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.
| History | Law & Prophets | Date |
| Genesis | Job | 2000 BC Patriarchs 1720 BC Captivity |
| Exodus 1-19 | Exodus 20 thru Leviticus up to Numbers 9 | 1280 BC Wilderness |
| Numbers 10-26 | Deuteronomy | |
| Joshua | Ruth | |
| Judges | 1240 BC | |
| 1 Samuel | ||
| 2 Samuel | Psalms of David | 1050 BC United Monarchy |
| 1 Kings & 1 Chronicles | Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon | |
| 2 Kings & 2 Chronicles | Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Hosea Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Habakkuk | 930 BC Divided Monarchy 722 BC Assyria |
| (exile) | Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther | 586 BC Babylon |
| Ezra, Nehemiah | Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi | 538 BC Cyrus |
Biblical History at a glance
How is the Old Testament Organized
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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