| Book Order Bible | |
|---|---|
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Genesis |
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Exodus |
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Leviticus |
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Numbers |
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Deuteronomy |
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Joshua |
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Judges |
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First Samuel |
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Second Samuel |
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First Kings |
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Second Kings |
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Ezekiel |
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Isaiah |
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Jeremiah |
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Lamentations |
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Ezra |
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Nehemiah |
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Esther |
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Zechariah |
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Micah |
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Jonah |
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Amos |
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Hosea |
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Haggai |
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Zephaniah |
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Psalms |
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Job |
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Ecclesiastes |
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Proverbs of Solomon |
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Ruth |
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Song of Solomon |
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Joel |
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Obadiah |
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Malachi |
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Nahum |
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Habakkuk |
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First Chronicles |
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Second Chronicles |
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Daniel |
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John |
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Matthew |
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Mark |
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Luke |
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Acts |
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Philippians |
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First Thessalonians |
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Second Thessalonians |
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Second John |
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Second Timothy |
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First Corinthians |
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Galatians |
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Ephesians |
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Romans |
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Hebrews |
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Jacob |
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First Timothy |
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Jude |
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Second Corinthians |
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Philemon |
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Colossians |
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First John |
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First Peter |
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Second Peter |
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Titus |
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Third John |
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Revelation |
Introducing Book Order
Not many people sit around pondering the question of whether the books of the Bible are arranged correctly, which is unfortunate since putting the books in order is a prerequisite to understanding the Bible. In fact, apart from a Bible where the books are in order, the Bible is in effect, scrambled, encrypted, sealed and should have an "OUT OF ORDER" sticker placed on the cover.
The good news is the process of determining the correct book order is not nearly as painful as one might expect. In fact the strategy is based solely on the Bible and can be completely audited by anyone willing to investigate what the Bible says.
Isaiah is the Key
Keys unlock things, whether encryption in the software world or doors on treasure vaults, and Isaiah is the key that unlocks book order (which in turn unlocks the Bible).
With it's 66 chapters, the book of Isaiah is the Bible's magic decoder ring, revealing how to order the 66 books of the Bible. How it works is easy. Simply match each book in the Bible to a chapter in Isaiah based on some unique content. The result is a new book order (or ancient one) derived from the pages of the Bible itself.
In the process of matching the books to chapters in Isaiah something else is discovered. Isaiah operates as a commentary, editorial or interpretive book for the other books of the Bible. For example take the match between Isaiah 2 and the book of Exodus.
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2וְהָיָ֣ה׀ בְּאַחֲרִ֣ית הַיָּמִ֗ים נָכ֨וֹן יִֽהְיֶ֜ה הַ֤ר בֵּית־ יְהוָה֙ בְּרֹ֣אשׁ הֶהָרִ֔ים וְנִשָּׂ֖א מִגְּבָע֑וֹת וְנָהֲר֥וּ אֵלָ֖יו כָּל־ הַגּוֹיִֽם׃ 3וְֽהָלְכ֞וּ עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים וְאָמְרוּ֙ לְכ֣וּ׀ וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה אֶל־ הַר־ יְהוָ֗ה אֶל־ בֵּית֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב וְיֹרֵ֙נוּ֙ מִדְּרָכָ֔יו וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּאֹרְחֹתָ֑יו כִּ֤י מִצִּיּוֹן֙ תֵּצֵ֣א תוֹרָ֔ה וּדְבַר־ יְהוָ֖ה מִירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (WLC)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORDS house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (KJV)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (KJV/NC)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. (ASV)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established above the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall look to it. 3And many people shall go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (LAM)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (RSV)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
3Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (NIV)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3
2It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh's house shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be raised above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3Many peoples shall go and say,
'ComeP , let's go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
And he will teach us of his ways,
And we will walk in his paths.(WEB)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3
2It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all nations shall flow to it.
3Many peoples shall go and say,
'Come, let's go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.'(WEB/HNV)
13 Isaiah 2:2-3 2And it will come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of Yahvah's house will be established above the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills; and all nations will look to it. 3And many people will go and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahvah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of Yahvah from Jerusalem. (BRB)
If you are familiar with the basic storyline in the book of Exodus you can quickly spot related themes in the above quotation from Isaiah chapter 2. The above themes of 1) God's house, 2) a mountain, 3) the law and 4) the nations are each central components to the book of Exodus. This match confirms that Exodus belongs as the second book of the Bible.
