What language was the Old Testament written?

The various sections of the Old Testament were written for a variety of reasons. These depend on the particular section one is referring to. They all give a record of both the history of Israel and of God's dealings with His chosen people. Incidentally, other nations are mentioned as they come into the influence and interact with Israel. The details in Genesis are obviously of the greatest antiquity, giving the story of the creation of the world and the origin of nations after the worldwide flood in the days of Noah. Given the early development of writing, scholars have considered that Abraham may have written the earliest records in order to preserve knowledge of these early events. Alternatively, Moses may either have written these things himself or edited the earlier records, basically for the same reason, to give a written record of the history of the world and of the nation. Apart from the historic purpose, the Old Testament is rich in theological understanding and revelation of both the nature and the doings of the one true God almighty. One characteristic among many being that He is a Holy God which essentially means that He is perfect and pure in all His ways. This is why the absolute truthfulness of the scripture cannot be separated from the teaching about the God who inspired it. The Bible also shows many of the failings and wickedness of men. While being truthful about men, it also claims, without subterfuge, to have a valid revelation about God. The human actions, so clearly described in the setting of the time period in which they are set, do not fit or sit comfortably in any era other then when they clearly claimed to have been written. To claim otherwise is to ignore both the historical setting of the document and to ignore the overall character of the document itself. The Torah given to Moses and the historical setting it contains for example does not belong in a later era where a number of the customs from Moses' time would have been unknown. Thus the truth intended to be contained in the books claimed to have been largely authored by Moses, together with the often repeated claim that 'God spoke to Moses' cannot belong in a much later era without destroying the validity of the whole document itself. Thus the whole Old Testament combines both history and religious truth as one indivisible whole, the one bearing witness to the other and supporting the other.

In summary the Old Testament was written as a record, given to men, of who God is firstly as the creator and then as the sovereign Lord who works in the lives of individuals and in nations to achieve His purposes.