Hebrew Bible

===Number of books===
{{See also|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
The Hebrew Bible is generally considered to consist of 24 books, but this number is somewhat arbitrary, as (for example) it regards 12 separate books of minor prophets as a single book.<ref name=niehoff>Darshan, G. [https://www.academia.edu/7021817/The_Twenty-Four_Books_of_the_Hebrew_Bible_and_Alexandrian_Scribal_Methods_in_M.R._Niehoff_ed._Homer_and_the_Bible_in_the_Eyes_of_Ancient_Interpreters_Between_Literary_and_Religious_Concerns_JSRC_16_Leiden_Brill_2012_pp._221_244 "The Twenty-Four Books of the Hebrew Bible and Alexandrian Scribal Methods,"], in: M.R. Niehoff (ed.), ''Homer and the Bible in the Eyes of Ancient Interpreters: Between Literary and Religious Concerns'' (JSRC 16), Leiden: Brill 2012, pp. 221–44</ref> The traditional rabbinic count of 24 books appears in the [[Talmud]]<ref name=bb14/> and numerous works of [[midrash]].<ref>[[Exodus Rabbah]] 41:5; [[Numbers Rabbah]] 13:15, 14:4, 14:18, 15:22, 18:21; [[Song of Songs Rabbah]] 4:11; [[Ecclesiastes Rabbah]] 12:11, 12:12; [[Tanhuma]] Ki Tisa 16:2, Korach 12:1, Vayelech 1:1; [[Pesikta Rabbati]] 3:1; [[Lekach Tov]], Genesis 49:8; [[Minor tractate|Kallah Rabbati]] 10:14, etc.</ref> In several early nonrabbinic sources, the number of books given is 22.<ref>[[Josephus]], [[Against Apion]], 1:8; also [[2 Esdras]] 12:45, [[Origen]]</ref> This number corresponds to the letters of the [[Hebrew alphabet]]; according to [[Athanasius]] there were 27 books, corresponding to the alphabet with final letter forms (''sofiot'').

The count of 24 was said to be equal to the number of [[priestly divisions]].<ref>[https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/tanach/shelanu/shelanu.htm  התנ"ך שלנו]</ref> According to a modern source, the number of books may be related to the division of the [[Iliad]] and [[Odyssey]] into 24 books, corresponding to the letters of the Greek alphabet. Both the Bible and Homer formed "foundational literature" of their respective cultures, studied by children and considered distillations of the society's values. The division of the Bible into 22 books may be a conversion of the Greek system to the Hebrew alphabet, while the division into 24 may be an adoption of the "perfect" number 24 as befitting the Bible's stature in Jewish eyes.<ref name=niehoff/>