The Structure of the Bible

The scriptures of the Jewish faith are contained in what Christians call the Old Testament, which consists of thirty-nine separate books. The Christian scriptures also include the New Testament, an additional set of twenty-seven books. Some Christians also recognize seven more books, sometimes referred to as the Apocrypha (uh-POCK-riff-uh), or writings of uncertain origin. ("Apocrypha" is a negative term, but it is easier to remember—and pronounce— than the other name for these books, which is deutero-canonical [DOO-tuhr-o kuh-NON-i-kul].)

The books are in turn broken up into chapters (or psalms in the case of the book by that name). The chapters are further broken into verses, usually designated with a colon separating chapter and verse. Hence the first verse of the Bible is Genesis 1:1, meaning Chapter 1, Verse 1. However, the books were not originally written in verse form; those divisions were assigned later.

To make it easier to understand the scope of the Bible, the books of the Old and New Testaments are often divided into groups. These divisions vary between Jews and Christians, and between the Catholic and Protestant branches of Christianity. What follows is one way of dividing the books:

Old Testament

Pentateuch ([PIN-tuh-tuke] or Law; a record of the period from the creation of the world to the death of Moses.)

Historical Books (The history of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the end of the Captivity.)

Poetic Books

Prophetic Books (Prophecies, and records of prophets' lives, from the time of the divided kingdom through the Captivity. Prophetic Books are divided into "major" and "minor," which refer to the size of the book, not the importance of the prophet involved.)

Apocryphal Books

(The origin of these writings is not known;

Apocryphal Books can be found in various

Places throughout the Old Testament.)

New Testament

Gospels (The life of Jesus according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

Acts (The acts of Jesus's apostles after his lifetime.)

Epistles (Letters from the apostles to churches they established throughout the ancient world. The first group are by the Apostle Paul, the second group by various authors.)

Revelation (A prophecy of the world's end.)

A solution in the form of a plan to store up grain and other foodstuffs, so the pharaoh put him in charge of the operation.

to Joseph, Egypt survived the famine, and he became a very powerful man in the Egyptian government. Meanwhile, the famine forced Jacob's sons to go to Egypt to see if they could buy any food. By now many years had passed since Judah and the others had sold Joseph into slavery; therefore, when they went to see a great Egyptian official, they had no idea he was their brother. As was customary when meeting an important person, they bowed down to him—just as Joseph had dreamed they would.

The most respectful of them all was Judah, who had emerged as the leader among Jacob's sons even though he was not the oldest. He had clearly repented of his earlier deeds, and God blessed him for this by ultimately making Judah's the most notable of the twelve Israelite tribes. The word Jew, in fact, comes from the name Judah, which means “praise.”

After a series of meetings, Joseph finally revealed his identity, but he had no interest in taking revenge. Instead, he welcomed his brothers and invited the entire family to come to Egypt and live. So Jacob and all his sons and their families settled in Egypt, where they would remain for 400 years—as God had told Abraham long before.