and completed in the year 450 B.C. or later.

14. The 2nd Book of Chronicles was probably written by the Prophet Ezra and completed in the year 450 B.C. or later.

15. The Book of Ezra was probably written by the Prophet Ezra and completed in the year 450 B.C. or later.

16. The Book of Nehemiah was probably written by the Prophet Ezra and completed in the year 450 B.C. or later.

17. The Book of Esther was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 400 B.C. or later.

18. The Book of Job was probably written by Prophet Moses and completed in 1,400 B.C. or later.

19. The Book of Psalms was probably written by King David and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

20. The Book of Proverbs was probably written by King Solomon and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

21. The Book of Ecclesiastes was probably written by King Solomon and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

22. The Song of Solomon was probably written by King Solomon and completed in the year 1,000 B.C. or later.

23. The Book of Isaiah was probably written by the Prophet Isaiah and completed in the year 700 B.C. or later.

24. The Book of Jeremiah was probably written by the Prophet Jeremiah and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

25. The Book of Lamentations was probably written by the Prophet Jeremiah and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

26. The Book of Ezekiel was probably written by the Prophet Ezekiel and completed in the year 550 B.C. or later.

27. The Book of Daniel was probably written by the Prophet Daniel and completed in the year 550 B.C. or later.

28. The Book of Hosea was probably written by the Prophet Hosea and completed in the year 750 B.C. or later.

29. The Book of Joel was probably written by the Prophet Joel and completed in the year 850 B.C. or later.

30. The Book of Amos was probably written by the Prophet Amos and completed in the year 750 B.C. or later.

31. The Book of Obadiah was probably written by the Prophet Obadiah and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

32. The Book of Jonah was probably written by the Prophet Jonah and completed in the year 700 B.C. or later.

33. The Book of Micah was probably written by the Prophet  Micah and completed in the year 700 B.C. or later.

34. The Book of Nahum was probably written by the Prophet Nahum and completed in the year 700 B.C. or later.

35. The Book of Habakkuk was probably written by the Prophet Habakkuk and completed in the year 600 B.C. or later.

36. The Book of Zephaniah was probably written by the Prophet  Zephaniah and completed in the year 650 B.C. or later.

37. The Book of Haggai was probably written by the Prophet Haggai and completed in the year 520 B.C. or later.

38. The Book of Zechariah was probably written by the Prophet Zechariah and completed in the year 500 B.C. or later.

39. The Book of Malachi was probably written by the Prophet Malachi and completed in the year 430 B.C. or later.

– END OF PROTESTANT OLD TESTAMENT CANON –

40. The Book of Tobit was probably written by Tobit and completed in the year 200 B.C. or later.

41. The Book of Judith was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 150 B.C. or later.

42. The Book of Wisdom was probably written by Solomon and completed in the year 100 B.C. or later.

43. The Book of Sirach was probably written by Jesus ben Sirach and completed in the year 200 B.C. or later.

44. The Book of Baruch was probably written by Baruch and completed in the year 150 B.C. or later.

45. The 1st Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 100 B.C. or later.

46. The 2nd Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 100 B.C. or later.

– END OF ROMAN CATHOLIC OLD TESTAMENT CANON –

47. The 1st Book of Esdras was probably written by the Prophet Ezra and completed in the year 330 B.C. or later

48. The 3rd Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 100 B.C. or later

49. The 4th Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author and completed in the year 100 B.C. or later

50 The Book of Odes was compiled by an unknown author and completed in the year 50 A.D. or later

51. The Letter of Jeremiah was probably written by the Prophet Jeremiah and completed in the year 300 B.C. or later.

– END OF EASTERN ORTHODOX OLD TESTAMENT CANON –

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The Three Versions of the Christian Old Testament

The 39 Books of the Protestant Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The Book of Ezra, 16) The Book of Nehemiah, 17) The Book of Esther, 18) The Book of Job, 19) The Book of Psalms, 20) The Book of Proverbs, 21) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 22) The Song of Solomon, 23) The Book of Isaiah, 24) The Book of Jeremiah, 25) The Book of Lamentations, 26) The Book of Ezekiel, 27) The Book of Daniel, 28) The Book of Hosea, 29) The Book of Joel, 30) The Book of Amos, 31) The Book of Obadiah, 32) The Book of Jonah, 33) The Book of Micah, 34) The Book of Nahum, 35) The Book of Habakkuk, 36) The Book of Zephaniah, 37) The Book of Haggai, 38) The Book of Zechariah, 39) The Book of Malachi

The 46 Books of the Catholic Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The Book of Ezra, 16) The Book of Nehemiah, 17) The Book of Tobit, 18) The Book of Esther, 20) The 1st Book of the Maccabees, 21) The 2nd Book of the Maccabees, 22) The Book of Job, 23) The Book of Psalms, 24) The Book of Proverbs, 25) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 26) The Song of Solomon, 27) The Book of Wisdom, 28) The Book of Sirach, 29) The Book of Isaiah, 30) The Book of Jeremiah, 31) The Book of Lamentations, 32) The Book of Baruch, 33) The Book of Ezekiel, 34) The Book of Daniel, 35) The Book of Hosea, 36) The Book of Joel, 37) The Book of Amos, 38) The Book of Obadiah, 39) The Book of Jonah, 40) The Book of Micah, 41) The Book of Nahum, 42) The Book of Habakkuk, 43) The Book of Zephaniah, 44) The Book of Haggai, 45) The Book of Zechariah, 46) The Book of Malachi

The 51 Books of the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The 1st Book of Esdras, 16) The Book of Ezra, 17) The Book of Nehemiah, 18) The Book of Tobit, 19) The book of Judith 20) The Book of Esther, 21) The 1st Book of the Maccabees, 22) The 2nd Book of the Maccabees, 23) The 3rd Book of the Maccabees, 24) The 4th Book of the Maccabees, 25) The Book of Job, 26) The Book of Psalms, 27) The Book of Odes 28) The Book of Proverbs, 29) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 30) The Song of Solomon, 31) The Book of Wisdom, 32) The Book of Sirach, 33) The Book of Isaiah, 34) The Book of Jeremiah, 35) The Book of Lamentations, 36) The Book of Baruch, 37) The Letter of Jeremiah 38) The Book of Ezekiel, 39) The Book of Daniel, 40) The Book of Hosea, 41) The Book of Joel, 42) The Book of Amos, 43) The Book of Obadiah, 44) The Book of Jonah, 45) The Book of Micah, 46) The Book of Nahum, 47) The Book of Habakkuk, 48) The Book of Zephaniah, 49) The Book of Haggai, 50) The Book of Zechariah, 51) The Book of Malachi

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A Basic Timeline of the Old Testament
– The following timeline includes the 39 Books of the Protestants Old Testament, the 7 Additional Books of the Catholic Old Testament, and the 5 Additional Books of the Orthodox Old Testament.
– For the most part, the dates seen below represent the earliest, rather than the latest, dates when the specific Old Testament Book was finally completed
– The personal name written in parenthesis at each point in the timeline represents the traditional identity of the author. Some modern Biblical scholars continue to claim that these identities cannot be proven, therefore there are more unknown authors than previously assumed.

