The contents of the Hebrew and the English Bibles (henceforth HB & EOT respectively) are identical, as far as translations permit them to be. The arrangements of the various books in the EOT, however, differs from the HB as can be seen in the diagram.
The Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible (HB) is divided into three main divisions: the Torah, the Nebi'im, and the Ketuvim. This tripartite division was, of course, already known to Jesus and the Jews of his time: "He [Jesus] said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Lk 24:44). This division is not the only difference; the number of books are also different: 24 in the HB and 39 in the EOT. There is a simple reason for this. Hebrew manuscripts were written on scrolls, rolls of specially prepared animal skins stitched together. Scrolls were expensive and every effort was, therefore, made to save as much space as possible. The book of Samual, e.g., was so long it needed two scrolls; hence the reference to 1 Samuel, i.e., the first scroll of the book of Samuel, and 2 Samuel. But the two scrolls are nonetheless one book. Each of the so-called "twelve minor prophets" are relatively short; all twelve of them fitted easily into one scroll, and was, therefore, considered one book in the HB. This way of ordering things, of course, changes nothing as far as the contents were concerned.
The English Old Testament
The most obvious difference between the EOT and the HB is the order in which the books of the OT are arranged. The precise history of how the order of the books in EOT came about is now lost. The practice of rearranging the HB into four divisions arose when, in the 3rd Cent BC, the Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the HB, what we nowadays call the Septuagint. That the arrangement in the EOT is influenced by the Septuagint is obvious. Both seem inclined to base their arrangement on the kind of literature—their genre or literary form and the function that the different genres are thought to serve—rather than the more historical-liturgical perspective of the HB. This is clearly reflected, e.g., in the books of Joshua-Kings, which are viewed as historical works in the EOT when they functioned as prophetic works in the HB.
It was also shaped by another techological invention that occurred about the 1st Cent BC/AD, and that is the invention of the codex (pl., codices), a collection of papyrus sheets sown together along one edge. This meant greater flexibility in how the smaller books may be arranged in a collection of books. Locating a specific passage also means just flipping over pages instead of unrolling a long and heavy scroll. The codex allows each book to be listed on their own merits: one can now turn to Amos without having to go through the scoll of the "Book of the Twelve." So useful was this that, by the 4th Cent AD, the scroll was already going out of fashion.
Is Reading the OT according to the
Hebrew Order to be Preferred?
Go on the Internet, and you will find a great deal of discussion on this question. Those who say Yes simply do not understand what they are talking about. The two orders represent different perspectives. The Hebrew follows a form that is more functional and liturgical. The origin of the English order is uncertain but follows more or less the riverbed carved out by the Septuagint; it is ordered more or less according to literary forms. Reading the OT according to one order rather than the other simply yields different insights arising from the different perspectives. The one is not any less, or more, worthy of consideration than the other. And, ultimately, both are of Hebrew-Jewish origin. Besides, the Septuagint was the version of Scriptures that the apostles seem to prefer when they cite Scriptures to make their point. Finally, remember that neither of the two arrangements are divinedly instituted; they were both invented to make the life of reading Scriptures easier according to differing cultural preferences.
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