The Old Testament

Great Isaiah Scroll (Dead Sea Scrolls) (Source: The Israel Museum)

The Old Testament, written before the birth of Jesus Christ, contains the history of the Israelites, God’s plan for salvation, and prophecies about the Messiah. There are 39 books in total, arranged in the following order: books of the law, books of history, books of poetry, and books of prophecy. The Old Testament was written over a period of about a thousand years. Its last book, Malachi, was written around 400 B.C.

The Naming of the Old Testament

The word Old Testament means Old Covenant. It contains God’s promise that was given to the Israelites until Jesus Christ came. Originally, it was called the “Scriptures.” Over time, it started to be called the “Old Testament” to differentiate it from the New Testament. It is also called the Hebrew Bible because most of it was written in Hebrew. The Bible quoted by Jesus and the apostles was the Old Testament.

Languages

Most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. After the Babylonian (Neo-Babylonian) captivity, however, the Jews gradually started to speak more Aramaic, a language spoken in Babylon and Persia. Because of this, some of the books that were written after that time were written in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12–26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4–7:28; part of Ge 31:47).

By the third and fourth centuries B.C., Hebrew was rarely spoken outside of Palestine. For the sake of the Jews who did not speak Hebrew, living scattered in the countries along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, more than 70 Jewish scholars translated the Old Testament into Greek. At that time, Greek was the official international language. This translation is called the Septuagint, and it is the oldest translation of the Old Testament. Most of the Old Testament texts quoted in the New Testament were taken from the Septuagint, and the names of the books of the Old Testament are also greatly influenced by it.

Writers and Dates

Bible	Writer	Date (Approx.)
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy	Moses	1500 B.C.
Joshua	Joshua	1450–1400 B.C.
Judges	Samuel	1000 B.C.
Ruth	Unknown	1000 B.C.
1 & 2 Samuel	Unknown	900 B.C.
1 & 2 Kings	Unknown	600 B.C.
1 & 2 Chronicles	Ezra	450 B.C.
Ezra	Ezra	440 B.C.
Nehemiah (Bible)	Nehemiah or Ezra	420 B.C.
Esther	Mordecai	464–436 B.C.
Job	Job (uncertain)	2000–1500 B.C.
Psalms	David and many others	1500–400 B.C.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs	Solomon and others	1000–700 B.C.
Isaiah	Isaiah	730–680 B.C.
Jeremiah, Lamentations	Jeremiah	620–580 B.C.
Ezekiel	Ezekiel	593–570 B.C.
Daniel	Daniel	530 B.C.
Hosea	Hosea	750 B.C.
Joel	Joel	8th century B.C.
Amos	Amos	760 B.C.
Obadiah	Obadiah	580 B.C.
Jonah	Jonah	760 B.C.
Micah	Micah	700 B.C.
Nahum	Nahum	7th century B.C.
Habakkuk	Habakkuk	7th century B.C.
Zephaniah	Zephaniah	630 B.C.
Haggai	Haggai	520 B.C.
Zechariah	Zechariah	520–518 B.C.
Malachi	Malachi	430 B.C.

Structure

Class.	Content
Books of the Law (5 books)	Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Books of History (12 books)	Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Books of Poetry (5 books)	Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
Books of Prophecy (17 books)	Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Books of the Law

The writer of these books is presumed to be Moses, and they are also called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch contains the history of the origin of mankind, the birth of the Israelites (Genesis), the Israelites’ escape from Egypt, and the journey toward the land of Canaan (Exodus, Numbers, part of Deuteronomy). It also contains moral standards (Leviticus, Deuteronomy) and the sacrificial laws and norms the Israelites needed to follow to maintain their life of faith.

