The Old & New Testament

A Review
• Covenant – Latin “testamentum”
• Old Testament – God’s covenant between the
Israelites at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:5)
• New Testament – fulfillment of the prophecy of
Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31) “For the Lord said, I will make a
new covenant…” which was fulfilled by Jesus at the
Last Supper as the “new covenant” (Lk. 22:20)
• B.C. – “before Christ”
• A.D. – “Anno Domini” or “the year of our Lord”
A Review
• Old Testament – was written in Greek
• Septuagint – comes from the Latin septuaginta, which
means “seventy”. It is the Bible for Greek-speaking
Jews living outside of Palestine, and also for the early
Christians.
• Deuterocanonical – which means “second canon”
• Apocrypha – Greek word meaning “secret” or
“hidden”. These books were placed in a separate
section between the Old and New Testament.
Deuterocanonical
• A term meaning “of the second
canon”; designates writings
included in the Catholic Old
Testament but not in the Hebrew
Bible.
• Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees,
Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and
parts of Esther and Daniel

Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament

 Hebrew Canon Catholic Canon (including ”apocrypha”)
1. Torah 3. Nevi’im 1. Pentateuch 3. History 4. Prophets
Genesis Joshua Genesis Joshua Isaiah
Exodus Judges Exodus Judges Jeremiah
Leviticus Samuel (I&II) Leviticus Ruth* Lamentations*
Numbers Kings (I&II) Numbers Samuel (I&II) Baruch, + The Letter of
Deuteronomy Isaiah Deuteronomy Kings (I&II) Jeremiah*
Jeremiah Chronicles * Ezekiel
2. The Twelve Prophets Ezekiel 2. Poetry and Wisdom Ezra and Daniel, + Additions to Daniel
Hosea Job Nehemiah* Hosea
Joel 4. Books of Truth Psalms Tobit* Joel
Amos Psalms Proverbs Judith* Amos
Obadiah Proverbs Ecclesiastes Esther + Abidas (Obadiah)
Jonah Job Song of Solomon additions to Jonas (Jonah)
Micha Wisdom of Esther Micheas (Micah)
Nahum 5. Five Scrolls Solomon* Nahum
Habakkuk Song of Songs Ecclesiasticus Habucuc (Habakkuk)
Zephaniah Ruth (Wisdom of Ben Sophonias (Zephaniah)
Haggai Lamentations Sirach)* Aggeus (Haggai)
Zechariah Ecclesiastes Zacharias (Zechariah)
Malachi Esther Malachias (Malachi)
1 Maccabees *
6. The Rest of the Writings 2 Maccabees*
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles (I&II) Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament
 YHWH
I am and will be

Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament

 Divine-Human Relationship
Sin
An offense against
God. Sin is a
deliberate
thought, word,
deed, or omission
against the eternal
law of God.

Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament

Magisterium
The teaching
authority of the
Church concerning
issues of faith and
morals. The
Magisterium consists
of the pope and the
college of bishops
acting together.
Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament
Three Rules for Interpreting Scripture
1. Look closely at the
content and unity of the
whole of Scripture.

2. Read Scripture within

the “living Tradition of the
whole Church.”

3. Be attentive to the
analogy of faith—the
unity of the truths of faith
among themselves and
within the whole context
of God’s Revelation.

Essential Preparation for Studying the Old Testament

 TWO SENSES OF SCRIPTURE

Literal Sense Spiritual Sense

• Refers to what words The spiritual

directly mean either in sense has three
a precise sense or a parts:
figurative sense. 1. Allegorical
2. Moral
3. Anagogical

How the Church Interprets the Inspired Writings

Skills Necessary for Bible Study

Background in
biblical
languages

Knowledge of
contemporary
religious
writings

Archeological
knowledge

How the Church Interprets the Inspired Writings

 The Exodus of the Hebrew Slaves under Moses

The people of “Israel” are mentioned in a

carving found around this time.

Hebrew Monarchs: Saul, David, Solomon

Solomon dies and Hebrew people are divided

1260 BC 1208-1207 1030 930 772

The Fall of the Northern Kingdom to Assyrians

The Reign of Josiah and Deuteronomic Reform

Defeat of Judah by the Babylonians; Solomon’s

640-609 587-586
temple destroyed

539 Defeat of the Babylonians by Cyrus.

Captive people allowed to return

Building of the Second Temple

520-515
450

Missions of Nehemiah and Ezra,

Alexander the Great’s invasion of

333

Palestine

Forced Hellenism, oppression of Jews,

167
Dating the Old Testament

Maccabean revolt
63

Palestine under direct and full Roman

control
6-4

Birth of Jesus Christ

Destruction of the second temple and a

70AD

scattering of Jerusalem Christians

Classifying and Arranging the Old Testament Books
 Hebrew Canon
The Law 5 Books of the Torah
Hebrew and Catholic The Prophets 11 Books Former, Latter
Canonical Nevi’im and the Minor

Differences The Writings

Ketuvim
Psalms, Proverbs, Job,
Song of Songs, Ruth,
Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes, Esther,
Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah,
and Chronicles

