Overview

There are 39 books in the Old Testament which are accepted by all major Christian faiths. The Old Testament is referred to as the Tanak by the Jewish people representing the three sections. The sections are divided into the Torah (Law), Nebilim (Prophets), and Kethubim (Writings). Christians used those three divisions but also added the Historical division.

The Catholic Bible includes an additional seven -- Baruch, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit, and Wisdom. The Catholic Bible also includes expanded version of the books of Daniel and Esther.

This difference many people attribute to Luther and the Reformation since it is the difference between Protestant and Catholic bibles. However, the difference goes way back to about 100-200 A.D. when the Jewish leaders could not agree on the make up of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jewish leaders had agreed on the "Torah" or Pentateuch in about 400 B.C. and the Prophets in about 200 B.C.

Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew with the Greek translation called the Septuagint being written around 200 B.C. approximately 300 of 350 quotations in the New Testament referring to the Old Testament come from the Septuagint. Below is a break down of the Old Testament. Books generally contained only in Catholic Bibles are in Red.

The Oral Tradition of the Old Testament began around 2000 B.C. Around the time of King David in 950 B.C. began the Written Tradition. Finally, the Edited Tradition began around 587 B.C.

Pentateuch

The Pentateuch or "Torah" (meaning The Law) consists of the first five books of the bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Moses is generally considered the author of the Pentateuch because he received the Ten Commandments and the laws from God. However, it is doubtful that he actually wrote the Pentateuch.

The Pentateuch covers from the Creation of the World to the Death and Burial of Moses. Most of the stories that we learned as children about the Old Testament are covered in these first five books. Noah and the Flood, Tower of Babel, Abraham-Isaac-Jacob, Joseph and the coat, etc.

Genesis covers Pre-History and the Patriarchs. Exodus is about the deliverance of the Israelites (God's chosen people from slavery by the Egyptians. Leviticus contains may of the Laws. Numbers contains more of the Laws and begins and ends with a census. Finally, Deuteronomy is the speech of Moses.

The are four very different styles of writing in the Pentateuch. The Yawhist which receives his name because he refers to God by his Hebrew name Yahweh. The Elohist which was probably written in the 9th century B.C. approximately 50 to 100 years after the Yawhist. The Elohist gets his name because he referred to God by the Hebrew name of Elohim. The Deuteronomist writing emphasized the need for reform in Social and Religious laws and in Justice. Finally, the Priestly author focused on rules about religious ritual, covenants, and genealogy.

Here are the key dates in the Old Testament.

 3000 B.C. - Growth of Semitic Civilization in Mesopotamia
 1900 B.C. - Abraham comes to Palestine
 1250 B.C. - Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt
 1030 B.C. - Saul is King of Israel
 1010 B.C. - David is King of Israel
  970 B.C. - Solomon is King of Isreal
  930 B.C. - The Kingdom of Israel is divided into Northern (Judah) and
             Southern (Israel)
    4 B.C. - Christ is born