Hebrew Bible

11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum

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with mankind through Jesus, and that "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear" (Hebrews 8:13).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.

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:

1. [[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.
2. Nevi'im, meaning "Prophets." The Jewish tradition includes the "historical" books of Kings and Samuel in this category.
3. 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).

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.

Chapters and verses

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.

Order of the books of the Tanakh

Torah

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

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)

See also

• Books of the Bible
• Masoretic Text
• Torah
• Bible
• Biblical canon
• Rabbinic literature
• Septuagint
• Table of books of Judeo-Christian Scripture
• Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible

Online texts

• Download the complete Tanakh in Hebrew with translation and transliteration Lev Software
• Mikraot Gedolot (Rabbinic Bible) at Wikisource in English (sample) and Hebrew (sample)
• TanakhML (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and King James Version)
• Unicode/XML Westminster Leningrad Codex - A transcription of the electronic source maintained by the Westminster Hebrew Institute. (Leningrad Codex)
• Holy Tanakh - English version of the Holy Tanakh
• Mechon Mamre - The Hebrew text of the Tanakh based on the Aleppo codex, edited according to the system of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer. Hebrew text comes in four convenient versions (including one with cantillation marks) and may be downloaded. The JPS 1917 English translation is included as well (including a parallel translation).
• Tanach on Demand - Custom PDF versions of any section of the Bible in Hebrew.

Reading guides

• A Guide to Reading Nevi'im and Ketuvim - Detailed Hebrew outlines of the biblical books based on the natural flow of the text (rather than the chapter divisions). The outlines include a daily study-cycle, and the explanatory material is in English.
• A detailed chart of the major figures and events in the Tanakh
• Judaica Press Translation (online translation of Tanakh and Rashi's entire commentary)

Credits

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