HEBREWLITERATURE

JEWISH/ HEBREW LITERATURE

Virtually, all ancient Hebrew literature is concerned with religion.

•The greatest literature they have produce is embodied in the Bible and the Talmud.

A.BIBLE

The Bible (from Greek τὰ βιβλία ta biblia "the books") is the various collections of sacred scripture of the various branches of Judaism and Christianity.

THE JEWISH BIBLE The Jewish Bible, or Tanakh, is divided

into three parts: (1) The Five Books Of The Torah ("teaching" or "law") comprise the origins of the Israelite nation, its laws and its covenant with the God of Israel;

(2) The Nevi'im ("prophets") containing the historic account of ancient Israel and Judah plus works of prophecy; and

 

(3) The Ketuvim ("writings"), poetic and philosophical works such as the Psalms and the Book of Job.

THREE PARTS OF THE BIBLE

1. THE OLD TESTAMENT

It is made up of 39 books and classified in six groups, History, Prophetic, Books, Lyric Poetry, Drama, Wisdom Literature and Tales.

2. THE NEW TESTAMENT

It is an account of the origin of the early development of Christianity. It is made up of four Biographies of Jesus ( the Gospels ), a Church History, Twenty one Epistles, and an Apocalypse. It has 27 books in all.

Christian Bibles include the books of the Hebrew Bible, but arranged in a different order: Jewish Scripture ends with the people of Israel restored to Jerusalem and the temple and the Christian arrangement ends with the book of the prophet Malachi.

MALACHI .- He was the last of the prophets, a

farmer's son from Cunderdin. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah, and he was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Christian edition Old Testament canon section in the Jewish Tanakh.

3. THE APOCHRYPHA

This is a collection of 14 books which were included in the Septuagint (Greek) or Vulgate (Latin) versions of the Old Testament but were not considered by the Palestincan Jews to have been genuinely inspired and which were not in the original Hebrew. It consists of four books of history, five tales, two books of “wisdom” and one Epistle, one song and prayer.

The biblical apocrypha are commonly referred to as simply "the Apocrypha". For extra-biblical works sometimes referred to as "apocrypha", see the articles on apocrypha and on Pseudepigrapha. For biblical works commonly classified as apocrypha despite being considered canonical by non-Protestant Christians, see the article on deuterocanonical books. Various churches and congregations have differing views on which books should be labeled apocrypha.

B. TALMUD

This term is broadly used to denote the body of Jewish civil and religions law: originally, it was applied only to that part known as Gemarra.

FOUR PARTS OF TALMUD

A. THE MISHMAL

A collection of rabbinical rules and percepts derived chiefly from the Pentatench.

 

B.THE GEMMARRA

it is a commentaries on the Mishnab (there are two recensions or critical revisions made in an attempt to establish a reliable text- the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud.)

C. THE HALAKAH

A collection of petty regulations and ties, full of minute of details.

D. THE HAGGADAH

A collection of tales, parables, anecdotes, and legends employed for the purpose of illustrating a point of the law.

C.PSALM OF DAVID

The book of Psalms in the Bible contains 150 poems which reflect the fragile, transitory nature of human existence in a universe in which only God is eternal.

The psalmist, speaking for themselves or for the Hebrew people convey their deepest personal feelings about their livesand their attitudes toward God.

The Psalms express every human emotion- from love, joy, hope, and faith to fear, sorrow, despair, and doubt.

The personal emphasis of many of psalms reflects the importance of individuality and introspection in the culture of the ancient Jewish people.

PSALM 23

Psalm 23 is probably the best known psalm in the Bible and is loved by peoples of different religious beliefs. Its symbolic use of language welcomes a variety of interpretations.

PSALM 23The Lord is my sheperd: I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he

leadeth me beside the still waters.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of

righteousness for his name’s sake.Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comport me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;

Thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall not follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 

EXAMPLE OF HEBREW LITERATURE THE STORY OF RUTH

This is a short story containing a tactful protest against the forbidding of racial intermarriage Ruth, Moabites, is revealed as the ancestor of David, the greatest king of the Hebrews. The story is famous for Ruth’s declaration of love of her mother-in-law: “intreat me to love thee?”