The Bible is the most widely used book in our world. The number of printed copies of this sacred text is comparable to the number of people on the planet. It is not so easy to master the monumental volumes of the New and Old Testaments from cover to cover. Bible book summaries are one easy way to become familiar with the Holy Scriptures.

The Challenges of Bible Study

Hundreds of years ago, the Bible was inaccessible to ordinary people; it was read and copied only in monasteries. In studying sacred texts, ordinary people could only rely on the words of clergy, often taken out of context, embellished and even distorted.

Now anyone can familiarize themselves with the main book of Christianity and form their own opinion about it, without relying on retellings. The Bible is rarely read in the original, especially since there are translations into almost all living languages. Translations are the cause of many theological disputes. In the process of repeated translations, the original meaning of the chapters of Scripture could be lost or changed.

As you read the Bible, you will repeatedly come across controversial passages, be confused, wonder, not understand, and ask questions. There are especially many such moments in the first books, which describe ancient times from the creation of the world. Interpreters of the book tend to explain the inconsistencies with religious metaphors and are convinced that they should not be taken literally.

The Bible, among other things, is filled with repetitions and detailed genealogies, sometimes occupying entire pages. Duplicate passages can be explained by the large number of authors and compilers working on the book. The family trees of the patriarchs are probably important to theologians and theologians, but are unlikely to provide much useful information or food for thought to ordinary readers.

One of the most famous biblical scholars, the American Neil Pryor, has compiled wonderful brief retellings of the Testaments, preserving the meaning intended by the authors, but not burdened with detailed details. It should, however, be remembered that the doctor of theology fully supports the official Christian concept and interprets all biblical “metaphors” in accordance with it.

The first 39 books of the Bible describe events that occurred before the birth of Christ and are combined into the Old Testament. Its chapter-by-chapter summary, presented below, will help you get a general idea of ​​the development of Christianity.

Parts of the Old Testament can be divided into several groups according to their themes:

• The Pentateuch of Moses (Torah) contains the chronicles of the Jewish people before coming to the Promised Land and establishes the basic rules of religion. It includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
• The historical books of Joshua, Judges, and the four Books of Kings recount events that occurred after the death of Moses and before the Babylonian captivity of the Jews.
• The books of individual prophets contain predictions and sermons.
• Scriptures (Ketuvim). These chapters do not have a clear order and are not allocated to a special section, located between other books. This includes poetic and instructive works - the Psalter, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Proverbs, the book of Job.

The sections of the first group are of greatest importance, since it is in them that the main meaning of the Old Testament is concentrated - the origin of religion, its laws, the formation of the Jewish people chosen by God.

Genesis of the young world

The Bible begins with Genesis, the plot of which tells about the creation of the world. As you know, God created the Universe as we know it in 6 days. He began with the firmament of the earth and heaven and the great luminaries, and ended with creeping reptiles and man. Being satisfied with his creation, God decided to rest for a day and made this day off an immutable rule for all future generations of humanity.

In Genesis you will encounter well-known myths:

• about Adam and Eve created from his rib,
• about the Garden of Eden and the insidious tempting serpent,
• about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
• about the first fratricide.

Having succumbed to sweet promises, the first people violate the divine prohibition and eat the fruits of the tree of knowledge, which incurs the wrath of the Creator.

Outside of Paradise, people become fruitful and multiply, populating the desert world, their morals deteriorate, and the Lord's patience runs out. Finally, the boiling point has been reached, the waters of the Great Flood are about to pour onto the earth, washing away all the sins of the human race along with the people themselves.

Pious Noah, warned by the Almighty, hastily builds an ark and drives into it seven pairs of each clean creature, and two pairs of each unclean creature. This entire zoo is saved, and life begins anew - with the Lord’s promise never to organize global “purges” again.

But people of the new generation are still frivolous and vain. They begin a grandiose construction project, dreaming of erecting a tower that touches the heavens. The creator does not approve of the project and instead introduces linguistic diversity to the masses. Not understanding who is saying what, the builders are forced to quit their work and scatter across the land.

The first patriarchs. Abraham and Sarah

Isaac is a long-awaited late child whom his parents loved more than life itself. Testing Abraham's faith, the Almighty demands that the boy be sacrificed to him. The obedient father is ready to strike, but at the last moment he is allowed to replace his son with a lamb. The meaning of this episode is that a true believer will never doubt the Creator and will give him everything he has upon demand.

Around the same time, the famous destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah occurs.

The history of the Jewish people chosen by the Lord begins with Abraham. His son Isaac marries the beautiful Rebekah and they have two sons. One of them - Jacob - grows up, gives birth to 12 children and receives the name “Israel” from God himself. From the twelve children of Jacob began the twelve tribes of the Jewish people.

The arrival of the Jews in Egypt

Genesis ends with the arrival of the Jews in Egypt. This is a very entertaining story that began with the eleven sons of Jacob-Israel selling the twelfth into slavery. Everything ended well, Jacob rested peacefully in a foreign country, in prosperity and joy.

