A four-part division of books is now accepted [84]:

1. The books of law, which constitute the main foundation of the Old Testament. These include the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

2. Historical books, which contain mainly the history of godliness: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

3. Teaching books that contain the teaching of piety: the Book of Job, the Psalms, and the books of Solomon (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs).

4. Prophetic books, which contain prophecies or predictions about the future, and first of all about Jesus Christ: the books of the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, as well as the books of the 12 minor prophets – Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

The Hebrew canon has a slightly different division: the Law, the Prophets and the Scriptures are 3 parts. This is how, in accordance with the Old Testament tradition, Christ spoke about the Scriptures to the Apostles (Luke 24:44). The Law (Torah) is the Pentateuch of Moses. The prophetic books (Nevi'im) include not only those books that we call prophetic, but also the books that we call historical – this is not at all accidental, we will talk in due time why this happens. Prophets in the Hebrew Bible include the so-called early prophets: the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel (you can find in modern Western editions that the First and Second Books of Samuel are called the First and Second Books of Samuel, and the Third and Fourth – directly the books of Kings) – and the later prophets: the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets as one book. Note that in this list we do not meet the prophet Daniel, whose book in the Jewish canon does not belong to the prophetic books. The Scriptures (Ketuvim) are all the other books: the poetic books, i.e. the Psalms, the Proverbs of Solomon, the Book of Job, the so-called Five Scrolls – the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecclesiastes and the historical books, which include the Book of Daniel, the Book of Ezra and the two books of Chronicles. As you can see, this is a completely different division. In our course, we will refer to him several times to find out some interesting details.

The last remark concerns the division of Scripture into chapters and verses. We are accustomed to the fact that a chapter embraces a logically complete fragment of a book. We also perceive the border between poems as carrying a certain meaning. However, it should be understood that this division does not belong to the sacred writers, they wrote in succession, giving where necessary indications for the beginning of a new section. For the convenience of "navigation", even in Old Testament times, the division of the text of Scripture into fragments was used, and in the course of time this division changed. It may be noted that the division of the paremia does not correspond to the modern division into chapters that was made in the thirteenth century. The division into verses appeared even later, in the XV century. Therefore, it is sometimes helpful to read Scripture while ignoring this division. In some editions, for this purpose, the text is printed continuously, and the indications of chapters and verses are made in the margins.

On the Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The question may arise: are there any formal criteria by which the inspiration of a particular book is determined? Sometimes the following formal criteria are called: the book must be in the original Hebrew, which is at least characteristic of all canonical books, and this book must be referenced in the New Testament. However, the ongoing controversy between Catholics and Protestants over the composition of the canon of Scripture over the centuries clearly shows that these are rather secondary features. We do not find references to all canonical books in the New Testament, on the other hand, there are non-canonical books that were once in the ancient Hebrew language and references to which can be found in the New Testament books if desired. Thus, it should be recognized that there are no formal signs of canonicity.

For us, the Church Tradition, which passed from the Old Testament Church to the New Testament Church, is relevant, that is, the direct witness of the Church to these books. It is the Church, through the Holy Spirit, that bears witness to the inspiration of this or that book. Formally, this testimony is sealed in the decisions of the Church Councils.

Let's pause here and think about what we mean when we say that books are "inspired"? I think you are familiar with the word, having seen it in your Catechism and New Testament courses, but it is worth bringing it up again. You probably know the definition of the Long Christian Catechism of St. Philaret: "We speak of inspiration of God, meaning that these books were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by special people chosen by God, whom we call prophets or apostles." But there is a certain difficulty of the following nature. At one time these books were indeed written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but we have the wrong books, we have the Synodal Bible, which was translated in the nineteenth century from some copies, and these copies were copied from some other copies, etc. Perhaps they were spoiled long ago: some translator made a mistake, a copyist copied the wrong thing. some ill-intentioned editor has rearranged something. And as a result, we naively think that we are reading a divinely inspired book, and it is not at all the one that was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by an apostle or prophet. Such opinions are often found in modern scientific research.

But this should not scare us too much. The Holy Spirit is always active in the Church. He also acted in the Church of the Old Testament. And as long as the Holy Scriptures remain in the Church, by the action of the Holy Spirit they are preserved for us, and we read and see in them the same thing that God wanted to tell us through the prophets and through the apostles. But when some people depart from the Church – take, for example, the Jews in the first century or the Protestants in the sixteenth century – then the preservation of the Scriptures becomes a whole problem.

At first, the rabbis were engaged in interpreting the Scriptures. But then, in the VI century, the Masoretes appeared (from the Hebrew masora – tradition, tradition) – the keepers of tradition. What did they do? They standardized the text of Scripture and developed a kind of "technology", that is, rules for storing and rewriting it, which did not allow errors. Much later, the Protestants, and then the Catholics, also invented various "scientific" methods for interpreting the Scriptures, but the authenticity and integrity of the Scriptures are still disputed. A certain analogy suggests itself. When the soul leaves the body, it is difficult to preserve it. Something similar takes place in relation to the Holy Scriptures.

Finally, we must not forget that, speaking of inspiration, the Fathers of the Church had in mind that a very special enlightening action of the Holy Spirit takes place when a person reads the Holy Scriptures. By reading it, a person enters into a conversation with God and is also enlightened by the same Spirit under whose influence the Scriptures were written. And moreover, only those who are involved in the action of the Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration all this was written, can understand what is written – without this it is impossible to understand the Scriptures.

Ways of interpreting the Old Testament books. Interpretation in Greek – exegesis or exegesis. The simplest way to explain or interpret Scripture is literally. As it is written, so it is understood. The literal meaning is sometimes divided into two types. If we are talking about past events, then this interpretation is literal and historical; If we speak of future events – for example, it is reported that such and such a city will be destroyed – then we are talking about a literal prophetic sense.