Where do the Old and New Testaments come from?

Answer 1

Parts of the Old Testament are undoubtedly from the cultural memories of the Israelite and Judahite people. The first five books, known as the Pentateuch, are traditionally attributed to Moes, but much of what is in them could not have been known personally to Moses. In fact, scholars say that the Pentateuch was written centuries after the time attributed to Moses, and by several authors. The Elohist source recorded the ancient cultural memories of the people of Israel, while the Yahwist source recorded the ancient cultural memories of the people of Judah. The Deuteronomic History (Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings), written in the time of King Josiah (641-609 BCE), clearly includes ancient legends as well as historic material.

Some parts of the Old Testament have the appearance of being historical and of having been written from memory by the main character in the story, or by someone close to the main character, but scholars have established that this is not the case. The Book of Daniel, written as if during the Babylonian Exile, was actually a book of the second century BCE. It can not be considered as representing the memory of one man, or even a cultural memory, due to the large number of historical errors - it was simply a work of fiction.

The most important texts of the New Testament, the four gospels, are traditionally believed to represent the memory of eyewitnesses in Matthew and John, or the records of associates of eyewitnesses, in Mark and Luke. However, they were actually written anonymously and not attributed to these disciples until later in the second century. Scholars say that the gospels were not written from the memory of any eyewitnesses. The Cambridge Ancient History (XI The Imperial Peace A.D. 70-192) says that John was copied from Luke and Mark. Others say that Matthew and Luke were copied from Mark. Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) says that Mark seems to depend on traditions (and perhaps already shaped sources) received in Greek. Just what these traditions and sources were has not yet been confirmed.

Answer 2

ANSWER:

The original Old Testament was written mostly in Biblical Hebrew and partly in Aramaic.
The original New Testament was written entirely in Koine Greek.

N.B.: The Old Testament was originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew [Biblical Hebrew, though spoken then, has not survived as a living language, being replaced by Modern Hebrew. Modern Hebrew, spoken today, though routed partly in Biblical Hebrew now only bears poor similarity to it].

N.B.: The Old Testament was also originally partly written in Aramaic, which has survived as a living language.

N.B.: The New Testament was wholly written in Koine Greek [Koine Greek, though spoken then, has not survived as a living language, being replaced by Modern Greek. Modern Greek, spoken today, though routed partly in Koine Greek now only bears poor similarity to it].

Answer 3

The Old Testament is derived from ancient Hebrew scriptures, while the New Testament consists of Christian writings composed in the first century AD. The Old Testament is shared by Jews and Christians, while the New Testament is specific to Christian beliefs and teachings about Jesus Christ.

Answer 4

the early Jewish and cristians community.