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Tanakh Vs Old Testament Essay

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Tanakh Versus The Christian’s Old Testament Often times when discussing the Old Testament it is commonly considered as synonymous to the Hebrew Bible, although there are significant difference between the two. Most Protestant versions of the Old Testament have exactly the same books as the Hebrew Bible, though in a slightly different order (Harris, 1980, p. 2). In the Jerusalem Bible, the English edition of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha are integrated with the other books of the Hebrew Bible. The main differences that will be focused on are the structure of the Hebrew Bible, the three-part Hebrew Bible, and original written language. To introduce the Hebrew Bible, we must first have an understanding of the structure. The Hebrew Bible is also known as Mikra, or Tanakh. Tanakh is an acronym referring to the Jewish three-part division of the Bible, which will be discussed later. The Hebrew Bible holds twenty-four books. These books narrate the early history of the Jewish nation and an individual can learn about God’s plan for the world and His relationship with mankind. Out of higher respect for God, Hebrew Bible never refers to God as God but as His Hebrew name Yahweh. Also, Tanakh is often made in a form of a scroll with pure gold or silver trimmings. In like manner, the Christian Bible, as …show more content…

Classical Hebrew is the Semitic tongue spoken in ancient Israel (Harris, 1980, p. 8,9). Later books were composed in Aramaic, dialect closely related to Hebrew and possibly the native language of Jesus and his disciples. In contrast, the New Testament was written in the language associated with Classical Greek. The Greek language and culture became so prevalent throughout the eastern Mediterranean in the last centuries before Christ that the large Jewish population living in Egypt fixed to translate their Scriptures from Hebrew and Aramaic into

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