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    Barton Hebrew Bible

    Uploaded by

    Jacob Holtom
    asdfasdf memes

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    t Hebrew Bible & A CRITICAL COMPANION Contents @ st of Contributor Patt The Hebrew Bible in ts Historical and Social Context 1 The Hebrew ible andthe Old Testament eae 7 nea en bl, Nn Ot 2. The Historical Framework dad ng De ig a rn, a Ani, 3. The Social and Cultural History of Anclet Ise sini seavet Isa in the Contest of the Ancient Nest Es hee i San Part ny is Major Gentes of Biblical Literature 5. The Narrative Books ofthe Hebrew Bibl 6 The Prophetic Lite loss 7. Legal Tests Lenser 8. The Wisdom Literature 9. The Psalms and Poems ofthe Hebrew Bible 1 e The Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament hat sraionally known asthe OW Teament sa collection of the ain bo i sm bythe lst few centuries BCE The jority wee writen nthe king dom of dah (which later became the Persian provineeof Yehud) end indeed in ts capita, frusle, betwee the eighth andthe tures Bat there is materi in the books tht may be much older think that there ae ext that go ack int the tenth or eleventh cestary and he ae lder than Homer in Greece So far aati man end the earliest ae those found at Khitbet Qumran by the Dei Senin the twentieth century, normally known 3 the Dead Sta Seo, which contain at lest fragment of altos al the bial books Thee manuscripts rein most cues no older than the first ce tury BCE, and thereafter we have nothing be crly Mle Ages, the Aleppo C he grentcodce ofthe dex and the Leningradt Pe Code. So whereas forthe cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt we pe ses acl munusripts from afr backs the died millennium BC Inthe case ofthe Ierature of ancent sel we ae dependent on mach later texts ticles, however thatthe contents af the books. cases go bck nto a much eater period thn the extant manuscripts The Old Testament often righty relered wo sa brary of Books rather than singe book, sine i consis ofa large variety of texts of Aitleent kinds, refleting diferent prods in the history of ancient I rae, Though there ae sori in the early books that tl of heroes such as Abra, sac, ob Joseph, Moses, and Joshua, tis ‘ot unl the eleventh centry sth earest that we can relly speak o Taras Devi and Solomon: many bia scholar think hat even these figres ae mostly legendary. Aer the death of Solomon, inthe md-teath century, “ra” did ata two, the larger northern Kingdom (nown vari a Ephraim and conf ingly, sal and the sme southern Kingdom of Judas these king ddoms coninaed to exe unt the 720s, when the nortern Hate was ‘congueted by the Assyrians and became an Assyrian province, and the ‘sry sth century. whea Jerusalem ello the Babylonians under Neb ‘hddaezzar and many ofthe popltion of ada were deported to Mes ‘opotamin I widely beieved tht many books i the Od Testament ‘ame ino being during the eighth and seventh centuries: one orto, ach a Hosen and Amn inthe north, bt far more the out, here Jerusalem was probably a centr of scebal eulture. The major ancient traditions sbouk Moses and his predecessors, now inthe Pentatesch (ve books of Moses” Genes, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deiter ‘omy, may ave begun to take shape daring this perio, though they were certainly alo worked on afer the exe The Babylonian Exe ofthe Judaans neve ended in that there was a sizable Jewish presence in Mesopotamia from the sth entry on veard; but neverteesasubetanal numberof the exe or thet de ‘eendents) succscded in eturing to the land ance the Babylonians vere conquered bythe Persia hing Cyrus and Jodh was reconstituted tv sal Pesan province under anative govern, 0 that Js ie Continued in the homeland. The sth century which was so disacous pic for dhe Jews, was also an era in which writing seems to have flourished, wth significant ofthe books of lia, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel aking shape, elongsde ‘nor edition ofthe history of Irae from the setlement under osha dwn tothe ele itel in what re sully called the “istoriea” books (sts, ges, Samus King) The poses age aso aw many impor tant writings with the collections Pls and Proverbs (hough parts of those books may be older), the book of Jb, and lrg sections ofthe Pentaeach being writen this ie nthe fourth century Alexander the Grest conquered the Persian Em ire. Underhim and his succor Jewish ie continued gut antl he Pollial upheaval