The Jewish scriptures
TaNaKh
Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim
The people that, beginning in the 12th century before the common era, lived for over a thousand years in the land of Israel in the kingdoms of Israel and Judea gave the world the “Hebrew Scriptures.”
Initially the people of these two kingdoms recorded their experiences and transmitted the values they learned from them orally. Eventually, as writing became more common, the oral heritage became codified into 24 books constituting the foundational literature of the Jewish People.
From a formal point of view, thus, the “Hebrew Scriptures” are a 24-book literary anthology. Written and edited by multiple authors over the span of many centuries, these 24 books are divided into three groups: Torah (Pentateuch), Neviim (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
The first Hebrew letter of each one of the three sections forms the acronym TaNaKh.
Whether the whole collection, rather than the first section, is called “Torah,” “Kitvei ha-Kodesh,” Old Testament, or Bible betrays an ideological posture that pays attention only to parts of what the TaNaKh signifies for humanity.
For Jews, in particular, “the TaNaKh” encases what is authentically and uniquely Jewish
All authentic Jewish thought begins in the TaNaKh. It is the source of Jewish values, ideals, and hopes.
It is easy to be misled into thinking that this collection of 24 books is nothing more than a work of doctrinal exposition
This is not to say that the TaNaKh is not a religious text—what it says is that it is also a work of literature. In fact, the TaNaKh is a literary masterpiece, one of the most important collections of classical books. To say this in no way disparages it nor it the Rabbinic approach
The TaNaKh is arguably one of the most important elements in constituting the idea of humanity.
Its non-legal part, as well as the morality of the prophets, for instance, has become the common property of a large part of the human race, ceasing, in a sense, to be distinctively Jewish.
The books of the TaNaKh were composed to assist individuals and nations seeking to discover the true and the good as best their natural abilities allow them.