But everything changes dramatically in the next book of the Old Testament - Exodus. Reading it, we learn that after the death of one pharaoh, who favored the Jews, another came to power, who had radically opposite views. Life for the people of Israel has become completely unbearable. And here Moses himself comes onto the scene, who, according to legend, wrote the Pentateuch with his own hand.

Together with his brother Aaron, with the support of the Almighty, Moses, equipped with a magic rod, creates unrest in Egypt, convincing the Pharaoh to release the Jews. Pharaoh categorically disagrees, only 10 terrible disasters convince him.

Egyptian executions:

• Turning river waters into blood;
• Invasion of toads;
• Invasion of bloodsuckers;
• Infestation of dog flies;
• Death of Egyptian cattle;
• Ulcer;
• Climate disasters;
• Locust invasion;
• Dark;
• Death of the firstborn.

Having poisoned the water, destroyed crops and livestock, killed all the firstborn and collected all the jewelry, the poor slaves leave the country and go into the desert in search of the Promised Land.

Wandering in the desert

Moses led his people through the desert for 40 years before he could reach their destination.

Along the way, many important events occurred, recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Most of these texts are detailed instructions on the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, sanctuaries, the organization of sacrifices, criminal proceedings, tailoring of clothing for priests and other vital matters. And Moses receives the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

If you want to quickly familiarize yourself with the basic laws established by the Almighty for the people of Israel, read Leviticus. The high priests were called Levites, after their ancestor Levi, the son of Jacob.

A little before reaching Israel, Moses dies. His successor is Joshua, whose story will be described separately. The Pentateuch ends here.

Life after Moses

The former slaves reached the Promised Land, and the Lord decided that they had already suffered enough. Under the auspices of the Almighty, the struggle of the Jewish people for better living conditions begins. All opponents are destroyed at the roots, Joshua takes no prisoners. The walls of Jericho fall from the sound of the trumpet, cities are destroyed, nations are exterminated without a trace.

After Joshua begins the four-hundred-year carousel of oppression and liberation described in the Book of Judges. The Lord either punishes Israel for disobedience, or again frees them from oppression. The Jewish people live differently from everyone else. It does not have traditional rulers, but there are temporary leaders called by the Almighty to lead the rebel armies. One of the Judges was Samson, a long-haired strongman famous for his affair with the treacherous Delilah.

Books of the Kingdoms of Israel

Finally, all twelve tribes of Israel decide to unite and choose a king for themselves. You can read about this in the Books of Kings. Saul becomes the first monarch, then the throne passes to his son David.

David was already a savvy fellow in his youth, as evidenced by the myth of his battle with the giant Goliath. Having matured, he became a good ruler and carried out many purely religious and full-fledged government reforms. During his forty-year reign, Jerusalem became the capital.

At first everything went well, but then the ruler sinned with a married woman and lost the favor of the Lord. Nevertheless, he remains an important figure of the Old Testament, and the apostles in the future speak of him with great respect and warmth. The Davidic Psalms, which make up the Psalter, are an immortal monument of Christian poetry.

After David, his son Solomon becomes king. Everyone knows about the great wisdom of this man, about how competently he resolved disputes between people. Legends attribute to him great talent, unusual abilities and fabulous wealth. It was Solomon who built the great Temple of the Lord. Before this, the Jews did not have full-fledged stationary temples, only portable tabernacles.

Division of Israel

Solomon's reign was a golden age for the Jews, but immediately after the death of the king, the single kingdom was divided into two separate ones, which clearly indicates internal problems. But perhaps the new troubles of the chosen people were caused by the fall of their wise ruler. Solomon loved women, had a whole harem, and among his wives there were many pagans, whom he indulged in everything. One way or another, Judea was formed in the south of the Holy Land, gathering two Jewish tribes, in the north - Israel with the remaining ten.

This division did not last long. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar came with a huge army and united the Israelites and Jews under his wing as slaves. As always, when they found themselves in trouble, the Jews appealed to the Almighty and began to observe all his laws. After seventy years of their repentance, God took pity and sent the Persians, who defeated the Babylonians and allowed the slaves to return home.

At this point, Ezra, a Jewish priest who can be considered the founder of rabbinic Judaism, enters the scene. A small religious revolution took place, the Deuteronomy of Moses, hitherto unknown, was miraculously “found”, a new spiritual discipline took shape, the main book of which was the Torah (Pentateuch).

Prophets of the Two Kingdoms

The Bible tells about holy people who taught the people the true faith and predicted the future. The main prophets of Judea are Daniel and Isaiah, and Israel - Jonah, Elijah and Elisha. Each of them is dedicated to a separate book of Holy Scripture. Elijah is a beloved Jewish prophet whose name will appear repeatedly in the New Testament.

This is the story of the Old Testament. The summary version contains only the most important points. There are many more unmentioned plots and characters in the source material. Studying the Holy Scriptures helps to better understand the essence of Christianity.

