A Little Bible Handbook
Online Version

The Writings

The “Writings" could also be called “All the rest of the pre-Christian Scriptures,” because they don’t have the unity of the “Law,” or the single-minded outlook and origin of the “Prophets.”

The Writings include Priestly histories (the books called “Chronicles”), military history (the books called “Maccabees”), a variety of histories and legends (Ruth, Esther, Tobit, Bel and the Dragon, etc), a love song (Song of Songs), a dramatic poem (Job - by the way, the “o” in Job is pronounced like “owe” or “oh”), visions (Daniel), religious songs (Psalms), and a large group of wise sayings and philosophy (Proverbs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, etc.).

Selected passages from the Writings

Ruth 1:16-17	“Whither thou goest, I will go.”
1 and 2 Chronicles cover the history of the world from Adam to the Exile in Babylon, taking the perspective of the priestly class. These books repeat many items that may be found in the Torah, and in the Former Prophets, but with a greater interest in ceremony, the Temple, and genealogy.
Ezra 1:2-4	The Persian order to restore Jerusalem (later supplemented by emperor Darius - see Ezra 6).
Ezra 3:7-13	Rebuilding the Temple, and re-starting the worship.
Nehemiah 1 & 2	Nehemiah in Babylon decides to try to go back to Jerusalem, and arranges an officially sanctioned journey.
Nehemiah 4:16	Building the walls of Jerusalem under arms.
Nehemiah 5:14-19	Nehemiah’s justification of his actions.
Esther 2	The Jewish girl becomes concubine, then queen to the Persian emperor.
Esther 7:5-10	Haman, hater of Jews, is hanged.
Job 1 & 2	Satan is allowed to test Job with the death of children, loss of wealth, and horrible illness.
Job 19:25	“I know that my redeemer lives.”
Job 38	The Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind.
Psalms The book of Psalms consists of 150 prayers of astonishing beauty and variety, written in poetic form between 1000 B.C. and 400 B.C.
Psalm 1	The one who lives by God’s Law is like “a tree planted beside streams of water.” Compare Jeremiah 17:5-8.
Psalm 22	Prophecy of the crucifixion of Jesus?
Psalm 23	The Lord is my Shepherd.
Psalm 69	A song in the midst of great personal trouble.
Psalm 103	A poem of God’s majesty, love, and forgiveness.
Psalm 119	A psalm where every section is based on a letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Psalm 137	“By the waters of Babylon.” This psalm is clearly written by those who were deported when Jerusalem was destroyed.
Psalm 139	A poem of God’s complete knowledge of us.
Psalm 150	A song of praise.
Proverbs - a collection of short, easy-to-remember sayings on a variety of topics.
Proverbs 8	The personification of Wisdom (in Greek, “Sophia”). Here is a divine figure - the right hand of God - in a feminine form.
Proverbs 10:1-9	A typical selection of wise sayings.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-14	The philosophy of Ecclesiastes (or “Qoheleth,” the teacher).
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8	To everything there is a season.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-16	Futility of wealth.
Ecclesiastes 8:15-17	Eat, drink and be merry!
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8	A poem about youth and old age.
Song of Songs 2:8-15	The lover and the beloved.
Daniel 3:19-25	Three men in the fiery furnace.
Daniel 5	Belshazzar’s feast.
Daniel 6	Daniel in the lion’s den.
Daniel 7	A mystical vision of conflict between good and evil, with a figure called “The Ancient One,” or “Ancient of Days,” and a figure like a human being, or a “son of man,” triumphing over evil figures.
Daniel 8:16 and 9:21	Visions that involve a divine figure named “Gabriel.” This being is not called an “angel,” but is described as “flying” (9:21).
Daniel 10:13-21	A figure named “Michael” is here described as a “prince,” but the same name is given to an “archangel” in Revelation 12:7 and Jude 1:9
The (Deuterocanonical) Apocrypha As mentioned in the Introduction, these books were considered less important by the Jews of Christ’s day, and are not treated as scriptural by some modern-era Protestants. Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and some other religious bodies read from them in public worship.
Tobit	A story of the angel Raphael, acting as a “guardian angel.”
Judith	A beautiful woman captivates, then murders, an Assyrian general.
Wisdom 3	The Souls of the Righteous (a passage often quoted on Remembrance Day)
Song of the Three	A section of this (v.28-68) is used as a “Canticle” in Anglican worship (see the Canadian Book of Common Prayer, p. 26, or the Canadian Book of Alternative Services, pp. 82-85), or the U.S. Book of Common Prayer, pp. 47-9 and 88-90.
1 Maccabees 1:41-2:48	The beginning of the Maccabean revolt in 175 B.C.
1 Maccabees 6:32-46	A ferocious battle scene.
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