<P> The Old Testament ( abbreviated OT ) is the first part of Christian Bibles based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible ( or Tanakh ) , a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God . Its counterpart is the New Testament , the second part of the Christian Bible . The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names . The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books , the Catholic canon comprises 46 books , and the canons of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches comprise up to 51 books . The 39 books in common to all the Christian canons correspond to the 24 books of the Tanakh , with some differences of order , and there are some differences in text . The additional number reflects the splitting of several texts ( Kings , Samuel and Chronicles , Ezra -- Nehemiah and the minor prophets ) into separate books in Christian bibles . The books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical . In general , Protestant bibles do not include deuterocanonical books in their canon , but some versions of Anglican and Lutheran bibles place such books in a separate section called Apocrypha . </P>
<P> The Old Testament ( abbreviated OT ) is the first part of Christian Bibles based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible ( or Tanakh ) , a collection of ancient religious writings by the Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God . Its counterpart is the New Testament , the second part of the Christian Bible . The books that comprise the Old Testament canon differ between Christian Churches as well as their order and names . The most common Protestant canon comprises 39 books , the Catholic canon comprises 46 books , and the canons of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches comprise up to 51 books . The 39 books in common to all the Christian canons correspond to the 24 books of the Tanakh , with some differences of order , and there are some differences in text . The additional number reflects the splitting of several texts ( Kings , Samuel and Chronicles , Ezra -- Nehemiah and the minor prophets ) into separate books in Christian bibles . The books which are part of a Christian Old Testament but which are not part of the Hebrew canon are sometimes described as deuterocanonical . In general , Protestant bibles do not include deuterocanonical books in their canon , but some versions of Anglican and Lutheran bibles place such books in a separate section called Apocrypha . </P>
what are the first books of the bible called
what are the first books of the bible called
The Old Testament ( abbreviated OT )
The Old Testament ( abbreviated OT )