Many people of our time, being constantly immersed in work and daily worries, do not have time to thoroughly learn what the Old Testament is. Of course, everyone knows that this is the scripture that is the beginning of the Bible. However, units are aware of its origin, structure and characteristics. Now we will try to open the veil of sacred secrets and consider in detail what the Old Testament is, how it is interpreted and what it is made of.
general description
The Old Testament refers to the oldest part of the Christian Bible. It is also the oldest Jewish Holy Scripture (Tanah), which has a very great sacred meaning for this people. Old Testament - this can be said of the general religious rules for all Christians and Jews. They include instructive stories, myths, undeniable dogmas and a considerable part of real events, that is, the story by which many researchers reconstructed pictures of the past.
Language question
It is possible to understand thoroughly what the Old Testament is based on the language in which it was originally composed. Most of the books that make up it were written in Hebrew, from 13 to 1 century BC. Some parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra were compiled in the time interval from the first century BC to the third century of a new era. These scriptures are written in Aramaic. These data make it possible to understand that the Holy Scripture from the very beginning of its existence was intended for one ethnic group - the Semitic. However, later, when the new Christian religion needed a certain foundation, it was the books and myths of the Old Testament that were translated into the ancient Greek language. This is how the origins of the Christian Bible came about, which we are content with today.
Canons of holy scripture
Perhaps today everyone knows that all the commandments of the Old Testament, its stories, myths, tales and other sections in each individual branch of Christianity have a completely different interpretation. Some parts of the Bible that are present, say, in Catholic publications, are completely unacceptable to Protestants, or absent in Orthodoxy. The Old Testament, which the Jews profess. They decipher the tanah in a special light, since their religion and traditions are fundamentally different from ours. In this matter, there are three main treatises - Jewish, Orthodox and Catholic. In some sources, you can also find a fourth - Protestant, but it is completely identical with the Jewish one.
Judean canon
The oldest and concurrently Jewish version of the Holy Letter is called the Tanakh. It consists of three parts, which are still professed by the Jews in the ancient language. The first part is the Law or the Torah. It includes the Pentateuch of Moses. It is followed by the Prophets or Neviim. Here the prophets of the Old Testament painted their accounts. Based on their status, this section was divided into three parts - the Early Prophets, Late and Small. It is worth noting that in Neviim there are also many historical chronicles that are true. The third part of the Old Testament is Scripture, or, speaking the native language, Ktuvim. Here are the stories of Israeli sages, as well as sacred poetry of the most ancient years.
Alexandria canon
After Tanach was translated into ancient Greek in Alexandria, a new version of the future Bible, the Septuagint, appeared. In its structure, the order of books and other things, it was fundamentally different from the original version, because the Jews did not accept it, creating at that time a whole front of religious confrontation. So, the first part - the Pentateuch, or Deuteronomy, is most often referred to as Genesis. Part two - historical books. Mostly the stories of Joshua are collected here. The third part of the Septuagint is poetry books. These are peculiar legends of the Old Testament, which are very instructive and carry a lot of morality. These include the writings of Job, the books of the Solomon parables, and King Ecclesiastes. The last section of the fourth, includes the prophecies of Malachi and Isaiah. Here it is also necessary to emphasize that it is in the Orthodox Old Testament that there are 39 canonical books and 11 non-canonical ones. Looking at the Testament through a Catholic prism, you can see only 46 canonical books.
Let us review once more the Jewish prophets
In fact, the names of those characters who made up the Holy Scriptures, which became the basis of two religions at the same time, have long been heard by every person. But in order to be more specific, we will compile a list of the most “main” of them - or the earliest, and after that we will consider the rest - later and small. The main prophets of the Old Testament are undoubtedly Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Later are Jonah, Joel, Hosea, Amos, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Naum, Micah, Haggai, Malachi, Zechariah, and Obadiah. In general, the prophets in their books argued that any moral and ethnic values should always be above cultural ones. Most importantly, their teachings were and remain the basis of Judaism, and they also became the foundation of Christianity in all its forms.
Is the Bible a fairy tale?
Since childhood, we all know that even in the simplest fairy tale has its own morality, doctrine, that which needs to be learned and useful in life. It is from such stories, which to a great extent teach us to live in accordance with the Laws of God, make up almost half of the Bible. Old Testament myths are instructive stories that have been written down from generation to generation. They are useful for both children and adults, therefore they are recommended to read them as often as possible. Among the most famous of these can be distinguished story "Judith and Holofernes." Also useful is the tale of Susanna and the lying elders. Everyone has clearly heard the famous “Court of Solomon”, as well as a small short story “David and Goliath”.
An interesting story of the Tablets
According to legend, the commandments of the Old Testament were given to Moses by the Lord Himself on Mount Sinai. They were carved on tablets - stone tablets, which, as many claim, became the first version of the Bible. Lightning struck the stone, splitting it into two parts. On each of them ten words were carved, which became the basis of biblical laws. Briefly list them below:
- I am your Lord.
- Do not make yourself an idol.
- Do not mention the name of the Lord in vain.
- Work for six days, and do nothing on the seventh.
- Honor your father and mother.
- Do not kill.
- Do not commit adultery.
- Do not steal.
- Do not lie.
- Do not desire your neighbor's house.
Conclusion
Briefly we figured out what the Old Testament is. We learned by whom and when it was composed, from which pages it is composed and what each of us can teach. It is worth noting that this Holy Scripture is not without reason one of the greatest in the whole world. It contains almost everything that can help a person become better even in our time, which will help to get out of a difficult situation.