Reading the old testament

[RyanJPII]

I would like to take the next few weeks/months to read the whole Old Testament. I’ve realized I’ve never read it completely and what I read from daily readings and mass is very fragmented and scattered. As the Old Testament can be very complicated, is it best to read straight through from genesis to 2 Maccabees? Or is it best to read it in a different order I.e chronologically.

 

[Thom18]

I’m reading it straight through, and that seems the best way to me, but I haven’t tried other ways of doing it.

 

[malphono]

Seems to me the easiest thing is to read it in the order it’s presented in whichever version one is using. I really don’t see much difference or a need to do it otherwise. Just my :twocents:

 

[jschwartz]

Find a good commentary. That’s my advice. Otherwise, you;ll be lost. The bible is many books and without proper guidance, you’ll think God is self contradictory

 

[adowcday]

Reading the OT straight through is a reasonable option. Most people do it that way the first time.

However, if you read the bible daily as part of your personal practice, I suggest using a one to three year reading guide, depending on how much time you can devote to daily bible reading.

I have a bible app for my cell phone that includes several bible translations and dozens of bible reading plans. You can also find a multitude of online bible reading plans, although it’s good to find a Catholic version so that you include the books that are not included in most Protestant bibles (the so-called Apocrypha). Just do an online search for “catholic bible reading plan” and you’ll find several options.

The easiest approach is to read one chapter of the OT and one of the NT daily. You end up reading the OT in about 3 1/4 years and the NT about three times. One year guides give you more to read each day, of course.

The value of the three-year approach is that it is sustainable: it only takes about 10-15 minutes a day and you can create a life-long bible reading habit. If you find that the OT is more of a chore or less helpful for daily bible meditation, the NT chapter will likely prove more helpful.

 

[Casilda]

I would like to take the next few weeks/months to read the whole Old Testament. I’ve realized I’ve never read it completely and what I read from daily readings and mass is very fragmented and scattered. As the Old Testament can be very complicated, is it best to read straight through from genesis to 2 Maccabees? Or is it best to read it in a different order I.e chronologically.

If you are simply reading through, go for it, start at Genesis. If you want to study and understand it, you will have to do it systematically, chronologically and slowly, it will take way longer than weeks or months. I studied the OT, a study on Israel and all the minor prophets that took a year. I have studied it chronologically with outlines of each book to help sort it all out that took two years, twice. Dont discount Protestant methodology (they are experts), just beware of their interpretations and commentary. I have the Navarre commentary NT, but alas, not the OT yet.

Use tools such as timelines, maps, concordances, etc.

 

[Brendan_64]

I would like to take the next few weeks/months to read the whole Old Testament. I’ve realized I’ve never read it completely and what I read from daily readings and mass is very fragmented and scattered. As the Old Testament can be very complicated, is it best to read straight through from genesis to 2 Maccabees? Or is it best to read it in a different order I.e chronologically.

The Old Testament isn’t written chronologically, and there is also a degree of duplication in it, so reading it straight through might not be the best way to read it.

Perhaps a chronological route through might be:
Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, Psalms, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees, 2 Macabees.

As for a good study Bible, the Didache Bible is good. I’d also recommend the Jeff Cavins, Bible Timeline - Story of Salvation, course to help with a basic understanding of a route through the Old Testament. It helped me a lot. Jeff Cavins takes a very ‘straight’, very Catholic approach, steeped in the Catechism.

 

[Augustine]

Here’s a prayer that you receive the graces to get closer to Our Lord through it, especially to not be discouraged through Leviticus.

Pax Christi

 

[Thorolfr]

I would like to take the next few weeks/months to read the whole Old Testament. I’ve realized I’ve never read it completely and what I read from daily readings and mass is very fragmented and scattered. As the Old Testament can be very complicated, is it best to read straight through from genesis to 2 Maccabees? Or is it best to read it in a different order I.e chronologically.

I would recommend using one of the Blue Letter Bible reading plans. It divides the bible into 365 parts so that you can read the whole thing in one year. So, for example, Day 1 is Genesis 1-3, Day 2 is Genesis 4-7, all the way to Day 365 which is Revelation 20-22.

One plan goes straight from Genesis to Revelation (Canonical Plan). Another plan does everything chronologically (Chronological Plan). For example, after the first 11 chapters of Genesis, it has you read the Book of Job before coming back to Genesis 12. That’s because chronologically, Job appears to take place between Genesis 11 and Genesis 12. Or if you want to do the New Testament, too, it will have you read parallel passages of the same events,first perhaps in Matthew, then in Mark, then in Luke, etc.

You can download pdfs of various reading plans here:

blueletterbible.org/dailyreading/

 

[MorEphrem]

Seems to me the easiest thing is to read it in the order it’s presented in whichever version one is using. I really don’t see much difference or a need to do it otherwise. Just my :twocents:

Origen would disagree greatly.

Start with the psalms and other wisdom literature before you move to the historical books, of which I recommend good Patristic commentators (such as Origen, John C, Basil, etc. I recommend Ephrem on Genesis and Jacob of Sarug on basically anything he has homilies on).

I recommend, also, being cautious to remember not to divorce biblical study from prayer.

 

[malphono]

Origen would disagree greatly.

Start with the psalms and other wisdom literature before you move to the historical books, of which I recommend good Patristic commentators (such as Origen, John C, Basil, etc. I recommend Ephrem on Genesis and Jacob of Sarug on basically anything he has homilies on).

I recommend, also, being cautious to remember not to divorce biblical study from prayer.

I don’t disagree from the point of view of study, but the OP merely suggests a read. A read can be accomplished in a relatively short time whereas study is an ongoing pursuit.