What Are All These Books About? (Part 1, The Old Testament)

January 14, 2024

What Are All These Books About?
(Part 1, The Old Testament)
[By Cameron Piner]

Whether you’ve been reading the Bible for many years, or if it is your first time opening the scriptures, then you might look at the list of 66 books that are in the Bible and think to yourself, “What are all these books about?” There is a lot to glean from a detailed reading/ study of each book, but here is a brief summary of what is in each book of the Bible. Hopefully, this will provide you with a way to remember what each book is about, and possibly inspire you to pick up the Bible and learn more about a book you may be less familiar with.

The Torah/ Pentateuch – Books of Law:

  • Genesis – The beginning of humanity & the nation of Israel.
  • Exodus – Exiting Egypt.
  • Leviticus – Laws on Old Testament worship.

  • Numbers – Census & senseless wanderings.

  • Deuteronomy – Sermons of Moses, giving the law a second time.

Books of History:

  • Joshua – Conquering the promised land.

  • Judges – Cycle of sin, suffering, crying out for help, and deliverance.
  • Ruth – A loyal widow finds a husband.

  • 1 Samuel – Israel gets a king.

  • 2 Samuel – David as king.


  • 1 Kings – Solomon as king and the dividing of Israel.
  • 2 Kings – The falls of the divided kingdom.
  • 1 Chronicles – History of Israel up to David commissioning the temple construction.
  • 2 Chronicles – History of Judah from Solomon building the temple to its destruction.
  • Ezra – Return from captivity and rebuilding of the temple.
  • Nehemiah – Rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.
  • Esther – Queen Esther saves the Jews from genocide.

Books of Wisdom:

  • Job – A good man suffers and doesn’t understand why.
  • Psalms – A collection of 150 hymns and prayers.
  • Proverbs – A collection of wise statements.
  • Ecclesiastes – Life under the sun is like striving after the wind.
  • Song of Songs/ Solomon – A love story.

The Major Prophets:

  • Isaiah – Prophecies about God’s Servant.
  • Jeremiah – Prophecies about the coming Babylonian captivity.
  • Lamentations – Alphabetized grief about Israel’s fall.
  • Ezekiel – Dramatic prophecies given to rebellious people.
  • Daniel – Prophecies about God ruling over the nations of men.

The Minor Prophets:

  • Hosea – Prophecies about God’s love, but Israel’s harlotry with idols.
  • Joel – Prophecies about God’s judgement/ the Day of the Lord.
  • Amos – A Southern shepherd turned prophet prophecies against Northern Israel due to their sin.
  • Obadiah – “O Bad Edom” – A prophecy against Edom.
  • Jonah – A prophet runs from God because he despises God’s grace and compassion (then gets swallowed alive by a big fish).
  • Micah – Prophecies against injustice and about God’s justice.
  • Nahum – A comforting message about the destruction of Israel’s enemy (i.e. the message Jonah wanted to preach against Nineveh).
  • Habakkuk – A prophet cries out “How long?!” But God’s responds by saying that he will use wicked Babylon to judge Israel.
  • Zephaniah – Prophecies about the Day of the Lord/ judgement against Israel & surrounding nations.
  • Haggai – A prophet calls stagnant Israel to rebuild the temple.
  • Zechariah – Powerful visions, a Q&A session with God, and prophecies about the coming Shepherd/ King.
  • Malachi – Prophecies against arrogant questions and half-hearted worship.

That is a brief summary of what each book of the Old Testament is about. In the next blog (01/28/24), we will consider some brief summaries of the New Testament books.

For more overview summaries, check out some of these resources:
– https://overviewbible.com/books-of-the-bible/
– https://www.gotquestions.org/66-books-of-the-Bible.html
– https://bibleproject.com/explore/book-overviews/