Books of the Bible
The Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Judaism and the Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Slavonic Orthodox, Georgian, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac and Ethiopian churches, although there is substantial overlap. A table comparing the canons of some of these traditions appears below, comparing the Jewish Bible with the Christian Old Testament and New Testament. For a detailed discussion of the differences, see "Biblical canon".
The Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches may have minor differences in their lists of accepted books. The list given here for these churches is the most inclusive: if at least one Eastern church accepts the book it is included here.
Contents |
Tanakh, Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible
A table cell with an asterisk (*) indicates that a book is present but in a different order. Empty cells indicate that a book is absent from that canon.
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Part of a series
of articles on the
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| Tanakh (Books common to all Christian and Judaic canons) |
| Genesis · Exodus · Leviticus · Numbers · Deuteronomy · Joshua · Judges · Ruth · 1–2 Samuel · 1–2 Kings · 1–2 Chronicles · Ezra (Esdras) · Nehemiah · Esther · Job · Psalms · Proverbs · Ecclesiastes · Song of Songs · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Lamentations · Ezekiel · Daniel · Minor prophets |
| Deuterocanon |
| Tobit · Judith · 1 Maccabees · 2 Maccabees · Wisdom (of Solomon) · Sirach · Baruch · Letter of Jeremiah · Additions to Daniel · Additions to Esther |
| Greek and Slavonic Orthodox canon |
| 1 Esdras · 3 Maccabees · Prayer of Manasseh · Psalm 151 |
| Georgian Orthodox canon |
| 4 Maccabees · 2 Esdras |
| Ethiopian Orthodox "narrow" canon |
| Apocalypse of Ezra · Jubilees · Enoch · 1–3 Meqabyan · 4 Baruch |
| Syriac Peshitta |
| Psalms 152–155 · 2 Baruch · Letter of Baruch |
 Bible Portal |
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The disputed books are often called the Biblical apocrypha, a term that is sometimes used specifically (and possibly pejoratively in English) to describe the books in the Catholic and Orthodox canons that are absent from the Jewish Masoretic Text (also called the Tanakh or Miqra) and most modern Protestant Bibles. Catholic Christians, following the Canon of Trent, describe these books as deuterocanonical, meaning of "the second canon," while Greek Orthodox Christians, following the Synod of Jerusalem (1672), use the traditional name of anagignoskomena, meaning "that which is to be read." They are present in a few historic Protestant versions: the German Luther Bible included such books, as did the English 1611 King James Version.[1]
Note that this table uses current spellings of the NAB. Spellings of the 1609-1610 Douay-Rheims Bible describing the Catholic biblical canon were traslated different but the same books. In the spirit of ecumenism more recent Catholic translations, such as the 1970 are similar or identical spellings (e.g. 1 Chronicles) as Protestant Bibles in those books which are jointly considered canonical, i.e. the protocanonicals.
| Tanakh (Jewish Bible) |
Protestant Old Testament | Catholic Old Testament | Eastern Orthodox Old Testament | Original Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torah or Instruction |
Pentateuch or Five Books
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| Bereishit (In the beginning) | Genesis | Genesis | Genesis | Hebrew |
| Shemot (Names) | Exodus | Exodus | Exodus | Hebrew |
| Vayikra (And He called) | Leviticus | Leviticus | Leviticus | Hebrew |
| Bamidbar (In the wilderness) | Numbers | Numbers | Numbers | Hebrew |
| Devarim (Words) | Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy | Hebrew |
| Nevi'im or Prophets |
Historical books
