By Christopher Reese
The first thing people usually notice when they open the Christian Bible is that it’s divided into two major sections—the Old Testament and the New Testament. Why is it divided this way, and what are the differences between these two Bible Testaments?
The Meaning of “Testament” in the Bible
As we begin to answer these questions, it’s helpful to know the word “testament” means “covenant,” so these two major divisions refer to the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. A covenant in the Bible is a “solemn agreement between two parties, in which one or both promise to perform certain actions.” 1
The Old Covenant refers to the agreement God made with the nation Israel in which he promised, “I will be your God, and you will be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). God first made this covenant with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, and reaffirmed it with his descendants (such as Jacob, Moses, and David).
At the same time, God also promised in the Old Testament he would make a new covenant with Israel that would also extend to all of humanity (Jeremiah 31:31; Joel 2:28). This covenant was established by Jesus Christ, and the New Testament tells the story of how he brought it about through his life, death, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
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Differences Between the Old and New Testaments
We’ll say more about the overall story of the Bible, and how it relates to both Testaments, shortly. But first let’s look at some other important differences between the Testaments. One significant distinction is size. The Old Testament has more than twice as much material as the New and comprises 39 books in the Protestant Bible. Catholic Bibles include an additional 7 books, and Orthodox Bibles an additional 10 books, known as the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books. All three branches of Christianity, however, recognize the same 27 books of the New Testament as authoritative. 2
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Why Are Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Bibles Different?]
The two Testaments were also written in different languages, over different spans of time, and are set in somewhat different geographical areas. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a few chapters in Aramaic, a language similar to Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek.
The Old Testament was written over a period of about 1,000 years, while the New Testament was composed in about 60 years.
A good deal of the narrative material in both Testaments is set in the land of Israel, but some parts of the Old Testament take place in other lands, such as Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia. In the New Testament, along with Israel, some events take place in various regions that were controlled at the time by the Roman Empire, including countries in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), and in the city of Rome itself.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Bible Mapper Maps on Bible Gateway: An Interview with David Barrett]
The overall organization of the material in the two Testaments is different as well. The 39 books of the Old Testament are divided into 5 major sections:
- The Law or the Pentateuch (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
- History Books (Joshua–Esther)
- Wisdom Books (Job–Song of Songs)
- Major Prophets (Isaiah–Daniel)
- Minor Prophets (Hosea–Malachi) 3
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, The Bible Table of Contents]
The 27 books of the New Testament, on the other hand, are divided into 4 sections:
- Gospels (Matthew–John)
- The Acts of the Apostles
- Epistles (Romans–Jude)
- Revelation
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, What Are the Gospels?]
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The Story Told by the Old Testament and the New Testament
Despite being divided into two parts and composed of 66 separate books, a single storyline runs throughout the entire Bible, creating a unified, cohesive plot—the redemption of humankind. One helpful way to think of this story is as a drama that takes place in 4 “Acts”:
- Creation
- Fall
- Redemption
- Consummation.
The Old Testament contains Act 1 and Act 2, Creation and Fall, but also predicts and looks forward to Acts 3 and 4. The book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, records God’s creation of Adam and Eve in a beautiful Garden. Although they lived in a perfect environment and enjoyed direct fellowship with God, they chose to rebel against God by disobeying the only rule God had given them—not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1-2). God had warned them that if they ate it, they would die. As Genesis 3 records, they did die by losing their spiritual connection with God, and would also eventually die physically as a result. This separation from God is known as the Fall. Thus, Genesis records the key events of Act 1 and Act 2—Creation and Fall.
Despite their rebellion, which was instigated by Satan (the serpent), God put a plan into motion that would remove the barrier of sin that humans had erected, and make it possible for humanity to once again have unbroken fellowship with God. After explaining the consequences of their sin, God promised: “I will cause hostility between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). God thus foretold that a male descendant of Eve would one day destroy the devil’s work, and from our vantage point we can see that this was fulfilled by Jesus Christ, who brought redemption (Act 3).
The New Testament, therefore, unfolds the final two Acts of the Bible’s storyline. In an amazing series of events, God himself came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to die for the sins of the world (John 1:14; Romans 5:9-10). In this way, God redeemed humankind and made it possible for us to enjoy eternal life with him (John 3:16).
[Read Bible Gateway Blog Articles That Introduce the Bible]
This brings us to the final act, Consummation. Because the entire creation was damaged by the Fall (Genesis 3:14-19), in the future God will create new heavens and a new earth. As described in the New Testament book of Revelation, God “‘will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
Thus, the entire Bible tells the story of God’s rescue of humankind from the consequences of their rebellion. In the Old Testament, paradise is lost, and in the New Testament it’s restored, and once and for all those who trust in God “will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3).
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Explore the Many Ways Bible Gateway Helps You Study the Bible]
Notes
1. Mark D. Taylor, The Complete Book of Bible Basics (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2005), 312.
2. Jewish people refer to the Old Testament as the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Scriptures, or the Tanakh, and recognize the same 39 books as authoritative that Protestants do.
3. The Hebrew Bible divides the material into 3 major sections instead of 5: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings.
BIO: Christopher Reese (MDiv, ThM) (@clreese) is a writer and editor-in-chief of The Worldview Bulletin. He is a general editor of the Dictionary of Christianity and Science (Zondervan, 2017) and Three Views on Christianity and Science (Zondervan, 2021). His articles have appeared in Christianity Today and he writes and edits for Christian ministries and publishers.
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