Old Testament
From Theopedia
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The Old Testament either refers to the 39 canonical books of the Hebrew Scriptures written prior to the coming of Christ, or to the time period before Christ came, when God's people belonged to the nation of Israel. A better translation for "Old Testament" would probably be "Old Covenant", while some also prefer "First Testament."
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Books of the Old Testament
Pentateuch
The Pentateuch was written by Moses after the Exodus. Its revelation of God by means of the history and regulations of early Israel forms a foundation for the rest of the Bible.
- See main page: Pentateuch
Historical books
The Historical Books were written by numerous authors, some unknown. They chronicle the goodness and longsuffering of God to Israel amidst Israel's repeated and worsening failures. The historical books are not written as a scientific textbook of history, although they are absolutely historically accurate; they focus on individual characters of importance to the rise and fall of Israel, especially the true, covenanted God Jehovah (more accurately transliterated Yahweh). Of immense significance to Israel's history is the covenant made with David the king, recorded in II Samuel 7[1].
- See main page: Historical Books
Poetical books
The poetical books describe wisdom and worship in the days of Israel. There is much poetry in other books of Scripture——indeed, the prophet Haggai stands almost alone among the prophets as not containing any poetry. However, the books of poetry are either composed entirely of poetry or contain immense sections of poetry. Some would include the Book of Lamentations with the books of poetry since this book is entirely composed of poetry.
This is a section stub. Please edit it to add information.- See main page: Books of Poetry
Prophets
The prophets applied the Pentateuch to the daily lives of the people, in particular revealing how blessing or destruction would come to God's people as a reward for their obedience/disobedience.
This is a section stub. Please edit it to add information.- See main page: Prophets (canonical division)
Major prophets
Minor prophets
Historicity of the Old Testament
The study of the historicity of the Old Testament seeks to establish the historical trustworthiness of the Old Testament. This is based on two factors: the reliability of the Old Testament manuscripts, and the reliability of those who were involved with writing and putting the OT together.
- See main article: Historicity of the Old Testament
See also
Resources
- Tremper Longman and Raymond D. Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 2nd edition. Zondervan, 2006. ISBN 0310263417
- Andrew Hill and John Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 2nd edition. Zondervan, 2000. ISBN 0310229030
- Martens, E. A. God's Design, 2nd edition. Baker, 1994. ISBN 0801063167
- David W. Baker and Bill T. Arnold, The Face of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches. Baker Academic, 2004. ISBN 080102871X
External links
- Old Testament Survey, by Douglas Stuart (seminary class)
- Introduction to Old Testament Survey, by J. Hampton Keathley, III (bible.org, 3 part series)
- Bibliographic Introduction to Old Testament Study, Yale Divinity Library
- Annotated Old Testament Bibliography, by M. Daniel Carroll R. and Richard S. Hess (Denver Journal, from Denver Seminary)
- Old Testament Chronology
