Pictruth: Comparing the OT books of Protestants, Jews and Roman Catholics

Did you know that there are books in the Roman Catholic Old Testament (OT) that are not in the original Jewish OT?

Protestants followed the Jewish OT but Rome added seven books and a number of chapters in their version. Here's a simple infographic dealing with the issue. But perhaps the greater question is, "Which of the two versions did Jesus read?"

We can answer this simply by saying, "Well, Jesus grew up in a Jewish context, so the OT He read is most probably the one used by the Jews."

Or, we can consult Jesus Himself. In Luke 11:50-51, Jesus says, "...so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation."

It is interesting to note that He mentions Abel as the first martyred prophet and Zechariah as the last one. If we consult the Old Testament chronology, this corresponds to the narratives in Genesis, ending in 2 Chronicles. Interestingly, the Jewish order of the OT corresponds neatly Jesus' words.

The first book in Jewish Torah is Genesis while the last book in Kethuvim corresponds to the present 2 Chronicles. This is a good case showing that the OT Jesus read is most probably the Jewish OT which was adopted (but reordered) by the the Protestants.

As for the other books in the Roman Catholic OT, they do not fit nicely inside Jesus' earlier statement because their contents happened or were written beyond Zechariah's time.