The Hebrew Bible is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures and is the textual source for the Christian Old Testament. In addition to religious instruction, the collection chronicles a series of events that explain the origins and travels of the Hebrew peoples in the ancient Near East. The historicity of the collection of scriptures is a source of ongoing debate.[1]
The events of the Hebrew Bible can be subdivided into 3 main sections: the Torah (instruction), the Nevi'im (prophets), and the Ketuvim (writings).
The events listed in the Torah start with the creation of the universe and conclude with transfer of authority from Moses to Joshua and the death of Moses.
The Nevi'im is authored by leading Hebrew prophets from the time Joshua leads the Hebrew people into Canaan until some time after the return of Hebrew remnant from Babylonian exile. In addition to recorded significant contemporary military and political events, many future events are predicted.
The Ketuvim recounts events over the same timeline as the Nevi'im, but from the point of view of secular leaders and lesser prophets.
It has been accepted for decades that the Bible is not in principle either historically reliable or unreliable, but both: it contains both memories of real events and also fictions.