– The Dates, the Books and the Authors of the Old Testament –

1,400 B.C. – Book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Moses)

1,400 B.C. – Book of Job (Moses)

1,350 B.C. – Book of Joshua (Joshua)

1,000 B.C. – Book of Psalms (David)

900 B.C. –  Book of Judges, Ruth, 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel (Samuel)

900 B.C. – Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (Solomon)

850 B.C. – Book of Joel (Joel)

759 B.C. – Book of Amos (Amos)

750 B.C. – Book of Hosea (Hosea)

700 B.C. – Book of Isaiah (Isaiah)

700 B.C. – Book of Jonah (Jonah)

700 B.C. – Book of Micah (Micah)

700 B.C. – Book of Nahum (Nahum)

650 B.C. – Book of Zephaniah (Zephaniah)

600 B.C. – Book of Jeremiah (Jeremiah)

600 B.C. – 1st Book of Kings, 2nd Kings (Jeremiah)

600 B.C. – Book of Habakkuk (Habakkuk)

600 B.C. – Book of Obadiah (Obadiah)

550 B.C. – Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel)

550 B.C. – Book of Daniel (Daniel)

520 B.C. – Book of Haggai (Haggai)

500 B.C. – Book of Zechariah (Zechariah)

450 B.C. – 1st Book of Chronicles, 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah (Ezra)

430 B.C. – Book of Malachi, (Malachi)

400 B.C. – Book of Esther, (Unknown)

330 B.C. – 1 Esdras (Ezra)

300 B.C. – Letter of Jeremiah (Jeremiah)

200 B.C. – Book of Odes (Unknown)

200 B.C. – Book of Sirach, (Sirach)

200 B.C. – Book of Tobit, (Tobit)

150 B.C. – Book of Judith, (Unknown)

150 B.C. – Book of Baruch (Baruch)

100 B.C. – Book of Wisdom (Solomon)

100 B.C. – 1st Book of the Maccabees (Unknown)

100 B.C. – 2nd Book of the Maccabees (Unknown)

100 B.C. – 3rd Book of the Maccabees (Unknown)

100 B.C. – 4th Book of the Maccabees (Unknown)

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May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Paul.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

Bible – Words, Facts, Figures, Statistics, Numbers, Versions, Translations, History and Languages of the Bible

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Books, Chapters, Verses, and Words of the Bible
Authors: over 40 individuals
Translations: over 1,200 languages
Books: 66 in Protestant Bible, 73 in Catholic Bible, 81 in Eastern Orhodox Bible
Chapters:1,189
Verses: 31,071
Words: 783,137
Letters: 3,566,480
Longest Book: Psalms (150 chapters)
Longest Chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)
Longest Verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)
Shortest Book: 3 John
Shortest Chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117 (by number of words)
Shortest Verse: John 11:35 is 2 words- ‘Jesus wept’
Middle Books: Micah and Nahum
Middle Chapter: Psalm 117
Middle Verse: Psalm 118:8
The word ‘God’: appears 3,358 times
The word ‘LORD’: appears: 7,736 times

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

– St. Jerome, Author of the Latin Vulgate Bible

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Facts and Figures of the Bible
~ The Bible was compiled over the course of some 1,500 years (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100), spanning 40 generations, and includes the writings of over 40 different individual authors.
~ In terms of exact numbers, the Bible represents the work at least 40 different authors, in about 20 occupations, living in 10 countries spanning about 6,000 miles.
~ In terms of content, the Bible features ‘a cast of 2,930 different characters,’ while the number of different locations include at least ‘1,551 geographical sites mentioned as scenes of the action.’
~ The Bible contains every conceivable subject included in every literary form (poetry, prose, romance, mystery, biography, science, history, etc).
~ One source summarizes the Biblical authors as a group of God-fearing men ‘from many walks of life (kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, scholars), in different places (wilderness, dungeon, palaces), at different times (war, peace), in different moods (heights of joy, depths of despair), on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek)’
~ The Bible has been translated into at least 1,000 languages, along with many more partial translations.
~ The English translation of the Bible contains around 3,566,480 letters, 773,746 words, 31,102 verses 1,189 chapters, and 66 books.
~ The contents of the Bible has remained basically unchanged since the earliest days of the Christian Church. The Old Testameny continues to be based upon the older version of Scriptures, called the Hebrew Bible, which has been used by Judaism for over 4,000 years.  Here are the exact words of one of the earliest Church councils naming the exact contents of the Biblical Old Testament by name:

(It has been decided) that nothing except the canonical Scriptures should be read in the Church under the name of the divine Scriptures. But the canonical Scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, Paralipomenon, two books, Job, the Psalter of David, five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach), twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, two books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees.

+ The Council of Carthage, III, canon 47 (A.D. 397)

~ Other Ancient Church Lists of the same 46 Old Testament Books and Additions include: Augustine, Christian Instruction 2:8:13 (A.D. 397),  Pope Innocent I, Letters 7 (A.D. 408), The African Code, canon 24 (A.D. 419) and the Council of Hippo, canon 36 (A.D. 33)
~ In addition, the Christian New Testament contains the exact same number of books (27) and contents (4 Gospels, 2 Books, and 21 Letters) regardless of Christian denomination.

The Bible is more than a Book. It is a living being with an action, a power which invades everything that opposes its extension.

– Napoleon Bonaparte

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Numbers and Statistics of the Bible
~ Starting somewhere aroud 1,400 B.C., it took over 40 individuals writing over the course of 40 different generations (1,500 years) to complete the Bible.
~ The standard Judeo-Christian Old Testament contains 17 books of history, 5 books of poetry, and 17 books of prophecy.
~ In the original languages which they were written, the Judeo-Christian Bible uses over 8,674 different Hebrew words and 5,624 different Greek words.
~ The basic 66 books of the Judeo-Christian Bible contain 1189 chapters composed of 31,071 different verses with a total of 783,137 words.
~ The most popular English-language version of the Judeo-Christian Bible, known as the King James Version, contains 12,143 different English words
~ The Judeo-Christian Bible has been translated into over 2,000 languages
~ The longest Book is the Book of Psalms (Old Testament) and the shortest is 2 John (New Testament)
~ The longest Biblical verse is Esther 8:9 and the shortest is John 11:35
~ The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9 and the shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35
~ The longest Biblical chapter is Psalm 119 and the shortest is Psalm 117
~ The Judeo-Christian Bible has over 1,189 chapters with 929 Old Testament Chapters and 260 New Testament chapters
~ The word ‘God’ is mentioned 3,358 different times, while the word ‘LORD’ is used on 7,736 separate occasions
~ It has been estimated that the Judeo-Christian Bible can be read out loud in just 70 hours time.
~ The Bible was the first book to ever be printed in the year 1454
~ Miles Coverdale published the first English translation of the entire Bible in 1535
~ Neither the Book of Solomon or the Book is Esther contains a single reference to either God or the LORD God

The Bible is a Book in comparison with which all others in my eyes are of minor importance; and in all my perplexities and distresses has never failed to give me light and strength.

