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Sixteen 16 books in the Old Testament are called by the names of [[prophetsprophet]]s, although not necessarily written by their hands. A prophet is one who speaks the word of God by direct divine inspiration, not just one who foretells the future.
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The Orthodox Church also numbers among the genuine books of the Old Testament the so-called [[apocryphal]] books, meaning literally the secret or hidden writings. Other Christians put these books in a secondary place or reject completely their being of divine inspiration.
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==Pentateuch==
The first part of the Old Testament is called the ''[[Pentateuch ]]'' which means the five books. It is also called the ''Torah'', which means the ''Law''. These books are also called the ''Books of Moses''.
They include:
* [[Genesis | Genesis]] * [[Exodus | Exodus]] * [[Leviticus | Leviticus]] * [[Book of Numbers | Numbers]] * [[Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy]]
The events described in these books, from the calling of [[Abraham]] to the death of [[Moses]], probably took place sometime in the second millennium before [[Christ]] (2000-1200 BC).
*[[Ezra]]
*[[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]
*[[Book of EsterEsther|Esther]]
*[[I Esdras]]
*[[II Esdras]]
*[[II Maccabees]]
*[[III Maccabees]] (English Bible )
In the [[Canon (Bible)|canon ]] of the Orthodox Church, which is generally that of the [[Septuagint]], the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Samuel are called 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings are called 3 and 4 Kings. Also, the so-called apocryphal books, listed above after Esther, are considered by the Orthodox as genuine parts of the Bible. The Old Testament apocrypha is a body of writings considered by the non-Orthodox to be of close association with the Bible, but not actually part of its official canonical contents.
The historical books of the Bible were written well after the events described in them actually took place.
==Wisdom books==
The Wisdom books include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, as well as the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Solomon from the so-called apocrypha.
* [[Book of Job | Job]] * [[Book of Psalms | Psalms]] * [[Book of Proverbs | Proverbs]] * [[Ecclesiastes | Ecclesiastes]] * [[Song of Solomon | Song of Solomon]] (Song of Songs or Canticle of Canticles) * [[Wisdom of Sirach]] (Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus)
* [[Wisdom of Solomon]]
Although not technically a ''wisdom'' book, [[The Prayer of Manasseh]] from the so-called apocrypha, is a penitential prayer of the King of Judah, which for the Orthodox is part of the Bible. (It is included in the [[Great Compline]] service of the Orthodox Church.)
==Prophets==
===Major prophets===
Four of the prophetic books are those of the so-called ''major prophets'':* [[Book of Isaiah | Isaiah]] * [[Book of Jeremiah | Jeremiah]] includes book of [[Baruch]] and the [[Letter of Jeremiah]]* [[Book of Ezekiel | Ezekiel]] * [[Book of Daniel | Daniel]]
===Minor prophets===
The books of the twelve 12 so-called ''minor prophets'':* [[Book of Hosea | Hosea]] * [[Book of Joel | Joel]] * [[Book of Amos | Amos]] * [[Book of Obadiah | Obadiah]] * [[Book of Jonah | Jonah]] * [[Book of Micah | Micah]] * [[Book of Nahum | Nahum]] * [[Book of Habakkuk | Habakkuk]] * [[Book of Zephaniah | Zephaniah]] * [[Book of Haggai | Haggai]] * [[Book of Zechariah | Zechariah]] * [[Book of Malachi | Malachi]]
==Others==
==External links==
* [http://biblicaltraining.org/classes/ots/frame.html Old Testament Survey], by Douglas Stuart (seminary class)
* [http://207.44.232.113/%7Ebible/reference/ot_intro/intro-Index.html An Introduction to the Old Testament], by Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III