Old Testament

Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. The story of Abraham is told in the book of Genesis, in the Old Testament. He was ordered to make this sacrifice by God, as a test of faith. When God saw that Abraham was prepared to carry out his instructions, he retracted the command, and Isaac was not killed.

Moses displays the Ten Commandments, written on stone tablets, to the Hebrews. According to the book of Exodus in the Old Testament (and in Judaism, the Torah), Moses climbed Mount Sinai, where God (‘Yahweh’) appeared and made a Covenant with man. Moses was given this set of rules to guide his people to the promised land of Israel.

Christian term for the Hebrew Bible, a collection of Jewish scriptures that form the first part of the Christian Bible. Gathered over many centuries, it contains 39 (according to Christianity) or 24 (according to Judaism) books, which include an account of beliefs about God's creation of the world, the history of the ancient Hebrews and their covenant with God, prophetical writings, and religious poetry. The first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are traditionally ascribed to Moses and known as the Pentateuch (by Christians) or the Torah (by Jews). They contain the basic principles for living in a relationship with God, and include the Ten Commandments.

The language of the original text was Hebrew, dating from the 12th-2nd centuries BC. The earliest known manuscripts containing part of the text were found among the Dead Sea scrolls. The traditional text (translated first into Greek and then other languages) was compiled by rabbinical (Jewish) authorities around the 2nd century AD.

Prophecy of the Messiah The writings state that the Jews expected the coming of a person of spiritual and political authority called the Messiah. They believed that he would be sent by God to save them from their enemies, and that he would bring peace to earth, and enable all people to know God. New Testament writers use passages from the Old Testament that appear to foretell some of the events of Jesus' life, in support of their belief that the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Jesus. Jesus and his first followers were Jews. Although he was not exactly the type of Messiah that most Jews had expected, his followers, who later became known as Christians, believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah (saviour).

The prophet Isaiah spoke of a servant of God, known as the ‘suffering servant’, who would be rejected and who would suffer for the sins of humanity. Christians believe that Jesus is the servant of God, who was put to death to save people from their sins.