Tanakh

The Tanakh (Hebrew: תנ״ך) is the Hebrew Bible — the sacred scriptures of Judaism, comprising the same books recognized as the Old Testament in Protestant Christianity, arranged differently and grouped under three divisions. The name is an acronym formed from the first letters of those divisions: Torah (the Law), Nevi'im (the Prophets), and Ketuvim (the Writings). The symbol resembling a quotation mark in the Hebrew spelling is a geresh, indicating the word is an acronym. Because ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, the consonants TNK were later transliterated as Tanakh.

The Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament contain the same text, but their arrangement differs in ways that reflect distinct theological emphases. Most notably, the Hebrew Bible closes with Chronicles — summarizing Israel's history and ending with the hope of restoration — while the Christian Old Testament closes with Malachi, whose final prophecy of Elijah's return points forward to the New Testament. The Christian ordering, influenced in part by the Septuagint, arranges the books thematically toward prophetic fulfillment in Christ. The Hebrew arrangement reflects the Jewish anticipation of covenant restoration.

For OTIC's purposes, the Tanakh and the Old Testament refer to the same body of inspired Scripture. The distinction is one of community, arrangement, and theological framework — not content.

See also: Old Testament, Torah, Septuagint, Masoretic Text, Hebrew Language