Old Testament
<p>The <b>Old Testament</b> is the Christian term for the <a title="Hebrew Bible" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible">Hebrew Bible</a>, a collection of religious writings by <a title="Israelites" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites">ancient Israelites</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEJones2001215_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament#cite_note-FOOTNOTEJones2001215-1">[1]</a></sup> that form the first section of the <a title="Christian Bible" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Bible">Christian Bible</a>, to which were added a second collection of writings referred to as the <a title="New Testament" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament">New Testament</a>. The books included in the Old Testament (the <a title="Canon of the Old Testament" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of_the_Old_Testament">Old Testament canon</a>) varies markedly between <a title="Christian denominations" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_denominations">Christian denominations</a>; <a title="Protestants" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestants">Protestants</a> accept only the books of the <a title="Tanakh" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh">official Jewish Hebrew Bible canon</a> as their Old Testament but divide it into 39 books, while <a title="Catholics" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholics">Catholics</a>, the <a title="Eastern Orthodox" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox">Eastern Orthodox</a>, <a title="Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coptic_Orthodox_Church_of_Alexandria">Coptic</a> and <a title="Ethiopian church" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_church">Ethiopian churches</a> accept a considerably larger collection of writings in their Old Testament canon.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBarton20013_2-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBarton20013-2">[2]</a></sup>
The <a title="Authorship of the Old Testament" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorship_of_the_Old_Testament">Old Testament was compiled and edited by various men</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> over a period of centuries, with many scholars concluding that the <a title="Development of the Hebrew Bible canon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Hebrew_Bible_canon">Hebrew canon was solidified</a> by about the 3rd century BC.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Philip_R_page_50_5-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament#cite_note-Philip_R_page_50-5">[5]</a></sup>
The books can be broadly divided into several sections: 1) the first five books or <a title="Torah" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah">Pentateuch (Torah)</a>, 2) the history books telling the history of the <a title="Israelite" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelite">Israelites</a>, from their <a title="Conquest of Canaan" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_Canaan">conquest of Canaan</a> to their <a title="Babylonian exile" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_exile">defeat and exile in Babylon</a>; 3) the poetic and "<a title="Sapiential Books" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapiential_Books">Wisdom</a>" books dealing, in various forms, with <a title="Ethics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics">questions of good and evil in the world</a>; 4) and the <a title="Nevi'im" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevi%27im">books of the biblical prophets</a>, warning of the consequences of turning away from God.</p>
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