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, the most important such work is the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)
An American family Bible dating to 1859.
The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the same word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin and ultimately from Greekτὰ βιβλία ta biblia "the books" (singular βιβλίον biblion).[6] Middle Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra "holy book", whilebiblia in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. bibliorum). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (biblia, gen. bibliae) in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.
[7]
Latin biblia sacra "holy books" translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, "the holy books".[8]
The word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of "paper" or "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book". It is the diminutive of βύβλος bublos, "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of thePhoenician port Byblos (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. The Greek ta biblia (lit. "little papyrus books")[9] was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books (the Septuagint).[10][11] Christian use of the term can be traced to ca. AD 223.[6]
Jewish canon
Development of the Jewish canon
Main article: Development of the Hebrew Bible canon Tanakh (Hebrew: )תנ"ךreflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Bible, Torah ("Teaching"), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings").
Torah
Main article: Torah The Torah, or "Instruction", is also known as the "Five Books" of Moses, thus Chumash from Hebrew meaning "fivesome", and Pentateuch from Greek meaning "five scroll-cases". The Hebrew book titles come from some of the first words in the respective texts. The Torah comprises the following five books:
1. Genesis, Ge—Bereshith ()בראשית 2. Exodus, Ex—Shemot ()שמות 3. Leviticus, Le—Vayikra ()ויקרא 4. Numbers, Nu—Bamidbar ()במדבר 5. Deuteronomy, Dt—Devarim ()דברים
The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and the Jewish people. The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel) —and Jacob's children—the "Children of Israel"—especially Joseph. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from their liberation from slavery in Ancient Egypt, to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses. The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate amongst traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).[12][13][14][15] These commandments provide the basis for Halakha (Jewish religious law). Tradition states that there are 613 Mitzvot or 613 commandments. There is some dispute as to how to divide these up (mainly between the rabbis Ramban and Rambam). The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions which in the Jewish liturgy are read on successive Sabbaths, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. The cycle ends and recommences at the end of Sukkot, which is called Simchat Torah.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible (i.e. the Tanakh or Christian "Old Testament") is almost entirely in Hebrew. The few sections that are in Aramaic are in a form of Biblical Aramaic and in square-script which are effectively intelligible to Hebrew readers and do not require translation. However, some editions, like those of The Bible Society in Israel, also include a Hebrew translation of the Aramaic sections. ]Apocrypha The books of the apocrypha were not preserved in the Jewish tradition (as reflected in the Hebrew masoretic text). Though many of them were originally composed in Hebrew, they have reached us mostly in Greek form, as found in the Septuagint and preserved by the church. In modern times there has been renewed Jewish interest in these books, which has resulted in a few translations into Hebrew. In the 19th century most of the apocrypha was translated by Seckel Isaac Fraenkel in Ketuvim Aharonim ("Late Writings" 1830),[1] and a few books were translated by other authors.[2] The Hebrew-language website Daʿat, which collects texts related to Jewish education, has published an online version of these public domain Hebrew translations in digital form; the texts have been formatted and slightly modernized.
[3]
Two major annotated Hebrew translations of the apocrypha were published in the 20th century. Both editions include commentaries by the editors, both are vowelized, and both of them incorporate parts of the original Hebrew for Ben Sira that were found in the Cairo Geniza and theDead Sea Scrolls. Avraham Kahana, ed. and trans., Ha-Sefarim ha-Hitsonim. Tel-Aviv: Hotsaat Meqorot, 1937 (2 vols.), most recently reissued in 2006.[4] Eliyah Shemuel Hartom (aka. Elia Samuele Artom), ed. and trans., Ha-Sefarim ha-Hitsonim. Tel-Aviv: Yavneh, 1965-69.
In the early 21st century, the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem inaugurated a major project of scholarly publication called Bein Miqra la-Mishnah ("Between the Bible and the Mishnah"), whose scope includes new Hebrew translations and in-depth commentaries on apocryphal books. So far Maccabees 1 & 2 have appeared; Maccabees 3 & 4 and Jubilees are in preparation.[
An American family Bible dating to 1859.
The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the same word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin and ultimately from Greekτὰ βιβλία ta biblia "the books" (singular βιβλίον biblion).[6] Middle Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra "holy book", whilebiblia in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. bibliorum). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (biblia, gen. bibliae) in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.
[7]
Latin biblia sacra "holy books" translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, "the holy books".[8]
The word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of "paper" or "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book". It is the diminutive of βύβλος bublos, "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of thePhoenician port Byblos (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece. The Greek ta biblia (lit. "little papyrus books")[9] was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books (the Septuagint).[10][11] Christian use of the term can be traced to ca. AD 223.[6]
Jewish canon
Development of the Jewish canon
Main article: Development of the Hebrew Bible canon Tanakh (Hebrew: )תנ"ךreflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Bible, Torah ("Teaching"), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings").
Torah
Main article: Torah The Torah, or "Instruction", is also known as the "Five Books" of Moses, thus Chumash from Hebrew meaning "fivesome", and Pentateuch from Greek meaning "five scroll-cases". The Hebrew book titles come from some of the first words in the respective texts. The Torah comprises the following five books:
1. Genesis, Ge—Bereshith ()בראשית 2. Exodus, Ex—Shemot ()שמות 3. Leviticus, Le—Vayikra ()ויקרא 4. Numbers, Nu—Bamidbar ()במדבר 5. Deuteronomy, Dt—Devarim ()דברים
The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and the Jewish people. The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the creation (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel) —and Jacob's children—the "Children of Israel"—especially Joseph. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of Ur, eventually to settle in the land of Canaan, and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of Moses, who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from their liberation from slavery in Ancient Egypt, to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses. The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate amongst traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).[12][13][14][15] These commandments provide the basis for Halakha (Jewish religious law). Tradition states that there are 613 Mitzvot or 613 commandments. There is some dispute as to how to divide these up (mainly between the rabbis Ramban and Rambam). The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions which in the Jewish liturgy are read on successive Sabbaths, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. The cycle ends and recommences at the end of Sukkot, which is called Simchat Torah.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible (i.e. the Tanakh or Christian "Old Testament") is almost entirely in Hebrew. The few sections that are in Aramaic are in a form of Biblical Aramaic and in square-script which are effectively intelligible to Hebrew readers and do not require translation. However, some editions, like those of The Bible Society in Israel, also include a Hebrew translation of the Aramaic sections. ]Apocrypha The books of the apocrypha were not preserved in the Jewish tradition (as reflected in the Hebrew masoretic text). Though many of them were originally composed in Hebrew, they have reached us mostly in Greek form, as found in the Septuagint and preserved by the church. In modern times there has been renewed Jewish interest in these books, which has resulted in a few translations into Hebrew. In the 19th century most of the apocrypha was translated by Seckel Isaac Fraenkel in Ketuvim Aharonim ("Late Writings" 1830),[1] and a few books were translated by other authors.[2] The Hebrew-language website Daʿat, which collects texts related to Jewish education, has published an online version of these public domain Hebrew translations in digital form; the texts have been formatted and slightly modernized.
[3]
Two major annotated Hebrew translations of the apocrypha were published in the 20th century. Both editions include commentaries by the editors, both are vowelized, and both of them incorporate parts of the original Hebrew for Ben Sira that were found in the Cairo Geniza and theDead Sea Scrolls. Avraham Kahana, ed. and trans., Ha-Sefarim ha-Hitsonim. Tel-Aviv: Hotsaat Meqorot, 1937 (2 vols.), most recently reissued in 2006.[4] Eliyah Shemuel Hartom (aka. Elia Samuele Artom), ed. and trans., Ha-Sefarim ha-Hitsonim. Tel-Aviv: Yavneh, 1965-69.
In the early 21st century, the Yad Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem inaugurated a major project of scholarly publication called Bein Miqra la-Mishnah ("Between the Bible and the Mishnah"), whose scope includes new Hebrew translations and in-depth commentaries on apocryphal books. So far Maccabees 1 & 2 have appeared; Maccabees 3 & 4 and Jubilees are in preparation.[
