Worlds of Meaning

What is in the Hebrew Bible?◦Torah◦Nevi’im◦Ketuvim

1

1) Torah - Genesis

Torah = “law”Torah = 5 Books of Moses

= PentateuchGen 1:1 – “In the beginning God

created the heavens and the earth.”Gen 2:4 – “These are the generations

of the heavens and the earth when they were created.”◦Two creation accounts?

2

Torah - Genesis

What is God called?◦Elohim vs Adonay Elohim

Documentary hypothesis◦E (Elohist)◦J (Jawhist)◦P (Priestly)◦D (Deuteronomist)

3

Torah - Genesis

etiological myths (= myths of origins)What are myths?Genesis opens with Biblical Myth, then

Biblical legend (Abraham, Moses), then Biblical “history” (Exodus, entry into Canaan, tribes, monarchy, etc etc.

4

Torah - Genesis

Biblical Myths and Mythical Characters◦Adam and Eve; Garden of Eden◦Cain and Abel◦Noah◦The Flood Story

5

Torah - Genesis

Sources for Stories◦Epic of Gilgamesh

Marduk Utnapishtim

◦Tower of Babel◦Job

6

Torah

Genesis = BereshitExodus – EgyptLeviticus – Priestly purity and other

commandmentsNumbers – from wilderness to CanaanDeuteronomy – more laws, death of

Moses

7

2) Nevi’im

Prophets◦Former: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (as one

book), Kings (as one book)◦Later: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve:

e.g. Hosea, Micah, Malachi (as one book)

Prophets speak God’s judgement of Israel’s behaviour.

8

3) Ketuvim

“Writings”11 BooksExamples: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth

9

10

Psalm 231The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

11

Psalm 1101The LORD says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand until

I make your enemies your footstool." 2The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes. 3Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you. 4The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 5The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth. 7He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.

12

ProverbsThe path of the wicked enter not, walk not on the way

of evil men; Shun it, cross it not, turn aside from it and pass on – Proverbs 4:14-15

The lips of an adulteress drip with honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a two-edged sword – Proverbs 5:3-4

There are six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him; haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, the false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers – Proverbs 6:16-19

A worthy wife is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful one is like rot in his bones – Proverbs 12:4

Tanakh

TorahNevi’imKetuvimTNK = TaNaK = Tanakh

13

Other Important Writings

Midrash◦Halakhah◦Haggadah / Aggadah

14

Mishnah

“oral law” of the PhariseesRabbi Judah Ha-Nasi, or Judah Ic. 200 CEInterpretation of Mishnah = Gemara

15

Talmud

Mishnah + Palestinian Gemara = Palestinian Talmud (completed 450 CE)

Mishnah + Babylonian Gemara = Babylonian Talmud (completed 500 CE)

16

17

Why the oven of 'Aknai? — Said R. Judah: “Because by argument and consensus it was proved unclean.” It has been taught: R. Eliezer brought forward every imaginable argument for the purity of the oven, but they did not accept them. Finally, he said, “If the halakhah agrees with me, let this carob tree prove it!' The carob tree suddenly moved itself a hundred yards away…“No proof can be brought from a carob-tree!” they retorted. Again he said: “If the halakhah agrees with me, let this stream of water prove it,” whereupon the stream of water flowed backwards — “No proof can be brought from a stream of water,” they rejoined. Again he urged: “If the halakhah agrees with me, let the walls of this schoolhouse prove it,” whereupon the walls around them bent inwards. But R. Joshua rebuked them, saying: “When scholars are engaged in a halakhic dispute, why do you interfere?!” .. . Again he said to them: “If the halakhah agrees with me, let it be proved from Heaven!” whereupon a heavenly voice cried out: “Why do you dispute with R. Eliezer, seeing that in all matters the halakhah agrees with him!?” . . . Said R. Jeremiah: That the Torah had already been given at Mount Sinai; we pay no attention to a heavenly voice, because you have long since written in the Torah at Mount Sinai. After the majority must one incline. ..

Other Important Writings

Talmud Commentaries◦Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitshak (1040-1105

CE)◦RSHY = Rashi ◦most famous of Talmudic

commentators

18

Theology of Judaism

1) Monotheism◦henotheism vs monotheism

Shema:◦“Hear o Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is

one.”Or

◦“Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God the Lord alone.”

19

Theology of Judaism

2) Resurrection◦Eschatological◦Sheol

3) Messiah

4) Sin◦Halakhah◦“building a fence around the Torah”

20

Maimonides’s 13 Principles of Jewish Faith

1) God is the creator and guide of everything. He is the sole creator.

2) God is oneness.3) God has no body, he is free from all

the properties of matter.4) God is the first and the last.5) It is right to pray to God, and only to

God.

21

Maimonides’s 13 Principles of Jewish Faith

6) All the words of the prophets are true.7) The prophecy of Moses our teacher

was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets.

8) The entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses.

9) The Torah will not be exchanged, and there will never be any other Torah.

22

Maimonides’s 13 Principles of Jewish Faith

10) God knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts.

11) God rewards those who keep his commandments and punishes those who transgress them.

12) The Messiah will come, eventually. 13) There will be a revival of the dead

at the time.

23