– Robert E. Lee

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Versions and Translations of the Bible
~ The Bible is the most translated book in the world. It has been translated into more different languages and dialects than any other book that has been written.
~ There are now more than 80,000 versions of the Bible. New versions of the Bible continue to be added or updated.
~ The Bible, in whole or in part, is now available in more than 1,100 different languages and dialects.
~ The first attempted translations of the Bible took place in the 7th Century. The translations weren’t precise, more paraphrases of the original texts.
~ Translations such as the King James Version are derived from existing copies of ancient manuscripts such as the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament) and the Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament), and are not translations of texts translated from other interpretations.
~ Bible translations have been made into 2,454 languages, with various portions of the Bible in 848 languages, one of the two Testaments in 1,168 languages, and the full Bible in 438 languages
~ According to a recent U.B.S. report, Bible portions are available in 2,123 languages, the complete Bible, in 349 languages, and the New Testament in 841 languages. In 1995, they distributed 565 million Bibles and Bible portions to 200 countries.
~ The Holy Bible has been translated into 2,018 languages, with countless more partial translations, and audio translations (for unwritten languages).
~ How many Versions of the Bible are there? There are more than 80,000 versions of the Bible. New versions of the Bible continue to be added or updated. Popular English versions include the American Standard, Jerusalem and King James versions.

It’s impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.

– George Washington, Former President of the United States (1789-1797)

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Publishing and Sales of the Bible
~ The Bible is the worlds best seller ever, and the most widely distributed book in the world. Its influence on history and culture, including literature and the other arts, is incalculable.
~ The estimated number of total Bibles ever sold equal 2.5 Billion to 6 Billion copies
~ The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. The United Bible Societies (UBS) estimate they have distributed nearly 9 billion Bibles, whole or in part, since 1947.
~ The Bible is not only the best selling book of all time but the best selling book each year.
~ About 50 Bibles are sold every minute.
~ The record for the world’s slowest selling book belongs to David Wilkin’s translation of the New Testament into Coptic. Since it was first published in 1791 it has never sold more than 2 copies a year.
~ In 1989, the American Bible Societies (ABS) distributed more than 106,387,551 Scripture portions in the United States alone. During the same year, a worldwide partnership of Bible Societies distributed well over 650 million Scripture portions and about 15.5 million Bibles.
~ According to a recent U.B.S. report, Bible portions are available in 2,123 languages, the complete Bible, in 349 languages, and the New Testament in 841 languages. In 1995, they distributed 565 million Bibles and Bible portions to 200 countries.
~ The Bible is, some calculate, a $200 million-a-year retail market in the United States. According to a recent national survey concluded in US, the average American home had four bibles and almost all U.S. homes had at least one or more. Most Americans still prefer the King James Version (KJV).
~ According to statistics gathered from Wycliffe International, the Society of Gideons, and the International Bible Society, the number of new Bibles that are sold, given away, or otherwise distributed in the United States is about 168,000 per day.

Believe me, Sir, never a night goes by be I ever so tired but I read the word of God before I go to bed.

– Gen. Douglas MacArthur

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History and Language of the Bible
~ The Vulgate Bible, the Latin Bible for the Catholic Church, is an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible, largely the result of the labors of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of old Latin translations. It became the definitive and officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries.
~ Some common Catholic translations, which are still read and published even today, are the Douay-Rheims, Catholic Confraternity Version, New American and Revised Standard Version Bibles. Of these, the Douay-Rheims is the earliest, translated from Latin in 1609. Each type also has one or more editions.
~ The first attempted translations of the Bible took place in the 7th Century. The translations weren’t precise, more paraphrases of the original texts. The copies were known as ‘Manuscript Bibles’ and few have survived. It wasn’t until the 13th Century, that John Wycliffe first translated the Bible more accurately into easy English.
~ The first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts were produced in the 1380’s by John Wycliffe, an Oxford professor and theologian. Wycliffe, with the help of his followers, called the Lollards, and his assistant Purvey, and many other faithful scribes, managed to produce dozens of English language manuscript copies of the scriptures. They were translated out of the Latin Vulgate, which was the only source text available to Wycliffe. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river.
~ The Bible was the world’s first printed book, and was first reprinted in 1450.
~ The Gutenberg Bible is the official name of the first book that Johannes Gutenberg printed in 1454. It is thought that he printed about 180 copies, known as the 42-line Bible, of which significant parts of 48 copies still survive. Gutenberg did not make any printing errors.
~ One English translator of the Bible named Tyndale was actually strangled and burned at the stake in 1536 by order of the Catholic Church. The authorities opposed the translation of the Bible because they feared loss of power but also because they thought that ordinary people would not be able to cope with the apparent contradictions.
~ The ‘Placemakers’ Bible was the second edition of the Geneva Bible, published in 1562. It has been given the name the ‘Placemakers’ Bible because it printed: ‘Blessed are the placemakers’ instead of ‘peacemakers’ in Matthew 5:9.
~ In the year 1603, James IV of Scotland then became King James I of England. He initiated a series of  procedures aimed at creating peace between the hostile English religious faction. One of them was to commission the creation of a high-quality English language Bible.
~ The King James Version of the Bible was first published in 1611. Even today, it is considered to be the best Bible avoilable in the English language.
~ The ‘Wicked’ Bible refers to a 1631 edition of the King James Bible. In Exodus 20 verse 14, the word ‘not’ was left out. This changed the 7th commandment to read, ‘Thou shalt commit adultery.’ Most of the copies were recalled immediately and destroyed on the orders of Charles I. But there are 11 copies still remaining. They are known as the ‘Wicked’ Bible. The Bible museum in Branson, Missouri, has one copy of the ‘Wicked Bible. Needless to say, the printer was fined heavily for his mistake.
~ In 1663, the first Bible was printed in North America, even though it happened to be written in a native Algonquin Indian Language which had been specially translated and published by John Eliot, the ‘Apostle to the Indians’.
~ The Thumb Bible, printed in 1670, was one inch square and half an inch thick. It could be read only with a magnifying glass.
~ The ‘Sin On’ Bible refers to a famous mistake in the 1716 King James Version. Apparently, John 8:11 should have read: ‘Go, and sin no more.’ However, the printer accidentally inverted the “n’ and the ‘o’ in the word ‘on,’ so it read, ‘Go and sin on more.’
~ The ‘Fool’ Bible is a term for a mistake in the printing of the 1763 King James Version. The publisher responsible for the error was ordered to pay £3,000 for his inadvertent printer’s mistake which he made in Psalm 14:1. There he printed: ‘the fool hath said in his heart there is a God,’ instead of: ‘the fool hath said in his heart there is no God.’ As soon as this error was spotted all copies of this Bible were suppressed.
~ The first English language Bible printed in the United States occurred in 1782.
~ The record for the world’s slowest selling book belongs to David Wilkin’s translation of the New Testament into Coptic. Since it was first published in 1791 it has never sold more than 2 copies a year.
~ The first translation of the Bible created in America was printed in 1808 by a man name Charles Thomson.
~ Little known to most people, Noah Webster. famous author and editor of ‘Webster’s Dictionary’ and the ‘Blue-Back Speller’ also wrote a translation of the Bible first published in 1833.
~ The Revised Version of the whole Bible was issued in 1885.
~ The American Standard Version was first published in 1901.