New American Bible

Classification
The Pentateuch
The Historical Books

The Wisdom Books

The Prophetic Books

Classifying and Arranging the Old Testament Books

Typology
The study of
prefigured
patterns of
divine activity

How Important is the Old Testament in the Life of the Church

 WordofofGod
Word God

Faith and prayer

How Important is the Old Testament in the Life of the Church
Journal Question
How can studying
the Old Testament
deepen our
understanding of the
promise of salvation
and its fulfillment in
Jesus Christ?
 27 Books of the New Testament Canon

• Matthew • Romans • 1 Thessalonians • James

• Mark • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Peter
• 1 Corinthians
• Luke • 1 Timothy • 2 Peter
• Galatians
• 2 Timothy • 1 John
• John • Ephesians • Titus • 2 John
• Philippians • Philemon • 3 John
• Acts of the • Colossians • Hebrews • Jude
Apostles
• Revelation
Historical Evidence for the Existence of Jesus
Septuagint
The oldest complete edition of the Old
Testament. It is a Greek translation of
earlier Hebrew texts, probably written
in Alexandria during the time of the
Ptolemaic rule over Palestine. The
word itself is Latin for “seventy,”
which refers to the traditional story
that seventy scholars from the Holy
Land were brought to Alexandria to
accomplish the translation.

The Scriptures and Jesus

Pentateuch
• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

The Scriptures and Jesus

Historical Books
• Joshua, Judges, Ruth

• 1 and 2 Samuel,
1 and 2 Kings

• 1 and 2 Chronicles

• Ezra, Nehemiah

• Tobit, Judith, Esther

• 1 and 2 Maccabees

"Machabeusze" ("The Maccabees"), by: Wojciech Stattler, 1844 The Scriptures and Jesus

Wisdom Books

• Job
• Psalms
• Ecclesiastes (Qoholeth)
• Song of Songs
• Wisdom
• Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)

The Scriptures and Jesus

Prophetic Books
• Isaiah • Obadiah
• Jeremiah • Jonah
• Lamentations • Micah
• Baruch • Nahum
• Ezekiel • Habakkuk
• Daniel • Zephaniah
• Hosea • Haggai
• Joel • Zechariah
• Amos • Malachi

The Scriptures and Jesus

Old Testament Timeline

The Scriptures and Jesus

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those
days—oracle of the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write
it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Jeremiah 31:33

The Scriptures and Jesus

 What is
Gnosticism?
gnosis
(Greek for “knowledge”)

The Scriptures and Jesus

 Criteria for Inclusion in the Canon
Apostolic Origin
Inspired by witness of the Apostles

Widespread Acceptance
Writings must have been widely circulated by the Church at the time

Conformity to the Rule of Faith:

Reflect the traditional faith of the Early Church

The Scriptures and Jesus

Formation of the Gospel
Jesus’ Oral Written
Preaching Tradition Scripture
The Formation of the New Testament
 Sources for Synoptic Gospels
Mark
“Q” “L”
“M”

Matthew Luke

How the Church Interprets the New Testament

 Historical Criticism
Linguistic analysis Originality Convergence Consistency
• Jesus spoke Aramaic • Common sayings • Texts with different • Sayings or actions are
probably not from sources reporting the consistent with other
• Highly likely Aramaic Jesus same events are likely actions or teachings of
passages are traceable to authentic Jesus
Jesus • Unique sayings
probably are

• Abba (Mk 14:36) • Amen • Matthew and Luke • Claiming to be the Son
both imply Jesus was of God
• Talitha koum (Mk 5:41) • Abba (papa) born in Bethlehem
during the reign of • Saying he could
• Eloi, Eloi, lema interpret Sabbath Law
sabachthani? (Mk 15:34) Herod the Great

How the Church Interprets the New Testament

Matthew wrote for Mark wrote for a
a Jewish Christian local church,
audience about addressing their
how Jesus fulfilled great suffering.
the prophecies.

Luke wrote for John wrote near

Gentile Christians the turn of the
about the century,
universal Messiah. presenting a
theologically rich
view of Jesus.
How the Church Interprets the New Testament
 Translations of the Bible
Latin Vulgate:
St. Jerome’s translation of the Bible into Latin in AD 383-384

Douay-Rheims Version
Translation of the Latin Vulgate into English (1582-1610)

New American Bible Revised Edition:

Use for liturgical readings in the United States

How the Church Interprets the New Testament

Literal vs. Spiritual Interpretations
• The literal sense is foundational. It refers to what the words of Scripture mean based on sound
rules for interpretation.
• The spiritual sense refers to how the text, realities, and events in the Bible can be signs.

How the Church Interprets the New Testament

 Historical Mentions of Jesus
Name Who When Mentions Notable
Tacitus Roman historian AD 55-117 Persecutions of Mentions Pontius
Christians Pilate

Suetonius Roman biographer AD 70-130 Riots, “Chrestus” Acknowledged the

(Christ) name “Christ”
Pliny the Letter writer in AD 62-113 Christians Questions how to deal
Younger ancient Rome, with “superstition”,
legate punished Christians

Josephus Jewish Historian AD 37-101 Jesus, the Christ, Possibly edited by a

James, brother of Jesus believer

Babylonian Jewish commentary AD 200’s Yeshu (Jesus) Led Israel away from
Talmud true Jewish worship

Non-Christian Sources for the Existence of Jesus