The Jewish Canon: From Genesis to Chronicles

The Jewish canon (Tanach) is not arranged in the same order as our Old Testament. Divided into three sections, Law (Torah), Prophets (Neviyim) and Writings (Kituvim) it begins with Genesis and concludes with 2 Chronicles.

This order explains Jesus' comment to the sinful religious leaders in Matthew 22:34-35:

"Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechari'ah the son [descendant] of Barachi'ah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar."

Jesus was saying the righteous have been killed from the first book of Scripture to the last. Abel's murder was recorded in Genesis 4:8; Zechariah's, in 2 Chronicles 24:20, where King Joash of Judah showed contempt for the love shown him by the late high priest, Jehoiada, and murdered Jehoiada's grandson, Zechariah, at the Temple of the Lord.

The Jewish Bible flows as follows:

Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. This is also known as the Pentateuch. However, the term "Torah" which means "teaching" or "instruction" is also used to refer to all the laws on a certain subject, the Bible as a whole, the oral and written laws, and as the Encyclopedia Judaica states "the whole corpus of Jewish traditional law from the Bible to the latest development".

Neviyim: Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. Later Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Exekiel, The Twelve (minor prophets).

Kituvim: Poetical books: Psalms, Proverbs, Job. The Five Megilloth (Scrolls): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther. Historical Books: Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles.