How to Read the Bible
Jewish scriptures, which at least since the early second century BCE had three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Under their Hebrew names, Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim, these parts, abbreviated by the first letter of the names of each, eventually came to be called Tanak (also spelled Tanakh), a term Jews frequently use for the Bible. Th
... See moreMichael Coogan • The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Tanakh (an acronym for Torah, or Pentateuch; Nevi’im, or Prophets; and Ketuvim, or Writings).
Amy-Jill Levine • Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi
By the end of the first century CE, these three parts—the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings—had become the Bible of ancient Judaism, its “sacred scriptures,” that is, writings believed to be divinely inspired and thus having a special authority. For Jews today, they are simply the Bible. Modern scholars often use the term Hebrew Bible to distin
... See moreMichael Coogan • The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Tanakh (an acronym for Torah, or Pentateuch; Nevi’im, or Prophets; and Ketuvim, or Writings).