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| Joshua | Joshua | Joshua | Joshua | Hebrew |
| Judges | Judges | Judges | Judges | Hebrew |
| see below | Ruth | Ruth | Ruth | Hebrew |
| Samuel | 1 Samuel | 1 Samuel | 1 Samuel (1 Kingdoms)[2] | Hebrew |
| 2 Samuel | 2 Samuel | 2 Samuel (2 Kingdoms)[2] | Hebrew | |
| Kings | 1 Kings | 1 Kings | 1 Kings (3 Kingdoms)[2] | Hebrew |
| 2 Kings | 2 Kings | 2 Kings (4 Kingdoms)[2] | Hebrew | |
| Chronicles see below |
1 Chronicles | 1 Chronicles | 1 Chronicles | Hebrew |
| 2 Chronicles | 2 Chronicles | 2 Chronicles | Hebrew | |
| 1 Esdras | Greek (or Aramaic?) | |||
| Ezra (includes Nehemiah) see below |
Ezra | Ezra | Ezra (2 Esdras)[2][3] | Hebrew(+Aramaic) |
| Nehemiah | Nehemiah | Nehemiah (2 Esdras)[2][3] | Hebrew | |
| Tobit | Tobit | Aramaic | ||
| Judith | Judith | Hebrew | ||
| see below | Esther | Esther[4] | Esther[4] | Hebrew |
| 1 Maccabees[5] | 1 Maccabees | Hebrew or Aramaic? | ||
| 2 Maccabees[5] | 2 Maccabees | Greek | ||
| 3 Maccabees | Greek | |||
| 4 Maccabees | Greek | |||
| Wisdom books | ||||
| see below | Job | Job | Job | Hebrew |
| see below | Psalms | Psalms | Psalms[6] | Hebrew |
| Odes[7] | Hebrew(+Greek) | |||
| see below | Proverbs | Proverbs | Proverbs | Hebrew |
| see below | Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes | Hebrew |
| see below | Song of Songs | Song of Songs | Song of Songs | Hebrew |
| Wisdom | Wisdom | Greek | ||
| Sirach | Sirach | Hebrew, then translated into Greek | ||
| Major prophets | ||||
| Isaiah | Isaiah | Isaiah | Isaiah | Hebrew |
| Jeremiah | Jeremiah | Jeremiah | Jeremiah | Hebrew(+Aramaic) |
| see below | Lamentations | Lamentations | Lamentations | Hebrew |
| Baruch[8] | Baruch[8] | Hebrew [9] | ||
| Letter of Jeremiah[10] | Greek (or Hebrew?)[11] | |||
| Ezekiel | Ezekiel | Ezekiel | Ezekiel | Hebrew |
| see below | Daniel | Daniel[12] | Daniel[12] | Hebrew+Aramaic |
| Minor prophets | ||||
| Trei Asar or Twelve | Hosea | Hosea | Hosea | Hebrew |
| Joel | Joel | Joel | Hebrew | |
| Amos | Amos | Amos | Hebrew | |
| Obadiah | Obadiah | Obadiah | Hebrew | |
| Jonah | Jonah | Jonah | Hebrew | |
| Micah | Micah | Micah | Hebrew | |
| Nahum | Nahum | Nahum | Hebrew | |
| Habakkuk | Habakkuk | Habakkuk | Hebrew | |
| Zephaniah | Zephaniah | Zephaniah | Hebrew | |
| Haggai | Haggai | Haggai | Hebrew | |
| Zechariah | Zacharias | Zechariah | Hebrew | |
| Malachi | Malachi | Malachi | Hebrew | |
| Ketuvim or Writings[13] | ||||
| Psalms | Hebrew | |||
| Proverbs | Hebrew | |||
| Job | Hebrew | |||
| Song of Songs | Hebrew | |||
| Ruth | Hebrew | |||
| Lamentations | Hebrew | |||
| Ecclesiastes | Hebrew | |||
| Esther | Hebrew | |||
| Daniel | Hebrew+Aramaic | |||
| Ezra (includes Nehemiah) | Hebrew(+Aramaic) | |||
| Chronicles | Hebrew | |||
| see above[5] | 1 Maccabees | Hebrew or Aramaic? | ||
| see above[5] | 2 Maccabees | Greek | ||
New Testament
In general, among Christian denominations, the New Testament Canon is an agreed-upon list of 27 books, although book order can vary. The book order is the same in the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant tradition.[L 1] The Slavonic, Armenian and Ethiopian traditions have different New Testament book orders to this.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a few additional books in its canon: Jubilees, Book of Enoch, 4 Baruch along with three books of Meqabyan that are unique to their canon.
The 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). Still today the official lectionary followed by the Syrian Orthodox Church (with headquarters at Kottayam (Kerala), and the Chaldean Syriac Church, also known as the Church of the East (Nestorian), with headquarters at Trichur (Kerala)) 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.
The New Testament has different orders in the Slavonic, Ethiopian, Syriac and Armenian traditions. Protestant Bibles in Russia and Ethiopia usually follow the local Orthodox order for the New Testament.
Chart Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Four New Testament works were questioned or "spoken against" by Martin Luther, and he changed the order of his New Testament to reflect this, but he did not leave them out, nor has any Lutheran body since. Traditional German "Luther Bibles" are still printed with the New Testament in this changed "Luther Bible" order.
Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books
These are the Biblical Apocrypha; books recognized by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox & Oriental Orthodox Churches as being part of scripture (and thus deuterocanonical rather than apocryphal), but most Protestants do not recognize them. Many other Christians recognize them as good, but not on the level of the other books of the Bible. Anglicanism, as stated in the Thirty-nine Articles, consider the apocrypha to be "read for example of life" but not used "to establish any doctrine."[1] Luther made a parallel statement in calling them: "not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read."[16]
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See also
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Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The foundational Thirty-Nine Articles of Anglicanism, in Article VI, asserts that these disputed books are not (to be) used "to establish any doctrine," but "read for example of life." Though the "Biblical apocrypha" are still used in Anglican Liturgy, ("Two of the hymns used in the American Prayer Book office of Morning Prayer, the Benedictus es and Benedicite, are taken from the Apocrypha. One of the offertory sentences in Holy Communion comes from an apocryphal book (Tob. 4: 8-9). Lessons from the Apocrypha are regularly appointed to be read in the daily, Sunday, and special services of Morning and Evening Prayer. There are altogether 111 such lessons in the latest revised American Prayer Book Lectionary [The books used are: II Esdras, Tobit, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Three Holy Children, and I Maccabees.]" —The Apocrypha, Bridge of the Testaments), the modern trend has been to not even print the Old Testament apocrypha in editions of Anglican-used Bibles, the last English translation for the Biblical Apocrypha being the Revised Standard Version of 1957.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Names in brackets are the Septuagint names and are often used by the Orthodox Christians.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Some Eastern Orthodox churches follow the Septuagint and the Hebrew bibles by considering the books of Ezra and Nehemiah as one book.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Catholic and Orthodox Book of Esther includes 103 verses not in the Protestant Book of Esther.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Latin Vulgate, Douay-Rheims, and Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition place First and Second Maccabees after Malachi; other Catholic translations place them after Esther.
- ↑ Eastern Orthodox churches include Psalm 151, not present in all canons.
- ↑ The Book of Odes includes the Prayer of Manasseh. This book is not present in the Catholic or Protestant Old Testaments.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 In Catholic Bibles, Baruch includes a sixth chapter called the Letter of Jeremiah. Baruch is not in the Protestant Bible or the Tanakh.
- ↑ Britannica 1911
- ↑ Eastern Orthodox Bibles have the books of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah separate.
- ↑ New English Translation of the Septuagint
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 In Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, Daniel includes three sections not included in Protestant Bibles. The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children are included between Daniel 3:23-24. Susanna is included as Daniel 13. Bel and the Dragon is included as Daniel 14. These are not in the Protestant Old Testament.
- ↑ These books are found among the historical and wisdom books of the Christian canons.
- ↑ See Aramaic or Hebrew. Most scholars consider the Gospel of Matthew to have been written in Koine Greek, though some experts maintain the view that it was originally composed in Aramaic or Hebrew. See Wikipedia's Gospel of Matthew and New Testament articles.
- ↑ Contemporary scholars believe the Hebrews to have been written in Greek, though a minority believe it was originally written in Hebrew, then translated into Greek by Luke. See Wikipedia's New Testament article.
- ↑ The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopædia and Scriptural Dictionary, Fully Defining and Explaining All Religious Terms, Including Biographical, Geographical, Historical, Archæological and Doctrinal Themes, p.521, edited by Samuel Fallows et al, The Howard-Severance company, 1901,1910. - Google Books
External links
- Old Testament Reading Room & New Testament Reading Room: Extensive online resources for biblical studies (Tyndale Seminary)
- The Canon of Scripture – a Catholic perspective
- Table of Tanakh Books - includes Latin, English, Hebrew and abbreviated names (from Tel Aviv University).
- Judaica Press Translation - Online Jewish translation of the books of the Bible. The Tanakh and Rashi's entire commentary.
- (Old Church Slavonic) Slavonic Bible
- Books of the Apocrypha (from the UMC)
- Western Armenian Bible (an essay, with full official canon at the end)
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