Any more or less educated Christian will tell you what the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, is made of: the Old and New Testaments. What are the similarities and differences between them? We will have to find out this in our article. The very word “dilapidated” in Russian means not only “old”, but also “unnecessary”. And how can one not recall the passage from the Gospels about how one does not sew a new patch on an old shirt? It is customary to throw away worn-out clothes. And new young wine can burst old wineskins. So why is the Old Testament still a part of the Bible? Isn't it time to scrap it and make it a monument to the written work of the ancient Jewish people? Reading the Old Testament, you can’t help but be amazed at Jehovah’s immorality: with the rivers of blood shed, this book can be compared to some modern thriller. Against this background, the commandments of Christ look like the absolute opposite. What is the mystery of the Bible complex? Let's figure it out.

Time of writing

The name itself - the Old Testament and the New Testament - indicates that the constituent parts of the Holy Scriptures were created in different eras. Moreover, the holy book of the Jews was formed in a truly epic period. Biblical scholars indicate that the most ancient fragments date back to the thirteenth century BC, and the newest to the 3rd century. BC e. The events described in the New Testament are associated with the birth, teaching and death of Jesus Christ. This part of the Bible was created over the course of half a century. It is written in Koine. This version of the Greek dialect in the Hellenistic era served in the Mediterranean as the language of international communication, like Latin in the Middle Ages or English in the modern era. The Old Testament is called the Tanakh by the Jews.

Description of the Old Testament

This first part of the Bible consists of four large sections. The Old Testament is preceded by the Pentateuch, which in Judaism is called the Torah. This section outlines the Law of Moses. As the name suggests, the Torah consists of five books (Genesis to Deuteronomy). They recount the events that occurred from the creation of the world to the arrival of the Jews in Moab. The twelve subsequent books (from Joshua to Esther) tell the history of the Jewish people. What follows is a section that can roughly be called poetic. It includes five books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. And the Tanakh completes the writings of the prophets. There are 17 books in this section (from Isaiah to Malachi). Let us recall that the Old Testament and the New Testament, that is, the complete Bible of Christians, also includes eleven non-canonical books (Tobit, Sirach and others).

Description of the New Testament

The Tanakh is equally revered by all “believers of the Book.” But the second part of the Bible is a source of faith only for Christians. If we compare the holy books of the Old and New Testaments, then in terms of volume the latter is significantly inferior to the first. It also consists of four sections. First come the four canonical Gospels, describing the Nativity, teaching, Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The second section is devoted to the history of the Church. It consists of only one book - Acts. Then there are the letters of the apostles James, Peter, John, Jude and Paul. A total of twenty-one such letters are included in the Bible. And the New Testament ends with Revelation. By the way, there are not only four Gospels. There are others written by the apostles (Jude, Thomas). But these Gospels of the Church are not included in the canon and are called apocrypha.

Old Testament and New Testament: Differences

As we have already mentioned, studying the Bible leaves the reader perplexed: are both parts of the Bible talking about the same God? In the book of Exodus, God inspires the Jews to rob the Egyptians; he demands sacrifices (including human ones - see Gen. 22:2). How does all this not fit in with Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: do not kill, do not steal, do not commit adultery. And if the Old Testament says “an eye for an eye” (Leviticus 24:20), then the New Testament says “love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matt. 5, Luke 6). The differences between the two parts of the Bible are immediately apparent. Let's make them more specific by comparing the books of the Old and New Testaments.

The main message of the two parts of the Bible

Particular attention in the Torah is given to the promise that Jehovah gave to Moses. God promised him and the people of Israel a land where they would settle. The prophets predicted the coming of the Messiah. He will have to erect a new kingdom that will never be destroyed. The New Testament places special emphasis on the coming of Christ as Savior. Christians believe that the Son of God will come again to judge the living and the dead. There is no concept of “Heavenly Father” in the Old Testament. The God described in the first part of Holy Scripture is angry, jealous and cruel. He demands animal sacrifices. But, as the Apostle Paul wisely noted, “the blood of goats and bulls does not wash away sins” (Heb. 10:4). The second part of the Bible speaks not about physical kinship, but about spiritual kinship. Jesus says: “Whoever keeps My commandments is My mother and brother.” Therefore, Christianity is a world religion, since it addresses its preaching to all people. Jews place great importance on holy places. If we compare the Old Testament and the New Testament, the God of Israel chose Jerusalem for himself so that sacrifices could be made to him there. True Christians do not need to idolize any places, since the Heavenly Father exists in the Kingdom.

