Jerome’s Annotated Canonical List

That the Hebrews have twenty-two letters is testified by the Syrian and Chaldaean languages, which are closely related to the Hebrew, for they have twenty-two elementary sounds that are pronounced the same way but are written differently. [ . . . ] And again, five are double letters, viz., kaf, mem, nun, peh, and tsade, for at the beginning and in the middle of words they are written one way and at the end another way. So it happens that, for most people, five of the books are reckoned as double, viz., Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah with Kinot, that is, Lamentations. [ . . . ] The first of these books is called Bresith, to which we give the name Genesis. The second, Elle smoth, which bears the name Exodus; the third, Vaiecra, that is, Leviticus; the fourth Vaiedabber, which we call Numbers; the fifth, Elle addabarim, which is entitled Deuteronomy. These are the five books of Moses, which they properly call Thorath, that is, law.

The second class is composed of the Prophets, and they begin with Jesus the son of Nave, who among them is called Joshua the son of Nun. Next in the series is Sophtim, that is, the book of Judges; and in the same book they include Ruth, because the events narrated occurred in the days of the judges. Then comes Samuel, which we call First and Second Kings. The fourth is Malachim, that is, Kings, which is contained in the third and fourth volumes of Kings. And it is far better to say Malachim, that is Kings, than Malachot, that is, Kingdoms. For the author does not describe the kingdoms of many nations but that of one people, the people of Israel, which is comprised in the twelve tribes. The fifth is Isaiah, the sixth, Jeremiah, the seventh, Ezekiel, the eighth is the book of the Twelve Prophets, which is called among the Jews Thare Asra.

To the third class belong the Hagiographa, of which the first book begins with Job; the second with David, whose writings they divide into five parts and comprise in one volume of Psalms; the third is Solomon, in three books, Proverbs, which they call Parables, that is Masaloth; Ecclesiastes, that is Coeleth; the Song of Songs, which they denote by the title Sir assirim; the sixth is Daniel; the seventh, Dabre aiamim, that is, Words of the Days, which we may more expressively call a chronicle of the whole of the sacred history, the book that among us is called First and Second Chronicles; the eighth, Ezra, which itself is likewise divided amongst Greeks and Latins into two books; the ninth is Esther.

And so there are also twenty-two books of the Old Testament; that is, five of Moses, eight of the Prophets, nine of the Hagiographa, though some include Ruth and Kinoth (Lamentations) among the Hagiographa and think that these books ought to be reckoned separately; we should thus have twenty-four books of the old law. And these the Apocalypse of John represents by the twenty-four elders, who adore the Lamb.