Jewish and Christian Canons

Question 1

How many books and sections does the Jewish Canon have?

Answer 1

39 books; 3 sections - Law, Prophets, Writings

Question 2

How many books and sections does the Catholic Canon have?

Answer 2

46 books; 4 sections - Law, History books, Prophets, writings

Question 3

Apocrypha

Answer 3

Protestant name for 7 disputed books

Question 4

Deuterocanonical books

Answer 4

Catholic name for 7 disputed books

Question 5

different christian canons?

Answer 5

Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox

Question 6

difference between 3 christian canons?

Answer 6

Protestants do not include the Apocrypha like Jewish canon, while Catholic and Orthodox do include it. Orthodox have even more books than Catholics

Question 7

Difference between Christian and Jewish canon?

Answer 7

the Prophets are at the end of the christian Old Testament

Question 8

What did Martin Luther argue?

Answer 8

Only books written in Hebrew should be considered authoritative in the Old Testament. Led to the separation of Roman Catholic and Protestant christians

Question 9

Tanakh

Answer 9

39 books in the Jewish canon

Question 10

Torah

Answer 10

first 5 books of the Bible. Used to be called the teachings of Moses

Question 11

Prophets

Answer 11

narrative chronology. Former prophets and latter prophets divisions

Question 12

Writings

Answer 12

contain historical narrative and historical fiction

Question 13

Septuagint

Answer 13

christian bible translated into Greek

Question 14

Criterion for books to become canon

Answer 14

1. Date - should have been written before 4th century BCE or attributed to an author before then
2. Language - book must have been written in Hebrew
3. Extent of Use

Question 15

Textual criticism

Answer 15

task of tracing manuscripts back to a reconstructed original

Question 16

Yahwist source

Answer 16

J source - named for its consistent use of Yahweh when referring to God
describes God in humanlike ways

Question 17

Elohist source

Answer 17

E source - named for its consistent use of Elohim when referring to God
fragmentary, and refers to God in more indirect ways

Question 18

Book of Deuteronomy source

Answer 18

Source D - Named because its found almost entirely in Deuteronomy
Uses Horeb to name the mountain of revelation rather than Sinai

Question 19

Priestly source

Answer 19

Source P - named for its emphasis on matters of religious observance and ritual
most remote in this source as God never appears directly

Question 20

Old Epic

Answer 20

combination of sources J and E comprising Genesis chapters 1-11

Question 21

Order of creation in Genesis 1 and 2

Answer 21

• Day 1: Light
• Day 2: dome
• Day 3: land and plants
• Day 4: heavenly bodies
• Day 5: aquatic creatures and birds
• Day 6: land animals and humans
• Day 7: rest (Sabbath)

Question 22

a primitive “creation by species”

Answer 22

term for plants with seeds for their own kind

Question 23

why is God plural in Genesis 1:26

Answer 23

Probably refers to the divine council, the assembly of the gods, which is invoked here for the final and most significant act of creation

Question 24

Adam and adamah

Answer 24

called Adam because he is formed, as by a potter, from the Adamah, the reddish soil that characterized the Levant

Question 25

‘Apiru

Answer 25

socioeconomic class of landless nomads, living on fringes of society