The Bible is divided between the Old and New Testaments. Books written before the time of Jesus make up the Old Testament. Book written after Jesus’ ministry on earth comprise the New Testament.
The Old Testament is organized by genre rather than historical timeline. Here’s a list of the Old Testament books in chronological order with the traditional (approximate) dates. By chronological, I mean the events recorded in the books took place during this period and/or the author wrote during this period.
2000 BC-1720 BC Patriarchs to Captivity: Genesis, Job.
1720-1280 BC Wilderness to Conquest: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Ruth
1240-1050 BC Period of the Judges: Judges
1050-930 BC United Monarchy: 1&2Samuel, Psalms of David, 1Kings & 1Chronicles, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
1050 -586 BC Divided Monarchy: 2Kings & 2Chronicles; Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk.
586-538 BC Exile: Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther.
538 – Return from exile: Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
More Lists
Biblical History at a glance
How is the Old Testament Organized
Prophets Chronological List
Books of the Bible by date written
Ezra-Nehemiah Chronology
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