Similarities between the Old and New Testaments

Why is there a general collection of holy texts called the Bible? The Old and New Testaments, along with numerous differences, also have many common messages to the reader. First, these are the writings of the prophets. Even before Jesus came to earth, clairvoyants, inspired by God, tried to prepare their fellow tribesmen for the arrival of the Messiah. Let us not forget that the apostles spread the teachings of Christ among the Jews. Therefore, it was important for them to show the genealogy of the Son of God (he had to “rise from the tribe of David”), to recognize that with their new faith they did not break the Law, but supplemented it. There are many references to the Old Testament in the New Testament. The earthly biography of the Son of God often confirms previously stated prophecies. However, Christianity offered people more. The Apostle Paul says this directly in his Epistle to the Hebrews: “If the first covenant had been without defect, then there was no need to seek another.” When a man came to Christ and asked what to do to achieve eternal life, He said: “Do you know the Law (of Moses), what is written there?” And when the man listed the Jewish commandments, the Son of God said: “You speak correctly. It’s only necessary that you give away your property, take on your shoulders the cross of good deeds and follow Me.”

Did all Christian movements accept the books of the Holy Scriptures (Old and New Testaments)

The difference between the two parts of the Bible is so stark that some denominations have rejected certain texts as inconsistent with Christian morality. This happened both in ancient times and in the Middle Ages. For example, dissident Christian movements in France, Belgium and Italy, whom believers called Good People, and Catholic opponents called heretics-Cathars, at first (from the 10th to the 12th centuries) did not accept the code of the Old Testament (except for the Psalms). They said that their opponents, representatives of the great churches, lived in the “spirit of Elijah,” while they themselves were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The word “Bible” in translation means “books”, that is, it is a large book, which itself consists of several. Indeed, the entire Bible consists of many parts, which not only differ in content and style of presentation, but were also written by different authors over several centuries.

First of all, the Bible is divided into the New Testament and the Old Testament. A brief summary of each part, or rather a short annotation for each book, can be read in the Law of God or the Orthodox encyclopedia. The Old Testament begins with the book of Genesis.

“Genesis” is a book that tells about the creation of the world, the fall of man, the history of antediluvian civilization, the history of the flood. About halfway through the book, the story switches to the story of one family: Abraham's family. It was the descendants of Abraham who became the ancestors of the entire Jewish people. It was this small people who maintained faith in the true God for centuries, so special attention is paid to their history. The twelve sons of Jacob, Joseph, and the coming of the Hebrews to Egypt are the highlights of the final chapters of Genesis.

Exodus (Old Testament), summary

The book of Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament. It was written by Moses, like Genesis, and begins the story from the moment when the life of the descendants of Jacob in Egypt became unbearable.

“Exodus” is the story of the flight of the chosen people from Egypt and their search for their land. In the desert, Moses will be given the commandments, the same ten commandments that children still learn in Sunday schools. The stories about the parting of the sea, the manna coming down from heaven, and the golden calf are all from the book of Exodus.

There are 39 books in the Old Testament, and they are all very different. Not all of them are historical or legal, like Genesis or Exodus. There are also poetic works, for example, “Ecclesiastes,” and there are prophetic works, for example, “The Book of the Prophet Isaiah.”

Perhaps the most famous and frequently used book is the Psalter (Old Testament). It is difficult to convey a brief summary of this book, since it all consists of poems. These poems were, of course, not written in Russian, so the rhymes and meter were lost in translation. But all the same, poetic images, a repentant or joyful mood, reasoning about the will of God remained.

In general, the Old Testament is the book of the Jewish people. Christians consider them prophetic; they find in the text many indications that Christ is the Messiah. For them, the essence of the Old Testament is to bring the Jewish people to Christ, to accept Him as Savior. Modern Jews do not agree with this at all. For Jews, the composition and text of these books differs somewhat from the Christian version.

Is it worth reading the Bible, and if so, why?

First of all, the Bible is a book about God. If a person is interested in faith, if he wants to find out for himself the meaning of his life and what is happening in general, it is worth reading the Bible.

Many heroes of paintings, books and even musical works are mentioned in the Bible. In order to refresh your memory of the deeds of King Saul or quickly remember all the Egyptian plagues, you can read the brochure: “The Bible. Old Testament. Summary". But still, everyone should read this book in its entirety at least once.

Ancient Hebrew literature is all concentrated in the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible), the holy book of the Jewish Jews (whose religion is Judaism), which was accepted as a holy book by both Christians and Muslims. Believers believe that the Old Testament (like the New Testament) is a collection of books written by inspiration and revelation of the Holy Spirit, God himself. The Old Testament underlies Christianity, and therefore the entire European culture based on Christianity. The books of the Old Testament were written from the 12th to the 2nd centuries BC. If we ignore the religious meaning, then in essence the Old Testament is the history of the Jewish people, who consider themselves to be a special, God-chosen people to whom God revealed the truth, since the Jews were the first to worship one God, unlike all other pagan and idolatrous peoples .

A great help when reading the Bible is Father Benjamin’s book “The Sacred Biblical History. The Old Testament and the New Testament" (it is available on the Internet), where you can easily find the necessary chapters, parts of the Bible, read a commentary on the text, and a modern retelling of the content. There is also a website: “Old and New Testaments. Summary with Illustrations”, where the entire Bible is briefly and clearly presented. Everyone needs to know the Bible, at least briefly.