ofthe second century, when Jodasm began for the frst ime tobe persecuted bythe Syrian king Antioch 1V, provoking revolt by thefeedom fighters known asthe Maccabees. fon he Hellenistic" perio, when Greek estoms and though began to make etn of prophetic tests och as parla inode into Jesh if tht we have the book of Eelesastes(Qoheleth in Hebrew) andthe book of Dane, a well a a numberof what ae rowaay often feted oa “Jewish novels? such as Ruth and Esther ven more important, the Helens ge saw the codification of fewsh seriptre ino caberent cllection, so that something recognizable as thecallection we now postess had come int being, OLD TESTAMENT OR HEBREW BIBLE? ‘This book i clled The brew Bile, bt so far have fey used the term Old Testament, which the nae by which he collection of books jus described usualy knoe in Weser teary clue. tis obvious, howeve tat tin origin a Chritan tem, since contrat wth the ‘Now Testament which ls ofthe ats and words of Jess inthe Gos pals and contains an account of he eaely church nthe Acts ofthe Apos tes as well as eal Chita eters andthe book of Revelation. We ust hea the Jewish series described as books “ofthe ald covenant in the work of Bishop Melo of Sard, who die abowt 190 CE. By this ‘meant that God has entered nto a new kind of elatonship with the hhuman race through Jesus Chrit—the “new” covenant, a esribed in Hebrews 10; an the books of Jewish scrip ze witnesses to his pe ‘ows of ol covenant wih his peopl in pre-Christian mes, (Ta ment ssp the Latin wanslation of covenant) rom a Christan perpective this would have seemed a merely tua pin, ut it easy to ee ht from ewih point of we might ot sound so innocent The Leer tothe Hebrews describes the new Covenant in Christ as upeseding the old ones that old not ust 2 temporal but in sense an evasive term: “He abolishes the fst in ‘overt establish the second” (Heb, 103}; "In speaking of new ove ‘ant he hs made he old one obsolete, And whats obsolete and gro. ing willoon disappear” (Heb. 813) on Christan sae, heard at east sometime onect by ews oldcan hve the sense of "pera uated” surpassed, superseded. Hence in modern times many Jews and Christians sensitive to such matters, ve come to think thatthe term (id Testaments somehat antifewish inane. It ofcourse nt com ‘mon on wish ps any: Jews tnd torte tothe collet ipl “the Bb since for them the "New Testament” isnot pa of he ible anyey. (in sae universities people who teach the "OM Tesameni™ are called profesor of Bibl and the departments in which they work tuccaled departments of Bible, ete logilly.) In seademlcclesa popula esponseto this problem hasbeen cll these books “the Hebrew Bible” (aometines the Hebrew Script This avoids the problem of the “supersesoni” fe to be inp a theterm OU Testament, There ae however stlentthre problems aboxt not necessarily reasons not to adopt it bat revealing, once probed, Some important aspects of the books in question. Fst, Hebrew Bile ‘snot strily scart, snc parts ofthe collction ae in fst in A ‘mai ther than Hebe. Sein, “Old Testament” scholars have tad ‘nally been very interested inthe Grekand Latin transation ofthese books, which produces the odd result that there are “Hebrew Bible” ‘chlaswho infact work rsily on Greek Latin ets. An thi, not tllofwhatat least some Christians have ineladd in ther Ol Testament is part of the sriptures of Judaism, and tht includes sme texts that ner existed in brew even Aramaic bt were in Grek from the beginning, We all go on net to exanine thee dials. Meanie oweves ts fi to note thatthe term Hebrew ible ds resolve the “sopersessionit” diel and in North Amtricait is ow the normal ern of choice in academic dicusion of the Bible In Beit sin the usage is more patchy, bat “Hebrew Bib” is gaining grown Within the Christin churches "OM Testa” sens key to persist ‘on both sides ofthe Alani though even in Cran lrg some prefer to penk of readings from the Hebrew Scriptures” Te ft as ight affected the term New Testament, to, since heres ite pint in that once the term Ol Txamet is abandoned and i too can sound spersessons. ut there ia yet no agred tera “Early Chri fin writing is accurate but doc ol convey the sent fa fixed can text that implied in the erm New Testament Some cal thew prs ofthe Christian ible the “Fir” and “Second” Testaments, which sounds suitably neutral fom a religious perspective, thought isnot clear why one shoud sil we the word Titan! tall tn these formulations given thatthe reference