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Sacred Writings in Judaism
The Tanakh is the sacred book of the Jews. This book is not really a single volume but actually is a collection of various writings that have been gathered together over hundreds of years and grouped into three divisions: the Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Kethuvim (Writings), thus the acronym Tanakh.
The Tanakh was written by various prophets, poets, and holy men during a fifteen hundred year period. Many scholars believe that the earliest book is the book of Job possibly written about 2,000 B.C. during the time of Abraham. The last book to be written is Ezra-Nehemiahwhich was written about 450 B.C.
Torah or the Law of Moses is the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Torah was given to Moseson Mount Sinai after he led the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Some scholars do not believe that the Torah was written by Moses. They believed that these books are a patchwork of shorter writings that were edited several times until the final edition. This theory has little evidence, denies the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, and goes against the testimony of other Hebrew leaders who believed that the Torah is inspired by God and was written by Moses.
Nevi'im (Prophets) includethose books that were written from the time after the Exodus (until the return from the Babylonian captivity except for the book of Chronicles which is part of the Kethuvim.
The Nevi'imaremade up of the Earlier or Former Prophets:Joshua, Judges, Samuel (12), Kings (12). These books give much of the early history of Israel after they resettled in the land. Many prophets were present during this time but these early prophets did not write. The next group in the Nevi'im are the Later or Latter Prophets. The Latter Prophets are those books which were written by the so-called “writing prophets”.
The Latter Prophets are further divided into Major and Minor Prophets. The Major Prophets include: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The Minor Prophets were considered one book—the Twelve Prophets. The Book of Twelve Prophets are: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
Kethuvimor the Writings have eleven books. These Writings include Psalms, Proverbs, and Job; the Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther; and the last of the writings: Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles (12).
The books of Isaiah and Daniel have very specific prophecies concerning the defeat of the Babylonians by the Persians and the rise of King Cyrus, the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, the persecutions of Jews by Antiochus IV, and the defeat of the Greeks by the Romans. Those scholars who do not believe in divine inspiration say that Isaiah and Daniel were written after the events prophesied. Scholars who believe in divine inspiration say that God revealed these future events to the prophets and give an early date to the writings.
From these Hebrew Scriptures believers have compiled various summaries to help them remember and teach the essentials of the faith. One of the most important summaries is the Shema. The Shema is: "Hear O Israel! The Lord is God, the Lord is one."
Another important summary is the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are considered to be the most basic statement of God’s will for mankind. These commandments are:
1. I am the Lord your God, 1who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
2. Youshall have no other gods before Me. Youshall not make unto you a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Youshall not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Youshall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God; on it youshall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honor your father and your mother; in order that your days may be prolonged upon the land which the Lord your God givesyou.
6. Youshall not kill.
7. Youshall not commit adultery.
8. Youshall not steal.
9. Youshall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Youshall not covetyour neighbor’s house; youshall not covetyour neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbor’s.