The Torah and the “Old Testament”

Answered by Adam PenrodFurther responses from David Sedley

Question

How does the Torah differ from the Old Testament?

Answer

The Torah is part of the so called “Old Testament.” The name “Old Testament” is a Christian theological statement of their view of the Jewish Bible in relation to the Christian “Bible.” Something that is old is not nearly as valuable as something that is new–the old passes away to make room for the new. Of course Judaism teaches that the Jewish Bible is the only legitimate “bible.” The New Testament and Koran were efforts by later groups to start a religion somewhat related to the Religion of the Jewish people.

The “Old Testament” among the Jewish people is called the TaNaCh which stands for: Torah, Prophets and Writings. All of the books of a Christian “old testament” is there but arranged differently.

Does the Torah hold any more books besides the Old Testament books and how are they arranged differently?

The Torah is part of the TaNaCh. TaNaCh stands for Torah, Prophets and writings. The TaNaCh is what the Christians call the “Old Testament.”

The TaNaCh does not contain any more or any less books than the christian “oOld Testament.” However, certain books are considered to be one book under the Jewish reckoning, whereas under the Christian reckonging they are considered two. Such books are: Samuel, Kings and Chronicles.

The Tanach is arranged by level of holiness. The Torah is most Holy the Prophets next, and then the writings. The Prophets include: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial and the lesser prophets. The writings include: the Psalms, Esther, Nehemiah/Ezra, Proverbs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Chronicles and so forth.

Follow-up question

Question

Was the book of Esther part of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were found. Is the book of Esther considered part of the Torah?

Answer

I have no idea whether Esther is contained within the Dead Sea scrolls or not. Whether it is or is not would not show anything about the status of the book, since we don’t know how much we are missing from those scrolls, and we don’t know that they come from a Jewish group. However, the Talmud in Megillah teaches us that Esther was the final book to be included in the Tanach (Bible). There was much discussion amongst the Sages as to whether it was Divinely written or not, and eventually it was proved from the text that it should be included in the canon. Therefore it is considered a part of Torah (though not part of the Chumash, which is only the 5 books of Moses). It can be found in the section of the Bible called ‘Writings’ alongside Psalms, Proverbs, Job etc. I hope this answer helps

Rabbi David Sedley