to two covenants as been handed. think that wil be some time before there any reso tion of thee sues, On te face of tthe substation of Hebrew Bile foe "OM Testament seems cay an nocent, bt just pointed out i rus int ertain amount of diel oace we stat to think abut i move carefull, The next the sections il explore the dict from the thee points of view menoned above the language ofthe ets, the existence of ancien! translations, and the question ofthe exact contents ofthe colton, ‘THE LANGUAGES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT Mos ofthe “Ot Testament” isin Hebrew Hebrew belongs t the Se nit fail of languages of which the major example in the modern ‘worlds Arabi though there ar other important Semitic anguages til In ue, such as Maltese and the various Kinds of Ethiopic. There ea sxbgroup of Semitic nguages called Northwest Semitic, and its here that Hebrew belongs slong wth now defunct tongues such as Moabite, Phoenician and Usa It the lca alent language ofthe southern Levant, the area tow containing the tae of lara and the Palestinian tetris Of course, Hebrew ino defunct bute the national language ‘of el and is also spoken where there ae groups of sacs elsewhere inthe world, sich a in pars ofthe United States, Modern Hebrew i a deliver revival ofthe alent language, enriched with grammatical tnd syntactical borrowings from varioas European languages and vo ‘bul fom allover the word. ut Hebrew had notin ft tally died ‘out even before modern Irie revived After the Bible was compet, Some rabbis continued to waite (and possibly to speak) Hebrew inthe foun noe Known a Mishnac Hebrew —that i the language i which the Fewsh ollction of avs fom the Best few centuries CE known a8 the Mishaa is wrten. Throughout the Mile Ages there continued 10 be Hebrew speakers oth in the land of eal and inthe daspra com ‘munis of Mesopotila—the descendent of the eile fom the ith ‘enary—as well sin Egypt, where there had lang been Jewish com ‘nun Alongside his atv use oat forms of Hebe, the Bible as ‘ontinaed tobe rsd and studied intensively in Hebrew. Tore as never been ime when Hebrew id ut ‘ven within the ible sl, however, there some evidence thatthe Hebrew language developed overtime. There are diferences between the main narrative books such as Samoel and Kings andthe conser ably later Chronicles, while Eslesasts (probably hid century BCE) Shows signs of hangs that would become more appaent in Mishnac Febre: Linguist shifts such as there canbe of some help nding the Ila books, though there danger of cea arguments, since sometimes ts prcily the sipposed dates ofthe books that enables totrace he ingusticchanges: Bt theres widespread consent that He brew literature writen ater the eile did begin to show dferences rom ‘air werkt onlin its vocab, with borings rm Persian ‘nd, vena fom Greck, but loi ts grammar and syns But as poised out above, one problem in cling the Old Testament the Hebrew Bible” shat prt ft are not actualy im Hebrew at al Several sections ofthe boos of Daniel and Era are writen in Arama; hich uses the sae script as Hebrew basa distinct anguage Because “Aramaic had supplanted Hebe as the language of everyday spesch by the second cenry BCE, and Jess and hi dips certainly spoke ite sometimes thought that Aramaic isla” anguage—eves that He brew turned iar Arama, Bu this no the case Historical, An nia also « Northwest Semitic language, more important language than Hebrew and jus at anclet. As Akkadian the Est Sei chit language of Mesopotamia, destined aan international language in the sight to seventh centuries BCE, Aramalc came to take ts pace: Pe Sans communicated with Egyptians through the medium of Aramaic as they had once done via Akkadian and weald came todo, fom the thi century onward, Gresk Imperial Arama as thislingu franca iknow, close othe "bila Aramaic” found in Ea and Dane Hebrew and Aranalc are not mutually comprebensbe, but they are very closely related, and anyone who knows one can readily een the ‘ther: they are about a clove as German and Dutch, or Sponish and Ilan. Once you know which eters none Language corzespond 10 hich ltrs inthe oter—for example that words with az in Hebrew Tl on haves din Aramaic—you can quickly lar to read ther both (thas "gol is zaab in Hebrew and deb in Aramaic) Puzzling ‘tisthat Daniel itches fom one language tothe other inthe mide ofa chapter the orignal readers were probably bilgual and would ‘have had no trouble wth the sit. Even the