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How does the order of books in the Hebrew Bible differ from the order in the Christian Old Testament?

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Gutenberg Bible — biblical literature Two-page spread of the Book of Ecclesiastes from Johannes Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, c. 1450–55.

The organization of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament differs significantly in both structure and categorization.1

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, is traditionally divided into three distinct parts:21
* Torah: The Law or Instruction (the Pentateuch).
* Nevi'im: The Prophets, which includes historical works and oracular discourses.
* Ketuvim: The Writings, consisting of poetry, wisdom literature, and additional historical books.

In contrast, the Christian Old Testament—largely influenced by the Septuagint—is typically organized into four thematic divisions: law, history, poetry, and prophets. This arrangement reflects a different editorial approach, often grouping books by genre rather than the three-part structure of the Jewish canon. Furthermore, many Christian traditions include apocryphal or deuterocanonical books, which are inserted into the text where appropriate, whereas these are either omitted or grouped separately in Protestant versions.314