The interpretive piece that Isaiah adds is that Exodus is a "last days" story. Not many people study Exodus when trying to understand our time in history, yet the author of Isaiah says Exodus is an end-times story. That single added detail completely changes how someone might study the book of Exodus.
Another example from Isaiah, before we move on, is seen in the match between Isaiah 13 and the book of Isaiah itself. Realize that somewhere in the process of repeating the 66 books of the Bible Isaiah has to repeat himself. That happens in Isaiah chapter 13, which begins with the same literary structure as the book of Isaiah. Take a look at the verses side by side.
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 1:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
13 Isaiah 13:1
Depending upon what translation you read the word order and specific words may differ, but these two verses both include 1) a vision, prophecy or oracle 2) about Judah and Jerusalem or Babylon 3) seen by 4) Isaiah the son of Amoz. No other chapter in Isaiah has this same literary structure so chapter 13 is a unique match to the book of Isaiah itself.
Interpretively this match tells us that the book of Isaiah is an oracle to Babylon. Since Isaiah replays the whole Bible in miniature, if Isaiah is an oracle to Babylon, the Bible is an oracle to Babylon.
Though Isaiah is the key that opens the door to the book order and understanding the Bible, other studies confirm that Isaiah's book order is in fact the Bible's inspired book order.
Title Sentences
The Title Sentences study simply translates the names of the books of the Bible, such as Genesis (which means Generations) and reveals a hidden message, 12 sentences long, spanning from Genesis to Revelation. The Title Sentences summarize the message of the Bible and prove that the book order is in fact by design and coherent because random chance alone would not cause 66 words to make 12 coherent sentences describing what God is doing with the human race.
Just to whet your appetite, sentence 8 reads "YAHVAH GIVES GIFTS of SHINING LUMINOUS ACTS in the LOVING RACE giving VICTORY OVER LAW VICTORY OVER LAW."
The derivation for the Title Sentences is covered in-depth in it's own section of the website and is easy to follow and audit because it simply walks through a couple standard Bible Name Dictionaries.
The Book Chain
Another study that confirms Isaiah's book order reveals how the 66 books of the Bible link together end-to-end. Take for example the book of Daniel, ending the "Old Testament" and the book of John, beginning the "New Testament."
39 Daniel 12:13 13וְאַתָּ֖ה לֵ֣ךְ לַקֵּ֑ץ וְתָנ֛וּחַ וְתַעֲמֹ֥ד לְגֹרָלְךָ֖ לְקֵ֥ץ הַיָּמִֽין׃ (WLC)
39 Daniel 12:13
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.(KJV)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.(KJV/NC)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.(ASV)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But as for you, O Daniel, go your way and rest till the end; then you shall arise at your appointed time, at the end of the days. (LAM)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days." (RSV)
39 Daniel 12:13 13"As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."(NIV)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go you your way until the end be; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.(WEB)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But go you your way until the end be; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.(WEB/HNV)
39 Daniel 12:13 13But as for you, oh Daniel, go your way and rest until the end; then you will arise at your appointed time, at the end of the days. (BRB)
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
40 John 1:1-2
Obviously Daniel ends something and John begins something; the historical testaments of the Bible. They also neatly match their counterparts, Revelation which ends the Bible and Genesis which begins the Bible. So the Bible has book ends as do the historical halves or testaments of the Bible.
One more example link from the Book Chain is found between the books of Third John and Revelation.
Third John14 14ܡܤܒܪ ܐܢܐ ܕܝܢ ܕܒܥܓܠ ܐܚܙܝܟ ܘܦܘܡܐ ܠܘܬ ܦܘܡܐ ܢܡܠܠܥ (SYP)
Third John14 14But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.(KJV)
Third John14 14But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.(KJV/NC)
Third John14 14but I hope shortly to see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be unto thee. The friends salute thee. Salute the friends by name.(ASV)
Third John14 14However I trust I shall shortly see you, and we shall speak face to face. (LAM)
Third John14 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.(RSV)
Third John14 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.(NIV)
Third John14 14but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.(WEB)
Third John14 14but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.(WEB/HNV)
Third John14 14However I trust I will shortly see you, and we will speak face to face. (BRB)
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
66 Revelation 1:1
The "face to face" visit anticipated at the end of Third John connects to the angel visiting the prophet John on the island of Patmos which kicks off the book of Revelation. Really the whole book of Revelation is a face to face visitation, but the story in chapter 1 of Revelation begins the encounter.
