Difference between revisions of "Old Testament"

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==God's possible interpretation==
 
==God's possible interpretation==
Matthew 7:12: Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.  
+
Matthew 7:12: Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.
 +
 
 +
Possible interpretation of Matthew 7:12
 +
Love your neighbor or pray for the neighbor to be loved to be loved by your neighbor.
 +
Give money or pray for others to have money to receive money.
 +
Give salvation or pray for salvation of others to receive salvation .
 +
Give food or pray for people to receive food to receive food.
 +
Give knowledge to receive knowledge.
 +
Give help to receive help.
 +
It may not be by chance that Fr Ilarion Argatu advice for having money was to give 3% to the poor and 10% for building churches. Also it may not be by chance that most richest countries are the ones helping other countries or that saints are helping many people with their salvation.
 +
It may not be by chance that countries having many jobs have a culture of volunteering.
 +
 
 +
==God in Old Testament==
 +
The main point of Bible, that includes the Old Testament, is to describe the relation between God and humanity. In Old Testament we see God making the Creation and the interaction between God and Creation until the incarnation of the Word of God.
 +
 
 +
In the Old Testament we see that God does not allow people to see him, anyhow in Jeremiah 31:31-34 God speaks about a New Law and that at that time everybody will know God . Even if the interpretation was not this, today many know Word of God or Jesus from icons. Also the only religion that has Holy Book  describing both the Old and New Law, conforming probably with Jeremiah 31:31 is Christianity.
 +
 
 +
A New Law may mean another Law, thus Old Law may not be forever according with Jeremiah 31:31. Also based on Jeremiah 31:31 we know about a New Law and new may mean that restrictions of the Old Law may not be considered anymore including restrictions on food. Also a New Law may have another celebration day of Sunday instead of Saturday.
 +
 
 +
==Jesus or Word of God or Messiah in Old Testament== 
 +
Jesus was known as Word of God before taking human flesh , see John 1 where Jesus is declared to be the Word , to be God and Messiah. We can see teachings about Word of God in Genesis 15:1, in III Kings 6:11 or in Zechariah 12:1.
 +
 
 +
===Messiah in Old Testament===
 +
In Old Testament we see prophecies about the coming of Messiah. Interestingly enough these prophecies speak about two endings, once Messiah dying and once Messiah coming as a leader and peace being restored. So these two endings may be impossible at the same time. So the assumption of one event being described by all prophecies can add great confusion.
 +
 
 +
The Psalm describing the coming of Messiah use the word describing the coming twice.
 +
 
 +
In Christian interpretation there are possibly two events, two comings described by the prophecies. Once when Messiah comes as a Savior to save humanity that is to bring back entrance to Heaven through Baptism and immortality through Holy Communion. In this event a part of the prophecies are fulfilled. The second event describes the second coming when probably the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled.
 +
 
 +
==Holy Spirit in Old Testament== 
 +
We can see teachings about Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2.
 +
 
 +
==Icons in Old Testament==
 +
Pictures of cherubim on temple door, on temple walls are mentioned in III Kings 6:29.
 +
 
 +
==Holy relics in Old Testament==
 +
In 4 Kings 13:21 is mentioned the power of the Holy relics. In this book is mentioned that a dead person is thrown over the relics of Prophet Elisha and the dead person becomes alive. In 4 Kings 2:14 we see that belongings of Holy people can perform miracles, for example in this verse we see a cloth of Prophet Elijah being thrown into a river, that would retreat his waters making a clear passage for Prophet Elisha.
 +
 
 +
==Incense in Old Testament==
 +
We see incense being mentioned multiple times in Old Testament for example in Exodus 30:7-9 and in Exodus 30:1.
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==

Revision as of 15:30, January 26, 2013

This article forms part of the series on the
The Old Testament - Septuagint
or simply "LXX", the Koine Greek version
of the Hebrew Bible.
Pentateuch or "the Law"
1.Genesis | 2.Exodus | 3.Leviticus | 4.Numbers | 5.Deuteronomy
Historical Books
6.Joshua | 7.Judges | 8.Ruth