The Bible is the word of God. It is the most valuable gift God ever given to mankind. The Bible is my best friend and my best partner.

– Mother Theresa

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Some Interesting Facts about the Bible

~ No other book in the world has been attacked more frequently and more fiercely than the Bible, yet no other book has printed more copies, in more languages, and endured for so long, with great popularity, than the Bible.
~ The Bible has been translated in whole or in part into more than 2,000 language.
~ The Bible contains 773,746 words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 chapters and 66 books.
~ In terms of length, the average word of the Bible contains fewer than five letters.

~ The longest book in the Bible is Psalms and the shortest is 2 John, while the Longest Biblical name is spelled Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)
~ In total, the Bible describes 1,260 promises being made, 6,468 commands being given, and 3,294 questions being asked.
~ The Bible lists over 8,000 predictions, with 3,268 verses of fulfilled prophecies and 3,140 verses of unfulfilled prophecies.
~ The system of chapters was introduced in A.D. 1238 by Cardinal Hugo de S. Caro, while the verse numberings were added in 1551 by Robertus Stephanus, after the invention of modern printing.
~ The Bible was formally divided into chapters by Cardinal Hugo in 1250. The New Testament was divided into verses by Sir Robert Stephens in 1551.
~ In the earliest days of English Christianity the only Bible available for study was the Latin Vulgate, written by Jerome between 383 and 405 A.D. Because it was written in Latin, rather than English, this version of the Bible could only be read by the Catholic clergy.
~ The first copy of the Guttenberg Bible (printed on a printing press) took 3 years of constant printing to produce, being finished in 1445. Printed in 2 volumes, and totalling 1,284 pages, the final results included Nearly 200 originals being completely printed and remarkably perfect. 48 of these original printings still exist today.
~ The Holy Bible has been translated into 2,018 languages…In comparison, Shakespeare, considered by many to be the master writer of the English language, has only been translated into 50 languages.
~ The Bible has been recorded with at least 10 different media from papyrus to rocks, pen to chisel, leather to clay.
~ The average person can read the entire Bible in about seventy hours reading time. If one reads three chapters per day and five on Sundays, they will finish the whole Bible in about one year. About fourteen chapters per day will usually result in reading the entire Bible in three months.
~ The average time it takes to read the following books is as follows: Revelation = 34 minutes, Luke = 85 minutes and Philemon = just 1 minute.
~ The Bible is the number one shoplifted book in America.
~ The longest intercontinental telegram ever sent was the entire text of the New International Version of the Bible which was sent from Geneva, Switzerland, where it was translated, to New York for printing.
~ A Bible located at the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.
~ In 1988, on the 1,000th anniversary of the baptism of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, the Soviet Union, in an agreement with the UBS (United Bible Society), received hundreds of thousands of Bibles.

Until people see the Bible as a practical guidebook for their everyday existence, it will probably continue to remain on the shelf.

– George Barna

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May the LORD God bless you in the name of the Judeo-Christian Tradition

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

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A Brief Look at the Traditional Titles of the New Testament
1) The Gospel According to Matthew
2) The Gospel According to Mark
3) The Gospel According to Luke
4) The Gospel According to John
5) The Book of the Acts of the Apostles
6) The Letter to the Romans
7) The 1st Letter to the Corinthians
8) The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians
9) The Letter to the Galatians
10) The Letter to the Ephesians
11) The Letter to the Philippians
12) The Letter to the Colossians
13) The 1st Letter to the Thessalonians
14) The 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians
15) The 1st Letter to Timothy
16) The 2nd Letter to Timothy
17) The Letter to Titus
18) The Letter to Philemon
19) The Letter to the Hebrews
20) The Letter of James
21) The 1st Letter of Peter
22) The 2nd Letter of Peter
23) The 1st Letter of John
24) The 2nd Letter of John
25) The 3rd Letter of John
26) The Letter of Jude
27) The Book of Revelation

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A Brief Synopsis of the 8 Authors of the New Testament
1) Matthew: Gospel of Matthew
2) Mark: Gospel of Mark
3) Luke: Gospel of Luke, Book of Acts
4) John: Gospel of John, 1st Letter of John, 2nd Letter of John, 3rd Letter of John, Book of Revelation
5) James: Letter of James
6) Peter: 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Letter of Peter
7) Jude: Letter of Jude
8) Paul: Letter to the Romans, 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Philippians, Letter to the Colossians, 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 1st Letter to Timothy, 2nd Letter to Timothy, Letter to Titus, Letter to Philemon

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A Brief Set of Facts about the New Testament
– The New Testament is a unique set of sacred writings, divided into 27 Books, that was added to the Old Testament almost 2,000 years ago to create the Holy Bible, the primary source document for the religion called Christianity.
– Every Known sect of Christianity, including the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches accept and recognize the same 27 Books as the official version of the New Testament.
– The Canon of the New Testament, consisting of the same 27 Books listed above, has remained unchanged for nearly 2,000 years. –
– The first official lists of these books were published at the Council of Nicea and at the Council of Carthage.
– The 27 Books of the New Testament have exactly 4 Gospels, 2 Books, and 21 Letters.
– The  4 Gospels of the New Testament include: 1) The Gospel of Matthew, 2) The Gospel of Mark, 3) The Gospel of Luke, and 4) The Gospel of John.
– The 2 Books of the New Testament are commonly known as: 1) The Book of Acts and 2) The Book of Revelation.
– The 21 Letters of the New Testament can be listed as follows:  1) The Letter to the Romans, 2) The 1st Letter to the Corinthians, 3) The 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, 4) The Letter to the Galatians, 5) The Letter to the Ephesians, 6) The Letter to the Philippians, 7) The Letter to the Colossians, 8) The 1st Letter to the Thessalonians, 9) The 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, 10 ) The 1st Letter to Timothy, 11) The 2nd Letter to Timothy, 12) The Letter to Titus, 13) The Letter to Philemon, 14) The Letter to the Hebrews, 15) The Letter of James, 16) The 1st Letter of Peter, 17) The  2nd Letter of Peter, 18) The 1st Letter of John, 19) The 2nd Letter of John, 20) The 3rd Letter of John, and 21) The Letter to Jude.
– The New Testament is believed to have been written in the years 45 – 90 A.D. Some scholars continue to dispute this, claiming that all, or some of the Books, were written much later.
– The 27 Books of the New Testament by 8 different authors whose actual names include the following: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Paul, 6) Peter, 7) James, and 8) Jude.
– Luke, John, and Paul are credited with writing the vast majority of the New Testament, including 20 out of 27 total Books. To be specific, Luke is the author of 2 Books (1 Gospel, 1 Book). John wrote 5 Books (1 Gospel, 1 Book, and 3 Letters), while Paul is credited with 13 Books (13 Letters).
– The author who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews has remained anonymous and completely unknown for nearly the past 2,000 years

