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The Hebrew Bible is generally considered to consist of 24 books, but this number is somewhat arbitrary, as (for example) it regards 12 separate books of minor prophets as a single book. [65] The traditional rabbinic count of 24 books appears in the Talmud [63] and numerous works of midrash. [66]
- Overview
- Books of the Hebrew Bible
- In Judaism
- In Christianity
The Hebrew canon contains 24 books, one for each of the scrolls on which these works were written in ancient times. The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections: the Torah, or “Teaching,” also called the Pentateuch or the “Five Books of Moses”; the Neviʾim, or Prophets; and the Ketuvim, or Writings. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions. Each of the three main groupings of texts is further subdivided. The Torah contains narratives combined with rules and instructions in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books of the Neviʾim are categorized among either the Former Prophets—which contain anecdotes about major Hebrew persons and include Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings—or the Latter Prophets—which exhort Israel to return to God and are named (because they are either attributed to or contain stories about them) for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and (together in one book known as “The Book of the Twelve”) the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). The last of the three divisions, the Ketuvim, contains poetry (devotional and erotic), theology, and drama in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs (attributed to King Solomon), Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
The Hebrew Bible as adopted by Christianity features more than 24 books for several reasons. First, Christians divided some of the original Hebrew texts into two or more parts: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into two parts each; Ezra-Nehemiah into two separate books; and the Minor Prophets into 12 separate books. Further, the Bibles used in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Protestant churches were derived initially from the Septuagint, the Greek-language translation of the Hebrew Bible produced in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce. This included some books deemed noncanonical by Orthodox Judaism and most Protestant churches (see also Apocrypha), slightly longer versions of Daniel and Esther, and one additional psalm. Moreover, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, one of the Oriental Orthodox churches, also includes within its Old Testament two works considered by other Christian churches to be pseudepigraphical (both noncanonical and dubiously attributed to a biblical figure): the apocalyptic First Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees.
The Hebrew canon contains 24 books, one for each of the scrolls on which these works were written in ancient times. The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections: the Torah, or “Teaching,” also called the Pentateuch or the “Five Books of Moses”; the Neviʾim, or Prophets; and the Ketuvim, or Writings. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions. Each of the three main groupings of texts is further subdivided. The Torah contains narratives combined with rules and instructions in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books of the Neviʾim are categorized among either the Former Prophets—which contain anecdotes about major Hebrew persons and include Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings—or the Latter Prophets—which exhort Israel to return to God and are named (because they are either attributed to or contain stories about them) for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and (together in one book known as “The Book of the Twelve”) the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). The last of the three divisions, the Ketuvim, contains poetry (devotional and erotic), theology, and drama in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs (attributed to King Solomon), Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
The Hebrew Bible as adopted by Christianity features more than 24 books for several reasons. First, Christians divided some of the original Hebrew texts into two or more parts: Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into two parts each; Ezra-Nehemiah into two separate books; and the Minor Prophets into 12 separate books. Further, the Bibles used in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Protestant churches were derived initially from the Septuagint, the Greek-language translation of the Hebrew Bible produced in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce. This included some books deemed noncanonical by Orthodox Judaism and most Protestant churches (see also Apocrypha), slightly longer versions of Daniel and Esther, and one additional psalm. Moreover, the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, one of the Oriental Orthodox churches, also includes within its Old Testament two works considered by other Christian churches to be pseudepigraphical (both noncanonical and dubiously attributed to a biblical figure): the apocalyptic First Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees.
After the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had fallen, in 722 bce and 587/586 bce, respectively, the Hebrew people outlived defeat, captivity, and the loss of their national independence, largely because they possessed writings that preserved their history and traditions. Many of them did not return to Palestine after their exile. Those who did return did so to rebuild a temple and reconstruct a society that was more nearly a religious community than an independent nation. The religion found expression in the books of the Hebrew Bible: books of the Law (Torah), history, prophecy, and poetry. The survival of the Jewish religion and its subsequent incalculable influence in the history of Western culture are difficult to explain without acknowledgment of the importance of the biblical writings.
When the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 ce, the historical, priestly sacrificial worship centred in it came to an end and was never resumed. But the religion of the Jewish people had by then gone with them into many lands, where it retained its character and vitality because it still drew its nurture from biblical literature. The Hebrew Bible was with them in their synagogues, where it was read, prayed, and taught. It preserved their identity as a people, inspired their worship, arranged their calendar, and permeated their family lives; it shaped their ideals, sustained them in persecution, and touched their intellects. Whatever Jewish talent and genius have contributed to Western civilization is due in no small degree to the influence of the Hebrew Bible.
Many Christians refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament, the prophecy foretelling the advent of Jesus Christ as God’s appointed Messiah. Christian tradition employs the Hebrew Scriptures to legitimize the gospel of Jesus in the New Testament as the natural extension of the Abrahamic covenant. The Hebrew Bible is thus as basic to Christianity...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, is divided into three sections: Torah, Prophets and Writings. The Bible is by, about, and for the people of Israel from its origins as a single family in Canaan through its partial return as a nation from exile in Babylonia.
The Hebrew Bible, also known as Mikra (“what is read”) or TaNaKh, an acronym referring to the traditional Jewish division of the Bible into Torah (Teaching), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings), is the founding document of the people of Israel, describing its origins, history and visions of a just society.
Jun 21, 2018 · In general terms, the Old Testament of Christians corresponds with the Bible of Jews. This Bible of the Jews, which is also known as the Hebrew Bible, is divided into three main sections, the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Prophets is subdivided.
The Hebrew Bible is split into three main sections: 1. Torah (Law) – five books. Jews regard this as the holiest part of the Tenakh (the Jewish Bible). The word ‘torah’ means ‘instruction...
The Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, is Judaism’s foundational text. “Tanakh” is an acronym for the three major sections of the canon, the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). This first library of the Jewish people contains many genres: narrative history, law, poetry, wisdom, and theology.