9.I Kingdoms | 10.II Kingdoms | 11.III Kingdoms | 12.IV Kingdoms
13.I Chronicles | 14.II Chronicles | 15.I Esdras | 16.II Esdras
17.Nehemiah | 18.Tobit | 19.Judith | 20.Esther with additions
21.I Maccabees | 22.II Maccabees | 23.III Maccabees

Books of Wisdom
24.Book of Psalms | 25.Job | 26.Proverbs
27.Ecclesiastes | 28.Song of Solomon
29.Wisdom of Solomon | 30.Wisdom of Sirach
The Prophets
The Minor Prophets, or "The Twelve"

31.Hosea | 32.Amos | 33.Micah | 34.Joel | 35.Obadiah | 36.Jonah
37.Nahum | 38.Habakkuk | 39.Zephania | 40.Haggai | 41.Zachariah
42.Malachi

The Major Prophets

43.Isaiah | 44.Jeremiah | 45.Baruch | 46.Lamentations
47.Letter of Jeremiah | 48.Ezekiel | 49.Daniel with additions

Appendix
IV Maccabees


The Old Testament is first of the two divisions of Holy Scripture. According to historians, the Old Testament was composed between the 5th century BC and the 2nd century BC, though parts of it, such as the Torah, and Song of Deborah (Judges 5), date back much earlier.

Traditionally the Old Testament is divided into the law books (the Pentateuch and historical books), the Psalms and other wisdom books, and the prophets because of what Christ said in Luke 24:44:

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (KJV)

The term Old Testament itself is a translation of the Latin Vetus Testamentum, from the Greek Ἡ Παλαιά Διαθήκη (hē Palaia Diathēkē), all meaning "The Old Covenant" (or "Testament"). The Latin rendered testament in English originally came from the Latin for "witness" and from there expanded to mean "to make a will"; thus, though it is purported to be synonymous with "covenant," it has a distinct legal flavoring. Further semantic extensions in English have made the English term more ambiguous[1].

The Orthodox Church also numbers among the genuine books of the Old Testament the so-called apocryphal books, literally meaning the "secret" or "hidden" writings. A less Protestant-biased term for these parts of Scripture is the deuterocanonical writings.

The Five Books of the Law

The Five Books of the Law are the first five books of the Old Testament, known jointly as the Pentateuch (Gr. Πεντάτευχος, literally five volumes), and they describe God's creation of the world, the rebellion of Adam and Eve and the fall of man. These books are also called the Books of Moses. They detail the early history of God's people of Israel from the days of Abraham (ca. 2000 BC) right through to the era of Moses (ca. 1250 BC).

The Five Books of the Law are:

Although scholars believe that the Law was not written by the personal hand of Moses, and that the books show evidence of being the result of a number of oral and written traditions and time periods, the Church connects the Law with Moses, the great man of God to whom "the Lord used to speak ... face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11).

The Books of History

The second section of the LXX Old Testament is known as the Historical Books. This group covers the history of Israel from the settlement in the promised land of Canaan to the first centuries before Christ.

They include:

  1. I Kingdoms (I Samuel)
  2. II Kingdoms (II Samuel)
  • Third and Fourth Kingdoms
  1. III Kingdoms (I Kings)
  2. IV Kingdoms (II Kings)
  • First and Second Chronicles
  1. I Paraleipomenon (I Chronicles)
  2. II Paraleipomenon (II Chronicles)
  3. Nehemiah
  4. I Esdras
  5. II Esdras (Ezra)
  • The Final Books
  1. Tobit (Tobias)
  2. Judith
  3. Esther
  4. I Maccabees
  5. II Maccabees
  6. III Maccabees (English bible)

In the canon of the Orthodox Church—which is generally that of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible—1 & 2 Samuel are called 1 & 2 Kings; and 1 & 2 Kings are called 3 & 4 Kings. Also, the so-called apocryphal books, listed above (I Esdras, II Esdras, Tobit, Judith, I Maccabees, II Maccabees, III Maccabees, IV Maccabees), are considered by the Orthodox as genuine parts of the Bible. The Old Testament apocrypha is a body of writings considered by the non-Orthodox to be of close association with the Bible, but not actually part of its official canonical contents.

