What Is the Old Testament?
Thirty-nine books of law, story, song, and prophecy — the Scriptures Jesus read, and the first act of the Bible's drama.
The Old Testament is the Bible’s first 39 books — the Hebrew Scriptures Jesus himself read and endorsed: creation and fall, the covenant with Abraham, the exodus, Israel’s kingdom and exile, and the prophets’ mounting promise of a Messiah. Jesus’ own summary: “they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
The story it tells
Genesis to Esther narrates the spine: a good creation broken by sin, a promise to Abraham that all families of the earth would be blessed through his seed, rescue from Egypt, covenant at Sinai, land, kings — David above all, with an everlasting throne promised — then division, decline, exile to Babylon, and a chastened return. It is honest history: its heroes fail on camera, and its hope keeps pointing past them all.
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
Its songs and its sages
At the centre sit the poetry books: Job wrestling with suffering, the Psalms giving every human weather its prayer, Proverbs distilling wisdom into portable sentences, Ecclesiastes staring down meaninglessness, the Song celebrating love. This is the Old Testament’s inner life — Israel not just narrated but heard praying, doubting, delighting. The Psalms were Jesus’ own songbook, on his lips to the cross itself.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
A book leaning forward
The prophets turn the whole collection into an arrow: a virgin shall conceive; unto us a child is born; a suffering servant wounded for our transgressions; a ruler from Bethlehem; a new covenant written on hearts. The Old Testament ends unfinished on purpose — awaiting Elijah’s herald and the Lord suddenly coming to his temple. Every page, Jesus taught two Emmaus travellers, concerned himself.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
Quick answers
- Why is it called the “Old Testament”?
- “Testament” means covenant: the old covenant made at Sinai anticipated the “new testament in my blood” Jesus announced (Luke 22:20; Jeremiah 31:31). Old doesn’t mean obsolete — it means foundational.
- Do Christians still need the Old Testament?
- Jesus said he came “not… to destroy, but to fulfil” it (Matthew 5:17), and Paul wrote that these things “were written for our learning” (Romans 15:4). The New Testament is unintelligible without it — some 300 quotations deep.
- What are the divisions of the Old Testament?
- Law (Genesis–Deuteronomy), History (Joshua–Esther), Poetry & Wisdom (Job–Song of Solomon), Major Prophets (Isaiah–Daniel), and the twelve Minor Prophets (Hosea–Malachi).
