{"id":28988,"date":"2011-09-17T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-18T01:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=28988"},"modified":"2020-12-25T20:33:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T02:33:34","slug":"what-books-would-you-recommend-reading-in-the-old-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-books-would-you-recommend-reading-in-the-old-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament? I read Genesis, Leviticus, and Numbers at the beginning of my turn to God and Jesus Christ. I was just haphazardly picking books at random then.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>What I would recommend first is reading are the books on practical, everyday wisdom.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Proverbs &#8211; Proverbs is a bit odd in that it filled with short statements that don&#8217;t become really meaningful until you puzzle over them. Even the order of the topics is a puzzle and is designed to get you to think. What is interesting is every time you read Proverbs something different pops out at you because of events in your life.<\/li>\n<li>Ecclesiastes &#8211; Addresses the question: Why did God create man?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next, I would recommend getting the history of the Old Testament:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genesis (Skim the genealogies)<\/li>\n<li>Exodus<\/li>\n<li>Numbers (Skim the lists of counts and land assignments)<\/li>\n<li>Deuteronomy (Moses&#8217; last speeches to Israel, mostly a review)<\/li>\n<li>Joshua<\/li>\n<li>Judges<\/li>\n<li>Ruth<\/li>\n<li>I Samuel<\/li>\n<li>II Samuel<\/li>\n<li>I Chronicles (The same story as I and II Samuel but told from a religious point of view. Skim the genealogies, but there are some interesting stories buried in them.)<\/li>\n<li>I Kings<\/li>\n<li>II Kings<\/li>\n<li>II Chronicles (The same story as I and II Kings but told from a religious point of view)<\/li>\n<li>Jeremiah<\/li>\n<li>Daniel<\/li>\n<li>Esther<\/li>\n<li>Ezra<\/li>\n<li>Nehemiah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, I would suggest two more books to round out your understanding:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Job &#8211; This takes place in the days of Abraham or a bit earlier. It is a discussion about where suffering comes from<\/li>\n<li>Psalms &#8211; This is a collection of poetry, but Hebrew poetry is different from Western poetry. Ideas are compared and contrasted instead of sounds and rhythms being played with.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These will give you the basic framework to understand the New Testament better and to understand the laws and prophecy books that I left out.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: What books would you recommend reading in the Old Testament? I read Genesis, Leviticus, and Numbers at the beginning of my turn to God and Jesus Christ. I was just haphazardly picking books at random then. Answer: What I would recommend first is reading are the books on practical, everyday wisdom. Proverbs &#8211; Proverbs&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1228,268,853],"class_list":["post-28988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-bible-reading","tag-old-testament","tag-reading"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38308,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-want-to-read-the-bible-daily-but-i-have-a-hard-time-digesting-what-i-have-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":0},"title":"I want to read the Bible daily, but I have a hard time digesting what I have read","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to read the Bible every day and abide by it, but I have a hard time knowing where to go when I start reading. I usually just open it and read it, but I don't necessarily digest what I'm reading if that makes sense. Because of that,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-new-testament-translation-should-i-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":1},"title":"Which New Testament translation should I read?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning. I wish to ask you which New Testament to read: one written by a Catholic publisher or one written by a Protestant publisher? Thank you very much. Greetings from Argentina. Answer: It isn't as much a matter of who printed the pages as it is the accuracy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94771,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/taking-another-look-at-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":2},"title":"Taking Another Look at the Old Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Why It's so Important! Although we're not under Old Testament law, there is great value in being familiar with the 39 books that make up three-fourths of the Bible. Reading the New Testament without knowing the Old Testament is like reading a sequel without the original. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63559,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-the-bible-ordered-as-it-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":3},"title":"Why is the Bible ordered as it is?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to and I am trying to understand the Bible completely. After reading your answers to my former questions, I realized I have to read the books you mentioned as references so that I will have the context of the verses and why they are written the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-the-first-five-books-of-the-bible-called\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":4},"title":"What are the first five books of the Bible called?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What are the first five books of the Bible called? Answer: \"Then He said to them, \"These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-do-i-start-learning-more-about-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":28988,"position":5},"title":"Where do I start learning more about the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, I am a young female trying to get my spiritual life right, but I don't know where to start. I need information on commentaries that are easy to read and understand to help me out in the process. I am so lost. I pray daily for understanding,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}