names of the two languages \wereften confused: when the New Testament fers o words bing "a Hebe” (Grek hebrast) itmeans in Aramaic” But hei "Hebrew Bibl” certainly somewhat misleading in sceming to mp that he collection of book i ice language only and that that language i whit we al Hebrew, We ought oy more reise the Hebrew and Arai Bible”| ‘Aram urvives inthe version nowadays known a Syriac many Cristian dict of Arai, which writen in anadaped Arabic script, and is used in the Sian churches otis day. thas ich eligi it ‘ature, it oft known to most peopl inthe Wes, ‘A pecliityof the wring of bath Hebrew and Aramaic needs tobe understood if ones to grasp some of the difictes in eadng the Old Testament This sha in eal Himes oaly consonants were recorded, vith vowel to be supplied by the read. Tis isnot as dfcl it ound and i persists today in most Modern Hebrew puleations, in cluding leat newspapers. Where the materi is reasonably fala, the reader can offen goss almost nsantaneotly what vows ae ‘qed: no British reader of English would have the lightest eficly in decoding Gis Qn at "God sve the Queen” And this ease Seitc languages than in Indo-European ones such as Engh, since the vowel palterns in word re considerably more prdicable "ven inthe ealet Hebrew texts we poses, however, some conso ntsigns re wed also to nae basic vowels: can be either aeons rat oF owe js eit can in English, and ca stand fro ow as well aor the consonant we cal “double u" Thus dor, generation can te verte spy as dr, withthe reader supplying the vowel fom the context oF more helpful a This system wasabeady wel developed bythe ime of the Dead Seu Sco, which us oof these so-called ‘vel ters to ai the eer st tala sppens in Modern Hebrew. Tate, however, amore sophisticated system of dots and dashes was lavented, writen above and bel the ine o creat an absolutly un ambigooes guide to pronunciation These “vowel points” as they are own, were lly codified nthe ety Midle Aes. andthe canbe seen incu eales complete Hebe Be the Leningrad Codex the twrk of the scholars kncwn as the Massorees of Tiberi, whose tase vest transmit the Hebrew text ins swath none cold be in ty doubt about ts tadionl form (nasorah means "radon. 1 ‘upplyingll thes wwe signs the Massoretes were nt innovating but ‘imply recording what had come downto them though oral eading of the tradi tx, and so isp that n most eases the Masonic Text (MT) eft mich eer religions the Leningrad Codex “often concies with the evidence ofthe Dead Sea Scroll, or example, though ital sometimes cies from i arly because the vowel polas rondo some ofthe work previously achieved by vowel eters, MT often fs ewer vowel eters thn the Dead Ss tet-—thi i technically de serbed by saying that MT often wets deectivey” what the Deu Seu texts record inal” way (ftom ether than plone pling inthe teadioal Latin erminoogy. "Nevertheless, th wowel points cannoheregardedas so ancient asthe onsonaa tet and moder scholar wil moe often suggest that he ‘Massorets may have made mistakes inthe vowels than tha they may have mstransited the consonants As Hebrew hs large number of words tht ar dential in thir consonants bat dir in thei vowels (ike pa, pen pin and pun in English) this can make diference tothe reaing othe text however, ganas in Engh fen on vocalization ifr likeli than another, ad the Massoztes much more often than ot gti right. (la English th ps mgt hh snd could conceivably can “the pn s mightier than the sor” but hardly “the pas othe Pin and in ft we eecognize "the pen” as crrest party becase the Syn then makes more sens and pal. of eourse, because we peo ably now it already) The diferent age ofthe consonants an the vowel ‘igo isa reminder, though, tha the text of he Bible i ota absolate {Bren bt developed over tine even ater the books were writen, ANCIENT TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE To cal the Okd Testament the “Hebrew Bible maybe abit misleading sven that some oft is in Aramaic, but it does register theft hat it ‘xsd in ancient Sei anguages before became part ofthe ip tures ofthe Christan church In teatng a auhoritatve this eolection ofbooks the church was accepting an already exiting body of material ot resting or inventing ne ise. The relationship in the new “cove rant” the church bleed God had entered int with “his pope” and Indeed withthe human rae, through Jesus Christ had lay to bee Ine oa Sriture tha already existed This reaionship, sometimes ‘one of ontnty tals