The TaNaKh, also known as the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, is a collection of 39 ancient Hebrew scrolls that tell a unified story of God's covenant promise to Israel and humanity. The TaNaKh is divided into three main sections: the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. The Torah tells the story of creation, humanity's rebellion, and God's promise to rescue humanity through a new human. The Nevi'im continues the story, highlighting Israel's failures and God's repeated promises to send a new king who will restore God's blessing to the world. The Ketuvim, a diverse collection of scrolls, develops these themes further through cross-references and symbolism. The TaNaKh concludes with the promise of a future king who will reunite God's people and bring divine blessing to the nations. Throughout, the TaNaKh is presented as a divinely guided and intentionally designed collection of texts that offer a unified story of God's love and redemption.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Old Testament is a collection of 39 smaller works grouped into four main sections.
2. The first five books are called the Pentateuch, followed by the historical books, poetic books, and books of the prophets.
3. The arrangement of the books in the Old Testament is a later Christian tradition that developed after Jesus and the apostles.
4. In ancient Jewish tradition, these works were on separate scrolls and were conceived of as a unified three-part collection called TaNaKh.
5. The TaNaKh has the same books as the Protestant Old Testament but arranged differently.
6. The TaNaKh is divided into three parts: Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
7. The Torah corresponds to the Pentateuch.
8. The "Prophets" consist of four historical narrative books and 15 works named after specific prophets.
9. The "Writings" is a diverse collection of poetic and narrative texts.
10. The 3-part design of the TaNaKh is mentioned in ancient Jewish texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Wisdom of Ben Sirach.
11. Jesus of Nazareth mentioned the TaNaKh.
12. The scrolls were coordinated by means of cross-references that link each work into the larger 3-part collection.
13. The authors of the scrolls are mostly anonymous, referred to as "Scribes" or "the Prophets."
14. The prophetic scribes believed that God's Spirit was guiding the process of collecting and shaping the texts.
15. The TaNaKh was completed sometime in the last centuries before the time of Jesus.
16. The TaNaKh offers a prophetic interpretation of Israel's history that claims to reveal God's purposes to rescue the whole world.
17. The Torah begins with the story of creation and the first humans, Adam and Eve.
18. The story of Abraham and his family is a central part of the Torah.
19. Abraham's family ends up in exile in Egypt, where they are enslaved.
20. The Torah ends with Moses predicting that Israel's failure will continue as they return to the Promised Land.
21. The Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the TaNaKh is divided into two sub-collections: the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets.
22. The Former Prophets include four narrative works about Israel's story in the Promised Land.
23. The Latter Prophets include three large and 12 short works connected to specific prophets.
24. The job of Israel's prophets was to accuse the old Israel of failure and corruption and to warn them about the looming result: the great Day of the Lord.
25. The prophets promised that God had a purpose to purify his people and recreate a new Israel.
26. The Ketuvim (Writings) section of the TaNaKh is a diverse collection of scrolls that address various themes and questions raised by the story of the Torah and the Prophets.
27. The Psalms scroll teaches God's people how to pray as they wait for the future hope of a promised king.
28. The wisdom scrolls, including Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, reflect on Israel's complicated history and offer wisdom for living.
29. The Daniel scroll looks back over Israel's failure and suffering as a door of hope into a new future for the world.
30. The Chronicles scroll retells the entire story of the TaNaKh, from the beginning up to Israel's return from exile, with a focus on God's promise to David of a future king.