The historical books of the Bible were written well after the events described in them actually took place.

Wisdom books

The Wisdom books include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, as well as the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, and the Wisdom of Solomon from the so-called apocrypha.

Although not technically a wisdom book, the Prayer of Manasseh from the so-called apocrypha, is a penitential prayer of the King of Judah, which for the Orthodox is part of the Bible. (It is included in the Great Compline service of the Orthodox Church.)

Prophets

16 books in the Old Testament are called by the names of prophets, although not necessarily written by their hands. A prophet is one who speaks the word of God by direct divine inspiration, not just one who foretells the future.

Major prophets

Four of the prophetic books are those of the so-called major prophets:

Minor prophets

The books of the 12 so-called minor prophets:

Others

Some Orthodox Churches include:

God's possible interpretation

Matthew 7:12: Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Possible interpretation of Matthew 7:12 Love your neighbor or pray for the neighbor to be loved to be loved by your neighbor. Give money or pray for others to have money to receive money. Give salvation or pray for salvation of others to receive salvation . Give food or pray for people to receive food to receive food. Give knowledge to receive knowledge. Give help to receive help. It may not be by chance that Fr Ilarion Argatu advice for having money was to give 3% to the poor and 10% for building churches. Also it may not be by chance that most richest countries are the ones helping other countries or that saints are helping many people with their salvation. It may not be by chance that countries having many jobs have a culture of volunteering.

God in Old Testament

The main point of Bible, that includes the Old Testament, is to describe the relation between God and humanity. In Old Testament we see God making the Creation and the interaction between God and Creation until the incarnation of the Word of God.

In the Old Testament we see that God does not allow people to see him, anyhow in Jeremiah 31:31-34 God speaks about a New Law and that at that time everybody will know God . Even if the interpretation was not this, today many know Word of God or Jesus from icons. Also the only religion that has Holy Book describing both the Old and New Law, conforming probably with Jeremiah 31:31 is Christianity.

A New Law may mean another Law, thus Old Law may not be forever according with Jeremiah 31:31. Also based on Jeremiah 31:31 we know about a New Law and new may mean that restrictions of the Old Law may not be considered anymore including restrictions on food. Also a New Law may have another celebration day of Sunday instead of Saturday.

Jesus or Word of God or Messiah in Old Testament

Jesus was known as Word of God before taking human flesh , see John 1 where Jesus is declared to be the Word , to be God and Messiah. We can see teachings about Word of God in Genesis 15:1, in III Kings 6:11 or in Zechariah 12:1.

Messiah in Old Testament

In Old Testament we see prophecies about the coming of Messiah. Interestingly enough these prophecies speak about two endings, once Messiah dying and once Messiah coming as a leader and peace being restored. So these two endings may be impossible at the same time. So the assumption of one event being described by all prophecies can add great confusion.

The Psalm describing the coming of Messiah use the word describing the coming twice.

In Christian interpretation there are possibly two events, two comings described by the prophecies. Once when Messiah comes as a Savior to save humanity that is to bring back entrance to Heaven through Baptism and immortality through Holy Communion. In this event a part of the prophecies are fulfilled. The second event describes the second coming when probably the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled.

Holy Spirit in Old Testament

We can see teachings about Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2.

Icons in Old Testament

Pictures of cherubim on temple door, on temple walls are mentioned in III Kings 6:29.

Holy relics in Old Testament

In 4 Kings 13:21 is mentioned the power of the Holy relics. In this book is mentioned that a dead person is thrown over the relics of Prophet Elisha and the dead person becomes alive. In 4 Kings 2:14 we see that belongings of Holy people can perform miracles, for example in this verse we see a cloth of Prophet Elijah being thrown into a river, that would retreat his waters making a clear passage for Prophet Elisha.

Incense in Old Testament

We see incense being mentioned multiple times in Old Testament for example in Exodus 30:7-9 and in Exodus 30:1.

External links