The Hebrew (Jewish) Scriptures
The Jewish or Hebrew scriptures are known as the Tanakh in Hebrew for Jewish people, and are often called the “Old Testament” by some Christians. Because the term “Old Testament” can be seen as negative or pejorative by some people, increasingly Christians are referring to these books as the “Hebrew Scriptures.”
The Hebrew Scriptures are usually broken into 3 groups:
Torah or the Book of Moses
The Torah or books of Moses are the first 5 books of the scriptures. They include:
- Be’reshit or Genesis (as it is called in English bibles)
- Shemot or Exodus
- Va’yikra or Leviticus
- Be’midbar or Numbers
- Devarim or Deuteronomy
Nevi'im or the Books of the Prophets
These include the books of:
- Joshua
- Judges
- Samuel (broken into 2 books in the English bible)
- Kings (also broken into 2 books in the English bible)
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah
- Ezekiel
- The 12 minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
Ketuvim or the Writings
These include all the other books in the Hebrew Scriptures. Some of these are books of wisdom, some are songs and poetry. Others are stories used for specific religious festivals and celebrations. Some are historical accounts. Within Judaism, they are organized into the following groupings, while the Christian scriptures orders them differently.
Poetry
- Tehillimor Psalms (mostly songs of praise and lament)
- Mishleior Proverbs (conventional wisdom)
- Iyyôbhor Job (theodical: a discussion of why evil things happen to good people)
The Five Scrolls (each is used in a particular Jewish celebration)
- Shīr Hashīrīmor Song of Songs (love poetry) which is read during the Passover
- Ruth (a story of a Moabite woman) is read during the Feast of Weeks
- Eikhahor Lamentations is shared on the Day of Atonement
- Qōhelethor Ecclesiastes is used in the Feast of Tabernacles
- Estēror Esther (a story of a Jewish woman who becomes queen of Persia) is read during the Feast of Lots or Purim
Other Books
- Daniel is a later work of eschatological writings (written around 2nd CBE).
- Ezra in Hebrew is broken into the books Ezra and Nehemiah in the English bible and recounts the time after which the Jewish people were allowed to return to the Levant following the Babylonian exile.
- Divrei ha-Yamim or Chronicles (2 books in the English Bible) are a historical account coinciding with the period also covered by the book of Kings. However, while Kings (and Samuel) were written before the Babylonian exile, Chronicles was written after the return from Babylon. As such, they have a different focus.
To more accurately interpret these books of Scripture, it’s important to understand something about the history of Israel and how these scriptures were first recorded.