Any advertisements appearing above this line are inserted by "tripod", please IGNORE them

The 24 Books of the Hebrew Scriptures
by Prof. Mordochai ben-Tziyyon, Universitah Ha'ivrit, Y'rushalayim

I. Torah

The first division of the Hebrew Scriptures is called תּוֹרָה Torah. This word is often mistakenly translated as "Law", but while it is undeniably true that the books of the Torah division do contain all the laws God gave to Yisraél, the word itself is related to הוֹרָאָה hora'ah, derived from the verb לְהוֹרֹת to teach, and means a "teaching".

The Torah division of the Scriptures consists of the five books traditionally ascribed to Mosheh ("Moses") and are sometimes referred to as חֲמִשָּׁה חֻמְשֵׁי תוֹרָה ḥamishah ḥum'shei torah or "the five 'fifths' of the Torah", and consequently each of the five books can also be called a חוֹמֶשׁ ḥomesh or a חוּמָשׁ ḥumash, a "fifth"—this word is often erroneously applied to a volume containing all five "fifths" which can be used for studying or for following the weekly torah-readings at shabbat services.

The conventional Hebrew practice is to refer to the Torah's five books by their opening word or words; e.g., the first book opens with the words b'réshit bara elohim "At the start of God's creating...", so it's generally known as "the book B'réshit", meaning "the book that starts with the word b'réshit". The five books of the Torah division are—

II. N'viyim

The second division of the Hebrew Scriptures is called נְבִיאִים N'viyim, or "Prophets". There are eight N'viyim... not eight "prophets", but rather eight "prophetic books". They are sub-divided into the four "earlier prophetic books" and the four "later prophetic books", the terms "earlier" and "later" referring to the positions of the books in the conventional arrangement of the 24 books. The only real significance of this sub-division is that the content of the four "earlier prophetic books" is predominantly historical in nature, while the four "later prophetic books" contain mostly chapters of poetic prophecy utterances. It should be noted that christian "versions" divide Sh'muél and M'lachim into two parts each, and T'reisar into twelve separate "books". The eight books of the N'viyim division are—

III. K'tuvim

The third and final division of the Hebrew Scriptures is called כְּתוּבִים K'tuvim, or "Writings". The eleven K'tuvim include

1. the three EMET books T'hillim, Mishlei, and Iyov (the term EMET is an acronym of the letters א alef, מ mem, ת tav which are the initials (in reverse order) of the names T'hillim, Mishlei, and Iyyov);
2. the five m'gillot or "Scrolls" which are read at public prayer services on various festivals—i.e. Shir Hashirim (read on Pesaḥ), Rut (read on Shavu'ot), Eichah (read on 9th Av), Kohelet (read on Sukkot), and Ester (read on Purim); and
3. the three post-exilic compositions Daniyyél, Ez'ra-N'ḥemyah, and Div'rei Hayamim.

Note that christian "versions" divide Ez'ra-N'ḥemyah and Div'rei Hayamim into two parts each.The eleven books of the K'tuvim division are—

The total number of chapters in the 24 books is 929, the total number of verses is 23,099 and the total number of s'darim is 447.

References to the T'nach in the christians' pagan Greek books

The pagan books of the christian Greek "Testament" refer to the T'nach ten times as "the Torah and the N'viyim"—

Mattai ["Matthew"] 5:17, 7:12, 11:13, 22:40;
Lukos ["Luke"] 16:16;
Yoḥanan ["John"] 1:45;
Ma'asei hashliḥim ["The Envoys' Deeds"] 13:15, 24:14, 28:23; and
Iggeret el haromiyim ["Letter to the Romans"] 3:21

Note: my citation of these verses should in no way be taken as an endorsement of their content, but merely as an indication that they refer explicitly to the T'nach.