The third section of the Hebrew Bible is made up of a miscellaneous collection of books consisting of Poetry, Philosophy, Prophecy and History. That a book was placed in this section does not mean that it was written after the other parts were collected or was of less importance, but that it was of a special character.

I. Classification of Its Books

The books of this section are classified as follows:

1. Three poetical: Psalms, Proverbs and Job, which were called "Emeth," a word formed by taking the first letter of the Hebrew title of each book. These are especially marked by a peculiar system of accents in the Hebrew text.

2. Five Megilloth (Rolls): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, which were read on the great feast days as follows: Song of Solomon on the Feast of the Passover, Ruth on the Feast of Pentecost, Lamentations on the Feast of the Destruction of the Temple, Ecclesiastes on the Feast of Tabernacles, Esther on the Feast of Purim.

3. Four other books, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles. Of these Ezra and Nehemiah were often classed as one book, while Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles form a continuous history of the nation.

II. Its Formation

There is great difficulty in determining the conditions attending the formation of this third group of Old Testament writings. A Jewish theory is that the three divisions, Law, Prophets and Kethubim, represent three descending degrees of inspiration, compared by them to the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place and the Temple Court, a theory which has no historical evidence in its favor and which is not confirmed by the contents of the books.

A more probable theory is that the books of the Kethubim were gathered later than the others and included those works which they thought were undoubtedly inspired but which for various reasons could not properly be included in the first two divisions.

We may perhaps find a further reason for their separate classification in the subjective character of these books. They present truth, not in the abstract, nor yet as an external force claiming dominion over man both in thought and life, but as developed in the thought and experience of men. Even Daniel, intensely prophetic as his work is, seems to come up to it in a personal way peculiar to himself, growing out of his profound study of the Scriptures and of the providence of God, and his own participation in the great questions of state around which his prophecies center. So, too, the historical books, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, develop the history, not along general lines, but as it bears specifically on the religious, subjective life of the nation to which the history relates.