Download Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Israelites

1. What is the Hebrew Bible?
AKA Tanakh
AKA 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)
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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
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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)
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Psalms
Proverbs
Job
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
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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 Bible
2) The historical reality (as best we can discern it)
3) The origins and authorship of the Bible
4) The historically varying interpretations of the
biblical stories