2. Historical books: the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the Book of Ruth, the Books of Kings: the First, the Second, the Third and the Fourth, the Books of Chronicles: the First and the Second, the First Book of Ezra, the Book of Nehemiah, the Book of Esther.

3. Teaching books (edifying): the Book of Job, the Book of Psalms, the Book of Proverbs of Solomon, the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Book of the Song of Songs.

4. Prophetic books (mainly prophetic): the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, the Book of the Prophet Daniel, the Twelve Books of the "Minor" Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

5. In addition to these books of the Old Testament list, there are nine more books in the Bible, called "non-canonical": Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of Jesus the son of Sirach, the Second and Third Books of Ezra, and the three Maccabean Books. They are so called because they were written after the list (canon) of the sacred books was completed. Some modern editions of the Bible do not have these "non-canonical" books, but in the Russian Bible they do. The above titles of the holy books are taken from the Greek translation of the Seventy Interpreters. In the Hebrew Bible and in some modern translations of the Bible, several Old Testament books have different names.

(Note: In the Catholic Church, all of the above books are canonical.

In addition, some passages of the canonical books are considered non-canonical. This is the prayer of King Manasseh at the end of the "2nd Book 2. Chronicles", parts of the Book of Chronicles. Esther", not indicated by the count of verses, the last psalm of the "Psalms", the song of the three youths in "Book II. the story of Susanna in the same book, the story of Bel and the dragon in the same book.)

Summary of the Most Important Scripture Translations

1. The Greek translation of the Seventy Interpreters (Septuagint). The closest to the original text of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament is the Alexandrian translation, known as the Greek translation of the Seventy Interpreters. It was begun by the will of the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus in 271 B.C. Wishing to have in his library the sacred books of the Jewish law, this inquisitive sovereign ordered his librarian Demetrius to take care of acquiring these books and translating them into the then well-known and most widespread Greek language. From each tribe of Israel, six of the ablest were chosen and sent to Alexandria with an accurate copy of the Hebrew Bible. The translators were placed on the island of Pharos, near Alexandria, and completed the translation in a short time. The Orthodox Church from apostolic times has used the holy books of the translation of the seventy.

2. Latin translation, Vulgate. Until the fourth century A.D., there were several Latin translations of the Bible, among which the so-called ancient Italian, made from the text of the Seventy, was the most popular for its clarity and special closeness to the sacred text. But after Blessed Jerome, one of the most learned Fathers of the Church of the fourth century, promulgated in the year 384 his translation of the Holy Scriptures in Latin, made by him according to the Hebrew original, the Western Church gradually began to abandon the ancient Italian translation in favor of Jerome's translation. In the sixteenth century, the Council of Trent introduced Jerome's translation into general use in the Roman Catholic Church under the name of the Vulgate, which literally means "common translation."

3. The Slavonic translation of the Bible was made according to the text of the seventy interpreters by the holy Thessaloniki brothers Cyril and Methodius in the middle of the ninth century A.D., during their apostolic labors in the Slavic lands. When the Moravian prince Rostislav, dissatisfied with the German missionaries, asked the Byzantine Emperor Michael to send to Moravia capable teachers of the faith in Christ, the Emperor Michael sent to this great task Saints Cyril and Methodius, who thoroughly knew the Slavonic language and had already begun to translate the Holy Scriptures into this language in Greece. On their way to the Slavic lands, the holy brothers stopped for some time in Bulgaria, which was also enlightened by them, and here they labored much over the translation of the holy books. They continued their translation in Moravia, where they arrived around 863. It was completed after the death of Cyril by Methodius in Pannonia, under the protection of the pious prince Kocel, to whom he withdrew as a result of the internecine strife that arose in Moravia. With the adoption of Christianity under the holy prince Vladimir (988), the Slavonic Bible, translated by Saints Cyril and Methodius, also passed to Russia.

4. Russian translation. When, in the course of time, the Slavonic language began to differ significantly from Russian, for many the reading of the Holy Scriptures became difficult. As a result, the translation of books into modern Russian was undertaken. First, by decree of Emperor Alexander I and with the blessing of the Holy Synod, the New Testament was published in 1815 at the expense of the Russian Bible Society. Of the Old Testament books, only the Psalter was translated as the most used book in Orthodox worship. Then, already during the reign of Alexander II, after a new, more accurate edition of the New Testament in 1860, a printed edition of the law-positive books of the Old Testament appeared in Russian translation in 1868. The following year, the Holy Synod blessed the publication of historical Old Testament books, and in 1872 teaching books. Meanwhile, Russian translations of individual holy books of the Old Testament began to be published frequently in spiritual journals. So a complete edition of the Bible in Russian appeared in 1877. Not everyone supported the appearance of the Russian translation, preferring Church Slavonic. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, later St. Theophan the Recluse, St. Patriarch Tikhon and other outstanding archpastors of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke in favor of the Russian translation.

5. Other Bible Translations. The Bible was first translated into French in 1160 by Peter Wald. The first translation of the Bible into German appeared in 1460. Martin Luther translated the Bible into German again in 15221532. The first translation of the Bible into English was made by Bede the Venerable, who lived in the first half of the eighth century. A modern English translation was made under King James in 1603 and published in 1611. In Russia, the Bible was translated into many languages of small nations. Thus, Metropolitan Innocent translated it into the Aleutian language, the Kazan Academy into Tatar and others. The British and American Bible Societies were most successful in translating and distributing the Bible in various languages. The Bible has now been translated into more than 1,200 languages.

It should also be said that any translation has its advantages and disadvantages. Translations that seek to literally convey the content of the original suffer from ponderousness and difficulty to understand. On the other hand, translations that seek to convey only the general meaning of the Bible in the most understandable and accessible form often suffer from inaccuracy. The Russian Synodal translation avoids both extremes and combines the maximum closeness to the meaning of the original with the lightness of the language.

The Pentateuch of Moses