Hebrew Bible Identity

The Hebrew bible was extremely influencial in the Christian religion; it made up the Old Testament of the Christian bible. The people in the New Testament were of the Hebrew religion.

1. What is the Old Testament, and how did the term originate? The Old Testament is a set of texts that originated among the people who, at differing times in their history, have been called Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews, and which became their sacred scriptures(Tullock & McEntire, 2012, pg. 3). Christian, writings began to be viewed as sacred and having the status of scripture. Christians began to refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Covenant or the Old Testament.

Although it is argued that rabbis began work on compiling the oral histories prior to the fall of the Second Temple, there was a definite resurgence in documentation of the important history and moral laws of Judaism after the fall. The most important of these written documents in the Jewish faith is the Hebrew Bible. This bible is comprised of the Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim, these three components combine to make up the Tanakh. The Torah is the core of the Hebrew Bible and contains the story of creation, as well as directions on daily conduct and religious rituals. The Nevi’im contains the stories of prophets. The prophets were people that spoke on behalf of God to the Jewish people. Lastly, the Ketuvim is comprised of mostly imaginative literature such as psalms, proverbs and poetry (Molloy, 294). Shifting the focus from priests and temple to a written work that is accessible to all regardless of location was the main adaptation of Judaism and certainly saved the faith. Although the historical accuracy of the Hebrew Bible is debatable, as some stories may have morphed from their origination to when they were assembled in writing, the bible still remains at the core of Judaism today.

For many, the Hebrew bible is read and accepted without question. It plays a significant role in the practice of many religions and yet not many dare to wonder who wrote such sacred writings that would still be read to this very day. For generations, it was almost unheard of to ask or even fathom the identity of the author. Richard Elliot Friedman, a biblical scholar and graduate from Harvard University, explores, studies, and analyzes the bible to discover who wrote it. Having earned a master degree in theology, B.A degree in Philosophy, and master degree in Hebrew literature, Friedman proves to be a knowledgeable expert in his field of studies. From the years of work he invested into, Friedman aims to provide convincing evidence that the book is written by four persons through historical, archaeological, logical proof.

Unlike Mythology, narratives of the Bible are actual events that took place dating back to the beginning of time. The conception of The Holy Bible’s compilation started thousands of years ago in the land of Egypt. Initially, the Old Testament Scriptures were written in the Hebrew language, however, they were later translated to the Greek. At the onset of the New Testament writings, they were originally recorded in the Greek language. Forty men transcribed the voice of God, which resulted in sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. The Holy Scriptures explained the creations, formation of the world, God, God’s chosen people, sin, and the plan of salvation as well.

     The Jewish Bible or Tanakh, is the sacred book that interprets history as the Jews have experienced it. Although it is proper to think of the Bible as a single book of scriptures, it is more accurate to describe it as a library of books assembled under three major headings. The most important is the Torah, which means “devine instruction and guidance.” Torah is also known as the Five Books of Moses; the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The second portion is the Nevi’im meaning writings of the Prophets. The third section of Tanakh is referred to as Kethuvim or “the Writings.”

The most important of these written documents is the Hebrew Bible. This bible is composed of the Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim, and these three components combine to make up the Tanakh (Simmons, 83). The Torah is the core of the Hebrew Bible and contains the story of creation, as well as directions on daily conduct and religious rituals. The Nevi’im contains the stories of prophets. The prophets were people who spoke on behalf of God to the Jewish people. Lastly, the Ketuvim is composed of mostly imaginative literature such as psalms, proverbs and poetry (Molloy, 294). Shifting the focal point from

Throughout the decades the traditional belief of the author of the first five books in the Hebrew Bible is believed to be Moses. The Pentateuch is the first division of the Hebrew Bible which consists of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Contrary to traditional belief, it is thought that the Pentateuch is a conglomeration of early written documents. The Documentary Hypothesis explains the issues of how and why the Pentateuch was written. The Documentary Hypothesis presents four source documents the Yahwist document, the Elohist document, the Deuteronomist document, and the Priestly document as the basis of the first five books in the Hebrew Bible that would later form the Pentateuch as the world knows it today.

Prophecy, poetry, songs, and genealogy lists are just a few of the many genres found in the Pentateuch. However, the two dominant genres include biblical law and biblical narrative. In fact, 40 percent of the Old Testament is narrative (“Lecture 1,” 2015). Key to interpreting different texts within the Bible, it is critical to understand the genres themselves. Each genre possesses unique features that, when understood, assist in the interpretation of the text. Understanding the key features of biblical law and biblical narrative genres will affect how an individual interprets Scripture in the Old Testament.

The Bible, according to some scholars was written over a span of 1,500 years. It was written by prophets, kings and apostles that were used by God to put His words into writing. Although the Bible was first written in the Greek language, it has been translated to almost all languages present today and has been interpreted in many

There were at least 3 views of how the Old Testament was composed which include the critical view, the compositional view, and the common view. Each view was somewhat similar and different in the aspects that gave it it's own characteristics. The main point of this discussion is to focus on the similarities and differences of each view which are but not limited to how the bible was created, the process, and design.

The art of writing has been used through out the world even before the time of Moses. People have been writing things down since the dawn of time, with all different types of materials. According to the book, the Old Testament was originally written on leather, while the New Testament was inked on papyrus. Although this is what the old and New Testament are written on, there are two major divisions of the New Testament: the uncials and cursives or

How the Old Testament is known today, it was composed of works from the first-century B.C.E. However, on the other hand the books themselves date back to later dates close to the eleventh centuries or even maybe earlier. [Source]

The Holy Bible is a book comprised of many parts, chapters, and verses. There are 66 books in the bible; the first 39 books are called the Old Testament. Written in Hebrew, it focuses on the prophecies of the coming savior. The remaining 27 books, the New Testament, are centered on the life of Jesus and his teachings. A similarity in the TaNaKh and the Holy Bible is the presence of the Torah. The Torah, in addition to being the first part of the TaNaKh, is actually the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Because the Christians, unlike the Jews, had no official language, they wrote and spoke in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin. These holy books were important to these religions so their beliefs and traditions could be passed down to future generations.

The Old Testament consisted of a set of documentations of religious scriptures, which were written by different people at various times for a different audience. Most of the Old Testament contains short stories of traditional stories and those stories of distinguished ways God established mankind. These stories are often told to the people in narrative form, which are guidelines often referred to as laws, songs, genealogies, and a list from these authors that composed the Old Testaments. The pressing of set documentation is essential because it is the framework for the lives of God 's followers. The term “Old Testament” originated as a means to express spoken traditions and God 's creation of that particular era. It is an method of philosophical investigation was designed to answer the why questions within these spiritual text documentations. These religious documentations consisted of four parts. These four sections retrieved from the Old Testaments are the laws, history, wisdom and prophecy. The laws are a rule of behavior enforced within the community. The rules are sometimes called “Torah.” When analyzing this Torah, these rules viewed within the first five spiritual books of the Bible. For example, in the first Torah in Genesis, it explains the creation, Noah’s Flood, Abraham and Isaac, and Joseph’s coats of many colors. However, the laws in Exodus were in regards to the going out. The going out took about 40 plus years, until the people led to