The Books of the Bible

Bibles do not all have the same number of books, or the same order. This page sets three Bibles side by side, shows the Hebrew Bible in its own order, shows how the five books of Moses got their Hebrew names, and lists the Apocrypha of the King James Bible.

The books, their order, and how Bibles count them.

Part I

Three Bibles side by side

The Old Testament books, and where each Bible places them.

66Protestant Bibles: 39 + 27
73Catholic Bibles: 46 + 27
24Hebrew Bible, the same books as the 39

Rows run in English Bible order. Shaded rows are books only in the Catholic Bible. A dash means the book is not in that Bible.

BookEnglish BibleProtestant, 39 booksCatholic Bible46 booksHebrew Bible24 books
Genesis111
Exodus222
Leviticus333
Numbers444
Deuteronomy555
Joshua666
Judges777
Ruth8814
1 Samuel998One book: Samuel
2 Samuel1010
1 Kings11119One book: Kings
2 Kings1212
1 Chronicles131324One book: Chronicles
2 Chronicles1414
Ezra151523One book: Ezra and Nehemiah
Nehemiah1616
Tobit—17—
Judith—18—
Esther1719Longer form22
1 Maccabees—20—
2 Maccabees—21—
Job182216
Psalms192315
Proverbs202417
Ecclesiastes212518
Song of Songs222619
Wisdom—27—
Sirach—28—
Isaiah232912
Jeremiah243010
Lamentations253120
Baruch—32With the Letter of Jeremiah—
Ezekiel263311
Daniel2734Longer form21
Hosea283513One book: The Twelve
Joel2936
Amos3037
Obadiah3138
Jonah3239
Micah3340
Nahum3441
Habakkuk3542
Zephaniah3643
Haggai3744
Zechariah3845
Malachi3946

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Part II

The Hebrew Bible in its own order

24 books in three parts: Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim. The first letters of the three names give the Hebrew Bible its name, the Tanakh.

The Law (Torah)

5 booksEnglishHebrew name
  1. 1GenesisBereshit
  2. 2ExodusShemot
  3. 3LeviticusVayikra
  4. 4NumbersBemidbar
  5. 5DeuteronomyDevarim

The Prophets (Nevi’im)

8 booksEnglishHebrew name
  1. 6JoshuaYehoshua
  2. 7JudgesShoftim
  3. 8Samuel1 and 2 SamuelShmuel
  4. 9Kings1 and 2 KingsMelachim
  5. 10JeremiahYirmiyahu
  6. 11EzekielYechezkel
  7. 12IsaiahYeshayahu
  8. 13The TwelveHosea to MalachiTrei Asar

The Writings (Ketuvim)

11 booksEnglishHebrew name
  1. 14RuthRut
  2. 15PsalmsTehillim
  3. 16JobIyov
  4. 17ProverbsMishlei
  5. 18EcclesiastesKohelet
  6. 19Song of SongsShir HaShirim
  7. 20LamentationsEichah
  8. 21DanielDaniel
  9. 22EstherEsther
  10. 23EzraEzra and NehemiahEzra
  11. 24Chronicles1 and 2 ChroniclesDivrei HaYamim

Hebrew names as listed by OU Torah (Orthodox Union) and the Jewish Virtual Library. English spellings of Hebrew names vary between lists. The five books of Moses follow the say lines on their cards.

The order is the list in the Talmud, Bava Batra 14b. It is not the only old order. Some Jewish lists put Psalms or Job first among the Writings.

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Part III

The Torah: the five books of Moses

In Hebrew, each book of Moses is named by a word in its first verse. The English names come from the Greek Bible, the Septuagint, through the Latin Bible.

Genesis

Hebrew nameBereshitבְּרֵאשִׁ֖יתbeh-reh-SHEET“In the beginning”Word 1 of Genesis 1:1Greek name points tothe beginnings of thingsOpen the verse

Exodus

Hebrew nameShemotשְׁמוֹת֙sheh-MOHT“Names”Word 2 of Exodus 1:1Greek name points tothe exodusOpen the verse

Leviticus

Hebrew nameVayikraוַיִּקְרָ֖אvah-yeek-RAH“And he called”Word 1 of Leviticus 1:1Greek name points tothe Levitical lawsOpen the verse

Numbers

Hebrew nameBemidbarבְּמִדְבַּ֥רbeh-meed-BAHR“In the wilderness”Word 5 of Numbers 1:1Greek name points tothe numbers of the IsraelitesOpen the verse

Deuteronomy

Hebrew nameDevarimהַדְּבָרִ֗יםhah-deh-vah-REEM“Words”Word 2 of Deuteronomy 1:1Here with הַ, “the,” joined on.Greek name points tothe repetition of the LawOpen the verse

Sources: the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), article “Pentateuch,” says each book is named in Hebrew by “the first significant word,” and that the Septuagint names point to what is in each book. The Hebrew words and their meanings are copied from the word cards.

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Part IV

The Apocrypha in the King James Bible

The 1611 King James Bible printed 14 more books, in a section of their own between the Old and New Testaments, under the heading Apocrypha. The Catholic Douay-Rheims has most of them, but not all, and not always as separate books.

The number by each book is its place in the 1611 order.

Separate books in both

7 books. Their own books in the KJV Apocrypha and in the Douay-Rheims.KJV
  1. 3Tobit
  2. 4Judith
  3. 6Wisdom of Solomon
  4. 7Sirachalso called Ecclesiasticus
  5. 8Baruchchapter 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah
  6. 131 Maccabees
  7. 142 Maccabees

Inside Esther and Daniel

4 parts. In the Douay-Rheims they are chapters of Esther and Daniel.KJVDouay-Rheims
  1. 5Rest of EstherEsther 10:4 to 16:24
  2. 9Song of the Three Holy ChildrenDaniel 3
  3. 10SusannaDaniel 13
  4. 11Bel and the DragonDaniel 14

Only in the KJV Apocrypha

3 books. Not in the Douay-Rheims.KJV
  1. 11 Esdras
  2. 22 Esdras
  3. 12Prayer of Manasses

Sources: the 1611 order as listed by kingjamesbibleonline.org (1611 King James Bible) and biblia.com (King James Version Apocrypha). The Douay-Rheims books and chapters as in the Douay-Rheims 1899 on eBible.org.

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