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A Brief Chronology for the 27 Books of the New Testament
1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, 4) John, 5) Acts, 6) Romans, 7) 1 Corinthians, 8) 2 Corinthians, 9) Galatians, 10) Ephesians, 11) Philippians, 12) Colossians, 13) 1 Thessalonians, 14) 2 Thessalonians, 15) 1 Timothy, 16) 2 Timothy, 17) Titus, 18) Philemon, 19) Hebrews, 20) James, 21) 1 Peter, 22) 2 Peter, 23) 1 John, 24) 2 John, 25) 3 John, 26) Jude,  27) Revelation

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A Brief Timeline for the Various Dates and Authors of the New Testament
45 A.D. – Letter of James (James)
50 A.D. – Gospel of Mark (Mark)
50 A.D. – Beginning of Paul’s 13 Letters (Paul)
55 A.D. – Gospel of Matthew (Matthew)
60 A.D. – Letter of Jude (Jude)
60 A.D. – 1st Letter of Peter, 2nd Peter (Peter)
60 A.D. – Gospel of Luke (Luke)
65 A.D. – Book of Acts (Luke)
65 A.D. – Letter to the Hebrews (Unknown)
70 A.D. – End of Paul’s 13 Letters (Paul)
90 A.D. – 1st Letter of John, 2nd John, 3rd John (John)
90 A.D. – Gospel of John (John)
90 A.D. – Book of Revelation (John)

NOTE: Paul’s 13 Letters include Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon

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May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Peter.

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

– John 1:1

A Reference Guide to the Books, the Authors, and the Dates of the Old Testament

The Protestant Old Testament (39 Books)
1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, 5) Deuteronomy, 6) Joshua, 7) Judges, 8) Ruth, 9) 1 Samuel, 10) 2 Samuel, 11) 1 Kings, 12) 2 Kings, 13) 1 Chronicles, 14) 2 Chronicles, 15) Ezra, 16) Nehemiah, 17) Esther, 18) Job, 19) Psalms, 20) Proverbs, 21) Ecclesiastes, 22) Song of Songs, 23) Isaiah, 24) Jeremiah, 25) Lamentations, 26) Ezekiel, 27) Daniel, 28) Hosea, 29) Joel, 30) Amos, 31) Obadiah, 32) Jonah, 33) Micah, 34) Nahum, 35) Habakkuk, 36) Zephaniah, 37) Haggai, 38) Zechariah, 39) Malachi

The Catholic Old Testament (46 Books)
1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, 5) Deuteronomy, 6) Joshua, 7) Judges, 8) Ruth, 9) 1 Samuel, 10) 2 Samuel, 11) 1 Kings, 12) 2 Kings, 13) 1 Chronicles, 14) 2 Chronicles, 15) Ezra, 16) Nehemiah, 17) Tobit, 18) Judith, 19) Esther, 20) 1 Maccabees, 21) 2 Maccabees, 22) Job, 23) Psalms, 24) Proverbs, 25) Ecclesiastes, 26) Song of Songs, 27) Wisdom, 28) Sirach, 29) Isaiah, 30) Jeremiah, 31) Lamentations, 32) Baruch, 33) Ezekiel, 34) Daniel, 35) Hosea, 36) Joel, 37) Amos, 38) Obadiah, 39) Jonah, 40) Micah, 41) Nahum, 42) Habakkuk, 43) Zephaniah, 44) Haggai, 45) Zechariah, 46) Malachi

Basic Statistics of the Old Testament
The Number of Protestant Books = 39
The Number of Catholic Books = 46
The Number of Eastern Orthodox Books = 51
The Middle book = Book of Proverbs
The Largest Book = Book of Psalms
The Smallest Book = Book of Obadiah
The Oldest Book = Book of Job (~1,000 B.C.)
The Newest Book = Book of Malachi (400 BC)
The Chapters = 929
The Middle chapter = Job 20
The Longest chapter = Psalms 119
The Verses = 23,114
The Middle verses = 2 Chronicles 20:17,18
The Shortest verse = 1 Chronicles 1:25
The Longest verse = Esther 8:9
The Words = 602,585
The Letters = 2,278,100

The Books, Authors, and Dates of the Old Testament
1. The Book of Genesis was written by the Prophet Moses in the year 1,400 B.C.
2. The Book of Exodus was written by Prophet Moses in the year 1,400 B.C.
3. The Book of Leviticus was written by Prophet Moses in 1,400 B.C.
4. The Book of Numbers was written by the Prophet Moses in 1,400 B.C.
5. The Book of Deuteronomy was written by Moses in 1,400 B.C.
6. The Book of Joshua was written by Joshua in the year 1,350 B.C.
7. The Book of Judges was written by the Prophet Samuel in the year 1,000 B.C.
8. The Book of Ruth was written by the Prophet Samuel in the year 1,000 B.C.
9. The 1st Book of Samuel  was written by the Prophet Samuel in the year 1,000 B.C.
10. The 2nd Book of Samuel  was written by the Prophet Samuel in the year 1,000 B.C.
11. The 1st Book of Kings was written by the Prophet Jeremiah in the year 600 B.C.
12. The 2nd Book of Kingswas written by the Prophet Jeremiah in the year 600 B.C.
13. The 1st Book of Chronicles was written by the Prophet Ezra in the year 450 B.C.
14. The 2nd Book of Chronicles was written by the Prophet Ezra in the year 450 B.C.
15. The Book of Ezra was written by the Prophet Ezra in the year 450 B.C.
16. The Book of Nehemiah was written by the Prophet Ezra in the year 450 B.C.
17. The Book of Esther was written by an unknown author in the year 400 B.C.
18. The Book of Job was written by Prophet Moses in 1,400 B.C.
19. The Book of Psalms was written by King David in the year 1,000 B.C.
20. The Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon in the year 1,000 B.C.
21. The Book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon in the year 1,000 B.C.
22. The Song of Solomon was written by King Solomon in the year 1,000 B.C,
23. The Book of Isaiah was written by the Prophet Isaiah in the year 700 B.C.
24. The Book of Jeremiah was written by the Prophet Jeremiah in the year 600 B.C.
25. The Book of Lamentations was written by the Prophet Jeremiah in the year 600 B.C.
26. The Book of Ezekiel was written by the Prophet Ezekiel in the year 550 B.C.
27. The Book of Daniel was written by the Prophet Daniel  in the year 550 B.C.
28. The Book of Hosea, was written by the Prophet Hosea in the year 750 B.C.
29. The Book of Joel, by was written by the Prophet Joel in the year 850 B.C.
30. The Book of Amos was written by the Prophet Amos in the year 750 B.C.
31. The Book of Obadiah was written by the Prophet Obadiah in the year 600 B.C.,
32. The Book of Jonah was written by the Prophet Jonah in the year 700 B.C.
33. The Book of Micah was written by the Prophet  Micah in the year 700 B.C.
34. The Book of Nahum was written by the Prophet Nahum in the year 700 B.C.
35. The Book of Habakkuk was written by the Prophet  Habakkuk in the year 600 B.C.
36. The Book of Zephaniah was written by the Prophet  Zephaniah in the year 650 B.C.
37. The Book of Haggai was written by the Prophet Haggai in the year 520 B.C.
38. The Book of Zechariah was written by the Prophet Zechariah in the year 500 B.C.
39. The Book of Malachi was written by the Prophet Malachi in the year 430 B.C.
40. The Book of Tobit was written by Tobit in the year 200 B.C.
41. The Book of Judith was written by an unknown author in the year 150 B.C.
42. The Book of Wisdom was written by Solomon in the year 100 B.C.
43. The Book of Sirach was written by Jesus ben Sirach in the year 200 B.C.
44. The Book of Baruch was written by Baruch in the year 150 B.C.
45. The 1st Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author in the year 100 B.C.
46. The 2nd Book of the Maccabees was written by an unknown author in the year 100 B.C.

