The
Hebrew Scriptures are composed of many sacred Jewish writings and are the main
foundation for the Jewish faith. The Hebrew Scriptures are also referred to as
the Hebrew Bible and The Old Testament by Christians. These scriptures were not
written by a single person. Many different people wrote these over a long
period of time.
The
Hebrew Scriptures are three different sections: Laws, Prophets, and Scriptures (writings). These three sections
are also known respectively as the Torah, Nebi’im, and Ketuvim (Fisher 695).
Today the Hebrew Scriptures are still present and have laid down the foundation
for many beliefs and religions. Based off of the chronological account of when
the various books of the Hebrew Scriptures were written, found in Heaton’s book
“The Old Testament Prophets: A Short Introduction”, it can be determined that
they were written over a period of at least 800 years (Heaton). So it can be
hard at times to pinpoint who exactly wrote certain pieces of text.
An
explanation for this confusion and difficultly can be due to an event in
history. During that long span of years, in 606 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar took over
Judah and the Hebrew people were forced to move to Babylon, thus starting the
Babylonian captivity. It wasn’t until 70 years later that the Jews were allowed
to return to their homes and try to piece together their broken history and
culture (Burges 19). The sacred texts that were saved before they were forced
into captivity became the building blocks of what the Jews used to form the
Hebrew Scriptures. In many years to follow, they were also the building blocks
for other faiths and the New Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures were a way for
the Hebrew people to continue their culture and hold on to something that was
very dear to them, since they were being conquered so often.
To
first understand who wrote these various parts of the Hebrew Scriptures we need
to break them down (since they are so detailed and diverse). The first part of
the Hebrew Scriptures is the Torah, and is comprised of five different
sections. These sections are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
(Sarna 878). The Torah also takes
on the name the Torah of Moses because it was written by Moses. It is a “continuous
narrative from the creation of the world to the death of Moses in which is
embedded a considerable amount of legal and ritual prescription” (Sarna 879).
The
Nebi’im, or Prophets, section of the Hebrew Scriptures has two major sections.
Those sections are the Major Prophets and the twelve Minor Prophets. The Major
Prophets, thee books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekial, make up the major
prophet section and were written by the prophets in their titles. Some scholars
have debated on how these oracles of the prophets were put into their written
form. One view is that the prophets each had their own circle of devoted disciples
that would pass these on by word through generations until they were written
(Heaton 150). The other view that scholars have on this method is similar but
differs in the fact that they believe the prophets teachings were passed down
in some written forms and orally (Heaton 150).
This is a
picture of the Well of Moses that shows two of the prophets that are a part of
this sculpture: Jeremiah and David (Sluter).
The
last section of the Hebrew Scriptures is the Ketuvium, which is a collection of
various pieces ranging from poetry to wisdom. Ketuvium actually translates into
the word “writings”. This is the section of the Hebrew Bible that is made up of
many writings that were written by many different people. The proverbs were
written by a king of Judah and the Job was written by Moses. King David played
an important role in composing and writing down a majority of these writing
such as Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Sometimes it was a group of
people that wrote these sections. Daniel and Esther were both written by the Men
of the Great Assembly. Most of the writings that are found in the Hebrew Bible
are written in Biblical Hebrew but some are in Aramic (“Ketuvium”). Of course
today we have many translations of these writings, but the original languages
are available as well.
Works Cited
Burge, Lorenzo. Origin and
Formation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Boston: Lee and
Shepard, 1890. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Web. 28
Mar. 2014.
Fisher, E. J.
"Hebrew Scriptures." New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol.
6.
Detroit: Gale, 2003. 695-696. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28
Mar. 2014.
Heaton, E. W. The Old Testament Prophets: A Short
Introduction. Rockport:
Oneworld Publications, 1997. Print.
“Ketuvim.” Kyovel. n.p. n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Sarna, Nahum M. "Biblical Literature: Hebrew
Scriptures." Encyclopedia of
Religion. Ed. Lindsay
Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference
USA, 2005.
878-880. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
Sluter, Claus.
Well of Moses. 1350. Musee
Archeologique, Dijon. Web Gallery of
Art.
Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Natalie, I really liked your blog post. I attended nine years of Catholic education growing up, yet I did not know that there were three sections that the writings of the Old Testament are divided into. I also did not know that they were written over a period of over eight hundred years. That is a really long time. This also makes it all the more likely that the authors of the texts are not who I have always believed them to be. As far as I know, there are some recent studies that have surfaced that suggest that Moses was not the actual author of the Torah. My reaction to this was a lot like my reaction to the suggestion that the Gospels were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. At first, I rejected the idea. This was in part because I had sat through nine years of religion classes that told me, these men wrote the books of the Bible. However, now that I am older, I have come to the realization that other men could have written parts of the Bible. I also realized that this knowledge did not have to shake my faith. This could actually strengthen the core beliefs that I have. It forces me to look at the words of the Bible, rather than put faith in the authors.
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