Old Testament

The Order of the Books in Various Handwritten and Printed Editions

Abstract

The subject of this note is twofold. First: check the reality in many editions but to begin with in several manuscripts, of the remarkable difference in the order in which the TA books appear, at least after 1-2 Kings (name of the Vg.), with the consequence The need to consult the respective index each time is denied. Second: raise the question of whether there is an order that is preferable to others and for what reason. It should be noted from the outset that the editions of the text The Hebrew-Aramaic tradition of the OT has not changed since the first complete manuscripts (such as Aleppo and the Codex of St. Petersburg, ex L for Leningrad; Cairo comprises only the prophets and here the order is also fixed). That is to say: Torah Nebi'im Ketubim and within each of these categories the order is (almost) unchanging. Precisely, it is in the order of this third category where some change has been possible, at least until the first printed Bibles. From Here the order is: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles.