Lesson 1- Formation of the Bible- Old Testament Aim To briefly understand the history, content and processes behind the formation of the Bible Prayer What can I learn from life? - Can you think and share the processes involved in compiling a magazine or a book? -Have you ever wondered how the 66 books came together as the Bible? -Who wrote the different books? How were they preserved and later discovered? Key Words Canon: Originally means reed, which is used to signify a measuring stick, ruler or a yardstick. Tanakh: The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), containing three subdivisions, Torah, Neviim and Kethubim. Pentateuch: The first five (Penta) books of the Old Testament, believed to be written by Moses. Introduction The word Bible derives from the Greek tern Biblia which means books and refers to the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Holy Bible contains 39 Old testament books and 27 New Testament books. These books comprise the canon of the scripture. The concept of canon or canonization happened when people began to ascribe Holy Scripture status to individual books, as authoritative standards of faith and practice. Organization of the Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or Tanakh, was primarily written in Hebrew, with some portions of Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel written in Aramaic. Early in their history, the Jews began to collect writings that were important to their history and faith. They found it necessary to document all these, so that their generations would be taught. These included the Ten Commandments and the Law, historical documents that traced God s relationship with humanity and Israel, poems, songs used for their common worship, wisdom literature and finally the messages of the great prophets, whom God called to correct and guide his people. The Old Testament is mainly divided into 3: 1- The Law, or Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2-The Prophets, or Neviim: Former Prophets (Joshua- Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the book of the 12, Hosea- Malachi) 3- The Writings or Kethubim: Poetic books (Job, Psalms and Proverbs), festival scrolls (Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations) and the historical books (1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel) Torah The Torah is a central concept in Jewish tradition. It has various meanings. It could mean the first five books of the Old Testament (Gen., Ex., Lev., Num., and Deut.). It could also mean the commentaries on the first five books or even Jewish faith and practice in total. But largely, it means the first five books of the Old Testament. It is believed that Moses has written the Torah. Content of the Torah (box) Pre Historic events Historical events Laws and covenant Worship rules Deuteronomic Laws Priestly codes Curses Did you know? Some scholars doubt if Moses really wrote the Pentateuch for the following reasons: - Deuteronomy 34 narrated the death of Moses! -Different names for God in different books. (A single writer would ve maintained a consistent name) -Repetition of stories and different descriptions (Genesis 12:10-20; 26:6-14) Theme of the Torah - God is the self existent Creator, who created everything, and still continues to be involved with the world and their history after creation, as seen in the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. - The Torah focuses upon the beginnings of the Jewish race, how they came to be the chosen people of God and how they were meant to be a light to other nations
Activity: 1) Name the three divisions in the Tanakh? Torah, Neviim, Kethubim 2) Why do some people doubt Moses authorship of the Torah? See box (Did u know?) 3) Why did the Israelites take pains to document, collect and preserve the Biblical writings? 4) Are Israelites the only chosen people of God? Does the Israelites mean a particular race (people of the State of Israel) or is it inclusive of all creation? (Read Amos 9:7) Discuss. Birthday or Other special Celebrations Prayer
Formation of the Old Testament- Week 2 Review Questions: Correct the following sentences 1) The name of the Hebrew Bible is called the Torah (Tanakh) 2) Moses is said to have written the first 4 books of the Torah (First five) 3) God is only a creator and his role ends with creation. (He continues to intervene in the history of humanity) 4) The Law was given to Abraham on Mount Sinai. (Moses) Let us now look at the other two divisions of the Tanakh. Neviim - It is the second main division of the Bible - Neviim is the plural of Navi (prophet) - It contains 2 groups Former Prophets Joshua Judges Samuel Kings Latter Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel 12 minor prophets - These are documents saying how God spoke to his people through some selected Prophets - Prophetic books record God s messages to the people of Israel and Judah in the form of speeches, sermons, visions and life experiences of Prophets who preached from 750-450 B.C. Kethubim - Means Writings - It contains: Songs: Psalms, Lamentations and Song of Songs Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes History: Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles
Short Stories: Ruth and Esther Apocalyptic: Daniel - Psalms occupy the most prominent place in this group. They are considered as the songs of Praise in the Temple. They were written before and after the Exile. It includes festival songs, Confessions, Lamentation, Praise etc; - Proverbs are mostly written by Solomon, although others have also contributed to it. - Job addresses the question, Why do people suffer? The Canon of the Old Testament - The historical books of the Old Testament would ve been compiled after the reign of King Josiah (640-609 BC). - The Torah was recognized by the 5 th century - The Prophets were comprised by 200 BC - The Writings is said to have been set at a meeting of Rabbis at Jamnia at AD 90 Criteria for the formation of the Old Testament -Tradition: There was a well established tradition that many of the books came from the time of Moses or other acknowledged prophets. - Spiritual Authority of the book themselves: The inherent spiritual authority of the Old Testament books played a role in their acceptance into the canon -Recognition in the Temple as sacred and Liturgical use: To be read publicly when early communities gathered for their weekly worship services. - Consistent Message -Conviction of leaders and people: The opinions of religious leaders and common convictions of the people about the books were considered. Activity 1) What is the main content of the Prophetic Writings? 2) Name the sub divisions in the Kethubim? 3) Can you briefly write down the criteria for the formation of the Old Testament as Canon? 4) Who were the former and the latter prophets? 5)Complete the cross word puzzle:
Across 1. Canon is a stick 5. OT was primarily written in.. 7. Prophets 8. Bible in Greek Down 2. Daniel is a book 3. Writings 4. Law 6. Job, Psalms and Proverbs are... books
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