Comparison of Jewish and Protestant Canon Endings

SUR NAME1
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
College
Course
Date
Compare and contrast the different endings of the Jewish and Protestant versions of
the canon
Introduction
Evidently from the provided study background, the number of books within the Old
Testament has been reduced to those contained in the Jewish version by the Protestants. This
according to the theological interpretation were meant to accord dignity to the Jewish traditions
which are also valued by the Protestants. The content of this paper is organized into three
sections comparing and contrasting the endings of the Jewish and Protestants versions of the
canon of Jewish sacred scriptures.
Task 1:
The last verse of Old Testament in the Protestants Bible is the last part of the book of
Malachi. The word Malachi according to various scholars means, my messenger thus not the
name of the author. The book of Malachi talks about various Minor Prophets, however, at the
end of the book, Malachi talks of a prophecy (Coogan1376). The last verse of Malachi talks of
the second coming of Prophet Elijah before the great day of the lord. The protestants bible in
connotes that behold God lord shall send a prophet before the coming His great and dreadful day.
And that the prophet to be sent (Elijah) shall turn the children’s’ hearts to their fathers and also
the hearts of their fathers to them, lest the Lord God come and smite the earth with His curse

SUR NAME2
(Malachi 4: 5-6). If Malachi’s prophecy could be interpreted literally then it could mean that,
since Elijah did not dies he would come for the second time to bring people closer to God before
His coming (Shields 5-6). However linking the verse to the beginning of the New Testament, the
prophecy can be concluded to be talking of the Messiah and the Messiah’s forerunner who is
John the Baptist. This can be affirmed by what Jesus said in while teaching in the New
Testament (Coogan 1378). He said while speaking about John that, John is Elijah who has come
and that he has come already (Mathew 11:11; Mark 9:13). Concerning the role of the coming
Elijah John was well aware of her roles and prepared the way by baptizing people and asking
them to repent of their sins before the coming of the messiah (Luke 1:13-17, 76-79).
Task 2:
The Jewish canon ends with the 2 Chronicles, unlike the Christian Bible which ends with
Malachi. In the last verse of the 2 Chronicles, it talks about the destruction of the Temple of
Jerusalem and the 70 years of exile. Thus the last chapter of the Jewish canon connotes that in
the 1st year of Cyrus the Persian king, the Lord revealed to Jeremiah that the Lord shall stirrer up
the spirit of King Cyrus to send a Herald to all kingdoms. The in interpreting the king Cyrus
speech ‘the Lord God of heaven given has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has
appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you
may the Lord his God be with him and let him up” (2 Chronicles 26:33). It can be said that King
Cyrus is the messiah who has come to bring them back to their land from captivity (Dillard 155).
Task 3:
After the reviewing the endings of the Jewish Bible ending and protectants or the
Cristian Bible Old Testament ending, I can say that it is quite fascinating to highlight the
differences and the similarities in the ending. The Hebrews Bible ends with 2 chronicle while