The Old Testament

The Bible has been described as a collection of religious writings, and at it's simplest, that is what it is. But it is much more than that. These writings, written by fisherman, farmers, prophets, kings, and political leaders, are recognized by most people, as a record of man's search for God, man's experience with God, and God's revelation to man. Even though it was written over a span of 1500 years, in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), the Bible tells a unified story about man's salvation by God. Additionally, the Bible claims to be 'God breathed' or inspired by God Himself. This does not mean 'dictated', but that through each writer's literary style, hand and human involvement, God conveyed the intended message. In the Old Testament for example, the writer's claim to be speaking God's words (not their own) over 2,600 times! Additionally, the Bible tells us of many different ways God has disclosed himself by dreams, prophets, seers, mighty acts, and ultimately through His Son Jesus. The first act is the creation of the universe itself, which discloses God's power and wisdom, and this is where the Old Testament begins. God progressively revealed to people, who He was, what He has done, and what He will do. Our perspective today is somewhat different than when the first few books of the Bible were authored, but the Bible is as trustworthy today as it was then.

Before the time of Jesus, the books included in our Old Testament were recognized by the Hebrew people as authoritative words from God. Jesus certified most of the books in the Old Testament, by His reference to and use of them. There were many other Hebrew writings that were held in esteem at Jesus time, but these 39 alone were considered to be God's authoritative Word, and therefore deserving of our study.

The details on the origin of each book are given in that sections on those books, but the origin of the Old Testament as a whole is a separate and interesting subject.


The traditional collection of what we call the 'Holy Scriptures' of the Old Testament from it's beginnings in Judaism has been called by many names. The earliest reference is perhaps the Hebrew word for 'books' and is refered to in Daniel 9:2. Another named used was the Hebrew word for 'that which is read', which indicated how these books were used in the synagogue. 'Scripture', used frequently in the New Testament, reflects another Hebrew word which means 'that which is written'. Within this collection of sacred books, were three major divisions. The Hebrew word 'torah' which means 'teaching (of the law)', was sometimes used to designate the whole collection of books, but more correctly refered to the first major section called the Pentateuch (the first five books: Gen., Exod, Lev., Num., and Deut.) The next section was called 'The Prophets', which was subdivided into the Former Prophets (i.e. Josh., Judges, Samuel, and Kings), and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jer., Ezek., and the 12 (minor prophets)). The final section is 'the Writings', and consists of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Eccl., Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. This order is different from our modern Old Testaments, but reflects the typically used order of the time based on importance, hence the saying: 'the law and the prophets, and other books'.

It is not known how the original collection process happened, although there is reference to the early collections of books, and the authors of the books in the Babylonian Talmud. Apparently various books were accepted as scripture by the early rabbis and gathered for reading and study in the synagogue. Scripture was determined based on the fact that the author was considered to be a prophet, that is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. This fact was accepted by Jesus as evidenced by his use of the Old Testament.

The term 'Old Testament' makes sense only to Christians, who declare that there is indeed a 'New Testament'. Although much of the 'Holy Scriptures of Judaism' are the same as the Old Testament, they are not identical. Aside from the order of the books being different, there are additional books included in the Roman Catholic Old Testament canon, the 'reformed' Old Testament canon, and the Orthodox collection. This uncertainty about what is part of the Old Testament still exists today, although some official canons were declared over the past centuries. In 170 A.D., Melito of Sardis declared the collections of Jewish scriptures found in the Jerusalem church to be the official OT canon for Asia Minor. This also became the OT canon for the Egyptian church. But later, in 348, Cyril of Jerusalem, declared the OT canon to additionally include the book of Baruch, and the Letter of Jeremiah. The African churches at the synods of 393 (Hippo) and 397 (Carthage), had an enlarged collection of books which include what we today call the 'deutero-canonical' books of the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant churches rejected this canon however accepting only the Scriptures of Judaism.

The Old Testaments consists of 39 books which vary from history, to poetry, to prophetic utterance. Written over the span of over 1,000 years, they tell the unfolding story of God's relationship with mankind. The Old Testament times can be broken in to two major historical ages. The first is a span of unknown length from creation to the time of Abraham. In this period, God related directly to the whole human race. In the second span, the focus is on a single race and in many instances family. For instance through Abraham, God initiates a plan to bring redemption to all mankind through Abraham's lineage. God makes a series of covenants, or oaths through which He works, and reveals more and more of His character, purpose, and plans.

Another approach to the Old Testament, is to look at the history of the nation of Israel. This can be best understood by looking at ten periods of time:
Time Period
B.C.
Description OT Books People
~ - 2000 Creation, God reveals Himself to all mankind, showing love and judgement. Genesis 1-11 Adam, Eve
2000 - 1500 God chooses Abraham and gives a covenant. Genisis 12-50, Job Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph
1500 - 1400 Exodus of God's people from Egyptian slavery. Passover. The Law is given. Exodus, Lev., Numbers, Deut. Moses, Aaron
1400 - 1390 The Promised Land! Joshua Joshua
1390 - 950 The people are good and bad under various judges. Judges, Ruth Gideon, Samson, Ruth, Samuel
950 - 931 Israel becomes a monarchy. Power, Prosperity under David and Solomon. The Jerusalem temple is important. Samuel, Chron., Kings, Proverbs, Psalms, Song of Solomon, Eccl. Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon
931 - 722 The nation divides into Israel (north) and Judah (south). The north is conquered by Assyria. Kings, Chronicles, Jonah, Amos, Obadiah, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Joel Jehoshaphat, Joash
722 - 586 Judah exiled by Babylonian conqueror Nebuchadnezzar. Temple destroyed. 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Habakkuk, Nahum, Jeremiah, Zephaniah Hezekiah, Josiah
605 - 536 The people are captive for 70 years in Babylon. Ezekiel, Daniel, Lamentations Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel
537 - 400 A remant returns to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zech., Esther, Malachi Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

The time between 400 A.D. and the New Testament, is frequently called the 'Intertestamental' time. During this time the Maccabean family came to political power. The history of this time period is covered in the books of I and II Maccabees, and I Esdras. The books are called the 'Apocrypha', along with some additional books, and are available in the Roman Catholic Church version of the Bible, but not in the Protestant version.

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