What is the Jewish Bible?
"The Jewish Bible" is the collection of sacred books that Israel received and guarded — the same books Christians call the Old Testament. The questions worth asking are: which books belong in it, how the Jews arranged them, and what the Lord Jesus said about them.
What the Collection Is
At its simplest, the Jewish Bible is a body of writings marked out by two things: the Jews received them, and the New Testament quotes them.
VariousThe Old Testament is the collection of books, written almost entirely in Hebrew, which have come down to us from the ancient Jews and the first Christians, stamped with Jewish reception and New Testament citation.
The language itself is part of the story. Nearly all of it is Hebrew, with a few passages in the related Aramaic tongue:
Morrish Bible DictionaryAs is well known, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, except for the portions mentioned under ARAMAIC.
The Three Divisions
The Hebrew Bible is not ordered as English Bibles are. It falls into three parts, and each part covers more than its name suggests.
The Christian's FriendIn the Old Testament there was included, under the threefold division of the law, the prophets, and the Psalms (Luke 24:44), the whole of that portion of God's written word. By the law was meant the Pentateuch. Under the prophets, the historical books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings were grouped with the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets. Under the Psalms the rest of the books forming the canon of Old Testament revelation were ranged; this portion being so called, probably, because the book of Psalms stood first in the third great division of the Hebrew Scriptures.
The order matters too, since the prophets come before the psalms — the reverse of the arrangement most readers know.
Frederick W. GrantThe Hebrew arrangement would seem to have the first claim to be considered, all the more since we find its threefold division into "Law, Prophets, and Writings" apparently recognized by our Lord Himself, in Luke 24:44, as "the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms." This inverts the order, let it be noted, of our books.
The Same Books, Counted Differently
Jewish tradition bundles certain books together, so the totals look unfamiliar even though the content is identical.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe Talmud and later Jewish writers reckon twenty-four books in the Old Testament. To make out this number they count the two books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles as one book each; Ezra and Nehemiah as one; and the twelve Minor Prophets as one. The earlier Jews reckoned the books as 22, according to the letters in the alphabet: they united Ruth with Judges, and Lamentations with Jeremiah.
The practical point is that nothing is gained or lost by the difference:
H. H. SnellThe books which they still accept as divinely inspired correspond with what we call the Old Testament, though the books are not bound up together in precisely the same order.
Christ's Own Testimony to It
Which books belong is not left to guesswork. The Lord Jesus named the divisions and treated that whole set as the word of God.
William KellyHe stands between the two Testaments, as it were — at the end of the Old, at the beginning of the New. He pronounces upon the Old. He divides it into its parts — the three divisions with which every Jew was familiar — the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets... There you have, in substance, the Scriptures called the Old Testament. The Lord, when risen from the dead, bore testimony to the authority of these books (Luke 24).
This same fact settles the disputed extra books. Writers here note that the additional writings called the Apocrypha never stood inside that Hebrew collection — they never existed in Hebrew at all, and the Jews never classed them with Scripture.
J. N. DarbyOne positive reason is that it never was in Hebrew at all; and as to outward testimony, it never was classed with the Scriptures by the Jews. The division the Jews made of the Scriptures was into the law, the prophets, and the psalms.
Israel as Guardian of the Text
Israel's chief privilege was being made the keeper of these writings, and the care they took has served everyone since.
Walter ScottThe Old Testament oracles were committed to Jewish keeping (Rom. 3:2), and there could not have been more faithful guardians, down to the least letter of their sacred books. We cannot but acknowledge the care and rich mercy of God in the remarkable preservation of the text of the Old Testament, uncorrupted... through determined efforts to destroy it.
Read, Yet Not Seen
Owning the book is not the same as seeing what it points to. Commentators apply Paul's picture of Moses' veil to this exact situation.
Hamilton SmithIsrael's thoughts have been darkened, and remain so to this day. When they read the law they cannot see the One to whom the law points, because of the unbelief of their hearts... When at last Israel turns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. So with ourselves: only as we turn to the Lord will the blindness and darkness of our hearts pass away.
Summary
- Same book. The Jewish Bible is the Old Testament — written almost entirely in Hebrew, received by the Jews, and quoted throughout the New Testament.
- Same book, three parts. It is arranged as Law, Prophets and Psalms (Writings), with the prophets placed before the psalms.
- Same book, other totals. Counting it as 22 or 24 books is only a matter of bundling; not one line differs from what Christians read.
- Same book, sealed by Christ. The risen Lord named those three divisions and vouched for their authority — which also rules out the Apocrypha, never in Hebrew and never counted by the Jews.
- Same book, veiled eyes. Entrusted to Israel and faithfully preserved by them, it is still read by them without seeing Christ in it — until the heart turns to the Lord.