The Bible is not a book, but rather a collection of books, in fact a library with one section containing books chosen by ancient Israel, called the Old Testament, and another section containing books chosen by the early church, called the New Testament. Also, one should not say, "The Bible says..." but rather, "Isaiah says..." or "Mark says...".

What is referred to as ancient Israel covers a period from Abraham to Jesus, a period of almost 2,000 years and involves different groups. The term "Hebrews" usually refers to ancestors before Moses and Sinai. The term "Israel" appears when the tribes confederated after Sinai to form a kingdom in the territory of Canaan/Palestine. The term "Jew", which originates from the inhabitant of the territory of Judah, appears after the end of the Babylonian exile (6th century BC). This period is called "Ancient Judaism" or "Second Temple Judaism" and extends until the destruction of the temple in 70 CE.

The writing of the OT books extends from about 1000 BC to about 100 BC. The term "Old Testament" is a Christian designation reflecting a link between this body of writings and the body of books about Jesus, called the "New Testament". The term "Old Testament" is problematic for some, as it can lead to the mistaken idea that it is a collection of books that are now outdated. It has therefore been proposed that it be renamed the "Hebrew Bible". But this appellation poses a problem: because the term "Hebrew" usually designates that group which existed before Moses, then a part of certain books (Ezra and Daniel) were written not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic, just as certain books were composed in Greek (Wisdom), or at least were preserved in that language (Sirach, 1 Maccabees, Tobit).

Among Jews, Scripture is sometimes referred to with the acronym TANAK, letters that refer to the beginning of the title of the three major divisions of the holy books in Hebrew: (T)orah or Law, (N)ebi'im or prophets, (K)etubim or writings. The content of the first two divisions was fixed among the Jews at the time of Jesus, but that of the third was still floating and would not be definitively fixed until the second century of our era and would only include books written in Hebrew or in Aramaic. The first Christians, for their part, used above all the Greek translation of the OT, called the Septuagint (LXX). And in doing so, they accepted a much broader group of books than those of the rabbinic period. Several centuries later, while some Protestants opted to limit themselves to the Jewish canon of Scripture, the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent opted to extend the OT to seven other books: Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, as well as additions to the books of Esther and Daniel, which the Protestants would call "apocrypha" and the Catholics would call "deuterocanonical." All these books were composed before the time of Jesus and some NT authors quote them.

As useful material to understand the NT, it is necessary to mention the geographical maps that can be found on the page of Resources, in particular the map of Palestine and of Jerusalem an its temple.

We should also mention the chronological table of people and events pertinent to the New Testament.