1. What is the Hebrew Bible?

AKA TanakhAKA The Old Testament

The Holy Book of Judaism

• The Tanakh is the chief holy book of Judaism

• Judaism’s other holy book is called the Talmud.

• The Talmud is largely composed of an oral tradition of interpretation of the the Tanakh that was eventually written down.

Who are the Jews?

• AKA Hebrews, AKA Israelites

• (One of the) first monotheistic religions. Worship of one God.

• Their history, beliefs and laws are recorded in the Tanakh and the Talmud.

Judaism is an ethnicity as well as a religion

• Hence, there are ‘secular Jews’ – people who are ethnically Jewish but who do not subscribe to Jewish religious beliefs.

A very brief history of the Jews• Babylonian exile 587 – 539 BCE

• Destruction of the Second Temple 70 CE by Titus, son of the Roman emperor, Vespasian

• Diaspora

• Anti-semitism: religious in origin/ then racial, culminating in the holocaust.

• 1948: Establishment of the modern state of Israel

The Hebrew Bible is also part of the Christian Bible

• The Hebrew Bible is the first part of the Christian Bible – what is called the Old Testament.

• Jesus was as a Jew, as were the first Christians.

• At first Christianity was a new development within Judaism, only after time did it become a separate religion.

Stories of the Hebrew Bible also part of Islam’s holy book – the Quran

Composition of the Hebrew Bible

TaNaK (Tanakh)• An acronym for the three parts of the text• A total of 24 books (39 by the Christian system

of counting)

Torah (also called Books of Moses or Pentateuch)

• Genesis• Exodus• Leviticus• Numbers• Deuteronomy

The Torah as a Collection

• First part of the canon established

• It was pulled together after the fall of Jerusalem in 587/86 BCE.

• Regarded as fixed by the 4th century BCE

• Most authoritative

Prophets (Nebi’im or Nevi’im)

• Former Prophets– Joshua– Judges– Samuel– Kings

• Latter Prophets– Major Prophets

• Isaiah• Jeremiah• Ezekiel

– Minor Prophets(Book of the 12)• Hosea, Joel, Amos,

Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

The Prophets as a Collection

• “Prophecy” does not mean telling the future; it is about the action of God in history

• This collection is far more diverse. It was closed by the 2nd century BCE. We know that because Daniel (c. 164 BCE) was not included.

Writings (Kethub’im or Kethuv’im)

• Psalms• Proverbs• Job• Song of Songs• Ruth• Lamentations

• Ecclesiastes• Esther• Daniel• Ezra-Nehemiah• Chronicles

The Writings as a Collection

• Different formulations existed over time (compare Mt 7:12 to Lk 24:44)

• Following the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem (70 CE), the pressure rose to close the canon

• Some hold the final form was declared at Jamnia at 90 CE

The Tanakh• The Tanakh is written primarily

in Hebrew

• We do not have any original manuscripts; we only have copies of copies

• Codex Leningradensis is the oldest complete Hebrew manuscript we have. It dates to 1008 CE

Why study the Hebrew Bible?• Interesting connections with Mesopotamia• Intrinsically fascinating narratives• Some validity concerning the history of the

Israelites• The Bible is central to our culture from the great

Renaissance painters to Shakespeare to Bob Dylan

• The Bible is perhaps the most substantial common reference point we have with peoples who have lived over the last few thousand years ago.

How to study the Hebrew Bible

• With respect and tolerance• By bracketing metaphysical questions

• Four dimensions: 1) History of the Israelites according to the Bible2) The historical reality (as best we can discern it)3) The origins and authorship of the Bible4) The historically varying interpretations of the biblical stories