Old Testament Flashcards
What is the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible)?
It is an anthology or collection of writings assembled in stages over more than a thousand years.
According to the Jewish tradition, in how many parts can the Hebrew Bible be divided?
In three, the Torah, the Prophets (Neviim), and the Writings (Ketuvim). From the first letters of the Hebrew words comes the acronym “Tanakh.”
What are the names of the books in which the Torah is comprised? What does “Torah” mean in English?
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
“Teaching”or “Law.”
According to the Jewish tradition, in how many parts can the Prophets be divided? What are the books in which divisions are comprised?
The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that continues the narrative chronology of the Torah from the death of Moses until the loss of the Promised Land to the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and the Latter Prophets (Major Prophets —the longer books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel— and the Minor Prophets —the 12 shorter books from Hosea through Malachi) that are books named after individual prophets.
What are the names of the books in which Writings is comprised?
The Writings includes the book of Chronicles, which covers the same chronological span as the Torah and Former Prophets, Ezra and Nehemiah, which continues that narrative in the late sixth and fifth centuries, the historical fiction books (Ruth, Esther, and Daniel), and the poetical books (Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations), Job, and Ecclesiastes.
According to the process of canonization, which books were the first to be accepted in the canon? Why? When did that take place?
The books comprised in the Torah. Because their association with Moses (Ezra 7:6). It may have occurred by the fifth century.
According to the history of canonization, when were the Prophets accepted in the canon? How do we know this?
By the second century BCE. We know this because of the prologue of Sirach.
According to the process of canonization, when the Writings were accepted in the canon?
The canonization of the Writings was not completed until second century CE. Before then, it is unclear which books comprised the Writings, such as the vague mention in Sirach’s prologue and that in Luke (24:44)
What were the criteria that allows a book to be part of the canon?
The date, it had to be written before the fourth century BCE or attributed to an author that had lived before then.
The language, it had to be written in Hebrew. Although Daniel and Ezra contains some Aramaic, the majority of both books were written in Hebrew.
The extent of use.
Regarding the canonization process, what is the name of the text that stabilized the textual diversity?
The Masoretic Text (the traditional medieval text of the Hebrew Bible).
