The Old Testament is the first major division of the Christian Bible, containing the books written before the coming of Christ and revealing God’s creation, covenant dealings with Israel, law, wisdom, prophecy, and promises fulfilled in Jesus.
The Old Testament is the collection of books that forms the first major section of the Bible and records God’s dealings with humanity before Christ.
The Old Testament is the first major division of Holy Scripture in the Christian Bible, made up of the books given before the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. These writings reveal God as Creator and Lord, record humanity’s fall into sin, trace His covenant purposes through Israel, and include law, history, poetry, wisdom, and prophecy. For Christians, the Old Testament is not merely background material but the inspired and authoritative Word of God, fully truthful and permanently valuable for doctrine, worship, and instruction, even as its promises, patterns, and prophetic hopes find their fulfillment in Christ and the New Testament. While Christian traditions differ on the exact bounds of the Old Testament canon, the term ordinarily refers to the Scriptures received as the first part of the Bible and read in light of God’s unfolding redemptive plan.
Jesus and the apostles treated the earlier Scriptures as God’s Word and read them as pointing to Christ. The Old Testament includes the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, and it supplies the storyline, categories, and promises that the New Testament assumes and fulfills.
In Christian usage, the term Old Testament developed as a designation for the Scriptures received before Christ and distinguished from the New Testament. Protestant Bibles typically count 39 books in the Old Testament, while Catholic and Orthodox traditions include additional deuterocanonical books in different ways.
In Jewish tradition, the corresponding collection is commonly called the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, arranged as Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Second Temple and later Jewish communities recognized these Scriptures as authoritative, though the precise ordering and some boundary questions were discussed differently across groups.
The phrase “Old Testament” comes through the traditional Christian language of the “old covenant” or “old testament” (Latin vetus testamentum). In Jewish usage, the closer designation is the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh.
The Old Testament reveals God’s holiness, human sin, covenant mercy, sacrificial patterns, moral law, and prophetic promise. It prepares for the Messiah, helps define biblical theology, and shows the unity of God’s redemptive plan across both Testaments.
The term is a canonical and covenantal category, not merely a chronological label. “Old” does not mean false or useless; it means earlier in the unfolding of God’s covenant dealings, now read in light of Christ and the new covenant.
Read the Old Testament in its own historical and literary context, not as a collection of detached proof-texts. Distinguish promise and fulfillment, law and gospel, and descriptive narrative from direct command. Also note that canon boundaries differ across Christian traditions, so the term may be used with slightly different book lists.
In Protestant usage, the Old Testament normally refers to the 39 books received as canonical Scripture. Catholic and Orthodox traditions include additional books commonly called the deuterocanonical books. Jewish usage usually refers to the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh rather than the Christian canon division.
The Old Testament is fully inspired Scripture and remains authoritative for doctrine, correction, and instruction. It must be read in harmony with the New Testament, without Marcionite rejection of the older Scriptures or flattening of covenant distinctions.
The Old Testament grounds Christian worship, ethics, and theology. It teaches creation, sin, holiness, repentance, faith, covenant faithfulness, and hope, and it helps believers understand the gospel, the work of Christ, and the church’s place in God’s redemptive story.