(It has been decided) that besides the canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture. But the canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the Son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, the Kings, four books, the Chronicles, two books, Job, the Psalter, the five books of Solomon, the twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra, two books, Maccabees, two books.

– Council of Hippo, canon 36 (A.D. 393)

Official Church Lists of The Old Testament Books

(It has been decided) that besides the canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture. But the canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the Son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, the Kings, four books, the Chronicles, two books, Job, the Psalter, the five books of Solomon, the twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra, two books, Maccabees, two books.

– Council of Hippo, canon 36 (A.D. 393)

(It has been decided) that nothing except the canonical Scriptures should be read in the Church under the name of the divine Scriptures. But the canonical Scriptures are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings, Paralipomenon, two books, Job, the Psalter of David, five books of Solomon [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach], twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, two books of Esdras, two books of the Maccabees.

– Council of Carthage III, canon 47 (A.D. 397)

The whole canon of the Scriptures, however, in which we say that consideration is to be applied, is contained in these books: the five of Moses…and one book of Joshua (Son of) Nave, one of Judges; one little book which is called Ruth…then the four of Kingdoms, and the two of Paralipomenon…(T)here are also others too, of a different order…such as Job and Tobit and Esther and Judith and the two books of Maccabees, and the two of Esdras…Then there are the Prophets, in which there is one book of the Psalms of David, and three of Solomon…But as to those two books, one of which is entitled Wisdom and the other of which is entitled Ecclesiasticus and which are called of Solomon’ because of a certain similarity to his books, it is held most certainly that they were written by Jesus Sirach. They must, however, be accounted among the prophetic books, because of the authority which is deservedly accredited to them.

– Augustine, Christian Instruction 2:8:13 (A.D. 397)

A brief addition shows what books really are received in the canon. These are the things of which you desired to be informed verbally: of Moses, five books, that is, of Genesis, of Exodus, of Leviticus, of Numbers, of Deuteronomy, and Joshua, of Judges, one book, of Kings, four books, and also Ruth, of the Prophets, sixteen books, of Solomon, five books, the Psalms. Likewise of the histories, Job, one book, of Tobit, one book, Esther, one, Judith, one, of the Maccabees, two, of Esdras, two, Paralipomenon, two books.

– Pope Innocent I, Letters 7 (A.D. 408)

(It has been decided) that besides the canonical Scriptures nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture. But the canonical Scriptures are as follows: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua the Son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, the Kings, four books, the Chronicles, two books, Job, the Psalter, the five books of Solomon, the twelve books of the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobit, Judith, Esther, Ezra, two books, Maccabees, two books . . . Let this be sent to our brother and fellow bishop, [Pope] Boniface, and to the other bishops of those parts, that they may confirm this canon, of these are the things which we have received from our fathers to be read in church.

– The African Code, canon 24 (A.D. 419)
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The Traditional Names of the Books of the Old Testament
The 39 Traditional Names of the Protestant Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The Book of Ezra, 16) The Book of Nehemiah, 17) The Book of Esther, 18) The Book of Job, 19) The Book of Psalms, 20) The Book of Proverbs, 21) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 22) The Song of Solomon, 23) The Book of Isaiah, 24) The Book of Jeremiah, 25) The Book of Lamentations, 26) The Book of Ezekiel, 27) The Book of Daniel, 28) The Book of Hosea, 29) The Book of Joel, 30) The Book of Amos, 31) The Book of Obadiah, 32) The Book of Jonah, 33) The Book of Micah, 34) The Book of Nahum, 35) The Book of Habakkuk, 36) The Book of Zephaniah, 37) The Book of Haggai, 38) The Book of Zechariah, 39) The Book of Malachi

The 46 Traditional Names of the Catholic Old Testament
1) The Book of Genesis, 2) The Book of Exodus, 3) The Book of Leviticus, 4) Book of Numbers, 5) The Book of Deuteronomy, 6)The Book of Joshua, 7) The Book of Judges 8) The Book of Ruth, 9) The 1st Book of Samuel, 10) The 2nd Book of Samuel, 11) The 1st Book of Kings, 12) The 2nd Book of Kings, 13) The 1st Book of Chronicles, 14) The 2nd Book of Chronicles, 15) The Book of Ezra, 16) The Book of Nehemiah, 17) The Book of Tobit, 18) The Book of Esther, 20) The 1st Book of the Maccabees, 21) The 2nd Book of the Maccabees, 22) The Book of Job, 23) The Book of Psalms, 24) The Book of Proverbs, 25) The Book of Ecclesiastes, 26) The Song of Solomon, 27) The Book of Wisdom, 28) The Book of Sirach, 29) The Book of Isaiah, 30) The Book of Jeremiah, 31) The Book of Lamentations, 32) The Book of Baruch, 33) The Book of Ezekiel, 34) The Book of Daniel, 35) The Book of Hosea, 36) The Book of Joel, 37) The Book of Amos, 38) The Book of Obadiah, 39) The Book of Jonah, 40) The Book of Micah, 41) The Book of Nahum, 42) The Book of Habakkuk, 43) The Book of Zephaniah, 44) The Book of Haggai, 45) The Book of Zechariah, 46) The Book of Malachi

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
– John 1:1

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Books of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Books of the Bible
– The Jewish Bible contains 24 different books which are divided into three sections called the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im) and the Writings (Ketuvim). There are 5 book of the Law, 8 books of the Prophets, and 11 books of the Writings.
– The Christian Bible comes in three major versions. The Protestant Bible traditionally has 66 books in total, the Catholic Bible includes 73 different books, while the Eastern Orthodox Bible usually contains 78 total books in their particular version of Scriptures.
– Every Christian Bible has exactly 27 books included in the New Testament. Therefore, the differences in number of total books comes from the Old Testament. Thus, the Protestant Bible has 39 Old Testament books (39 + 27 = 66 books), the Catholic Bible includes 46 Old Testament books (46 + 27 = 73 books), and the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament has 54 different books (51 + 27 = 78 books).
– The Bible’s longest book is Psalms, the shortest is 3 John, while the middle book(s) are Micah and Nahum.
– The Old Testament’s middle book is Proverbs, the largest book is Psalms, and the smallest book is Obadiah.
The shortest book in the New Testament is 3 John, if counting by words. If counting verses, the shortest is 2 ohn instead. The longest New Testament book is the Gospel of Luke, and the New Testament’s middle book is 2 Thessalonians

