The term Old Testament refers to all versions and translations of the Hebrew Bible and is the first major part of the Bible used by Christians. It is usually divided by Judaism into the categories of: law Torah, prophecy Neviim, and writings Kthuvim (history, poetry, wisdom books), as denoted by the acronym Tanakh. The Protestant Old Testament is for the most part identical with the Jewish Tanakh. The differences between the Tanakh and the Protestant Old Testament are minor, dealing only with the arrangement and number of the books. For example, while the Tanakh considers 1 Kings and 2 Kings to be one book, the Protestant Old Testament considers them to be two books. Similarly Ezra and Nehemiah are considered to be one book by the Tanakh. The differences between the Tanakh and other versions of the Old Testament such as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syriac, Latin, Greek and other works, are greater as some include books not in the Tanakh and even in the books included, some have sections that the others do not. For a full discussion of these differences see Books of the Bible. All of these books were written before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, whose teaching and immediate disciples' deeds and teachings are the subject of the subsequent Jewish writings of Christian New Testament. The scriptures used by Jesus, a Jew, were according to Luke 24:44-49: "the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms ... the scriptures". According to most Bible scholars, the Old Testament was composed between the 5th century BC and the 2nd century BC, though parts of it, such as parts of the Torah, and the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), probably date back much earlier.

I see that there has been little response to this question. The answer given is informative. Here's a little more: To call the "Old Testament" the "Hebrew Scriptures" and the "New Testament the "Christian Greek Scriptures is much more accurate. Before Christianity, the Hebrew or Jewish or Israelite nation was the chosen one of Jehovah. He gave them the books that most western professed Christians Genesis through Malachi or the old testament. The division of books may differ slightly, but the content is essentially the same. Christians do well to examine various translations and texts. The Jewish versions can be enlightening. Chapter and verse divisions are purely manmade, a relatvely recent invention designed to simplify the finding of texts. The numbers may vary from one version to another, but the message is still the same.