Concept

Old Testament

Overview

The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon. It is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Israelites, but differs from the Jewish canon in order, textual tradition, and, in some Christian traditions, contents. The second division of Christian Bibles is the New Testament, written in Koine Greek.

The Old Testament consists of many distinct books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections: the Pentateuch or the first five books (which corresponds to the Jewish Torah); the Historical books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon; the Poetic Books, which explore themes of human experience, morality, and divine justice; and the Prophetic books, warning of the consequences of turning away from God.

The Old Testament canon differs among Christian denominations. The Catholic canon contains 46, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches include up to 49 books, and the Protestant Bible typically has 39. Most of these books are shared across all Christian canons, corresponding to the 24 books of the Tanakh but with differences in order and text. Some books found in Christian Bibles, but not in the Hebrew canon, are called deuterocanonical books, mostly originating from the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Catholic and Orthodox churches include these, while most Protestant Bibles exclude them, though some Anglican and Lutheran versions place them in a separate section called Apocrypha.

Because the term "Old Testament" is used within Christianity, the same texts may be interpreted differently in Christian and Jewish traditions. Christian interpretation has often read passages of the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, while Jewish interpretation does not treat these writings as part of an "old" covenant superseded by a New Testament.

While early histories of the ancient Israel and Judah were largely based on biblical accounts, their reliability has been increasingly questioned over time. Key debates have focused on the historicity of the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the Israelite conquest, and the United Monarchy, with archaeological evidence often challenging these narratives. Mainstream scholarship generally takes a skeptical but balanced approach to historical material from the 9th century BC onward; some chronologically later biblical traditions align with archaeological findings.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

In the original texts

Passages from public-domain books where Old Testament is discussed.

The _poetical_ books give the teachings of the Old Testament covenant in prayers, proverbs and hymns. The _prophetical_ books contain many instructions, admonitions and prophecies (especially concerning Christ who should come to save men) which God sent to the Israelites through the prophets. The first four prophets are called the Major Prophets; and the last twelve, the Minor Prophets.
Martin Luther, An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism
a chapter is titled for it; states what it is; names the idea
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Luther began and closed his blessed ministry in the church of God not by fighting the Pope, but by expounding the Word of God. He began by explaining the whole Psalter from 1513 to 1516 (before 1517) forming volumes III and IV of the Kaiser Chronological Edition and closed his life's labors by expounding the first book of the Bible, Genesis, which composes volumes I and II of the St. Louis Walch edition. He…
Martin Luther, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1
names the idea; a chapter is titled for it; talks about the author, not by them; states what it is
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To have bound up this New Testament (a kind of ROCOCO of taste in every respect) along with the Old Testament into one book, as the "Bible," as "The Book in Itself," is perhaps the greatest audacity and "sin against the Spirit" which literary Europe has upon its conscience. 53. Why Atheism nowadays? "The father" in God is thoroughly refuted; equally so "the judge," "the rewarder." Also his "free will": he does not…
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
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To mention all the places of the Old Testament where the name of Angel is found, would be too long. Therefore to comprehend them all at once, I say, there is no text in that part of the Old Testament, which the Church of England holdeth for Canonicall, from which we can conclude, there is, or hath been created, any…
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
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What is called Christian, but should rather be termed theological, morality, was not the work of Christ or the Apostles, but is of much later origin, having been gradually built up by the Catholic church of the first five centuries, and though not implicitly adopted by moderns and Protestants, has been much less modified by them than might have been expected. For the most part, indeed, they have contented themselves…
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
states what it is; opens on it; names the idea
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Old Testament

Overview

In the original texts

Philosophers who discussed Old Testament

Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Place in the tradition