New Testament References to Old Testament Prophets
– Isaiah: mentioned 419 times in twenty-three New Testament books.
– Psalms: mentioned 414 times in twenty-three New Testament books.
– Genesis: mentioned 260 times in twenty-one New Testament books.
– Exodus: mentioned 250 times in nineteen New Testament books.
– Deuteronomy: mentioned 208 times in twenty-one New Testament books.
– Ezekiel: mentioned 141 times in fifteen New Testament books.
– Daniel: mentioned 133 times in seventeen New Testament books.
– Jeremiah: mentioned 125 times in seventeen New Testament books.
– Leviticus: mentioned 107 times in fifteen New Testament books.
– Numbers: mentioned 73 times in four New Testament books.

The Recent Origins of Biblical Chapters and Verses
– Until a few hundred years ago, the Bible contained no chapters or verses at all.
– It wasn’t until the 16th Century, many years after it’s first printing (even more since it was compiled) that the Bible was divided into the chapters and verses we use today. They were designed for ease of reference and are a tool organised by man, not put there by God.
– The whole Bible, divided into chapters and verses, first appeared in 1560 in what is known as the ‘Geneva Bible.’ It was so called because it was prepared by the Reformers in Geneva. It is also called the ‘Breeches Bible,’ because Genesis 3:7 is translated: ‘They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches.’

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Chapters of the Bible

– The Bible was divided into chapters by Cardinal Hugo in 1250.

Brief Facts about the Chapters of the Bible
– The King James translation has 1,189 chapters. If you read three chapters a day, six days a week, and four chapters on Sunday, you will read the entire Bible in less than one year’s time.
– The Old Testament has 929 chapters and the New Testament has 260 chapters.
– The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, which consists of 176 verses.
– In terms of the entire Bible, the middle chapter and the shortest is Psalms 117. It contains only two verses
– The middle chapter of the Old Testment is Job 29.
– The middle chapter in the New Testament is between Romans 13 and 14.
– The longest New Testament Chapter is Luke 1.
– Psalms 117, 118 and 119 are chapters with special significance in the Bible. Apparently, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 118 is the central chapter of the Bible and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.
– There is one chapter that is repeated twice in the Bible: (Psalms 14 and Psalms 53) ‘The fool says in his heart, “there is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.’ However, they are not mirror images of each other.
– Psalm 37 is one of the few that are acrostic – but not in English!
– The LORD God’s Blessing and Cursing Passage, where He gives mankind the choice whether to be obedient to God, is in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
– The nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings and the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah are nearly identical.
– The Most Comforting Chapters – Psalms 23, John 14, Love Chapter – 1 Corinthians 13, Faith Chapter – Hebrews 11, New Testament Formation Acts 2, Alike Chapters — 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37

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Verses of the Bible

– The New Testament was divided into verses by Sir Robert Stephens in 1551.

Brief Facts about the Verses of the Bible
– The Holy Bible contains 31,173 verses.
– The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9 which contains 90 words.
– The shortest verse in the NIV Bible is not ‘Jesus wept’ in John 11:35, but ‘He said’ from Job 3:2.
– The middle verse in the Bible is Psalms 118:8.
– 2 John and 3 John have the same number of verses, 13 of them. However, John 3 wins the title of the shortest book due to its fewer number of words.
– A number of verses in the Bible (KJV) contain every single letter of the 26-letter alphabet except for one specific letter of the alphabet. Ezra 7:21 contains all but the letter ‘J’.
– Joshua 7:24, 1Kings 1:9, 1 Chronicles 12:40, 2 Chronicles 36:10, Ezekiel 28:13, Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1 all contain every single letter except  ‘Q’.
– 2 Kings 16:15 and 1 Chronicles 4:10 contain all letters except ‘Z’.
– Galatians 1:14 contains all letters with the exception of ‘K’.
– According to populr opinion, the most precious verse is John 3:16, the saddest verse is Mark 15:34, and the grandest verse is Romans 8:11.           \
– The 8th, 15th, 21st, 31st verses of the 107th Psalm are alike.
– Every verse in the 136th Psalm has the same ending.
– The middle verse of theOld Testament is 2 Chronicles 20:13. The shortest verse in the Old Testament is 1 Chronicles 1:25 and the longest verse is Esther 8:9.
– The middle verse in the New Testament is Acts 17:17. The shortest verse  is 1st Thessalonians 5:16, while the longest verse is Revelation 20:4, with 68 words

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Words of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Words of the Bible
– The entire Judeo-Christian Bible contains pproximately 773,692 words, with around 592,439 words in the Old Testament and about 181,253 words in the New Testament.
– There are approximately 8,000 different words in the Holy Bible
– The longest single word in the Bible is ‘Mahershalalhashbaz’ (Isaiah 8:1)
– The very last word in the Old testament is the word ‘Curse’, just as the last word in the New testament is the word ‘Amen’
– The Book of Esther and the Song of Solomon are the only two books that do not contain the word ‘God’.

Words for Different Weights and Measures in the Bible
Bath = about 9 gallons
Bekah = ¼ of an ounce
Cab = 2 quarts
Cubit = about 18 inches
Day’s journey = 20-25 miles
Ephah = about 1 bushel
Farthing = ¼ cent
Fathom = 6 feet
Finger = ¾ of an inc
Firkin = 9 gallons
Furlong = fraction of a mile
Gerah  = .4 ounces
Handbreadth = about 3¾ inches
Hin = 6 quarts
Homer = 90 gallons liquid or 11 bushels dry
Log = 1 pint
Mite = of a cent
Omer = 7 pints
Pound = about $16 in money
Reed = about 11 feet
Sabbath Day Journey = 1 mile
Shekel = .5 ounces weight worth $5 in gold or 64 cents silver
Span = about 9 inches
Talent = $1000 worth of metal 75 lbs. weight

Word Repetition in the Bible
– The word ‘And’: occurs 46,277 times
– The word ‘God’: mentioned 3,358 times
– The word, ‘LORD’: appears 7,736 times.
– The words ‘Do not be afraid’: appears 365 times in the Bible, the same number of days in a year.
– The words ‘baptize, baptized, baptizest, baptizeth, baptizing’ are cited in the Bible 77 times.
– The word ‘Lion’ happens 55 times
– The word ‘Salt’: occurs more than 30 times in the Bible.
– The word ‘Dog’: occurs 14 times in the Bible
– The word ‘Christian’: appears only three times in the Bible (Acts 11:26, 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16).
– The words ‘Boy’ and ‘Boys’: are mentioned 3 times.
– The words ‘Girl’ and ‘Girls’: are mentioned 2 times.
– The word ‘Reverend’: one time (Psalms 111:9)
– The word ‘Eternity’: one time (Isaiah 57:15)
– The word ‘Grandmother’: one time (2 Timothy 1:5)
– The word ‘God’: appears in every book except the Book of Esther and Song of Solomon.
– The word ‘Cat’: is totally absent from the Bible.

