Old testament meaning (what is it, concept and definition)

What is the Old Testament:

Old Testament is the name that Christians give to the first part of the Bible. It includes the set of historical, prophetic, wisdom and poetic books of the Jewish religion, as well as the set of Mosaic laws.

This part of the Bible is complemented by the New Testament, which revolves around the person and teachings of Jesus, as well as around the formation and expansion of Christians. From a Christian point of view, the Old Testament explains the history of creation and the New Testament explains the history of salvation.

While the Old Testament is common to all denominations of Christianity, the compilation accepted by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches differs from the compilation accepted by Protestants.

The canon used by the Catholic Churches corresponds to the so-called Alexandrian Canon or Version of the Seventy , written in Greek. The canon of the seventies contains the books not recognized by the Protestant tradition, which are: Tobias , Judith , I Book of the Maccabees, II Book of the Maccabees, Wisdom , Ecclesiastical and Baruch .

The Protestant canon corresponds to the so-called Hebrew Canon or Palestinian Canon , written in Hebrew, which is made up of a total of 39 books.

Both compilations were used interchangeably in Jesus' time, without implying profound doctrinal differences among the Jews of that generation.

There is evidence that the apostles used the seventies version because two thirds of their quotes refer to books not included in the Hebrew canon.

See Bible.

Parts of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is structured in the following parts:

Pentateuch or Torah:

It is a set of five books or five scrolls, according to ancient tradition, that narrate the creation of the world and the origin of the Jewish faith and the Mosaic law from the cosmogony of Judaism. It is made up of books:

• GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomy

Historical books

These books tell the story of the Jewish people from the death of Moses to the Maccabees' rebellion against the Hellenes.

• Joshua Judges Ruth I Samuel II Samuel I Kings II Kings I Chronicles II Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Tobias (Catholic version) Judith (Catholic version) Esther I Maccabees (Catholic version) II Maccabees (Catholic version)

See also Hanukkah.

Wisdom books

It is a series of wisdom, poetry and wisdom books that range from stories for education in the faith to the expression of the personal and community relationship with God through songs and prayers.

• Job Psalms (150) ProverbsEcclesiastes (Cohelet) Song of SolomonWisdom (Catholic version) Ecclesiastical (Syriac) (Catholic version)

Prophetic books

The prophetic books are those where the arrival of the Messiah is prophesied that would fulfill the kingdom of God on earth and hope is proclaimed. They are subdivided into major prophets and minor prophets, a distinction established based on the length of the texts.

Major prophets

• Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Baruch (Catholic version) Letter from Jeremiah 3 Ezekiel Daniel

Minor prophets

• Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Sophonians, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi