Hebrew Bible

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11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Aramaic Targum

The Hebrew Bible (Hebrew: תנ"ך‎ acronyms for תורה נביאים כתובים) is a term referring to the books of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh) as originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with some Biblical Aramaic. The term closely corresponds to contents of the Jewish Tanakh and the Protestant Old Testament (see also Judeo-Christian) and does not include the deuterocanonical portions of the Roman Catholic or the Anagignoskomena portions of the Eastern Orthodox Old Testaments. The term does not imply naming, numbering or ordering of books, which varies with Biblical canon.

The term "Hebrew Bible" is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents, while avoiding allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. It is widely used in academic writing and interfaith discussion in relatively neutral contexts meant to include dialogue amongst all religious traditions, but not widely in the inner discourse of the religions which use its text.

[edit] Usage

Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common/shared portions of the Tanakh (Jewish canon) and the Christian canons. In its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text.

Many scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible when discussing these books in academic writing, as a neutral substitute to terms with religious connotations (e.g., the non-neutral term "old testament").^[1] The Society of Biblical Literature's Handbook of Style, which is the standard for major academic journals like Harvard Theological Review and conservative Protestant journals like Bibliotheca Sacra and Westminster Theological Journal, suggests that authors "be aware of the connotations of alternative expressions such as ... Hebrew Bible [and] Old Testament" without prescribing the use of either.^[2]

Additional difficulties include:

• In terms of theology, Christianity has struggled with the relationship between "old" and "new" testaments from its very beginnings.^[3][4] Modern Christian formulations of this tension, sometimes building upon ancient and medieval ideas, include supersessionism, covenant theology, dispensationalism, and dual covenant theology. However, all of these formulations, except some forms of dual-covenant theology, are objectionable to mainstream Judaism and to many Jewish scholars and writers, for whom there is only one everlasting covenant, and who therefore reject the very term "Old Testament".
• In terms of canon, Christian usage of "Old Testament" does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books, but rather varies depending on denomination.
• The term Old Testament is used exclusively to identify the Hebrew Bible as a portion of the Christian scriptures. Referring to it as the Old Testament suggests that it is a Christian work, when in fact its authorship is Jewish. Historically the Hebrew Bible was composed by the people of ancient Israel hundreds of years before Christianity existed. The Hebrew Bible's content, moreover, deals with the religion, politics, and culture of the ancient Hebrew people of Israel, and not with that of Christianity.
• Though commonly used by Jews, the term Tanakh is derived from an acronym of the Hebrew names of the constituent parts of the Hebrew Bible, Torah ("Teaching"), Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and Ketuvim ("Writings"), and is unlikely to be appreciated by readers unfamiliar with that language and culture. It also refers to the particular arrangement of the biblical books as found in Judaism, and even to the exact features of the Masoretic Text. None of this is central to the Bible in the Christian textual tradition.

Coin from Bar-Kokhba Revolt demonstrating Paleo-Hebrew

Hebrew in the term Hebrew Bible refers to the original language of the books, but it may also be taken as referring to the Jews of the second temple era and the Diaspora, and their descendants, who preserved the transmission of the Masoretic Text up to the present day. The Hebrew Bible includes some small portions in Aramaic (mostly in the books of Daniel and Ezra), which are nonetheless written and printed in the Hebrew alphabet and script, which is the same as Aramaic square-script. Some Qumran Hebrew biblical manuscripts are written using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet of the classical era of Solomon's Temple. ^[5] The famous examples of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet are the Siloam inscription (8th century BCE), the Lachish ostraca (6th century BCE), and the Bar Kokhba coin shown above (circa 132 CE).

[edit] Origin and History

The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. Please improve the article or discuss the issue. (August 2009)

According to traditional Jewish belief, the Hebrew Bible existed as an oral tradition for a long time before it was written, and it was forbidden to be documented in written form.^[6] According to that tradition, the date on which permission was given to write down the Bible is considered one of mourning.^[6] Contemporary conservative scholars date the origin of the Hebrew Bible between the tenth and seventh centuries BCE,^[7] while most contemporary secular biblical scholars date its finalization in the Persian period (539 to 334 BCE).^[8]

[edit] Biblia Hebraica

The Biblia Hebraica is edited by various German publishers.

• Between 1906 and 1955 Rudolf Kittel published 9 editions of it.
• 1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997.
• Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft publishes the Biblia Hebraica Quinta including all variants of the Qumran manuscripts as well as the Masora Magna.

[edit] See also

• Books of the Bible for the differences between Bible versions of different groups, or the much more detailed Biblical canon.
• List of ancient legal codes
• Table of books of Judeo-Christian Scripture
• Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible
• Development of the Jewish Bible canon
• Society of Biblical Literature, creators of the SBL Handbook which recommends both standards and alternatives in biblical terminology.
• Masoretic Text, the standard Hebrew text recognized by most Judeo-Christian groups.
• Torah
• Christianity and Judaism
• Biblical law in Christianity

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Johnson, Paul (1987). A History of the Jews (First, hardback ed.). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-79091-9. 
• Kuntz, John Kenneth. The People of Ancient Israel: an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row, 1974. ISBN 0-06-043822-3