Learn about the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible): Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim.
Tanakh - Torah, Neviim, KetuvimThis series of web pages provides free lessons to help you learn about the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
 Tanakh is an abbreviation. Two apostrophes are used in Hebrew to show when a word is an abbreviation, a contracted form of other words. In this case, TaNaKH is an abbreviation of the following three Hebrew words:  Torah (the Law) Neviim (the Prophets) Ketuvim (the Writings)The Final Kaf is used at the end of the word Tanakh, rather than the usual form of the Kaf in the word Ketuvim. The Hebrew word Tanakh, then, is taken from the first letters (in Hebrew) of the words Torah, Neviim and Ketuvim – The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. These are the three great divisions of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh. It's important to understand the meanings of the names given to these major divisions of the Tanakh. Torah is from the Hebrew root yarah, to teach or to instruct. The word moreh or morah (teacher, masc. and fem.) comes from the same root. Thus, the Torah contains instruction for living. It is the Law given by YHWH for Israel to live by. The Torah is also called the Chumash in Hebrew, which means (group of) five, because there are five books in the Torah. Neviim is the plural of the Hebrew word for prophet, which is navi. The word prophet in Hebrew is a passive (niphal) of the verb ba (to come). In other words, prophets tell what is to come. But the prophets only tell what is to come in a passive sense. They preach the Word of YHWH to those who will listen. But they themselves do not make the future happen; only YHWH can do that. Ketuvim means Writings. It is the plural form of the noun, from the root katav, to write. But these are no ordinary writings. They are Holy Writings. They are inspired by Almighty God (YHWH) and have been divinely preserved down through the centuries. This is the summary of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. We will look into these sections in more detail in later lessons. |
|