Book 1 "Genesis" (chapters 1-9): the story of the creation of the world and man - essentially Hebrew mythology. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God said: Let there be light. And there was light." God created the earth, plants, animals and humans. God created man in his own image and likeness, breathing into him a living soul. Creation took place over 6 days, and on the seventh day God rested, hence the work week - 6 days and one day off.

From the rib of the first man Adam, God created his wife Eve and settled them in Eden, the Garden of Eden, where they lived in absolute bliss, not knowing evil and death. There, God planted a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and warned Adam and Eve that they could not eat its fruit, otherwise they would die. But Eve was seduced by a cunning serpent, promising that he and Adam would become as wise as the gods (know good and evil), and she bit off an apple from this tree and gave it to Adam. Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise because they violated God's commandment. So, as soon as man appeared, he disobeyed God, and the Fall occurred, that same original sin, thanks to which, according to the teachings of the church fathers, human nature itself was corrupted, and all people are sinful from birth. Adam, Eve and all their future descendants were punished by God, expelled from Paradise, they lost immortality, the woman was doomed to give birth to children in pain (they had no children in Paradise), the man was doomed to earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow, they learned suffering , illness, death, etc. This is how humanity arose - from sin.

First, Eve gave birth to Cain, then Abel. Cain, who became a farmer, and Abel, who took up cattle breeding, each sacrificed the fruits of their labor to God. “And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gift, but did not look upon Cain and his gift. Cain became very upset and his face fell. And the Lord said to Cain: ... if you do not do good, then sin lies at the door; he attracts you to himself, but you dominate him.” But Cain was offended, and “Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” God cursed Cain and doomed him to be an eternal exile and wanderer. Other parts of the Bible (the New Testament letters of the apostles) say that everything happened because Cain was evil from the beginning and did not have true faith. This is how the first murder took place.

Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, and from him and from Cain people multiplied across the earth. One day “the Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great on earth, and that every thought of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually; and the Lord repented that he had created man on earth, and was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, “I will destroy from the face of the earth man whom I have created, from man to beast, and the creeping thing and the bird of the air I will destroy, for I have repented that I created them.” God decided to save only righteous Noah and his family; he ordered Noah to build a large ark and gather every creature there in pairs. Noah did just that. And then it rained continuously for forty days and a worldwide flood occurred, in which all people perished except Noah, from whom the human race began again.

Among the descendants of Noah was righteous Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish people. It was to Abraham that God announced that the homeland of the Jews was Palestine, the territory of modern Israel. One day God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his beloved young son Isaac. Abraham cried, but obeyed, prepared everything for the sacrifice, but when he raised the knife over Isaac. God stopped his hand; it was a test of faith and humility (chapter 22).

During the time of Abraham, God destroyed the two Babylonian cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sinfulness and depravity of their inhabitants, rain of brimstone and fire rained down on them, the cities and their inhabitants were completely destroyed (chapter 19), and then in their place the Dead Sea, a large lake, was formed with very salty water in which fish cannot live. Since then, the words Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with sin and depravity.

Among the first Old Testament stories, the story of the righteous, beautiful Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham (chapters 37-45), whom his brothers, out of envy (he is his father’s favorite), sell into slavery in Egypt, stands out. There the owner's wife falls in love with him, but he refuses to have a relationship with her; she accuses him of an attempt on her honor. He is thrown into prison, there he exhibits prophetic abilities, Joseph unravels the strange dream of the pharaoh, which no one can solve, and becomes the pharaoh's assistant, saving Egypt from famine. There is also a famine in Palestine (Israel), and the Jews come to Egypt. Joseph meets his brothers and forgives them. Forgiveness is the main thing in this plot. The story of Joseph has been retold many times in world literature.

Book 2. “Exodus” (chapters 1-21). Meanwhile, the Jews remain in Egypt, and the new Pharaoh turned them all into slaves and ordered all newborn boys to be killed. But one of them miraculously escaped; it was God’s chosen Moses, whom God instructed to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. God appeared to Moses and announced to him his calling through a burning but not consumed bush (Burning Bush). With God's help, Moses led the Jews out of Egypt. When they approached the Red Sea, with a wave of the hand of Moses, the waters of the sea parted, and the Jews walked along the bottom of the sea (most likely, this is how an ordinary low tide is described). And then on Mount Sinai, with thunder and lightning, God gives Moses the law of God for the people of Israel, the Ten Commandments (chapter 20):

1. I am the Lord your God; Let you have no other gods before Me.

2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything in heaven above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth. Do not worship them or serve them.

3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Work six days and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work.

5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

7. Do not commit adultery (do not cheat on your wife).

8. Don't steal.

9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Three commandments are especially famous: 6, 7, 8. But we must keep in mind that they are not of an absolute universal nature. Prohibitions apply only to fellow tribesmen (or allies). But it is possible and even necessary to kill enemies and slaves. Along with the ban on adultery, Jews were allowed to have slaves and concubines. Nevertheless, commandments 5 - 10 formed the basis of Christian, and then secular, pan-European morality. They were not absolutely original in relation to other moral codes of the Ancient World (Egyptian, Babylonian). They simply became more famous due to the fact that Christians recognized the Old Testament as a holy book.

