The Hebrew Bible: Origins and Structure

What we call the Hebrew Bible didn’t exist in Lehi’s time. Its components became accepted as scripture gradually—the Torah first, followed by the prophetic books, and finally, about 100 years after the birth of Jesus, an additional set of books known as the Writings.

In contrast with the Book of Mormon, which has a clearly defined provenance from Nephi to Mormon, the Hebrew Bible represents the efforts of numerous unnamed record preservers. As John Collins, a professor of divinity at Yale University writes:

The Bible is a product of history. It took shape over time, and its content and even its wording changed in the process. In this it is no different from any other book, except that the Bible is really a collection of books, and its composition and transmission is spread over an exceptionally long period of time.

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Third Edition, 10

The traditional Jewish name for the Hebrew Bible is Tanakh, a word formed from the names of its three major sections: Torah (the law), Neviʾim (the prophets), and Ketuvim (the writings). Although the 24 books in Tanakh correspond to books in the Old Testament, they are grouped and organized differently, so it’s useful to examine how it is structured.

The first five books are known as the Torah (תּוֹרָה), which means the Instruction or the Law. In the Old Testament, these books are commonly called the Pentateuch. They are also commonly known as the Five Books of Moses, even though they read as a biographical account rather than an autobiography. In the Hebrew Bible, each of these books is known by a prominent word near the beginning of the text.

Hebrew Bible	Old Testament
1. Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית) – “In the beginning”	1. Genesis
2. Shemot (שְׁמוֹת֙) – “Names”	2. Exodus
3. Vayikra (וַיִּקְרָ֨א) – “And he called”	3. Leviticus
4. Bamidbar (בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר) – “In the wilderness”	4. Numbers
5. Devarim (דְּבָרִ֣ים) – “Words”	5. Deuteronomy

The second group of books, Neviʾim, contains the words of prophets. This includes historical books such as Joshua and Kings (the Former Prophets) as well as books written by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others (the Latter Prophets).

Hebrew Bible	Old Testament
6. Joshua	6. Joshua
7. Judges	7. Judges
8. Samuel	9. 1 Samuel 10. 2 Samuel
9. Kings	11. 1 Kings 12. 2 Kings
10. Isaiah	23. Isaiah
11. Jeremiah	24. Jeremiah
12. Ezekiel	26. Ezekiel
13. The Twelve	28. Hosea 29. Joel 30. Amos 31. Obadiah 32. Jonah 33. Micah 34. Nahum 35. Habakkuk 36. Zephaniah 37. Haggai 38. Zechariah 39. Malachi

The final collection of books, Ketuvim, includes poetry, wisdom literature, and other types of content.

Hebrew Bible	Old Testament
14. Psalms	19. Psalms
15. Proverbs	20. Proverbs
16. Job	18. Job
17. Song of Songs	22. The Song of Solomon
18. Ruth	8. Ruth
19. Lamentations	25. Lamentations
20. Ecclesiastes	21. Ecclesiastes
21. Esther	17. Esther
22. Daniel	27. Daniel
23. Ezra	15. Ezra 16. Nehemiah
24. Chronicles	13. 1 Chronicles 14. 2 Chronicles

During the life of Jesus the first two groups of books were generally accepted among the Jews as scripture. The third group was available but was not yet universally accepted as scripture. When Jesus says “the law and the prophets,” he is referring to the first two groups of books. (See Matthew 5:17; Matthew 7:12; Luke 16:16.) The fact that He used this same terminology during His post-mortal ministry on the American continent suggests that Lehi’s descendants also recognized these two collections of books in some form. (See 3 Nephi 12:17; 3 Nephi 14:12). And when a Pharisee asked him, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” he meant specifically the Torah. Jesus was so familiar with these books that He immediately responded with a passage from Deuteronomy 6:5 — “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” — followed by another from Leviticus 19:18—“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” He then added that these two commandments represented the essence of all scripture: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (See Matthew 22:35-40.)

Jesus also quoted frequently from the book of Psalms. On one occasion, He introduced a passage from a psalm by asking, “Is it not written in your law?” (John 10:34), indicating that He accepted the passage as scripture. On another occasion, He declared that David spoke the words of a psalm “by the Holy Ghost” (Mark 12:36), indicating that the psalms were divinely inspired. After His resurrection, He referenced all three categories of scriptural books when He assured His disciples, “All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44), including at least the psalms (and perhaps by extension the other Writings) in the scriptural canon.

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Today I will be grateful for the numerous scholars and religious leaders who carefully preserved, edited, and transmitted the books in the Hebrew Bible so that we could have access to these inspired writings today.