In similar fashion each book in the Bible links forward and backward creating a book chain. Though simple to understand and test, the profundity of the chain is yet to be seen since it restores context across the books of the Bible and therefore changes Bible study in ways not imaginable in legacy, anthology based, Bibles.
Hebrew Letters
A third and final study that adds to the book order takes the ancient pictorial meanings of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet and maps them to the books. Though a little more work to understand and a little less objective than the Title Sentences and Book Chain, the Hebrew Letters provide a wealth of insight into book order and the Bible generally.
Since the Hebrew alphabet only has 22 letters, and there are 66 books in the Bible, we simply use the alphabet 3 times to span the books and then ask whether the ancient pictorial meanings of the letters agree with the general themes of the corresponding books. The answer clearly is yes.
A quick example that I really like is the second letter of the alphabet, "bet," which originally was drawn as a "tent." This letters maps to the books of Exodus, Haggai and First Thessalonians.
The tent in Exodus is the Tabernacle described throughout the second half of the book. The tent in Haggai is the temple. The tent in First Thessalonians is not visible but is most likely the climax of the book where Jesus returns to Earth to conduct the resurrection and ascension of his followers to the New Jerusalem in the sky.
Taking these three books as a progression of the concept "tent" we see the evolution from a mobile tent and fixed temple where God lives with us to a heavenly place where we live with God. Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet maps to three books like bet and reveals a special relationship between those books.
Replays
The last real piece to this project, and the heart of the thing, brings us back to the original discovery in Isaiah. After using Isaiah to properly sequence the books of the Bible, something amazing happens. The book order comes out of the woodwork in the rest of the Bible.
We first noticed the pattern in Luke and Acts, but have ranged across the whole Bible since then and realized that each book in the Bible supplies a "replay" of the 66 books or teams up with neighboring books to supply a replay.
There are many types of replays, some short, others long. Some replays are embedded inside other replays. Some replays are layered one on top of another.
One of the key phenomena with replays, however, are the pattern of "signatures" on each replay. Signatures occur at the inflection point, the point where the replay passes the book in which the replay occurs, like the earlier example from Isaiah. Sometimes signatures reveal something about the person who penned the writing, but whether they provide autobiographical information or not, they always summarize their replay.
Though only 4 chapters long the book of Philippians replays the Bible. With little space for 66 books Philippians averages about 1.5 verses per book. While Philippians can be studied verse by verse to show how it matches the books in sequence the best example from this replay is the signature verse where Philippians commentates on Philippians and the Philippians replay.
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
45 Philippians 3:1
What does he mean when he says he's writing the same things again? The answer is simple, given the replay that runs through Philippians. The Holy Spirit is saying that Philippians is replaying or restating the same things he's already written us (i.e. the 66 books of the Bible). This is Philippians' comentary on Philippians. Pretty cool really.
With replays running one after another through the whole Bible and layering and embedding at times all scripture passages are well covered with related stories and themes from other parts of the Bible. Thus the hermenuetic for understanding passages of scripture is obvious. Compare each passage with the stories in the books referenced by the replay. When you do this suddenly difficult parts of the Bible become easy and things you thought you knew suddenly take on a whole new meaning. At times the replays confirm past ideas, but often they challenge conventional ideas about what the Bible means.
An attempt at showing this massive interrelated nature of the Bible is being tackled in the Replays section of the website. There are several tables depicting the different replays and notes are being compiled to help explain the replays. This work will continue for some time and we invite you to join the team. Contact us if you have feedback for the project or questions not answered by the website.
Website Organization
The material on the website is organized like a book. You can read the website page by page using the next >> link at the bottom of each page or use the links below (or the tabs at the top of the page) to jump to specific sections.
Studies in Book Order
These studies each evidence the book order in their own way. Though not hard to follow, each study is a little more involved than the previous so we recommend taking them in order.
- Title Sentences -A hidden message in the book names.
- The Book Chain -Connecting the books of the Bible.
- Hebrew Letters -Hebrew insights into book order.
The Replay System
The Replay section of the website is the heart and soul of the project. This section shows how the 66 books of the Bible repeat, in sequence, in miniature, throughout *ALL* the texts of the Bible. In so doing they provide a nearly mechanical process for interpreting every passage (if not verse) in the Bible.
- Replays -A systematic cross-reference system.
Reference Materials
All scripture quotes on the website link to the Online Bibles for further study. The Bibles themselves also link to the Notes page under the replay tab allowing further concentrated study with those tools.
- Online Bibles -Read the Bible in Hebrew, Aramaic and English.
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary -Learning what names mean.