A little further in chapter 21 of the Book of Exodus, God gives Moses a more detailed and extensive set of laws for the Jews, including the famous principle of punishing criminals - the principle of equal retribution: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc. That is, if someone knocks out an eye or a tooth, then he also needs to knock out an eye or tooth. If anyone kills anyone, he himself deserves death. The God of the Old Testament is cruel but fair, he constantly punishes (or scares) by killing sinners, criminals, etc.

So a Covenant, that is, an agreement, was concluded between the Jews and God. Jews keep God's commandments, God helps them in everything. But it was still a long way from Mount Sinai to Palestine, the promised land, the land intended for the Jews. For many years they wandered in the wilderness as they suffered punishment for breaking the commandments. And when Moses had already died, they went to the borders of Palestine, where another people lived - the Canaanites. This is described in the book of Joshua. Joshua became the leader of the Jews after Moses. In chapters 5, 6, etc. describes how the Jews, with the help of God, conquered Palestine. God helped them destroy the impregnable walls of the first Canaanite city of Jericho, and the Jews killed all the inhabitants, just like the rest of the cities. The inhabitants were completely exterminated.

Having conquered Palestine completely, the Jews founded the state of Israel. The most famous kings of Israel were David and Solomon. In his youth, David defeated the most powerful warrior of the enemy army, the giant Goliath, and became a wise ruler and a talented religious poet. He composed a well-known part of the Old Testament - the Psalter, a collection of psalms, poetic praises of God, many of which are still sung during services. His son was the wise Solomon, who built the famous large Temple of Jerusalem, which became the center of the Jewish religion, its main shrine. This temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC. In the same century it was restored, destroyed a second time by the Romans in 70 (that is, in the 1st century) AD. All that was left of it was the Wailing Wall. Under King Solomon, Israel reached its maximum power and wealth, but with all his wisdom, Solomon fell into sin, had countless concubines, and in the end God punished Israel, which was soon conquered by the Assyrians.

Then in the Old Testament there are the Books of the Prophets - their names were Elijah. Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel, God revealed the truth to them and obliged them to preach this truth to people, to expose human vices. Prophets must lead people to God, so that they live according to God's commandments. Pushkin very vividly described the image of the ancient prophet in the poem “Prophet”; most of all, his prophet resembles Isaiah (Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 6).

We are tormented by spiritual thirst,
In the dark desert I dragged myself, -
And the six-winged seraph
He appeared to me at a crossroads.
With fingers as light as a dream
He touched my eyes.
The prophetic eyes have opened,
Like a frightened eagle.
He touched my ears,
And they were filled with noise and ringing:
And I heard the sky tremble,
And the heavenly flight of angels,
And the reptile of the sea underwater,
And the valley of the vine is vegetated.
And he came to my lips,
And my sinner tore out my tongue,
And idle and crafty,
And the sting of the wise snake
My frozen lips
He put it with his bloody right hand.
And he cut my chest with a sword,
And he took out my trembling heart,
And coal blazing with fire,
I pushed the hole into my chest.
I lay like a corpse in the desert,
And God’s voice called to me:

“Rise up, prophet, and see and listen,
Be fulfilled by my will,
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of people with the verb."

So, the prophets strive to lead humanity to God, but as before, nothing comes of it, people listen to the prophet only for a while, and then they begin to sin again, forget the commandments, and for this God punishes them: Jews are often conquered by other nations - Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians. Prophets are capable of performing various miracles with God's help: resolving dreams, predicting the future, healing the sick, and sometimes they even brought the dead to life. Evil people threw the prophet Jonah from the ship into the sea, he was swallowed by a huge fish, but he remained alive, sat inside the fish for three days, and then it spat him out onto the shore.

