- the first of the two main divisions of the Christian Bible, including the Mosaic Law, the history of the people of Israel, the wisdom writings, and the major and minor prophets: in the Vulgate translation all but two books of the Apocrypha are included in the Old Testament.
- this part of the Bible thought of as the complete Scripture of the Jews.
- the covenant between God and Israel on Mount Sinai, seen as the basis of the Jewish religion.
- the collection of books comprising the sacred Scriptures of the Hebrews and essentially recording the history of the Hebrew people as the chosen people of God; the first part of the Christian Bible
