Canon of the Old Testament

See the article on the canon for the general idea of how the "official list of books in the Old Testament" developed from TNK and LXX.

The Chronological order is approximately by the date of the topical material in the book. The book of Jonah, for example, tells a story that would have taken place in the 8th century BC but almost certainly was composed after the exile.

The Composition order is only very roughly indicative of when the books (or the material in them) might have been begun. Scholars disagree endlessly over when composition may have begun and when the final edition may have been completed.

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Exile: The time of the Babylonian Captivity (587-520 BC).

Bible order	Topic	Composition	Name	Genre	LXX
Click on the sort symbols above to sort the table by the values in that column.
1	0117th BC	03 11th BC to 6th BC	Genesis	Torah	TNK
2	02Exodus	0411th BC to 6th BC	Exodus	Torah	TNK
3	04Exodus	0113th BC to 6th BC	Leviticus	Torah	TNK
5	05Exodus	0213th BC to 6th BC	Numbers	Torah	TNK
5	06Exodus	056th BC to 3rd BC?	Deuteronomy	Torah	TNK
6	07Judges		Joshua	History	TNK
7	08Judges		Judges	History	TNK
8	09Judges		Ruth	History	TNK
9	11Kings		1 Samuel	History	TNK
10	12Kings		2 Samuel	History	TNK
11	13Kings		1 Kings	History	TNK
12	14Kings		2 Kings	History	TNK
13	15Kings		1 Chronicles	History	TNK
14	16Kings		2 Chronicles	History	TNK
15	36Post-exilic		Ezra	History	TNK
16	37Post-exilic		Nehemiah	History	TNK
17	23		Tobit	History	LXX
18	10		Judith	History	LXX
19	405th-3rd BC		Esther	History	TNK
20	4563 BC		1 Maccabees	History	LXX
21	4663 BC		2 Maccabees	History	LXX
22	35		Job	Wisdom	TNK
23	3--		Psalms	Wisdom	TNK
24	33Post-exilic		Proverbs	Wisdom	TNK
25	413rd BC		Ecclesiastes	Wisdom	TNK
26	34Post-exilic		Song of Songs	Wisdom	TNK
27	441st BC		Wisdom	Wisdom	LXX
28	432nd BC		Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	Wisdom	LXX
29	188th & 6th-5th BC		Isaiah	Prophecy	TNK
30	26Pre-exilic		Jeremiah	Prophecy	TNK
31	28587 BC		Lamentations	Prophecy	TNK
32	29587 BC	Post-exilic	Baruch	Prophecy	LXX
33	27Pre-exilic		Ezekiel	Prophecy	TNK
34	422nd BC		Daniel	Prophecy	LXX & TNK
35	198th BC		Hosea	Prophecy	TNK
36	385th-4th BC		Joel	Prophecy	TNK
37	178th BC		Amos	Prophecy	TNK
38	395th-4th BC		Obadiah	Prophecy	TNK
39	228th BC		Jonah	Prophecy	TNK
40	208th BC		Micah	Prophecy	TNK
41	217th BC		Nahum	Prophecy	TNK
42	257th BC		Habakkuk	Prophecy	TNK
43	247th BC		Zephaniah	Prophecy	TNK
44	306th BC		Haggai	Prophecy	TNK
45	316th BC		Zechariah	Prophecy	TNK
46	326th BC		Malachi	Prophecy	TNK