Hebrew Bible
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Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons. In its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the masoretic text.
Many scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a neutral substitute in English to be preferred in academic writing over Old Testament, which alludes to the Christian doctrine of supersessionism, and Tanakh, the common Hebrew acronym which may be unfamiliar in other languages.[1]
Hebrew in the name likely refers to the language of the books in the masoretic text, but it may also be taken as referring to the Jewish or Hebrew people, who read the masoretic Bible in that language and have preserved its text.
Because "Hebrew Bible" refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons, it does not encompass the deuterocanonical or apocryphal books, which were preserved in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), and are included in the canon of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. Thus the term "Hebrew Bible" corresponds most fully to the Old Testament in use by Protestant denominations (adhering to Jerome's Hebraica veritas doctrine).
[edit] See also
- Books of the Bible for the differences between Bible versions of different groups, or the much more detailed Biblical canon.
- Greek Scriptures
- Masoretic Text, the standard Hebrew text recognized by most Judeo-Christian groups.
- Society of Biblical Literature, creators of the SBL Handbook which recommends standard biblical terminology.
- Table of books of Judeo-Christian Scripture
- Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible
- Torah
[edit] References
- ^ As summarized by Mark Hamilton, "Modern scholars often use the term 'Hebrew Bible' to avoid the confessional terms Old Testament and Tanakh." From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible: Jews, Christians and the Word of God (end). For the recommendation of the Society for Biblical Literature, see (November 1999) in Patrick H. Alexander: The SBL Handbook of Style. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, pp.17 (section 4.3). ISBN 1-56563-487-X. (online link).
[edit] Further reading
- Johnson, Paul (1987). A History of the Jews, First, hardback, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-79091-9.
- Kuntz, John Kenneth. The People of Ancient Israel: an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row, 1974. ISBN 0-06-043822-3
