by Stephen Rodgers

As I mentioned in last week’s article, before we delve too deeply into the various parts of the OT, we should probably briefly touch on the issue of how those various parts came to be thought of as the OT.  And that brings us to what is typically known as “canonology,” or the study of the “canon” (the collection and list of inspired books contained in the Bible).

Now, I’m going to summarize and add to this a little bit, but honestly, I probably can’t do a better job to start with than directing you to read the freely-available essay from the ESV Study Bible “The Canon of Scripture.”  For now, you only need to read the OT part.  Although you’re welcome to read the NT section as well, we’re going to get into that in more detail when we get to the NT.

First, let’s start with what the OT is.

What is now referred to as the “Old Testament” of the Bible is actually known to the Jews as the “Tanakh,” which is an acronym (TNK) based on the three distinct parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the “Torah” (Law), the “Nevi’im” (Prophets), and the “Kethuvim” (Writings).  In fact, the Old Testament is identical to the Hebrew scriptures, except that it is numbered and organized differently.  The Old Testament is also sometimes also referred to as the “Torah” or “the Law” (Psalm 1:2; John 10:34).

I mentioned that our OT is identical to the Hebrew scriptures except that it is numbered and organized differently.  Typically there will be either 22 or 24 books; if there’s 22, that doesn’t mean that there’s anything missing, it just means that some of the books were combined with each other.  The 22-book version, the 24-book version, and the 39-book version all have the same content.

If you’re curious, the common 24-book version (including the Hebrew names for them) is often organized as follows:

The Law (Torah)

·        Genesis (Bereishit)

·        Exodus (Shemot)

·        Leviticus (Vayikra)

·        Numbers (Bemidbar)

·        Deuteronomy (Devarim)

The Prophets (Nevi’im)

·        Former Prophets

o  Joshua (Yehoshua)

o  Judges (Shoftim)

o  (1 & 2) Samuel (Shmu’el)

o  (1 & 2) Kings (Melakhim)

·        Latter Prophets

o  Isaiah (Yeshayaho)

o  Jeremiah (Yirmiyahu)

o  Ezekiel (Yehezqu‘el)

o  The Twelve ( Trei Asar )

§ Hosea (Hoshea)

§ Joel (Yo‘el)

§ Amos

§ Obadiah (Ovadyah)

§ Jonah (Yonah)

§ Micah (Mikhah)

§ Nahum (Nachum)

§ Habakkuk (Habaquq)

§ Zephaniah (Tsefania)

§ Haggai

§ Zechariah (Zekharia)

§ Malachi (Malakhi)

The Writings (Kethuvim)

·        Poetical Books

o  Psalms (Tehillim)

o  Proverbs (Mishlei)

o  Job (’Iyyov)

·        Five Rolls (Megilloth)

o  Song of Songs (Shir ha-Shirim)

o  Ruth

o  Lamentations (Eikhah)

o  Ecclesiastes (Kohelet)

o  Esther

·        Historical Books

o  Daniel

o  Ezra

o  Nehemiah

o  (1 & 2) Chronicles (Divrei ha-Yamim)

In 90 AD, this collection of books was formally affirmed by a collection of Jewish elders at the Council of Jamnia.  (They also rejected the Apocrypha at the same time, but that too, is a lesson for another time).  Keep in mind though that this wasn’t the first time these books were recognized; they had been collected and regarded as Scripture for centuries by that point.

Next, let’s talk about how we know that it hasn’t changed.

Now perhaps you’re saying, “it’s great that the Christian OT and the Jewish Tanakh are the same now, but how do we know that they haven’t been altered? What if the Christians (or the Jews) changed them somehow.”  That’s a fair question; consider the following:

• The oldest complete Hebrew copy we have is the Masoretic text.  It dates back to the 10th century (1,000 years ago).  When we compare that text with our current version, aside from the occasional typo or spelling mistake, they are the same.
• The oldest complete Greek copy we have is the Septuagint.  It dates back to the 3rd century (1,700 years ago).  When we compare that text with the Masoretic text, aside from the occasional typo or spelling mistake, they are the same.
• The oldest collection of fragments we have is the Dead Sea Scrolls.  It dates back to the 2nd century BC (2,500 years ago). When we compare those fragments with the Masoretic text, aside from the occasional typo or spelling mistake, they are the same.  And by this point, we’re looking at versions of the Tanakh that were around 200 years after the OT finished, and around 200 years before there were Christians!

Finally, let’s talk about why we believe it is inspired.

“Alright Stephen,” you might be saying.  “I can see that the Christian OT and the Hebrew scriptures are the same, and I’m convinced that they always were the same.  But why should I believe that they’re from God?”

Well, when it comes to the OT books, there are five traits that we look for.  And we derive those traits from the teaching of the Bible itself:

1. They were written by a prophet of God (Deut 18:18-22; 1 Pet 1:20-21)
2. That prophet’s authority was confirmed by an act of God (Heb 2:3-4)
3. The prophetic writings told the truth about God in harmony with God’s other prophets (Deut 13:1-5; 18:22; Gal 1:8)
4. The prophetic writings were accompanied with the power of God to change people’s lives (Heb 4:12)
5. The prophetic writings were accepted by the people of God as true (Deut 31:24-26; Josh 24:26; 1 Sam 10:25; Dan 9:2; Col 4:16; 1 Thess 2:13; 5:27; 1 Tim 5:18; 2 Pet 3:16)