Development of The Old Testament Canon
The Old Testament (sometimes abbreviated OT) is the first section of the two-part Christian Biblical canon and is based on the Hebrew Bible but can include several Deuterocanonical books or Anagignoskomena depending on the particular Christian denomination. For a full discussion of these differences, see Books of the Bible.
Following Jerome's Veritas Hebraica, the Protestant Old Testament consists of the same books as the Hebrew Bible, but the order and numbering of the books are different. Protestants number the Old Testament books at 39, while the Jews number the same books as 24. This is because the Jews consider Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles to form one book each, group the 12 minor prophets into one book, and also consider Ezra and Nehemiah a single book.
The traditional explanation of the development of the Old Testament canon describes two sets of Old Testament books, the protocanonical and the deuterocanonical (or Biblical apocrypha) books. According to this theory, certain Church fathers accepted the inclusion of the deuterocanonical books based on their inclusion in the Septuagint (most notably Augustine), while others disputed their status and did not accept them as divinely inspired scripture (most notably Jerome). Michael Barber, a Roman Catholic theologian, argues that this reconstruction is grossly inaccurate.
| ~ Books of the Old Testament ~ |
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| The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh.
Canon common to Judaism, Samaritanism and Christianity (excepting the minority of Protestant denominations sometimes called New Testament only Christians which reject the "Old Testament")
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Canon Common to Judaism and Christianity but excluded by Samaritans
These are one book in the Jewish Bible, called "Trei Asar" or "Twelve". |
Included by Roman Catholics, Orthodox, but excluded by Jews, Samaritans and most Protestants:
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Included by Orthodox (Synod of Jerusalem):
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Included by Russian and Ethiopian Orthodox:
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Included by Ethiopian Orthodox:
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Included by Syriac Peshitta Bible:
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