About God’s 66 Books

The Bible was written over approximately 1600 years in three different languages, on three different continents, by 40 different authors. What follows is a short outline of facts about the Bible, followed by a table listing out the order of the books as they were written. The dates are not exact because we cannot be exactly sure of the very year of every book. However, these are very good estimates.

  1. Compiled from 66 manuscripts to make one volume originally called the Library of Divine Revelation
    1. Written in three different languages
      1. Hebrew
      2. Greek
      3. Aramaic
    2. Of the 40 different authors, very few knew each other personally, except those of the NT
      1. They came from all walks of life and almost every social rank, there were,
      2. Jews, gentiles, the educated, and the uneducated
      3. Some were kings, statesmen, priests, and peasants
      4. Others were fishermen, herdsmen, tent makers, and even a tax-collector
    3. Written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these books span 1600 years of time
    4. The Bible is separated into two parts with an interval of nearly 400 years between them
      1. The Old Testament, contains 39 books that point towards the coming of Christ
      2. The New Testament, contains 27 books that reveal who Christ is and how to get to know Him
      3. Of the 66 books, 22 are historical in nature
      4. 18 of them are prophetical
      5. 21 are epistles or letters written to individuals or groups
      6. 5 (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon) are poetical in nature
  2. One way to know that the Bible is truly inspired by the Spirit of God is how it portrays mankind
    1. We are greedy, envious, murderous, sexually immoral, proud and weak
    2. By portraying man as we truly are, God shows us that we are desperately in need of Redemption

Old Testament

Book Author Date Written
Genesis Moses ? – 1445 B.C.
Exodus Moses 1445 – 1405 B.C.
Leviticus Moses 1405 B.C.
Numbers Moses 1444 – 1405 B.C.
Deuteronomy Moses 1405 B.C.
Joshua Joshua 1404-1390 B.C.
Judges Samuel 1374-1129 B.C.
Ruth Samuel 1150? B.C.
First Samuel Samuel 1043-1011 B.C.
Second Samuel Ezra? 1011-1004 B.C.
First Kings Jeremiah? 971-852 B.C.
Second Kings Jeremiah? 852-587 B.C.
First Chronicles Ezra? 450 – 425 B.C.
Second Chronicles Ezra? 450 – 425 B.C.
Ezra Ezra 538-520 B.C.
Nehemiah Nehemiah 445 – 425 B.C.
Esther Mordecai? 465 B.C.
Job Job? ??
Psalms David 1000? B.C.
Moses wrote Psalm 90; Sons of Korah wrote Psalms 42, 44-49, 84-85, 87;
Asaph wrote Psalms 50, 73-83; Heman wrote Psalm 88; Ethan wrote Psalm 89;
Hezekiah wrote Psalms 120-123, 128-130, 132, 134-136; Solomon wrote Psalms 72, 127.
Proverbs Solomon wrote 1-29
Agur wrote 30
Lemuel wrote 31
950 – 700 B.C.
Ecclesiastes Solomon 935 B.C.
Song of Solomon Solomon 965 B.C.
Isaiah Isaiah 740 – 680 B.C.
Jeremiah Jeremiah 627 – 585 B.C.
Lamentations Jeremiah 586 B.C.
Ezekiel Ezekiel 593-560 B.C.
Daniel Daniel 605-536 B.C.
Hosea Hosea 710 B.C.
Joel Joel 835 B.C.
Amos Amos 755 B.C.
Obadiah Obadiah 840 or 586 B.C.
Jonah Jonah 760 B.C.
Micah Micah 700 B.C.
Nahum Nahum 663 – 612 B.C.
Habakkuk Habakkuk 607 B.C.
Zephaniah Zephaniah 625 B.C.
Haggai Haggai 520 B.C.
Zechariah Zechariah 520 – 518 B.C.
Malachi Malachi 450 – 600 B.C.

New Testament

Book Author Date Written (A.D)
Matthew Matthew 60’s
Mark John Mark late 50’s
early 60’s
Luke Luke 60
John John late 80’s
early 90’s
Acts Luke 61
Romans Paul 55
1 Corinthians Paul 54
2 Corinthians Paul 55
Galatians Paul 49
Ephesians Paul 60
Philippians Paul 61
Colossians Paul 60
1 Thessalonians Paul 50 – 51
2 Thessalonians Paul 50 – 51
1 Timothy Paul 62
2 Timothy Paul 63
Titus Paul 62
Philemon Paul 60
Hebrews (Paul, Apollos, Barnabas . . . ?) 60’s
James James, half brother of Jesus 40’s or 50’s
1 Peter Peter 63
2 Peter Peter 63 – 64
1 John John late 80’s
early 90’s
2 John John late 80’s
early 90’s
3 John John late 80’s
early 90’s
Jude Jude, half brother of Jesus 60’s or 70’s
Revelation John late 80’s
early 90’s

 

Book

Writer

Date Completed

Time Covered

Place Written

Genesis

Moses

1513 B.C.

“In the Wilderness beginning” to 1657 B.C.