One of the most famous parts of the Old Testament is the Book of Job. Job was known as an ideal righteous man, and a dispute broke out between God and Satan about him. Satan began to claim that Job’s righteousness is not selfish, and for his righteousness God gives him prosperity in business and family. In fact, Job and people in general do not have selfless love for God. The question is posed acutely: what is the basis of human morality - selfless commitment to moral principles, truth, goodness, etc. or just hope for a very tangible reward from God? And so God experiments with his pet. He deprives him of his support, deprives him of well-being: his herds, numerous servants, children perish, Job became poor and childless. “Then Job stood up and tore his outer garment, shaved his head, and fell to the ground and bowed down and said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked will I return.” The Lord gave, the Lord also took away; Blessed be the name of the Lord!” The experiment continues. Satan, with God's permission, sends a terrible disease to Job - leprosy, his whole body is covered with rotting, fetid sores. And here begins the long, sorrowful cry of Job, who begins to doubt the goodness, the justice of God, God, who is clearly punishing him, but no one knows why. Job's monologue turns into a passionate complaint of a person in general about the lack of justice in the world. “Why do the lawless live, reach old age, and are strong in strength? Their houses are safe from fear, and there is no rod of God upon them.” “And yet they say to God: get away from us, we do not want to know Your ways! What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what is the use of resorting to Him?” “In the city people groan, and the soul of those who are being killed cries out, and God does not forbid it.” Job does not rebel against God, he asks questions, he does not understand what is happening. Friends come to Job and try to convince him of the goodness and justice of God, that in the end God will reward him for his righteousness. But Job doesn't believe them. One of them says in the end that the acts of God are incomprehensible to man, so great and grandiose that man has no choice but to simply come to terms with his incomprehensible will. The Book of Job is one of the most poetic parts of the Old Testament. “Behold, God is great, and we cannot know Him; the number of His years is unsearchable. He collects drops of water; they rain in abundance: they drop from the clouds and pour out abundantly on people. Who can also comprehend the stretch of the clouds, the crackling of His tent? Behold, He spreads His light over it and covers the bottom of the sea. He hides the lightning in His hands and commands whom it will strike. Listen, listen to His voice and the thunder that comes from His mouth. It reverberates under the whole sky, and its brilliance reaches to the ends of the earth. A voice thunders behind him; He thunders with the voice of His majesty.” God then speaks directly to Job, as if out of a storm. God asks Job a series of questions, through which he hints at the insignificance of Job, who dared to doubt God, who is great and powerful, for he created nature, with all its miracles. God begins to list the things he has created. And then Job admits that God is right and renounces his doubts, and God rewards him and says that it is precisely such a demanding faith, faith that has passed through the crucible of doubt, that is real faith, Job is more religious than his friends. Job was given back everything that had been taken away: his family and wealth. And twice as much.

The Book of Job was reflected in subsequent literature. At the beginning of Goethe's tragedy Faust, a very similar dispute between God and Satan over man is described. One of Dostoevsky’s main novels, “The Brothers Karamazov,” develops the problematic of the “book of Job” - a protest against the injustice of the world. And finally, Leonid Andreev, a Russian writer of the early 20th century, repeats the plot of the biblical book almost identically in the story “The Life of Vasily of Fivey,” his most vivid, passionate and terrible work.

The “Book of Job” itself is not worth reading, it is too long, there are too many semantic repetitions, too many all sorts of obscure phrases (however, the entire Bible, except for the first chapters of the “Book of Genesis”, has the same shortcomings, it lacks clarity, endless repetitions of the same thing).

The so-called “Song of Songs” (4th century BC) is very famous. For a long time it was believed that its author was King Solomon, the famous Israeli king-sage who lived in the 10th century. BC. In fact, this is a cycle of folk wedding songs, arranged by a certain educated person. “Song of Songs” became famous for its open emotionality and vivid imagery. “Put me as a seal on your heart, / as a seal on your hand! / For love is strong like death, / Jealousy is heavy like hell, / It burns with heat, - / It is God’s flame - / And many waters cannot extinguish love, / Rivers cannot drown it, - / Who will sacrifice love at the cost of his property buy, / He will be paid with contempt.” Many expressions of the song have entered world literature. For example, “Strong as Death” is the title of Maupassant’s novel. “Lily of the Valley” is an expression from the Song and the title of a novel by Balzac. In the Song itself there are hints of a certain plot. Based on it, the Russian writer Kuprin wrote a wonderful story “Shulamith” - about the love of the great King Solomon and the simple peasant woman Sulamith.

The book “Ecclesiastes” (from Greek preacher, 4th - 3rd centuries BC) is glorified all over the world. Ancient skeptical wisdom is presented in powerful, poetic lines. A skeptic is a person who doubts everything and does not look at life very joyfully. Ecclesiastes (an unknown preacher) doubts that there is meaning in the world.

“Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.

The race goes, and the race comes, but the Earth remains forever.

The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to its place,

To rise there again;

It runs south and circles north, the wind circles as it runs,

And the wind returns to normal;

All the rivers flow into the sea, but the sea does not overflow,

What was, is what will be, and what has happened, will happen,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

Sometimes they will say about something: look, this is news!

And it already existed in the centuries that passed before us.”

To be wise is an empty languor,

For from much wisdom there is much sorrow,

And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."

“For all is vanity and catching the wind.”

“For everything there is an hour, and a time for every task under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die,

A time to kill and a time to heal

Time to cry and time to laugh

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones,

A time to hug and a time to avoid hugs

A time to love and a time to hate

A time for war and a time for peace."

There is a lot of suffering and evil on earth, but the living are better than the dead.

“So eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a light heart,

For God has long since predetermined your deeds.”

The main idea of ​​Ecclesiastes is that there is nothing new in the world, everything repeats itself. Evil on earth will not stop, but there is always a place for good. No matter what you do, everything will remain the same. But living is better than not living. Because there is joy in life. But there is also suffering. They balance each other. Therefore, it is impossible to say what life is like. This is eternal wisdom. No one will write anything wiser.

