What Is The Difference Between Old Testament and New Testament?

What is the main difference between Old Testament and New Testament? The former explains the history of creation, exodus of Israelites, and Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. The latter focusses on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and Christian Church.

Christian Bible is a collection of books written by different authors. The Old Testament is the first division and New Testament is the second division. The number of books in first division varies from church to church and the second division has 27 books.

We wrote this article to explain the relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament for readers who find it challenging to distinguish them. Read through the entire article to know when was the New Testament written.

Difference Between Old Testament and New Testament (With Table)

Difference Between Old Testament and New Testament With Table

Basic Terms Old Testament New Testament
Number of Books 39 27
Time Frame Creation to ~400 B.C 1st Century (0 – 100 A.D.)
Written By Jewish Prophets: Moses and others Jewish and non-Jewish writers
Original Language Hebrew Greek
Main Theme God promises to redeem the world through a Savior Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection
Main People ·         Adam

·         Abraham (2,000 B.C.)

·         Moses (1,500 B.C.)

·         David (1,000 B.C.)

·         Isaiah (500 B.C.)

 ·         Jesus

·         Peter

·         James

·         John

·         Paul

What Is Old Testament?

An Old Testament is a bible division that explains creation, exodus of Israelites, and Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. Old Testament is the first division of the Christian Bible.

The division has 39 books according to the protestant bible or 46books according to the Roman Catholic Bible. The language used to write the book is either Hebrew or Aramaic.

God promises to redeem the world through a Savior is the main theme in the Old Testament. Adam, Moses, Abraham, David, and Isaiah are the leading characters in this major division.

What Is New Testament?

A New Testament is the second division in the Christian Bible that focuses on the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ. The division came into existence in the first century.

The bible division has 27 books written by different authors inspired by God. Greek is the main language that describes the events during the Jesus Christ time.

Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection is the main theme in the New Testament. Main characters in the New Testament are Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John.

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Difference Between Old Testament and New Testament

  1. Old Testament is the first division and New Testament is the second division.
  2. Old Testament is written in Hebrew and Aramaic languages while New Testament in Greek language.
  3. Old Testament has 39 books or 46books depending on the denomination while New Testament has 27 books across all the denomination.
  4. Old Testament was written by Jewish prophets and New Testament by Jewish and non-Jewish writers.
  5. The Old Testament contains a vocabulary of 5,800 words while New Testament contains a vocabulary of 4,800 words.

Similarities Between Old Testament and New Testament

  1. Both make up the Holy Bible.
  2. Both contain scriptures that nurture Christian’s faith.
  3. Both books were written by different authors

Final Thoughts from Expert

The main difference between Old Testament and New Testament is number of books. New Testament has 27 books while Old Testament has 39 books in Protestant Bible, 46 books in the Roman Catholic Bible and 57 in Coptic Bible.

The New Testament focuses more on the life and teachings of Jesus and the Christian church. The Old Testament explains the history of the creation of the World, the exodus of Israelites, and the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. (Source: Bible Gateway)

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