Books of History

These books record the history of Israel from the time they entered Canaan until they returned from the Babylonian captivity. The books of Joshua and Judges are about the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan and their settlement there; the books of 1 & 2 Samuel are about King Saul and King David; the books of 1 & 2 Kings are about the age of King Solomon and the divided kingdoms; and the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles are similar to 1 & 2 Kings, but they only focus on the history of the southern kingdom of Judah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are about the construction of the temple and the religious reformation they carried out when they returned from the Babylonian captivity. As for the records about female characters, there are the books of Ruth and Esther. The book of Ruth shares the story of Ruth, who was listed in the genealogy of Jesus, even though she was a Moabite woman. The book of Esther shares the story of Esther, a Jewish queen who saved the people of Judah from a crisis.

Books of Poetry

The book of Psalms is a hymn anthology of the Old Testament composed of poems written by various writers for use in worship and praise. It contains various themes, such as praising the power of God, asking for salvation by pleading about personal circumstances, faith and the law, and prophecies about the Messiah. The book of Job highlights the life of Job, who underwent suffering and endurance which resulted in blessings. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, who realized the futility of life, speaks about the importance of living with the fear of God; and the book of Proverbs records the wisdom that enables us to equip ourselves with the proper character as God’s people. The book of Song of Songs sings about the love between a man and a woman ostensibly, but on the other side, it also shows God’s love for the saints.

Books of Prophecy

In the Old Testament times, God fulfilled His will by showing His words or visions to Moses and other prophets. The prophets, who were called by God, proclaimed to Israel and recorded what they had received. The message that is the most prominent in the books of prophecy is that God calls for repentance and judgment on Israel and that in due time God will restore the kingdom. These books of prophecy are divided into two groups: major prophets and minor prophets. The minor prophets are short and have God’s revelations given during a certain time frame. Among the major prophets, the book of Isaiah talks about the prophecies of the Messiah with great importance. The book of Jeremiah shows the prophet’s work of proclaiming repentance and judgment with tears to the corrupt Kingdom of Judah. The book of Ezekiel records many revelations and visions, and the book of Daniel describes various prophecies based on Daniel's visions and experience of being taken captive in Babylon and attaining a high position.

Preservation of the Old Testament

The Dead Sea Scrolls when found: The material used was parchment. (Source: The Scrolls from the Judean Desert by Habermann, Abraham Meir, p. 23)

The original Hebrew Bible does not exist, but it has been preserved through manuscripts. As the years passed by, the originals got worn out and were copied on parchment made of animal skin or papyrus. The copies are called manuscripts. Some worry that the Bible was altered in the process of being copied; however, if you look at the process of making manuscripts by the Jews, you can feel confident in its accuracy.

In Israel, some people copied the Bible professionally; these people were called the scribes. It is said that when making copies of the Bible, the parchment, ink color, and the scribes' clothing were fixed, and that the regulations of the shape and spacing of letters were also very strict. In addition, to prevent making any errors, the scribes had to read the original text aloud while transcribing, not relying on their memory. In order not to miss a single letter, they even counted the number of letters. It was then reviewed by another scribe to ensure accuracy.

The accuracy of copying the Bible, however, was already verified through the comparison of various manuscripts that were written at different times. The scrolls written in 100 B.C. were discovered in the Qumran Cave near the Dead Sea in 1947. They are called the Dead Sea Scrolls or Qumran Caves Scrolls. The Masoretic Text, the oldest manuscript at that time, dates from about A.D. 900. After comparing the two scrolls, scholars found that the two were virtually identical even though there is a great time difference of a thousand years.

This shows that the Jews were extremely careful in copying the Bible and that the Bible had not been tampered with or distorted throughout the years even though it was handed down as copies for a long time.

“	Book I. AGAINST APION. [A]nd how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation, is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural to all Jews, immediately and from their very birth, to esteem those books to contain divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion be, willingly to die for them. For it is no new thing for our captives, many of them in number, and frequently in time, to be seen to endure racks and deaths of all kinds upon the theatres, that they may not be obliged to say one word, against our laws and the records that contain them:	“
— Flavius Josephus, Complete Works of Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews; the Wars of the Jews Against Apion, Etc., Vol. 4. 1924, p. 419

See also

• Bible
• The New Testament