2. The Hebrew Bible A collection of some of the most important books in Western Civilization

3. The Hebrew Bible l Christians know it as the Old Testament l It is written in Hebrew l It is made up of 39 smaller works l In fact the name Bible is from a Greek word biblia which means little books.

4. Hebrew Bible l It was written as early as 800 B.C.E. and finalized in about 200 B.C.E. l Tradition held that Moses wrote the first five books although many no longer believe this today.

5. Hebrew Bible l The Documentary Hypothesis asserts that there were multiple editors/writers of the Torah. l The sources are known as JEDP J stands for YWHW, E stands for Elohim (another name for God), D stands for Deuteronomy and P stands for priestly (D and P have the same source) l Scholars believe that the Torah has three different sources.

6. Hebrew Bible l 3 sections the Law - Torah the Prophets - Nevi’im Kthe Writings - Kethuvim k l Together they are called Tanakh l The Torah is the core of the Bible

7. Books of the Hebrew Bible

8. Torah l Genesis l Exodus l Leviticus l Numbers l Deuteronomy

9. Nevi’im (the Prophets) Major Prophets l Joshua l Judges l Samuel l Kings l Isaiah l Ezekiel

10. Nevi’im (the Prophets) The Book of the Twelve Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

11. Kethuvim (the Writings) Psalms Proverbs Job Song of Songs Ruth Lamentations Ecclesiastes Esther Daniel Ezra-Nehemiah Chronicles

12. Finalization of the Hebrew Bible

13. The Preservation l Scribes did not want the history of the people to be lost.

14. The Preservation l The Torah (Pentateuch) was finalized, the prophetic books were compiled and new books written. l Among those things written was the Book of Job; it was one of the first written attempts to understand the suffering of an innocent person.

15. The Hebrew Bible l The canon was developed. The religion’s focus away from the temple meant that it had to determine which religious books would be canonical (authoritative). Several hundred religious books were in use.

16. The Meeting l Around 90 B.C.E. a group of Rabbis gathered to determine which books would be canonical in Israel in a town called Jabneh (Jamnia) Some books like the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes were hotly debated and almost excluded. l They finally decided on the current books.

17. A Reading l Here is what Genesis 1:1 sounds like in Hebrew--my reading reading