The Old Testament books (classification, summaries, and links to resources)

The Old Testament may be classified into:

[1] Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

[2] History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther

[3] Poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon

[4] Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel

[5] Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

Short summaries (with links to Scofield’s Reference Notes and PDFs by Paul Apple; Be like the Bereans! Acts 17:11)

Genesis: creation; history of the old world from Adam to Joseph

Exodus: history of Israel's departure from Egypt; the giving of the law; the tabernacle

Leviticus: ceremonial law

Numbers: census of the people; wanderings in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy: the law rehearsed; the death of Moses.

Joshua: conquest and partition of Canaan (download PDF)

Judges: history of Israel from Joshua to Samson

Ruth: story of the ancestors of the royal family of David

1 Samuel: Israel from the judgeship of Samuel up to the reign of Saul (download PDF)

2 Samuel: the reign of David as king (download PDF)

1 Kings and 2 Kings: from David's death and Solomon's accession to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem

1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles: the histories of kingdoms of Judah and Israel

Ezra: return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, and the rebuilding of the temple

Nehemiah: A further account of the rebuilding of the temple and city, and of the obstacles encountered and overcome.

Esther: the Jewess queen of Persia who saves the Jewish people from destruction

Job: the trials and patience of Job; answers for the questions of human suffering

Psalms: sacred poems for the worship of Jehovah; mostly written by David (download PDF)

Proverbs: wise sayings of Solomon (download PDF)

Ecclesiastes: poem on the vanity of earthly things (download PDF)

Song of Solomon: allegory relating to the church and Christ

Isaiah: prophecies about Christ and his kingdom

Jeremiah: prophecies on the captivity of Judah, its sufferings, and the final overthrow of its enemies

Lamentations: poetic expression of Jeremiah’s sorrow upon the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple (download PDF)

Ezekiel: messages of warning and comfort to the Jews in their captivity

Daniel: stories of the captivity in Babylon, and prophecies concerning Christ (download PDF)

Hosea: prophecies relating to Christ and the latter days

Joel: prediction of woes upon Judah, and God’s grace upon the penitent

Amos: prediction that Israel will be conquered, and the fulfillment of the Messiah’s kingdom.

Obadiah: prediction of the desolation of Edom

Jonah: prophecies relating to Nineveh (download PDF)

Micah: predictions relating to Sennacherib, the Babylonian captivity, and the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem (download PDF)

Nahum: prediction of the downfall of Assyria (download PDF)

Habakkuk: prediction of the doom of the Chaldeans (download PDF)

Zephaniah: prediction of the overthrow of Judah for its idolatry and wickedness (download PDF)

Haggai: prophecies on the rebuilding of the temple (download PDF)

Zechariah: prophecies on the rebuilding of the temple and the Messiah (download PDF)

Malachi: prophecies on the calling of the Gentiles and the coming of Christ (download PDF)

Notes: (1) This lesson is part of the projected 300 plus lessons. From time to time, the lessons will be updated, revised, combined, formatted, and edited to comply with the VOA Simplified English word list. Later on, these lessons will be categorized and numbered sequentially; (2) Photo source: ChristianPhotos.Net - Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications