How to compare the Jewish Old Testment VS the Catholic Old Testament

[mkamoski1]

All -

Please help.

I am trying to find out how to compare the Jewish Old Testment VS the Catholic Old Testament.

Ideally, I would want to have a book that contains a listing of all Old Testament writings that are both accepted by both.

Do you know where one might find such a list or book or study reference?

Please advise.

Yours in Christ,

• Mark Kamoski

 

[Belloc_Fan]

Modern Jews accept the same Old Testament that Protestants accept (there are sometimes differences in translation, as they tend to rely more upon the Masoretic Text than we do). Here’s a Protestants website with a nice chart showing the difference in the organization of the Jewish and Protestant canon: biblewheel.com/canon/ChristianOT_vs_Tanakh.asp

Jews at the time of Christ, in contrast, did not have a single set canon. Some used what we Catholics consider the OT, some used what Protestants consider the OT, and some used only the first five Books of the Bible.

 

[The_Old_Medic]

Modern Jews in fact, DO accept the same books as the Catholic’s do. This is one of the changes brought about by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It was thought by many Jewish religious leaders, beginning after the final destruction of the Temple, and the dispersal of the Jews, that many of the “minor” books of the Old Testament were not really a part of it. The Protestants accepted that concept, and they threw out those books that the Catholics accepted, believing that the Jews had rejected them.

Lo and behold, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, it was rediscovered that ALL of those books were indeed a part of the Jewish Bible.

Today, most Jewish publishing houses, and their theological schools, are once again teaching/publishing those books.

 

[Kaninchen]

All -

Please help.

I am trying to find out how to compare the Jewish Old Testment VS the Catholic Old Testament.

Ideally, I would want to have a book that contains a listing of all Old Testament writings that are both accepted by both.

Do you know where one might find such a list or book or study reference?

Please advise.

Yours in Christ,

• Mark Kamoski

What you call the ‘Old Testament’ we call the Tanakh. You can find it online, here for example.

Note that it’s organized differently from your ‘Old Testament’. First there’s Torah (the Law), then Nevi’im (Prophets) and K’tuvim (Writings).

 

[Bible_Reader]

Modern Jews in fact, DO accept the same books as the Catholic’s do. This is one of the changes brought about by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It was thought by many Jewish religious leaders, beginning after the final destruction of the Temple, and the dispersal of the Jews, that many of the “minor” books of the Old Testament were not really a part of it. The Protestants accepted that concept, and they threw out those books that the Catholics accepted, believing that the Jews had rejected them.

Lo and behold, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, it was rediscovered that ALL of those books were indeed a part of the Jewish Bible.

Today, most Jewish publishing houses, and their theological schools, are once again teaching/publishing those books.

No, this is not correct.

First, as you suggest, the Jewish canon was set long before the Protestant movement began, so Protestant choices of Biblical books can hardly have influenced the Jewish canon. (Thus, for example, the Leningrad Codex is dated 1008 CE).

But, the only parts of the Deuterocanon found in the Dead Sea Scrolls are portions of Tobit, the Letter of Jeremiah, and Sirach.

Further, works not in the Catholic Canon (such as Psalm 151, Enoch, and Jubilees) were also found among those manuscripts, so it is not clear that the DSS are a reliable guide to canonical works.

Finally the Dead Sea Scrolls are a powerful textual witness because of their age, but they were a writings kept by a fringe sect and do not necessarily represent normative beliefs or practices.

I am unaware of any printed Jewish Bible (“Tanach”) that contains the Deuterocanon. For example, they are not to be found in the following translations:

Oxford Jewish Study Bible
Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society)
Tanach (Artscroll)
Tanach Simanim (Feldman)
Koren Tanach (Koren)
Soncino Bible (Old JPS translation) (Soncino)
Living Torah/Living Nach (Moznaim)

Now, of course, secular academic study (Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and atheist) will often consult works in the Deuterocanon, as well as Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal works. But these works are not regarded as sacred in mainstream Judaism.