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v • d • e Books of the Bible   Books originally written in Hebrew and/or Aramaic, the so-called Old Testament Historical Literature Primary History The Book of the Law (Genesis · Exodus · Leviticus · Numbers · Deuteronomy · Joshua)  Judges — Ruth* The History of Kings (1&2 Samuel · 1&2 Kings) Chronicler's History 1&2 Chronicles · Ezra/Nehemiah — Esther* Wisdom Literature  Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Songs Prophetic Literature  Major Prophets Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel Minor Prophets Hosea · Joel · Amos · Obadiah · Jonah · Micah · Nahum · Habakkuk · Zephaniah · Haggai · Zechariah · Malachi * Neither Ruth nor Esther fit into their groups listed here   Hebrew Scriptures as organized by the Jews, a.k.a. the Tanak Torah   Genesis · Exodus · Leviticus · Numbers · Deuteronomy Prophets Former Joshua · Judges · Samuel · Kings Latter Isaiah · Jeremiah · Ezekiel · The Twelve (Hosea · Joel · Amos · Obadiah · Jonah · Micah · Nahum · Habakkuk · Zephaniah · Haggai · Zechariah · Malachi) Writings "Truth" Psalms · Proverbs · Job "Five" Song of Songs · Ruth · Lamentations · Ecclesiastes · Esther History Daniel · Esdras · Chronicles   Books originally written in Greek, the so-called New Testament Gospel Accounts   Matthew · Mark · Luke-Acts — John Epistles Pauline Churches  — Romans • 1 Corinthians · 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians · 2 Thessalonians Persons  — 1 Timothy · 2 Timothy • Titus • Philemon General Hebrews • James • 1 Peter · 2 Peter • 1 John · 2 John · 3 John • Jude Apocalyptic Literature The Revelation according to the Apostle John   New Testament by where and when in Chronological Order From Corinth to Rome Judea Rome Roman Prison Ephesus Jewish Christian Matthew • James Hebrews Jude* Pauline/Lukan 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • Galatians • 1 Corinthians • Romans • 2 Corinthians • Ephesians Philippians • Colossians • Philemon Luke-Acts 1 Timothy • Titus • 2 Timothy Markan/Petrine Mark 1 Peter • 2 Peter Johannine 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Revelation • John Timeline 52-61 61,62 62,63 64,65 69-98 * The circumstances of Jude's composition are not known

Book of the Law
Genesis 1:1 - Joshua 24:33
Super-section	Primary History
Form	chiasm, 3-parts
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In the past, the historical unity of the Five Books of Moses, the Torah or the Pentateuch as it was called, was undisputed and universal. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy were the only books to fall under the rubric of the "Mosaic Law". Modern critical scholarship has argued for structures as small as the Uniteuch (one book) and a large as the Nonateuch (nine books). However, based off of insight into the structure of Ancient Near Eastern writing, a Hexateuch or six book division is seen as a literary whole, from Genesis to the Book of Joshua.

• A. Historical Prologue (Genesis 1:1 - Exodus 19:2))
  • B. Treaty at Sinai (Exodus 19:3 - Numbers 10:10)
• A' Historical Conclusion (Numbers 10:11 - Joshua 24:33)

Treaty

The Book of the Law is an Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) treaty. Such treaties were of two types: parity (between equals) and suzerain (between a king or conqueror and his subservient vassal or vanquished voe). Suzerainty treaties had clear features:

1. A preamble, identifying the suzerain and remarking on his greatness
2. A historical prologue, detailed relations between the two parties, with an eye towards demonstrating the past beneficence of the sovereign worthy of gratitude
3. Stipulations, detailing the obligations
4. Oblation details, for providing deposits in a sacred place and periodic public readings of the treaty
5. Lists of important witnesses
6. Curses and blessings, to discourage disobedience and encourage loyalty.

God's Covenant with Israel follows the pattern of the earlier covenants (the Covenant with Adam, the Covenant with Noah and the Covenant with Abraham) by having a sign or symbol. While the previous covenant's had the Sabbath, the Rainbow and Circumcision, God's chosen people would enjoy His presence in a special with, first the Tabernacle, then the Temple.

Pentateuch

Traditionally, the the first five books of the Bible have been considered a unit, called the Pentateuch. The division of the Pentateuch into five separate books was artificial, made necessary in largest part by the amount of text that could be fit on a single scroll. In that sense it is a mistake to see the five books as separate volumes, written as such and perhaps at separate times. We think of books in that way but it would be a mistake to think of the books of the Pentateuch in that way. The Book of the Law as we have it is a continuous narrative. It could have been divided in any number of different ways.

Care is taken to bind all this material together. As Genesis ends, the seventy descendants of Jacob are living in Egypt. A point is made of telling us that there were seventy in all (Genesis 46:27). Exodus begins with mention of the seventy descendants of Jacob who formed the original Israelite settlement in Egypt and then picks up the story from there. In a similar way, not only does the narrative of Numbers pick up where the narrative portion of Exodus leaves off – before the regulations begin – but the last verse of Leviticus  — "These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mt. Sinai for the Israelites"  — is mirrored by the last verse (Numbers 36:13): "These are the commands...the Lord gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho." In this way, in a day before large books with separate divisions and page numbers, such as we have with our printed Bibles, the various separate books were linked together and were seen to provide a continuous narrative. Imagine a pile of scrolls and the need to put them into some order. The biblical writers took steps to make sure we would know in what order they were to be read.

Contrasting Sections

Main article: Structural unity of the Book of the Law