1. Why are the Jewish people considered in the Old Testament to be a special people, chosen by God? 1. Because the Jews were the first to worship one God. 2. Because Jesus Christ was a Jew.
2. Who pushed Adam and Eve to commit original sin? 1. Serpent. 2. Devil. 3. Nobody.
3. Why were Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise by God? 1. They violated God’s prohibition and plucked fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 2. They didn't pray to God.
4. Why did Cain kill Abel? 1. He felt offended: God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but did not accept his, Cain’s, sacrifice. 2. Cain wanted to take possession of Abel's wife.
5. Why did God create a global flood and destroy all people except the righteous Noah? 1. Because God saw that people were corrupt and mired in evil. 2. To relieve boredom and sadness.
6. How does righteous Joseph punish his brothers who sold him into slavery? 1. No way, he forgives them. 2. He also sells them into slavery.
7. To whom and on what mountain does God give his Ten Commandments for the people of Israel? 1. To Moses on Mount Sinai. 2. Jesus Christ on Mount Golgotha.
8. How did Moses save the Jews? 1. He brought them out of Egypt, where they were turned into slaves and wanted to be completely destroyed. 2. He led them out of the desert, where they wandered, having lost their bearings.
9. Who are the prophets? 1. Those to whom God revealed the truth and entrusted it with preaching it to people and exposing their vices. 2. Those who predict fate heal the sick.
10. Why did God send righteous Job terrible trials? 1. To prove to Satan that Job's faith and morality are selfless and true. 2. To find out the limit of human patience.
11. What is the main idea of ​​the book of Ecclesiastes? 1. There is nothing new in the world, everything repeats itself. 2. Love is the main earthly value.

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God created man in his own image and likeness, and accordingly made him free to choose. Because of this, in fact, the whole trouble is rushing around with us like a chicken and an egg)))
At the first stage, the people descended from Adam and Eve forgot the Lord, lost spiritual values, fell ill with worldly vices, worshiped the golden calf (somewhere here the evil one, the liar and the father of lies is smiling) and the Lord even in despair thought of destroying the world that he had created , but saw the righteous Noah and his family, after which He (!) repented about his thoughts and made a vow for the future not to do so (from here comes His coming at the end of the world, the Last Judgment, the salvation of true believers by taking them with Him to the new world, book Apocalypse).
He saw Noah and ordered him to build an ark, which Noah did for many years among a society mired in vices, which mocked him, if only because Noah built his ark even without a river nearby :).
Then the Flood, from the sons of Noah came the human race, which once again forgot God, wallowed in vices, bowed to mammon (somewhere here the evil one, the liar and the father of lies smiles), after which the Lord decided to rely on a certain people who would be an example to everyone , God's people.
This people descended from Noah's son Shem, and currently unites a group of Semitic peoples (Israelis and Palestinians, for example). These people turned out to be the Jews, he sends them prophets, rescues them from captivity in Egypt, Moses leads them through the desert for 40 years, during which a generation of slaves was replaced by free ones (only 2 out of 600 (?) men, including Moses, who were in captivity, came out to Mount Sinai). On it, God gave Moses the first laws (Old Testament).
With such help, an exclusively religious and morally pure people (according to those concepts:)) settles and becomes powerful. But then everything repeated itself: God was forgotten, spiritual values ​​were lost, the worship of the golden calf, worldly vices, etc., in connection with which a series of prophets from God began to come to God’s people with warnings. Some were listened to and returned to true faith and values, others were stoned - in short, the situation was unstable, which eventually turned completely bad - complete worship of the golden calf, usury, trading in temples and other vices.
The prophets by that time had already foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah (Christ). Seeing that the second plan failed, God himself comes to earth in the form of a man.
This is where the Old Testament ends.
He begins to prophesy, exhort, disperses merchants from the Temple, performs miracles, does not hide the purpose of his mission, directly says that he will be crucified and resurrected on the third day. As a result, he was not recognized by the top of the Jewish priests as the Messiah, whom, by the way, they were really waiting for - but the carpenter’s son did not look like the Messiah, they were waiting for the KING who would liberate from the power of Rome and exalt the people as in past centuries) and with the help of intrigue presented as a person threatening the power of Caesar (Israel was already ruled by Rome, which, by the way, was one of the punishments for abdication).
As a result, beaten, humiliated, crucified, killed. Despite all the precautions taken by the authorities (blocking the grab with boulders, sealing it, daily security), on the third day TRULY IS RISEN! and has appeared to many in many places as proof.
At the largest appearance, about 500 people were present. From this moment the New Testament begins, new commandments, the Jews cease to be the chosen people, and all truly (not orthopraxy, but orthodoxy) believers are declared to be God's people (from this it follows that Christians are the only people of God without regard to nationality).
A massive conversion of Jews to Christianity begins, followers become Apostles and begin to spread the good news. Only One of the Apostles died a natural death. The arrival of new spiritual values ​​in the world marked the end of the Roman Empire of that period, which, during the period of agony for 250-300 years, strangled Christians in an incredible way, but could not break the spirit.