Biblical Books

The first letter to the Corinthians is the second longest letter of Paul. The most important subject in the letter is the disagreement within the church.

The first letter from John is the longest of the three letters attributed to John. In certain respects, these three letters fit well with the Gospel according to John. It is not known if the letter was written by the apostle John. The letter was probably written at the end of the first century AD. The letter warns of false teachers who deny that Jesus was ever a human being.

1 and 2 Kings together form a continuous story, which is a sequel to 1 and 2 Samuel. In Bibles the story is spread over two books, probably because of the size of the narrative. In these books we read stories about the kings who reigned after David.

1 and 2 Kings form part of a large historical work that, along with the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, covers the history of Israel and Judah until around 560 BC.
In its present form the book probably dates to the period 550 to 500 BC. The book describes events that happened in the period from the tenth century BC until the ninth century BC.
The book contains many different traditional stories about well-known prophets and the history of Israel and Judah. In its present form, 1 Kings is the result of a lengthy process of transmission and editing. The editing process was completed during or after the Babylonian exile.

The first letter from Peter is addressed to the congregations in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1). All these regions lay in Asia Minor.
From various details in the letter, it seems that the addressees were non-Jews.

In 1 Samuel we read about the prophet Samuel, about King Saul who is the first king of Israel, and about the rise of King David. 1 and 2 Samuel form a continuous story, but in Bibles the story is spread over two books, and continues even further in 1 and 2 Kings.

1 Samuel is part of a great historical work which includes the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Kings and 2 Kings. This deals with the history of Israel and Judah until around 560 BC. In its present form the book probably dates to the period 550 to 500 BC.

1 Samuel is set in the transition period between the time of the judges and the time of the kings. When considering the arrangement of the text of 1 Samuel, we must also include 2 Samuel 1.
In 1 Samuel 1 to 2 Samuel 1 three sections can be distinguished:

The first letter to the Thessalonians is directed to the Christians in Thessalonica.
Thessalonica was the capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia, a province in the north of Greece. Paul founded a Christian church there, which was mainly composed of non-Jewish Christians.
There was only a short time between the founding of the church and the writing of this letter (see 1 Thessalonians 2:17).

The first letter to the Thessalonians was presumably written around AD 50. Paul wrote the letter together with his fellow workers, Silvanus and Timothy.

The first letter to Timothy was probably not written by Paul but by one of his disciples. If the letter is not by Paul, it was written at the end of the first or the beginning of the second century.

There is general agreement that 2 Corinthians was genuinely written by Paul. Experts are divided though about whether the text was originally one unit. It is also possible that the letter was compiled by a later editor using two, three, four or even five letters which Paul would have written to the Corinthians. 

The second letter from John is a short letter, which, like 1 John and 3 John, is attributed to the apostle John. In certain respects, these three letters fit well with the Gospel according to John.

1 and 2 Kings together form a continuous story, which is a sequel to 1 and 2 Samuel. In Bibles the story is spread over two books, probably because of the size of the narrative. In these books we read stories about the kings who reigned after David.

1 and 2 Kings are part of a great historical work that, along with the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel, deals with the history of Israel and Judah until around 560 BC.
In its present form the book probably dates to the period 550 to 500 BC. The book describes the events in the period from the tenth century until the ninth century BC.
The book contains many different traditional stories about well-known prophets and events in the history of Israel and Judah. In its present form, 2 Kings is the result of a lengthy process of transmission and editing. The editing process was completed during or after the Babylonian exile.

There are clear points of agreement between 2 Peter and the letter from Jude. Many biblical scholars think that the letter from Jude is the older of the two and that this letter was used by the writer of 2 Peter.

The second letter from Peter is attributed to the apostle Peter. This letter has many points of agreement with the letter from Jude.

2 Samuel begins directly after the end of 1 Samuel. Both the books form a continuous story, but in Bibles it is always spread over two books. The story continues even further in 1 Kings and 2 Kings. In 2 Samuel the kingship of David is the central theme.

1 and 2 Samuel form part of a great work of history which along with the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, deal with the history of Israel and Judah until around 560 BC. In its present form the book probably dates to the period 550 to 500 BC.

The second letter to the Thessalonians is written in the name of Paul, but was probably not written by Paul himself. It is not known who wrote the letter or when it was written.

The second letter to Timothy is attributed to the apostle Paul and is addressed to his co-worker, Timothy. It is not known when and by whom this letter was written. The letter gives instructions to the leaders of the Christian community. The first and second letter to Timothy, together with the letter to Titus, are known as the “pastoral letters”.

The second letter to Timothy was probably not written by Paul but by one of his disciples. If the letter is not by Paul, it was written at the end of the first or the beginning of the second century.

The third letter from John is a short letter, which, like 1 John and 2 John, is attributed to the apostle John. In certain respects, these three letters fit well with the Gospel according to John.

Acts and the Gospel according to Luke both have the same author. It is not known who wrote these books. The books were probably written around the year AD 80.

The book of Acts begins with a preface and retrospective review (Acts 1). The continuation is constructed around two figures: Peter and Paul.

The author most probably wrote Acts mainly for Christians with a non-Jewish background. In particular, he does his best to explain the Jewish elements of the text. In addition, his work shows signs of a Christian universalism, which makes it accessible to everyone.

The book of Daniel is longer in the Septuagint than in the Hebrew-Aramaic text. Three passages are known to be additions.

In the book of Amos two parts can be distinguished: Amos 1–6 and Amos 7–9.

The word “apocryphal” is derived from the Greek word apokryphos, meaning “hidden”. The idea was that most books in the Bible were meant for everyone, but the content of some books was “hidden”, and only meant for the initiated. These books were called “apocryphal”. The apocrypha were said to contain secret knowledge. This knowledge was not intended for the masses, but for a selected group of those initiated in the lore.
Originally, the term “apocryphal” was a positive label. Later, the term was used to indicate the books that were not part of the canon, and so “apocryphal” became the opposite of “canonical”.