Many great teachings have been given to us through the Law and the Prophets and the others that followed

Ciaran

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• Publié par: Maphag
• Nombre de lectures: 29
• Langue: English

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- Hebrew: Prophets). The Kětûvîm (~ybiWtK. - Hebrew: Writings). The initial letters of the Hebrew titles for these divisions form the acronym Tānāk (%n"T' T+N+K  Tānāk) by which Judaism refers to its canon of Scriptures. For Judaism the five books of the Tôrâ (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) form the most sacred centre of the Scriptures, while the Něvî’îm and Kětûvî m are considered to offer commentary and reflection on the Tôrâ. 21.1.2 The Pentateuch The term Pentateuch comes from penta (pe,nta - Greek: five) and teuchos (teu/coj - Greek: scroll) meaning five containers in a reference to the papyrus or leather scrolls on which the text was originally written. These five scrolls have been given the Greco-Latin names: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In Hebrew their names are usually taken from the opening line of each scroll: In The Beginning (Genesis), ..." />

An Introduction to the Prophets An Introduction to the Prophets
of Ancient Israel and Judah




Ciarán O’Callaghan CSsR

Email: [e-mail]
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Encyclopaedia Articles © Wikipedia






© Prophets of Ancient Israel and Judah: §1 – Introduction to the Old Testament

1.0 A Brief Introduction to the OT
1.1 Basic Terminology
11.1.1 Tānāk

Jewish tradition recognizes three divisions in what Christians call the Old Testament.
These are:

The Tôrâ (hr"AT - Hebrew: Law).

The Něvî’îm (~yaiybin> - Hebrew: Prophets).

The Kětûvîm (~ybiWtK. - Hebrew: Writings).

The initial letters of the Hebrew titles for these divisions form the acronym Tānāk
(%n"T' T+N+K  Tānāk) by which Judaism refers to its canon of Scriptures. For
Judaism the five books of the Tôrâ (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy) form the most sacred centre of the Scriptures, while the Něvî’îm and
Kětûvî m are considered to offer commentary and reflection on the Tôrâ.

21.1.2 The Pentateuch

The term Pentateuch comes from penta (pe,nta - Greek: five) and teuchos
(teu/coj - Greek: scroll) meaning five containers in a reference to the papyrus or leather
scrolls on which the text was originally written. These five scrolls have been given the
Greco-Latin names: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In
Hebrew their names are usually taken from the opening line of each scroll: In The
Beginning (Genesis), [And These Are] The Names (Exodus), And He Called (Leviticus),
[And the Lord said to Moses] In The Wilderness (Numbers), and finally These Are The
Words (Deuteronomy).






1 Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction, 3rd. ed. (New York: Paulist Press,
1984) 15-16; John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Augsburg: Fortress
Press, 2004) 1-22.
2 Roland E. Murphy, “Introduction to the Pentateuch,” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed.
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmeyer and Roland E. Murphy (London: Chapman, 1989) 3-7,
here 3.
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© Prophets of Ancient Israel and Judah: §1 – Introduction to the Old Testament

1.1.3 The Former Prophets

The books of the Něvî’îm can be divided into two sections: The Former Prophets
and The Latter Prophets. The Former Prophets are also called the Historical Books
because they treat of Israel‟s history. They consist of the Books of: Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2
Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. These books belong together since modern scholarship
considers that they have been put together and edited by the same school that edited the
book of Deuteronomy. For this reason they are sometimes called the Deuteronomistic
History. The redactor or editor is called the Deuteronomistic Historian.

1.1.4 The Latter Prophets

The Latter Prophets consist of:

The three Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). They are
considered major because they are the longest books in the collection.

The Dōdekaprophētōn (Dw,dekaprofhtw/n – Greek: The [Book of the]
Twelve Prophets). These prophets are: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi.

The Latter Prophets contributed a powerful new aspect to Israel‟s idea of self - namely the
conviction that Israel was not YHWH‟s People unless it was morally upright. From the time
of the Prophets onwards, ethical behaviour was considered as important as the cultic
worship of YHWH.
The prophetic books are not self-contained books, but collections. This is very
obvious in the case of the Dōdekaprophētōn. Biblical scholarship has shown that the
Book of Isaiah can be divided into three collections:

Proto-Isaiah (Isa 1-39). This is the collection connected with the actual
prophet.

Deutero-Isaiah (Isa 40-55).

