“The Names and Order of the Books of the Old Testament” are the words found at the beginning of every English Bible, yet the order of the books in the Hebrew Bible is quite different, as are the names.
The present order in our English Bible comes to us direct from the Latin Vulgate; and this again was copied from the ancient Greek Translation, called the Septuagint (known by the abbreviation LXX), made about the third century before Christ. In this ancient Greek Version the “names” of the books were changed, either when this translation was made, or subsequently, and their “order” was re-arranged. No one can tell us why or when this re-arrangement was made.
The Vulgate Version, as we have said, followed the Septuagint; and even when the Vulgate was not the basis of a translation it exercised a great influence in all succeeding versions, Latin being well understood, and Hebrew being but little known. However, there is no reason why Bible students of today should not be acquainted with God’s order and names, and learn the lessons which He would teach them.
