The Old Testament
and its four minor
Divisions
Dear God
I thank you for giving me the
opportunity to study the Holy
Bible.
We believe You speak to us
through your words which is
written in the Bible.
Help us to remember your
great love to us. Be with us
always and help us
strengthen our faith in you.
The Panorama of the Old
Testament
The Old Testament
and the New
Testament together
make up the Bible.
Our knowledge of
the O.T. will help us
understand better
the N.T. likewise, a
better knowledge of
the New Testament
will clarify the O.T.
According to
the Christian
Beliefs;
the coming of
Christ is the
most
important
event of all
human
This event divides
the Bible in two
parts:
46books 27 books
The Old Testament The New
Testament
Contents
of each
division
It describes
everything God
said and did
before the
coming of
Christ.
The Old Testament
comes from -The
Jewish Bible contains
three parts
1.The Law or Torah
(which we call the
Pentateuch)
2.The Prophets or
Nebiim (divided into
major and minor
prophets)
11
3.Writings
or
Kethubim
TaNak is the name of the
Jewish Bible.
This is also the
arrangement you will
find in the Jerusalem
Bible.
Divisions and
content
of the Old
Testament
The Four minor
Divisions of the Old
Testament
1.The
Pentateuch/Torah
2.The Historical
Books
3.The Wisdom Books
1.The Pentateuch
•It consists of
the five books
of the Bible.
•It expresses
the will of God
with regard to
his people.
1.The Pentateuch
• It contains the
story of creation
and of the
formation of the
people of God.
• It also gives a
number of rules
of conduct for
the people of
God.
2.Historical Books
– these books give us a
history of how the
people lived out the
demands of the covenant
as they infiltrated,
conquered and spread
through the promise
land of Canaan.
The major theme of these
books is the ups and downs
Israel experienced as the
people live out the promises
they made in the covenant.
It is primarily the story of
infidelity that is to say that
After the people of God
entered the promised
Land, they had to start
building their own
nation.
It tells us of the story of
the Jewish people building
their own nation,
depicting all the
difficulties and hardships
they experienced, and
also their successes and
achievements.
It introduces to us the
different leaders this
nation has known
throughout its long
history.
We learn from these
books that unfaithfulness
to God can lead to the
destruction of the nation.
3.The Wisdom
books
These books abound
with simple sayings
full of wisdom
Also contain beautiful
prayers called psalms
= they express the
greatness and goodness
of God and express a
whole range of human
emotions( fears,
anxieties, sorrow, guilt,
joy )
4.The Prophetic
books
The prophets appear when
the nation became very
weak and the nation falls
into the hands of foreign
nations
The prophets Scold the people
because of their sins and
unfaithfulness to God.
We also meet many prophets
who console the people in their
sufferings, they assure the
people of God’s unchanging
goodness and remind the
people of God’s promise of a
Savior.
Scholars divided this section
into Major prophets and minor
prophets.
The major prophets are Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel are
substantial.
The minor prophets are Amos,
Micah, Joel, Malachi , the
written record of their
utterances are shorter.
Activity: Bible
Reading about the
Book of Pentateuch
l.BIBLE READING
Choose one book of Pentateuch
choose 1 chapter . Indicate the
verses.
a. Summarize the chapter that you
have chosen and write your
reflections about it.
