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| Vetus Testamentum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Vetus Testamentum |
| Language | Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin |
| Genre | Religious scripture, historical compilation, legal corpus |
| Date | circa 12th–2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE |
| Origins | Ancient Israel, Second Temple Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism |
Vetus Testamentum
The Vetus Testamentum is the corpus of ancient writings associated with Judaism and early Christianity, forming the foundation for religious life in the Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Judah, Second Temple period, and influencing communities such as Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. Its texts were produced, transmitted, and canonized amid encounters with empires including the Assyrian Empire, Babylonian Empire, Achaemenid Empire, and Roman Empire, and were engaged by figures like Ezra the Scribe, Nehemiah, and Hellenistic authors in Alexandria, notably within the Septuagint milieu.
The conventional Latin title reflects the reception history linking the corpus to the Old Testament used by diverse communities including Rabbinic Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, and Protestantism, while parallel traditions preserved variant collections such as the Masoretic Text, Septuagint, and Peshitta. Debates over scope involved councils and synods including the Council of Jamnia (debated), the Synod of Hippo, and the Council of Trent, and were shaped by translators and theologians like Jerome, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, and Martin Luther.
Primary witnesses include manuscript traditions such as the Masoretic Text exemplified by the Leningrad Codex and Aleppo Codex, the Septuagint preserved in codices like Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, the Dead Sea Scrolls from Qumran (e.g., Temple Scroll, Great Isaiah Scroll), and versions like the Peshitta and Vulgate. Scribal practices are evidenced in palaeographic comparisons involving Ketef Hinnom, Nash Papyrus, and fragments in collections at institutions like the British Library and the Vatican Library. Textual criticism methods pioneered by scholars associated with Tischendorf, Westcott and Hort, and later editors working at Oxford University Press, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, and Brill address variants, harmonizations, and conjectural emendations.
Compositional languages include Classical Biblical Hebrew, Imperial Aramaic, and Koine Greek with later Latin renderings such as the Vulgate by Jerome. Translation movements include the Septuagint project in Alexandria, targumic traditions like Targum Onkelos and Targum Jonathan used in Babylonian Jewry, Syriac transmissions represented by the Peshitta, and medieval and modern vernacular translations influenced by figures such as John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Erasmus of Rotterdam, and modern committees like the United Bible Societies.
The corpus is conventionally organized into legal, narrative, prophetic, and poetic books reflected in groupings akin to the Torah (e.g., Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the Nevi'im (e.g., Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Minor Prophets), and the Ketuvim (e.g., Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Daniel, Chronicles), though Christian arrangements differ with categories like Historical Books, Wisdom Literature, and the Major and Minor Prophets. Deuterocanonical works such as Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and 1 Maccabees appear in traditions tied to the Septuagint and were later discussed by councils including Trent.
Jewish interpretive traditions include Midrash, Mishnah, Talmud (both Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian Talmud), and medieval exegesis by figures such as Rashi, Maimonides, and Saadia Gaon. Christian reception encompasses patristic exegesis by Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, doctrinal uses in creedal contexts like the Nicene Creed, and Reformational critique by Martin Luther and John Calvin. Liturgical and confessional applications occur in rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran Church, and influence modern movements including Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism.
Academic study involves disciplines and institutions such as biblical criticism departments at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, and University of Chicago Divinity School. Critical editions include the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the Editio Critica Maior, the Göttingen Septuagint, and the Nestle-Aland style apparatus for New Testament interaction. Major research projects and scholars include the Dead Sea Scrolls editorial teams, the Hebrew University Bible Project, text-critical work by Emil Hübner, Paul Kahle, Frank Moore Cross, and interdisciplinary studies connecting archaeology from excavations at Megiddo, Lachish, Jerusalem Temple Mount, and inscriptions like the Siloam Inscription and Hezekiah's Tunnel findings.