Canon of Scripture - Part 2

the idea is placed on the actual covenants that were made between God and man

OLD TESTAMENT CANON


The name 'Old Testament' is not found in Jewish writings, but was adopted by Christians who recognized the covenant God made with Abraham and the patriarchs, which in turn was repeated in Christ Jesus to His apostles. "Old Testament" in Jewish literature is called the 'Tanak'. This name comes from the words, Torah (Law), Naviim (Prophets), and Kethubim (Writings), known as "The Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms". As Christians, we acknowledge the New Testament, or Covenant, from Jesus Christ as a continuation of the earlier covenant made with the patriarchs and spoken by the prophets, therefore called the former covenant (Heb.8:7-13; 9:1, 15-22). We call this the Old Testament. Now, the names "New" and "Old Testament" doesn't necessarily reflect the separation of books, but rather the idea is placed on the actual covenants that were made between God and man, though we call them Old Testament and New Testament.

Although the word 'canon' is not a biblical word, it is used to define the process that took place through the life of the people, found it's way into the sacred ark of the covenant and placed in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. This proves their authority, authenticity, and reverence. Among these, the Prophets (Naviim) and the Writings (Kethubim) were secondary in observance to the Law (Torah). These books were separate before they were combined into one book as we know them. In the Torah was Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, also known as the Pentateuch (implementation of five books). The Naviim consisted of Joshua, Judges, Samuel (1, 2), Kings (1, 2), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel; and the minor prophets (the last 12 books of the Old Testament) were a book in themselves. The Kethubim included: three poetry (Psalms, Proverbs, Job ) , five of rolls (Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther), and three narrative/historical (Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, 1-2 Chronicles). Any division or combination of these books in their original observance is apart from ancient Hebrew tradition.

There was no specific order in which these books were numbered. However, modern Protestant Bibles mirror the order of the Latin Vulgate and the content of the Hebrew, thus giving us what we have today known as the Old Testament.

See Canon of Scripture - Part 1