sometimes oe of dlogue or tension, existed from the very begining of the Christian movement. But another im: portant factor that may ives pein ing the ern Halve Ble for the older collection of Serpe thi aly Christine in many cases read or wed the Jewish srptres notin Hebrew (or Arms) at alba rather, n Grek. Jesus presumably read the Ble in Hebrew (and Aram cera ke he languages and coud read them But al the sayings of Jesus that we have referring othe Old Testament have come down ous inthe Gospel in Greek, despite the fat that Aramaic was his dally an fuige and Paul wrote only in Grek, One explanation would be thet Pal and the Gospel writes made their own transations from the He brew and Arun text ofthe Bibl but fact hiss both unnecessary sind unlikely besaose a Greek randation already existed, ‘Our only evidence about its origins sn legend preserved ina docament cil he Ltr of rises, which lls how Pharaoh Ptolemy 11 (209-246 BCE) aeranged forthe Jewish laws (which may mean he Pentateuch of Tosh) te rnsated into Grek, so tat he might un derstand the laws under whic his eis abject lived and that es ‘ot leat in Hebrew might beable to reid them Tere were seventy ‘vo translators andy + miracle theyll produced he same translation. Their version we thereaer known asthe Setaagint (Latin for “Sev cay” and sometimes abbreviated LXX) In realty we donot know for Sure when and where the Septuagint war prodved, batt was defintely tween the fourth andthe Sst centary BCE and almost certain in yp where there was the highest encentation of Greck peaking Jews ‘Whether the Pentateuch was indeed! the Hist prt of the Bibl o be translated is ot known, ut it ia reasonable onjstere by thi ine was garded as preeminent among the Jewish Seitues and was cee {ainly more important for the regulation of Jewish ethan ther prt fof the Bible. But traltions of the other biblical books followed, end by the time of ess and Pa in the fst hal ofthe fist century CE any Greck-peaking ewshnew ther ile primarily through the Greck translation Palys lest cctainly lingual a Hebrew and Gresk (and no doubt cou ako speak Araalc: he ad ha the equivalent of ‘univer education, Bt Jess himself may have spoken at ast some Geek ven if he could not read it. The Gospel writers wee al Greek speakers and very fen ike Paul cite the ibe in Greek accoing the 13xX version, not in acordance withthe orginal Hebrew oe Aramaic Thus, whatever the origins ofthe Greck translation of the Hebrew and Arana texts, bythe time of the New Testament writers wa a tea an established fit and alo vewally al, ofthe ill books vee avilable in Greee—lndeed 8 we sal go on tos, the Gree ‘erson actualy contined more books than the Hebrew. In studying the “Hebrew Bible” today scholars therefore ead 1 know Greek as much a they nced to know Hebrew since sometimes the Greek wll ‘contin wording that dies rom the MT but which may atest an older underlying Hebrew txt In one notable cas, the Grek text ofthe book of emia s much shore than the Hebrevs and the evidence of the Dead Sen Scrolls igen ha the shorter ersion may eeflect the fact that there was am oder eon in Hebrews which the EXX translators had infront of them, The present Hebrew tat thea, alngthened version of the orignal and the Grek ea beter gue tothe original book of Jeremiah than the Hebree we encounter in printed ibe. We cannot assume that the Hebrew we have ls abays oder than the Greek ‘ne hie, even though tet io dot thatthe books were originally writen in Hebrew Sometimes the “rg” tet may be represented teter by de Grek than by the Hebrew ofthe MT that has ome down tos, Fr some eligi believers, this ses questions of biblical au ‘thority In such css which s the real Bble? Ors tha a meaningless question? The Grek Bibles assumed by many tobe simply atrantion of the teal authoritative Hebrew test, ut for eary Christians, many of wars ‘ould not read Hebrew any authority the Hebrew orginal posesed twa very there since they ony eer encountered the Od Tess rent in Gres and treated its wording asthe authority for fut and lie Since the LXX ls at many points fifa rendering ofthe Hebrew so far ewe can tel hit may ot seem to matter very much But one starts pee the exact wording ofthe tet, matters become more com pliated To take one ofthe moat famous example: Iaah 7-14 refers in the LXX toa viegin becoming pregnant, and thi became an important prof teat” for Chriians who believe in the ving ith of Jesus. But lhe Hebrew word underlying the