Old Testament

The Old Testament canon varies among Christian denominations. Protestant Bibles contain 39 books, while Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional books known as the Deuterocanonicals (e.g., Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and additions to Esther and Daniel).¹ The Protestant Old Testament follows the Hebrew Bible's 24-book structure but divides Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into two parts each and counts the Twelve Minor Prophets as separate books, yielding 39.

The books are traditionally grouped into four sections: the Pentateuch (Torah), the Historical Books, the Poetic and Wisdom Books, and the Prophets. The Hebrew Bible instead uses three divisions: Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). The order of the prophetic books differs, with the Hebrew Bible placing Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel before the Twelve, while Christian Bibles often place Lamentations and Daniel among the prophets.

The Old Testament was composed over roughly a millennium, with the earliest oral traditions possibly dating to the second millennium BCE and the latest writings (e.g., Daniel) from the second century BCE.² The Masoretic Text, a medieval Hebrew manuscript tradition, is the basis for most modern translations, but the Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BCE–1st century CE) have provided earlier witnesses, confirming the reliability of the Masoretic tradition while also revealing textual variants.³

The Septuagint, a Greek translation made in Alexandria in the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE, was the Bible of early Christianity and includes the Deuterocanonical books. Jerome's Latin Vulgate (4th–5th century CE) became the standard for Western Christianity. Modern critical editions, such as the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, combine these sources to reconstruct the earliest attainable text.

The Old Testament introduces foundational theological concepts: monotheism, covenant, law, prophecy, and messianic expectation. The covenant relationship between God and Israel, established with Abraham and renewed at Sinai, is a central theme, with the Torah providing the legal and ethical framework.⁴ The prophets call for social justice and faithfulness, while the wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job) explores human experience and the problem of suffering.

Christian interpretation often reads the Old Testament as foreshadowing the New Testament, a method known as typology. For example, the Passover lamb prefigures Christ's sacrifice. Jewish interpretation, by contrast, emphasizes the ongoing relevance of the Torah and the oral tradition. Modern scholarship employs historical-critical methods, examining the texts' literary forms, sources, and historical contexts.

The Old Testament contains several little-known features. The book of Esther is the only book that does not explicitly mention God, yet it is read annually at Purim. The Song of Songs is an erotic love poem that was included in the canon despite rabbinic debate. The Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra reflect the lingua franca of the Persian Empire.⁵

The Septuagint includes the Letter of Jeremiah, a short work against idolatry, and the Prayer of Manasseh, which appears in some Orthodox Bibles. The Ethiopic Orthodox canon includes even more books, such as Jubilees and Enoch. The Samaritan Pentateuch preserves a distinct textual tradition, differing in about 6,000 places from the Masoretic Text, including the command to build an altar on Mount Gerizim.⁶

Tanakh

The Hebrew Bible, an acronym for Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).

Deuterocanonicals

Books included in Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments but not in the Hebrew Bible or Protestant canons.

Masoretic Text

The authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible, preserved by the Masoretes in the early medieval period.

Septuagint

The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, produced in Alexandria in the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE.

Typology

A method of biblical interpretation that sees Old Testament persons, events, or institutions as prefigurations of New Testament realities.