Old Testament
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The Old Testament (Tanakh (תנ״ך) in Hebrew) is a collection of different biblical books comprising the Jewish religious scriptures. It can be divided into three general categories: Historical, Poetic, and Prophetic.[1] The Old Testament was inspired by God, giving His teachings to human beings in document form: using direct communication with Moses, communicating through the Prophets, and through works inspired by the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), in the Sacred Writings. The human authors of some books are known, while for others the authorship remains a matter of controversy. The Hebrew names of these three sections give rise to the acronym "Tanakh": Torah (Instruction), Nevi'im (Prophets), and K'tuvim (Sacred Writings).
Christians embrace the Old Testament as part of their holy scriptures, which, together with the New Testament make up the Bible. In contrast to Jews, they see the Old Testament giving prophetic references to the coming of Jesus Christ. Versions from ancient times exist in both Hebrew and Greek including the Dead Sea Scrolls giving a very ancient snapshot dating back to the time of Jesus.
Contents
The Old Testament documents the creation of the world by God, and the tribulations and errors of human beings, in particular His chosen people the Israelites. Following the history of the Jews from their earliest patriarchs to their enslavement, freedom, becoming a nation, period of the judges, ruled by kings, splitting into two nations, and eventual conquest. It continues until about 400 B.C. when God's chosen people have once again been allowed to return to the Holy Land and have come back to the worship of the Lord God. From the writing of the earliest five books, which is traditionally ascribed to Moses, to the last, is believed to be a period of about 1,000 years. The New Testament doesn't pick up until 400 years later with the story of Jesus.
The laws set forth in the Old Testament include the Noahide laws and the Mosaic Law. The latter further includes the Ten Commandments.
Canon
The Canon of the Old Testament was fixed by the Jewish Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah (Men of the Great Assembly), also known as the Council of Jamnia, established in Galilee in the 1st century A.D. (circa 90) after the destruction of the great Temple of Jerusalem A.D. 70. Though some books have been given different names, this is the same Old Testament canon found in Protestant Bibles (except for ordering and naming conventions based on usage in the Catholic Bible). The larger and more ancient Biblical Canon of Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments originally in Greek predating the time of the Council of Jamnia contain different sets of books (retained and included by Jerome in the Latin Vulgate translation) but removed from the Christian Bible by Protestants during the 16th century A.D. Protestant Reformation as "additional" groups referred to as the Apocrypha. Most Old Testaments go back to the earliest Hebrew translations[2], but the Greek Orthodox church uses the earliest Greek versions commonly called the Septuagint, traditionally ascribed to rabbinical authority as the authentic Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures as early as the 3rd century B.C..
The twenty-four books, in the Hebrew listing, are:
I Torah
- 1-5: Torat Moshe/תּוֹרַת־מֹשֶׁה (The Pentateuch):
- B'resheet/בראשית (Genesis)
- Sh'mot/שמות (Exodus)
- VaYikra/ויקרא (Leviticus)
- B'midbar/במדבר (Numbers)
- D'varim/דברים (Deuteronomy)
II Nevi'im/נביאים
- 6-9: Nevi'im Rishonim/נביאים ראשונים (Early Prophets):
- 10-13: Nevi'im Acharonim/נביאים אחרונים (Later Prophets):
III K'tuvim/כתובים
- 17-21: The Five Megilot (Five Scrolls):
- Shir-HaShirim/שיר השירים (Song of Solomon/Song of Songs)
- Rut/רות (Ruth)
- Eikhah/איכה (Lamentations)
- Kohelet/קהלת (Ecclesiastes)
- Ester/אסת (Esther)
- 22-24: Other Writings:
- Dani'el/דניאל (Daniel)
- Ezra-Nechemyah/עזרא ונחמיה (Ezra-Nehemiah)
- Divrei-HaYamim/דברי הימים (Chronicles 1 and 2)
See also
- Septuagint
- Pentateuch
- Philosophy
- Jewish philosophy
- Singing the Hebrew Scriptures
- Old Testament morality
- Books of the Old Testament
References
- ↑ http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t1w05otauthors.htm
- ↑ 20th and 21st century Biblical archaeology has established beyond reasonable doubt that with the sole exception of the Book of Wisdom originally written in Greek all of the books rejected as Apocrypha were extant as Hebrew texts which predate the 1st century A.D.