Wilderness

Exodus

Moses

1512 B.C.

1657-1512

Wilderness

Leviticus

Moses

1512 B.C.

1 month [1512]

Wilderness

Job

Unknown

1473 B.C.

Over 140 years between 1657 and 1473

 

Numbers

Moses

1473 B.C.

1512-1473

Wilderness / Plains of Moab

Deuteronomy

Moses

1473 B.C.

2 months [1473]

Plains of Moab

Joshua

Joshua

1450 B.C.

1473– c. 1450

Canaan

Judges

Samuel

1100 B.C.

c. 1450– c. 1120

Israel

Ruth

Samuel

1090 B.C.

11 years of Judges’ rule

Israel

1 Samuel

Samuel; Gad; Nathan

c. 1078

c. 1180-1078

Israel

2 Samuel

Gad; Nathan

c. 1040

1077–c. 1040

Israel

Song of Solomon

Solomon

c. 1020

*

Jerusalem

Ecclesiastes

Solomon

b. 1000

*

Jerusalem

Jonah

Jonah

c. 844

*

*

Joel

Joel

c. 820 (?)

*

Judah

Amos

Amos

c. 804

*

Judah

Hosea

Hosea

a. 745

b. 804– a. 745

Samaria (District)

Isaiah

Isaiah

a. 732

c. 778– a. 732

Jerusalem

Micah

Micah

b. 717

c. 777-717

Judah

Proverbs

Solomon; Agur; Lemuel

c. 717

Jerusalem

Zephaniah

Zephaniah

b. 648

*

Judah

Nahum

Nahum

b. 632

*

Judah

Habakkuk

Habakkuk

c. 628 (?)

*

Judah

Lamentations

Jeremiah

607

*

Nr. Jerusalem

Obadiah

Obadiah

c. 607

*

*

Ezekiel

Ezekiel

c. 591

613–c. 591

Babylon

1 and 2 Kings

Jeremiah

580

c. 1040-580

Judah/Egypt

Jeremiah

Jeremiah

580

647-580

Judah/Egypt

Daniel

Daniel

c. 536

618–c. 536

Babylon

Haggai

Haggai

520

112 days (520)

Jerusalem

Zechariah

Zechariah

518

520-518

Jerusalem

Esther

Mordecai

c. 475

493–c. 475

Shushan, Elam

1 and 2 Chronicles

Ezra

c. 460

After 1 Chronicles 9:44, 1077-537

Jerusalem (?)

Ezra

Ezra

c. 460

537–c. 467

Jerusalem

Psalms

David and others

c. 1000 to 460

*

*

Nehemiah

Nehemiah

a. 443

456–a. 443

Jerusalem

Malachi

Malachi

a. 443

*

Jerusalem

Matthew

Matthew

c. 41

2 B.C.– 33 A.D.

Palestine

1 Thessalonians

Paul

c. 51

*

Corinth

2 Thessalonians

Paul

c. 52

*

Corinth

Galatians

Paul

c. 50-52

*

Corinth or Syr. Antioch

1 Corinthians

Paul

c. 57

*

Ephesus

2 Corinthians

Paul

c. 58

*

Macedonia

Romans

Paul

c. 58

*

Corinth

Luke

Luke

c. 56-58

3 B.C.– 34 AD.

Caesarea

Ephesians

Paul

c. 60-61

*

Rome

Colossians

Paul

c. 60-61

*

Rome

Philemon

Paul

c. 60-61

*

Rome

Philippians

Paul

c. 60-61

*

Rome

Hebrews

Paul (see article below)

c. 61

*

Rome

Acts

Luke

c. 61

34–c. 62 AD.

Caesarea

James

James (Jesus’ brother)

b. 62

*

Jerusalem

Mark

Mark

c. 60-65

30-34AD.

Rome

1 Timothy

Paul

c. 61-65

*

Macedonia

Titus

Paul

c. 61-65

*

Macedonia (?)

1 Peter

Peter

c. 62-64

*

Babylon

2 Peter

Peter

c. 64

*

Babylon?

2 Timothy

Paul

c. 67

*

Rome

Jude

Jude (Jesus’ brother)

c. 65

*

Palestine (?)

Revelation

Apostle John

c. 96

*

Patmos

John

Apostle John

c. 98

After prologue, 30-34 AD.

Ephesus, or near

1 John

Apostle John

c. 98

*

Ephesus, or near

2 John

Apostle John

c. 98

*

Ephesus, or near

3 John

Apostle John

c. 98

*

Ephesus, or near

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