Question

What is the understanding of the concept of disciple in the old testement

Answer 1

Short answer
The Old Testament has no single technical term that exactly matches the New Testament idea of “disciple” (Greek: mathētēs), but the concept is present throughout the Hebrew Bible. Discipleship in the OT is primarily an apprenticeship/teacher–student, familial and covenantal process: people are taught to listen to God, to obey the Torah, to imitate a prophet or teacher, and to transmit instruction to the next generation.

Key features of OT “disciple”/discipleship
- Learning by doing and imitation: disciples learned by living with and copying a teacher (e.g., Elijah and Elisha).
- Instruction in the law and wisdom: discipleship focused on knowing and obeying God’s instruction (Torah) and the training of moral/wisdom character (Proverbs, Psalm 119).
- Familial and communal transmission: parents, Levites, and community leaders were responsible for instructing children and the people (Deut. 6:4–9; Psalm 78:5–7).
- Apprenticeship and institutional forms: prophetic “schools” (the “sons of the prophets”), royal or priestly instruction, and emerging scribal/teacher roles prepared people for roles of leadership and ministry.
- Relationship of authority and obedience: the teacher’s authority, the disciple’s submission, and the transmission of authority (e.g., Moses laying hands on Joshua) are emphasized.

Representative biblical examples
- Moses and Joshua: Joshua is trained as Moses’ successor (see Deut. 31; Josh. 1:1–9; Deut. 34:9).
- Elijah and Elisha: Elisha leaves his work to follow Elijah and becomes his attendant and successor (1 Kgs 19:19–21; 2 Kgs 2).
- “Sons of the prophets”: groups attached to prophetic leaders who were taught and formed in a prophetic school context (1–2 Kings, e.g. 2 Kgs 2:3, 5).
- Wisdom tradition: Proverbs addresses the learner (“my son,” “a wise man”), urging attentive instruction and growth (Prov. 1; 4:1–9; 9:9).
- Covenant instruction: Deut. 6:4–9 and Psalm 78:5–7 emphasize passing God’s words and ways to the next generation.
- Prophetic teaching and authority transmission: moments where God commissions a leader and a human teacher forms a follower (e.g., Moses’ handing on of leadership).

Language notes
- The Hebrew verb למד (lamad, “to learn”/“to teach”) is common; nouns for “student” or “learner” in the precise technical sense are less prominent in the canonical OT than they are in later Jewish (rabbinic) literature. The LXX (Greek OT) sometimes translates learning/teacher language with μαθητής or related terms.

How OT discipleship differs from NT discipleship
- OT discipleship is broader and less institutionalized: it includes family instruction, tribal and cultic formation, prophetic apprenticeship, and wisdom schooling.
- NT discipleship (in the Gospels) is a more specific calling to follow one teacher (Jesus), with a sharper emphasis on personal abandonment, itinerant following, training for mission, and the explicit language “disciple”/mathētēs.
- Yet the OT background — apprenticeship, imitation of leaders, and covenant instruction — shapes how the NT uses and redefines the disciple motif.

If you’d like, I can:
- Give a brief study plan showing OT passages to read that illustrate discipleship, or
- Compare several OT examples directly with New Testament discipleship to highlight continuities and shifts.