BSN: What NT People Called the OT

What we call “The Old Testament” was never called that in the New Testament. Neither did people in the NT use the word “Bible.” Instead, NT people referred to the OT by a variety of names, including those on the list below.
- Note that some of these terms (e.g. “Law” and “Prophets”) are used by NT people in either a broad or narrow sense, depending on the context. For example, the word “Law” can refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, as in “the Law of Moses” (Jn 1:17) but can also refer to the entirety of the Old Testament (Jn 10:34). Similarly, “the Prophets” can refer to the entirety of the OT (Mt 26:56), that balance of the OT after the Law of Moses (Mt 5:17), or the third portion of the OT after Moses’ Law and the Writings (and therefore distinguished from Psalms and Proverbs, as in Lk 24:44). The context of the term will help you know how to interpret it.
- your/their “Law” – Jn 10:34; 15:25
- “the Law” – 1 Cor 14:21
- “the Law and the Prophets” – Mt 7:12; Act 13:15
- “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” – Lk 24:44
- “Moses and the Prophets” – Luke 16:29, 31
- “The Prophets” – Act 26:27
- “Scripture” – 2 Tim 3:16
- “the Scriptures” – Mt 22:29; Lk 24:27, 45
- “the Scriptures of the prophets” – Rom 16:26
- “the holy Scriptures” – Rom 1:2
- “the sacred writings” – 2 Tim 3:15