Hebrew Bible

An eleventh century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible

This article is about the term "Hebrew Bible". See also Tanakh (Jewish term) or Old Testament (Christian term).

Hebrew Bible : (Hebrew: תנ"ך‎) is a term describing the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons. The term is considered neutral and preferred is preferred academic writing and interfaith settings over "Old Testament," which hints at the Christian doctrine of supersessionism, in which the "old" covenant of God with the Jews has been made obsolete by the "new" covenant with the Christians. The Jewish term for the Hebrew Bible is "Tanakh," a Hebrew acronym which is unfamiliar to English speakers and others.

The word Hebrew in the name may refer to either the Hebrew language or to the Jewish people who historically used Hebrew as a spoken language, and have continuously used the language in prayer and study. Few practicing Jews, however, refer to the "Hebrew Bible," except in academic of interfaith contexts.

Because "Hebrew Bible" refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons, it does not encompass the deuterocanonical books which are included in the canon of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches). Thus the term "Hebrew Bible" corresponds most fully to the co-called Old Testament in use by Protestant denominations.

Hebrew and Christian bibles

Objections by Jews and others to the term "Old Testament" is based on a long-standing Christian tradition that the covenant between God and the Jews was fundamentally flawed. Technically referred to as supersessionism, this attitude dates back to the Epistle of the Hebrews, whose author claimed that God had established His "new covenant" with mankind through Jesus, and that "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). The term "New Testament," referring to this covenant, was later adopted by the Christian church to refer to their own scriptures and distinguish them from the sacred text of Judaism, which the church also adopted as their own. Although most Christian denominations toady formally reject the idea that God's covenant with the Jews is invalidated by Jesus, most biblical scholars are sensitive to the historical implications of the term Old Testament and tend to avoid it in academic writing, as to those involved in interfaith dialog. The Hebrew term Tanak is also sometimes used, but is less common that Hebrew Bible because of its unfamiliarity to non-experts.

A Christian Bible, opened to the Book of Isaiah in the "Old Testament

The Jewish versions of the Hebrew Bible differs from the Christian version somewhat in its organization. However, its content is virtually the same, except that different translations may be involved. Most Hebrew versions of the Tanakh, as well as English translations, are based on the Hebrew Masoretic text, while Christian versions tend to be based on the Greek Septuagint (LXX) version. The Septuagint is actually the more ancient version, being created by Greek-speaking Jews in the late second century B.C.E. It was widely used by diasporan Jews in the Greek and Roman world, but is influenced by Greek language and philosophical concepts and was thus not preferred by rabbinical tradition.

In terms of organization, Christian versions of the Hebrew Bible use a different order than the Tanakh does. Tanakh, in fact is an acronym based on the initial Hebrew letters of each of the text's three parts:

[[Torah], meaning "Instruction". Also called the "Pentateuch" and the "Books of Moses," this part of the Tanakh follows the same order adopted in the Christian version.
Nevi'im, meaning "Prophets." The Jewish tradition includes the "historical" books of Kings and Samuel in this category.
Ketuvim, meaning "Writings." These include this historical writings (Ezra, the Books of Chronicles and Nehemiah) in one section; wisdom books (Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs) in another; poetry (Psalms, Lamentations and the Song of Solomon) in a third, and lastly biogrphies (Ruth, Esther and Daniel).

A page from the Aleppo Codex of the Masoretic text, tenth century CE.

The organization of this material in Christian Bibles places the Prophets after the writings and includes Daniel as one of the prophets, placing it after Ezekiel. In addition, it separates Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles from the Prophets and places them after the Pentateuch. The result is that the last book of the Christian version is Malachi, while the last book of the Jewish version is

The number of books also differs: 24 in the Jewish version and 39 in the Christian, due to the fact that some books which are united in Jewish tradition are divided divided in the Christian tradition.

Finally, the Catholic and Orthodox "Old Testament" contains six books not included in the Tanakh. Known usually as the Apocrypha, their technical term is the deuterocanonical books (literally "canonized secondly" meaning canonized later). These book as also known as "intratestimental literature," due to their being written after the time of the prophets but before the time of Jesus. In some Christian Bibles, Daniel and Esther sometimes include extra deuterocanonical material that is not included in either the Jewish or most Protestant canons.

Older Jewish versions of the Bible do not contain chapter and verse designation. Nevertheless, they are noted in modern editions so that verses may be easily located and cited. Although Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles remain as one book each, chapters of these book often stipulate "I or II" to prevent confusion, since the chapter numbering for these books follows their partition in the Christian textual tradition.

The adoption of the Christian chapter divisions by Jews began in the late middle ages in Spain, partially in the context of forced debates with priests in Europe. Nevertheless, because it proved useful this convention continued to be included by Jews in most Hebrew editions of the biblical books.

Canonization

A page from the Codex Vaticanus, a near-complete version of the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible, fourth century C.E., including several of the Apocryha.

Although the Sadducees and Pharisees of the first century CE disagreed on much, they seem to have agreed that certain scriptures were to be considered sacred. Some Pharisees developed a tradition requiring that one's hands be washing after handling sacred scriptures. The introduction of this custom would naturally tend to fix the limits of the canon, for only contact with books that were actually used or regarded as fit for use in the synagogue would demand such a washing of the hands. What was read in public worship constituted the canon.

Among the works eliminated by this process were many of the writings that maintained their place in the Alexandrian Jewish tradition, having been brought to Egypt and translated from the original Hebrew or Aramaic, such as Baruch, Sirach, I Maccabees, Tobit and Judith; as well works such as the Book of Jubilees, Psalms of Solomon, Assumption of Moses, and the Apocalypses of Enoch, Noah, Baruch, Ezra, and others. Some of these works, meanwhile had gained acceptance in Christian circles and were thus adopted as the Apocrypha, while losing their place of spiritual significance among all but a few Jewish readers until recently.^[1]

Order of the books of the Tanakh

Torah

Propehts

Joshua
Judges
[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] (I & II)
Kings (I & II)
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
The Twelve Minor Prophets

Writings

Psalms
Proverbs
Job
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastes
Esther
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles (I & II)

Credits

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↑ These canonical Christian Apocrypha of the Old Testament, however, should not be confused with the New Testament Apocrypha. The latter include works of both orthodox and heretical writers, while the former are all deemed worthy of Christian readers by Catholic and Orthodox tradition.

[1] These canonical Christian Apocrypha of the Old Testament, however, should not be confused with the New Testament Apocrypha. The latter include works of both orthodox and heretical writers, while the former are all deemed worthy of Christian readers by Catholic and Orthodox tradition.

[1]

Hebrew Bible

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