Hebrew, Greek, and Samaritan

Before the time of Jesus, the Scriptures were being copied along several separate lines. Like three branches of a family tree, they share a common root but developed small differences over the centuries.

• The Hebrew text that became the standard Jewish Bible, later called the Masoretic Text.
• The Greek Septuagint, translated in Egypt.
• The Samaritan Pentateuch, the Torah as kept by the Samaritans in the north, who accepted only the five books of Moses.

The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem (John 4:20). Their Torah reflects that: in their version of the Ten Commandments, an extra command to build an altar on Mount Gerizim is added.

Because these lines were copied separately, comparing them is powerful. Where all three agree, we can be very confident of the wording. Where they differ, we can often see which reading came first and why it changed.

How the Jewish Bible is arranged

The Hebrew Bible came to be organized in three parts: the Torah (Law), the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (Writings). The first letters, T-N-K, give the name Tanakh.

That makes 24 books. Protestant Old Testaments contain the same text but count 39, because they split Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and Ezra–Nehemiah in two and count the Twelve Minor Prophets separately. Nothing was added; it is counted differently.

Jesus seems to refer to this three-part arrangement: "the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms" (Luke 24:44).