Here is the 1st way to look at the Old Testament's organization:
This section attempts to place just the actual events in order so that there is no break in the continuity or flow of the story and the rest of the books are placed following these events. The books have been placed into groups for the reasons described below. (The book names have been color-coded for you. Compare the book's color in the chart above to the book's color below.)
<The books of Genesis thru 2 Kings are in chronological order already. (The only change may be the book of Job. No one knows for sure, but the text seems to imply that Job's story is taking place after the Flood of Noah's day, probably between 2000-1800 BC. If this is correct, the story of Job would fit into Genesis.)
Genesis
(Job?)
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
<The books of 1 & 2 Chronicles tell the same stories as 1 & 2 Kings (they run parallel to each other), but 1 & 2 Chronicles give the reasons behind the event. In other words, they tell why these events took place (similar to what Bible Timelines Online is designed to do) whereas 1 & 2 Kings just document the events.
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
<The books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther all were written shortly after Israel returned from Babylonian captivity.
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
<The rest of the books, from Psalms thru Malachi, were all written during the time that Israel was being ruled by its own king, or while they were being held captive by Babylon (e.g. Lamentations, Ezekiel & Daniel).
Four of these books (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) were written by two of their kings and the rest (i.e. Isaiah thru Malachi) were written by prophets that God had sent to tell the people of things that would happen.
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song Of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Here is another way to look at the Old Testament's organization:
The
order of the Hebrew Old Testament, or TaNaK
, is as follows.
T stands for Torah
(instruction or law)
1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
N stands for Nevi'im (Prophets)
6. Joshua
7. Judges
8. Samuel (I & II)
9. Kings (I & II)
10. Isaiah
11. Jeremiah
12. Ezekiel
13. The Twelve Prophets
a. Hosea
b. Joel
c. Amos
d. Obadiah
e. Jonah
f. Micah
g. Nahum
h. Habakkuk
i. Zephaniah
j. Haggai
k. Zechariah
l. Malachi
K stands for Ketuvim (writings)
14. Psalms
15. Proverbs
16. Job
The "Five Megilot" or "Five Scrolls":
17. Song of Songs
18. Ruth
19. Lamentations
20. Ecclesiastes
21. Esther
The rest of the "Writings":
22. Daniel
23. Ezra-Nehemiah
24. Chronicles (I & II)