Trito-Isaiah (Isa 56-66). The authors of Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah remain
unknown.

As will be seen later, even the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel can be shown to be
collections. This course will study the following prophets: Amos, Hosea, the Major
Prophets, Zephaniah, Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah.




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© Prophets of Ancient Israel and Judah: §1 – Introduction to the Old Testament

1.1.5 The Kětûvîm

In modern editions of the Hebrew Bible the Kětûvîm consist of twelve books:
Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles. In the Greek version of the OT (The Septuagint - LXX), the
collection is expanded, reordered, and relocated by the inclusion of Tobit, Maccabees,
Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, as well as additions to Daniel and Esther. Ruth, for instance, is
used to form a bridge between Judges and Kings, and the other narrative books are
grouped with the histories to which they are purported to refer. Modern Christian versions
have tended to follow essentially the LXX order, sometimes making a further division
between “historical” and “wisdom” books. It is possible to speak of certain types of literature
within the Writings. The principal types are as follows:

History Writing: there are three major collections - the Chronicler’s History
(1 and 2 Chron) which retraces the entire history of Israel from creation to
exile, and is largely a repeat of the history contained in the Deuteronomistic
history of the books of Samuel and Kings. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah
recount the history of the return from the Exile and the restoration of
Jerusalem and Temple as the cult centre of the re-established Israel under
Persian domination. The books of Maccabees tell the story of the Hellenistic
crisis, which arose under the successors of Alexander the Great.

Short Stories (Novellas): Under this heading can be placed Ruth, Tobit,
Esther, and Judith. Some of these are master-pieces of literary artistry and
deserve close attention.

Collections of Poetry and Songs: This collection includes cultic poems
(Psalms) of widely-differing genres and origins; love poems (Song of Songs)
and laments (Lamentations).

Wisdom Writings: Three books of “Wisdom Writings” are to be found in the
Hebrew OT - Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth but wisdom influence is to be found
elsewhere, notably in the Psalms. The term is also applied to two books in
the extended canon: the Book of Wisdom and the Book of Jesus Ben Sira.

Apocalypse: The Book of Daniel is of mixed type. While it has many of the
characteristics of short story, its main literary form is that of the apocalypse, a
type of writing which began to emerge in the post-exilic period, reached its full
flowering in the events of the Maccabean crisis and continued to exercise an
influence on both Qumran and the New Testament.






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© Prophets of Ancient Israel and Judah: §1 – Introduction to the Old Testament

3A schematic outline is given of the Hebrew Bible below. The following
p pabbreviations are used: P = Pentateuch; F = Former Prophets; L = Latter
pProphets; M = Major Prophets; Δ = Dôdekaprophêtôn


THE HEBREW BIBLE

Torâ Nĕvî’îm Kĕtûvîm

pGenesis P Joshua F Psalms
pExodus P Judges F Proverbs
pLeviticus P 1,2 Samuel F Job
pNumbers P 1,2 Kings F Song of Songs
p pDeuteronomy P Isaiah L M Ruth
p pJeremiah L M Lamentations
p pEzekiel L M Qohelet
pHosea L Δ Esther
pJoel L Δ Daniel
pAmos L Δ Ezra
pObadiah L Δ Nehemiah
pJonah L Δ 1,2 Chronicles
pMicah L Δ
pNahum L Δ
pHabakkuk L Δ
pZephaniah L Δ
pHaggai L Δ
pZechariah L Δ
pMalachi L Δ

DEUTEROCANONICAL / APOCRYPHAL BOOKS

Baruch Tobit
Letter of Jeremiah Judith
Esther (Additions)
Wisdom of Solomon
Wisdom of Ben Sira
Daniel (Additions)
1,2 Maccabees

TANAK + DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS =
CATHOLIC OLD TESTAMENT




3 Collins, Hebrew Bible, 4-5.
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© Prophets of Ancient Israel and Judah: §1 – Introduction to the Old Testament

A COMPARISON OF THE CONTENT OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
AND OF THE CHRISTIAN OLD TESTAMENT


In the Beginning, (And These Are) The
Names, (And YHWH) Called (To
Moses), (And YHWH Said To Moses) Torâ (Canonized 400 BCE)
In The Wilderness, These Are The
Words (Which Moses Spoke).


PENTATEUCH (Canonized 1546 CE) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy.

Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2
Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Nĕvî’îm (Canonized 200 BCE)
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.