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Thursday, June 21, 2012

BIBLE FACTOID: How were the books of the Bible named?

Have you ever noticed that the naming system for the books of the Bible seems to be all over the place?  You have seemingly topical names (Genesis), summary names (Psalms), author names (Matthew), recipient names (Philippians), and even literary names (Song of Solomon).  Is there any pattern?  (Actually, yes.)

  • The names of OT books in Hebrew are based on the first prominent word or phrase in that book
  • The names of OT books in Greek (and English) are based on the general topic of the book