Words and Phrases with Biblical Origins
A thorn in the side (2 Corinthians 12:7)
The Powers that be (Romans 13:1)
The handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5)
Can a leopard change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23)
Holier than thou (Isaiah 65:5)
A drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15)
Woe is me! (Isaiah 6:5)
Like a lamb to slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)
Do not throw pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6)
Fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24, Revelation 21:8)
The forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17)
Eat, drink and be merry (Luke 12)
Money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10)
The skin of our teeth (Job 19:20)
A land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)
Feet of Clay (Daniel 2:33-34)
Taking a Sabbatical (Leviticus 25:1-7, Deuteronomy 15:1-11)
Spare the rod, spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24)
By the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:17,19)
It is better to give than to receive. (Acts. 20:35)
A leopard cannot change its spots. (Jeremiah 13:23)
The love of money is the root of all evil. (Timothy 6:10)
Nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. (John 8:7)
Fly in the ointment. (Ecclesiastes 10:1)
Salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)
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Names of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Names of the Bible
– Naming children after famous Biblical characters such as Abraham, Jacob, Jonathan, or Samuel has been a Judeo-Christian tradition for thousands of years and continues to be practiced even today throughout the entire Judeo-Christian world.
– Because of innate differences in language and dialect among Judeo-Christian believers from different continents and nations, the same Biblical name may differ greatly in terms of spellingand pronunciation. For example, Ivan in Russian, Juan in Spanish, and Johann in Swedish, all mean John in the English language.
– Some of the most popular names in history all originate from the Bible. This includes the names Adam, David, John, Jacob, Elizabeth, Sarah,and Mary.

Male Name Repetition in the Bible
– David: mentioned 1118 times
– Moses: mentioned 740 times
– Aaron: mentioned 339 times
– Saul: mentioned 338 times
– Abraham: mentioned 306 times
– Solomon: mentioned 295 times
– Jacob: mentioned 270 times
– Joseph: mentioned 208 times
– Joshua: mentioned 197 times
– Paul: mentioned 185 times
– Peter: mentioned 166 times
– Joab: mentioned 137 times
– Jeremiah: mentioned 136 times
– Samuel: mentioned 135 times
– Isaac: mentioned 127 times

Jesus Christ is mentioned 973 times, second only to David

Female Name Repetition in the Bible
– Sarah, Abraham’s wife: mentioned 57 times
– Rachel, Jacob’s second wife: 47 times
– Leah, Jacob’s first wife: 34 times
– Rebekah, Isaac’s wife; 31 times
– Jezebel, wicked queen: 23 times
– Mary, Jesus’ mother: 19 times
– Abigail: 15 times
– Miriam: 15 times
– Mary Magdalene: 14 times
– Hagar, Abraham’s concubine: 14 times
– Eve: mentioned only 4 times

Names of the Most Unique Biblical Characters
– The Earliest: Adam, world’s first human being. (Genesis 2:7)
– The Oldest: Methuselah, son of Enoch, who lived to be 969. (Genesis 5:27)
– The Strongest: Samson, carnal Nazarite whom God used to deliver Israel from the Philistines. (Judges 14:6, 15:5)
– The Wisest: Solomon, one of the greatest Kings of Israel and the son of David, (1 Kings 3:12)
– The Richest: Solomon, who at one time would receive 666 talents of gold every year until the LORD became angry with him. (1 Kings 10:23)
– The Tallest: Goliath, who was over nine feet tall, but was then killed in battle by David, the shepherd-boy/King. (1 Samuel 17:4)
– The Shortest: Zacchaeus, who once climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus. (Luke 19:3-4)
– The Fattest: Eglon, Moabite king who was killed by the Israelite judge named Ehud. (Judges 3:17)
– The Meekest: Moses, Israel’s great prophet, judge and author of the first five books of the Bible (Numbers 12:3)
– The Cruelest: Manasseh, who shed blood from one end of Judea to the other, but later repented for his violent cruelty. (2 Chronicles 33:1-13)
– The Fastest: Asahel, who was described in the Bible as being ‘light of foot as a wild roe.’ (2 Samuel 2:18)
– The Greatest of the Prophets: John the Baptist, a predecessor and family relative of Jesus of Nazareth. (Matthew 11:11)
– The Guiltiest: Judas, who willingly betrayed Jesus Christ for a mere 30 pieces of silver. (Matthew 27:3-5)
– The Proudest: Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem, but was later humbled by God himself. (Daniel 4)
– The Most Beautiful: Esther, a Jewish queen who saved her people, the Jews, from mass-murder at the hands of Haman. (Esther 2:7)
– The Most Traveled: Paul, who proved to be a great theologian and tireless missionary (Acts 13:4, 15:36, 18:23)
– The Most Sorrowful: Jeremiah, who was persecuted by his own fellow Jews for preaching against sin and who saw his beloved Jerusalem destroyed as a result. (Jeremiah 9:1, Lamemtations 1:12)
– The Most Persecuted: Job, who was attacked by Satan, totally misunderstood by his wife, and then criticized by his best friends. (Job 1-2)
– The Most Lovestruck: Jacob, who agreed to work for Rachel’s father for a full seven years just for the hand of Rachel in marriage. (Genesis 29:18-20)
– The Most Frightened: Belshazzar, whose knees trembled when the handwriting on the wall appeared from out of nowhere. (Daniel 5:6)
– The Most Rash: Jephthah, who vowed to offer a special sacrifice if God aid him in battle. Tragically, the sacrifice turned out to be his own daughter (Judges 11:30)
– The Most Doubtful: Thomas, who continued to doubt the reality of Christ’s resurrection until he saw Jesus with his own two eyes and touched the Savior with his own two hands. (John 11:16, 20:24-29)

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

– St. Jerome, a 5th century Bible Scholar

Names of the 12 Minor Prophets (Old Testament)
1. Hosea
2. Joel
3. Amos
4. Obadiah
5. Jonah
6. Micah
7. Nahum
8. Habakkuk
9. Zephaniah
10. Haggai
11. Zecariah
12. Malachi

Names of the 8 New Testament Authors
~ The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew in 55 A.D.
~ The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark in 50 A.D.
~ The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke in 60 A.D.
~ The Gospel of John was written by John in 90
~ The Book of Acts was written by Luke in 65 A.D.
~ The Letter to the Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colosians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon were all written by Paul from 50 to 70 A.D.
~ The Letter to the Hebrews was most likely written by Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos in 65 A.D.
~ The Letter of James was written by James in 45 A.D.
~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of Peter were all written by Peter in 60 A.D.
~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of John were all written by John in 90 A.D.
~ The Letter to Jude was written by Jude in 60 A.D.
~ The Book of Revelation was written by John in 90 A.D.

May the LORD God bless you in the name of the Judeo-Christian tradition.