preview

Compare And Differences Of The Hebrew Bible

Decent Essays

The Hebrew Bible (Tanak), the Protestant Christian, and Catholic & Orthodox Old Testaments share many similarities, as well as significant differences. The similarities are simple: they each start with the same five books, and contain largely the same writings of wisdom, history and prophecy. In the following paragraphs, I’ll focus on the ways that the three groups’ sacred texts are different in structure and purpose.
The Tanak is named for the first letters of its three its three main sections: Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. The Torah is the first five “books” of the Bible, each named for the first words in them: Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar and D’varim. The Torah (Hebrew for “guidance” or “instruction”) begins with the story of Creation, continues through the formation of the twelve tribes of Israel, and outlines the system of laws that organizes Jewish society. The next section is the Nevi’im, which are the writings involving the former & latter prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and “The Twelve.” Overall, these books discuss and attempt to understand the struggles & exile of Israel and Judah. The third section of the Tanak is the Ketuvim, which translates as “writings,” which focus on restoration of the ideal society and what life was like for the people of the time.
In ancient times, the order of these books was not at issue, as they were written on scrolls. After codex books were invented in the 1st century C.E., it became

Get Access