The Bible is actually a collection of 66 books written by at least 40 human authors. Christianity, which is based on the Bible, is the only religion that claims a resurrected Savior, Christ. The Bible is a work of long compilation since the writings of its books span at least 1500 years. It is an ancient writing in that the last author of any of the books, the Apostle John, died approximately 1900 years ago. The two major divisions are the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament is comprised of 39 books, Genesis to Malachi
The books of the Old Testament were written over a period of about 1000 years. The Old Testament can be divided into 4 major subdivisions:
(A) History: Genesis thru Esther (17 books)
(B) Poetry/Wisdom Literature: Job thru Song of Solomon (5 books)
(C) Major Prophets: Isaiah thru Daniel (5 books)
(D) Minor Prophets: Hosea thru Malachi (12 books)
Genesis to Esther are 17 books which deal with History.
The first 5 books are known as the Pentateuch and are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books are also known as the Mosaic Law because it is generally accepted that Moses was the author of all 5 books or at least the majority of each. The books also cover the pre-Canaan or Promised Land existence of the Israelites.
The next 12 books are Joshua to Esther and can be divided into to 2 subcategories. The first 9 of these 12 books are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles and II Chronicles. These books record the experiences in Canaan.
The last 3 of these 12 books are Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. These books are the post-exile from Canaan history.