One claim that is made in our Christian Church is that the Jewish people use the Old Testament and that Christians use both the Old Testament and the New Testament. How correct is this statement?
Do the Jewish people have a collection of books similar to the Old Testament in the same way that the Christian Bible does?
If so:
- Are there any significant differences in the translations (is the Christian Old Testament a copy with some 'interpretations')?
- Are there other books added or missing to the Christian Old Testament?
Answer
The Jewish scriptures are called the "Tanach", which is traditionally divided into 24 separate books.
It is hard to say exactly how it measures up to the Christian Old Testament, since there are different versions as to what is included in the Old Testament depending on what sect of Christianity one belongs to. Here is an excellent chart which shows the differences in inclusion of books and their order in the Old Testament for Judaism and the main strains of Christianity.
As with anything, though, translation is a form of interpretation. There are many Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible, and the differences are many.
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