The Old Testament is the first and older part of the Christian Bible and is at the same time, as the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh, the Holy Scripture of Judaism. It is increasingly called “First Testament” to make clear that it is an independent testament of the biblical God – that is, not an outdated predecessor of the New Testament. The scriptures were written in the first millennium before our time and owe their existence to Israel’s changing political and socio-cultural conditions in the context of the ancient Near East. The task of Old Testament research is to perceive the texts in their peculiarity, to understand them against the backdrop of their origin, and to assert them against an unreflecting appropriation. The history of its impact is reflected as well as its importance for the present. Old Testament science is integrated into the canon of sciences concerning its scientific premises and methods. It is part of the humanities, has an interdisciplinary focus and works within the horizon of religious, contemporary and social history as well as linguistics and literary studies.
