The Old Testament

by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Writings of ancient prophets who acted under the influence of the Holy Spirit and who over many centuries testified of Christ and His future ministry. It also contains a record of the history of Abraham and his descendants, beginning with Abraham, and the covenant, or testament, the Lord made with Abraham and his posterity.

The first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses. They are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Genesis refers to the origin of the earth, mankind, languages, races, and the beginning of the house of Israel.

The historical books tell of events of Israel. These books are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

The poetic books record some of the wisdom and literature of the prophets. They are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations.

The prophets warned Israel of her sins and testified of the blessings that come from obedience. They prophesied of the coming of Christ, who would atone for the sins of those who repent, receive the ordinances, and live the gospel. The books of the prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Most Old Testament books were written in Hebrew. A few writings contain Aramaic, a related language.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Lds, Christian, Church, Scripture

1184 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Allison Riding Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

11 months late 😜

[Nicolás Mayoral · Rating 5 out of 5]

He terminado el Antiguo Testamento, lo separo de la Biblia completa porque me voy a dar un descanso antes de proseguir con el Nuevo.

En cuanto a mi opinión sobre este libro... Que puedo decir, es el libro más importante de la historia de Occidente, ha definido el desarrollo de nuestras civilizaciones durante siglos.
Refiriéndome a los contenidos, se aprecia muy bien la esencia del Judaísmo, es una religión nacida de un pueblo menor del Creciente Fértil, víctima de constantes conquistas y servidumbres. Es por ello, que a través de la figura de Jehová, los judíos dan sentido a sus penurias como forma de castigo divino, por no ser suficientemente devotos. Es muy interesante pensar que precisamente una religión de derrotados y de supervivientes a conseguido vencer al paso del tiempo, a diferencia de las religiones de todas aquellos imperios que los dominaron, es una religión única y la más antigua de Occidente.

Personalmente no recomiendo leer este libro al completo. Sin embargo, tiene fragmentos fascinantes, siendo mi favorito el libro de Job. Aparte de tener una prosa muy bonita y "relativamente" sencilla, es el libro más humano de todos y en el que aprecio más consciencia teológica. Podría escribir un bloque igual de largo que el propio libro explicando por qué me gusta, pero me alargaría de más.

El otro gran aliciente para leerse algunos fragmentos del Antiguo Testamento es su apartado documental. A través de este libro, los judíos fueron testigos del nacimiento y caída de las mayores civilizaciones de la Edad Antigua (hasta el final del Imperio Macedonio), pasando por Babilonia, Persia y reinos menores, como el suyo propio. Es un motivo por el que vale mucho la pena, aunque probablemente haya cientos de análisis y estudios que sinteticen toda la información de manera más amena y sencilla de entender.

Estoy orgulloso de mi mismo, por haber llegado hasta aquí. Ahora leeré algún libro que me recuerde que la literatura es un hobby divertido.

Pd: la próxima vez que a un judío se le ocurra escribir 250 páginas de salmos y proverbios me voy yo personalmente a conquistar Jerusalén. ;) ;) ;)

[Courtney Hatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another read through done. The Old Testament gets a bad rap sometimes—people find it boring or harsh, but it may be my favorite. It challenges and heals me.

[Jdub Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t give this book 3 stars because I don’t believe that it holds some truth, for I do. But rather because it does drone on and on and is far too redundant. The wisdom I’m within is wonderful and inspiring, but is too few and far in between. I did enjoy Psalms and Songs of Solomon for their beauty.

[BrookeLynne Wilcox]

I listened to the entire old testament in less then a month. One thing I got out of reading this book of scripture so quickly was I finally saw and understood the timeline a bit better then any of my previous attempts.

[Meriam Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously I feel bad rating the Old Testament less than five stars, but it’s just not where my testimony is based. It’s not very exciting to read. I do still love many stories in it but many are just not what I need to repeatedly learn about and read.

[Ritsumei · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more times I read this, the more I love it. The Bible is true.

[HatGirl8]

11/27/2022

[The Flipped Page (Susan K) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a pleasure to read this. It was so beautiful to read and study the faith of ancient Jews as they struggled to find their place. Beautiful faith-filled and inspiring.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

l spent a lot of my extra time this past month listening to this book. I didn’t realize how quickly I could go through it. It was interesting to see more patterns through a quick study.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Official church publication with study helps.

[Christi]

2023 mixed audio, reading
2024 all reading

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were moments I questioned some of the things in this book, but I’m glad I have people I trust than I can talk to about them.

[Joshua Kreitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful and inspiring in places, this critical ancient scripture prepares our hearts to receive the Christ of the New Testament.