There are 39 books in the Old Testament, but the ancient Jewish writers reduced the number to 22 so that the sacred books might correspond in number to the 22 Sacred letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Josephus of Jewish historic fame, an unbeliever in Christ, born in Palestine about the time of Paul’s conversion, and thoroughly conversant with Hebrew literature, probably more so than any man then living, thus writes,— We have only two-and-twenty books which are justly believed to be of divine authority, of which five are the books of Moses. From the death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, King of Persia, the prophets who were the successors of Moses, have written in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the regulation of human life.”
This arithmetical feat was accomplished by regarding the Pentateuch as five separate books as in the Septuagint and in our English Bibles. The “thirteen books” written by the prophets were, (1) Joshua, (2) Judges with Ruth, (3) Samuel, (4) Kings, (5) Chronicles, (6) Isaiah, (7) Jeremiah with Lamentations, (8) Ezekiel, (9) Daniel, (10) The twelve minor prophets from Hosea to Malachi, (11) Job, (12) Ezra and Nehemiah, (13) Esther. The four remaining books are the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song. It may appear singular to some that the 12 Minor prophets should be do grouped, but in most, if not all ancient catalogs they are regarded as one book, as also in all quotations from them. The reason of this, we suppose, was to facilitate an easy reference to these prophetic books. The modern Jews make up the Old Testament into 24 books.
The first five books of Scripture are ascribed to Moses, and this on the most unquestionable authority. They were originally written on one scroll, forming but one book, and are still so regarded in modern Jewish usage. It is difficult to say when the Pentateuch was first put into separate books, but it must have been at a very early period as the Seventy, about 280 B.C. regarded the Pentateuch as then so divided. The order in which they occur, as also their titles in our English Bibles is from that first of all translations i.e., the Septuagint.
When the Pentateuch was completed Moses directed it to be carefully placed beside the Ark, (Deuteronomy 31:24,26). Was this the identical copy of the law found by Hilkiah the high priest 750 years afterward, amongst the rubbish of the Temple, (2 Kings 22; 23)? or, was it a copy transcribed from the original by one of the early kings, (Deuteronomy 17:18)? We believe it was the very copy of the law or Pentateuch written by Moses, (2 Chronicles 34:14). That Moses was the writer of these five inspired records is evident from the testimony of the books themselves, (Deuteronomy 31:9, 24), by Joshua (Chapter 1:7), by Samuel, (1 Samuel 12:6-8), by David, (1 Kings 2:3), by Solomon, (1 Kings 8:53, 56,) by Jehovah, (2 Kings 21:8), by Josiah, (2 Kings 23:2, 3, 25), by Jehoiada, (2 Chronicles 23:16-18), by Hezekiah, (2 Chronicles 30:16), by Ezra (Chapter 7:6), by Nehemiah, (Chapter 13), by Daniel, (Chapter 9:11-13), Malachi, (Chapter 4:4), by Christ (John 5:45-47), by Peter, (Acts 3:22-26), by Stephen, (Acts 7), by Paul (1 Corinthians is. 9), by all Jewish writers, ancient and modern, and by the Jewish nation in all ages, by apostates as Mahomet and Julian, by heathen writers as Longinus and Tacitus. Yet in face of this overwhelming testimony, Divine, Christian, Jewish, and Heathen, men will be found bold enough and bad enough to impugn the authority of the Pentateuch (To be continued.)