Why are there 39 books in English Bible Translations and only 24 Books in the Hebrew Bible?
The counting of 24 books in Hebrew Bibles is based on the division of the books in the ancient Hebrew manuscripts. In contrast, the counting of books in many English Bibles are based on the division of the books employed by the “Septuagint” (Greek Translation of the Bible). Both systems have the same books but simply divide them differently. One of the reasons for the difference is that some of the 24 books are not really a single book but rather a collection of books. For example, one of the books in the Hebrew Bible has a book called Trei Asar (“The Twelve”) consisting of 12 individual works each representing the writings of a single prophet [also called the “Twelve Minor Prophets” because of the relatively small size of each of the books]. The Septuagint (and KJV) count “The Twelve” as 12 individual books instead of a single large book.
