The Order of the Books of the Greek Old Testament

Abstract

"Where a biblical book is placed relative to other books influences a reader’s view of the book and so influences interpretation. The reader naturally assumes that the placement of books in close physical proximity implies that they are in some way related in meaning. It is this readerly habit that forms the basis of this survey and analysis of biblical orders. It is not necessary to make a judgment about how deliberate the process of ordering was, for the focus of this study is the effect on the reader of a given order, not its historical production. Without trying to guess what was in the mind of those responsible for the ordering of the biblical books, there are a number of possible principles of order as inferred by the reader (e.g. common genre, similar theme, storyline thread). In an earlier article I surveyed and analyzed the order of the books in the Hebrew Bible,1 viewing the ordering of the books as an element of the paratext of Scripture. I now turn to the structure of the OT in the Greek tradition, which will allow comparison between the Hebrew and Greek orders"