Old Testament

[ ohld-tes-tuh-muhnt ]

nounChiefly Christianity.
    • the first of the two main divisions of the Christian Bible, including the Mosaic Law, the history of the people of Israel, the wisdom writings, and the major and minor prophets: in the Vulgate translation all but two books of the Apocrypha are included in the Old Testament.

    • this part of the Bible thought of as the complete Scripture of the Jews.

  1. the covenant between God and Israel on Mount Sinai, seen as the basis of the Jewish religion.

Origin of Old Testament

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; translation of Late Latin Vetus Testamentum, translation of Greek Palaià Diathḗkē; cf. paleo-, dia-, tick3

Words Nearby Old Testament

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Old Testament in a sentence

  • The latter are countenanced by no class of vows lawfully made, either in Old Testament times or in a later period.

  • Subjects from the Old Testament are more numerous in proportion to the whole than would have been anticipated.

    The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
  • It is seemingly ignored in the Old Testament, and hence many have been led to suppose that the Jews did not believe in it.

  • We can say that the prophecies of the Old Testament adjusted to the New, would be very absurd and puerile things.

  • The whole history of the Old Testament displays nothing but the vain efforts of God to vanquish the obstinacy of his people.

    Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry Holbach

British Dictionary definitions for Old Testament

Old Testament

noun
  1. the collection of books comprising the sacred Scriptures of the Hebrews and essentially recording the history of the Hebrew people as the chosen people of God; the first part of the Christian Bible

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Old Testament

Old Testament

The first part of the Bible (see also Bible), so called by Christians (see also Christian), who believe that its laws and prophecies are fulfilled in the person of Jesus, whose mission is described in the New Testament.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.