ransation means simply a young woman Inthe orginal Hebrew the verse therefore contributes noting tothe doctrine: probably ees o the imminent ih of 0m 0 King az of Judah nthe Grek, has wide doctrinal unplctons, Which text is “athortative® for the Cristian church? The question x hard to ‘mswer butauthority ies with he Grek then one needs ome theory ofthe inspiration ofthe Grek anslatos a itl ike that inthe Ltr of Arcos, pechaps In modern times the fs has hardly been di ‘used: most Christians who think abou hea thority es wth the rigialHebrevy and modern bial translations srealways made from that, though the evidence ofthe LXX allowed 0 influence decisions in places where it might eefect an ester Hebrew text, Freariy Christians with no aces tothe Hebrew al the mater sppeated ina dierent ight As Christy spa! from Grecspeaking cles to those where Latin asthe everyday language, Latin alatons were made but ways from the Grek It sony with Jerome (347-420) that we encon teratranslaor who sought to weigh the evidence ofthe Hebrew text in producing a Latin version, and is translation (traditionally called the Valet) may sain in places preserve traditional reading in the He Trew that are oder than our MTL The older Latin transitions (vets tin, “od Lai) can help ts wth the Hebrew bt can smetimes point to old trains inthe Grek Be tat are ode than the Greek ‘ve now posts in us the sme way asthe Greek anaes to cali Hebvew readings. Bibial scholars need to be ble to consider Hebrew, CGreck an Latin versions if they ae to establish the eatest versions th bibl books. Ben so, to get back tothe original words writen ty the author of the books ino more than a pipe dream, The best we «an ever do isto establish what maybe the earliest werson that ean be reconsrcted, er aeue hat a ‘THE APOCRYPHA ‘farther problem that the Greck Bible contains more books than the Hebrew one, The atonal books canbe found in English Biles tht contain section called “The Apocrypha? which snc the Reformation bat been understood by Proetants tomean the majoity book either that never ada Hebrew original (such the Wisdom of Solomon, com: posed in Grek) or whose Hebe original vas lst (such as Tit or Sirach [= Eelsastius, large prtsofthe orignal Hebrew of which ave tow been fund), Aporypa means “hidden books” and inthe ety ‘hare the term was used to describe “secret” oaks, fen thos sed by ct such asthe Gnostic, of which orthodox Christians dapproved there was also a theory that there were certain divinely ingpted books ‘hat God had chosen to heep hidden ee 2 Ese 45-6) The Protes tant Reformers borrowed the term to refer to biblical books that were not accepted bythe evs as insied, which they excluded from the lit ‘oF books fll approved by the church; some Protests sich aL therans snd Anglicans, continued to read them and think highly of ther, while thes sich es Calin, ejected hem altogether Inthe ely chutch, a s00m ak contact withthe Hebrew Bible was lost the books in question were mostly teste a imply part of Serpe ost people dd not knw that Jews didnot accept them or would not he cared if they had kaon. Esty Christian writes quote fel from sonve of tht a8 if they were wholly om a pa with all other biblical books An awareness that they didnot fem part ofthe Jewish anor” ‘an be found as ety a+ Melo of Sd, whe made fst-nding jor ney tothe Holy Land to dscover Jewish titdes to expr. Butin the Sh century a row erupted about them Between Jerome and Augustine (54-430 The former in touch eth Jes ad 8 we have een, ow ing Hebe, became acutely wae that Christians were sing books not ‘cepted in Judaism and not extant in Hebrew and he argued that hey should stop dong so. Theater contended that these books had alwys been egaed as ol, and shoul continae to be s regarded, within thechurch. The mater was tail eesaved in Augustine vor, sce the apocryphal” books cntinved in we fom then on. At the ie ofthe Reformation Jerome view of the mate resurfaced and resulted in 2 nove fo asi that only the Jewish canon ofthe ibe should count ax the chars OW Testament Cathal, however, continued tar the Inspiration ofthe Apocrypha, and in Catholic Bibles today they donot appear ina supplementary section but, rater, integrated among the ssher Old Testament books, standing next to those they mostesembe— this Tobit and ath are next to Ese, and the Wisdom of Solomon and Eelesasticus ae next to Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Though they ae somtimes refered toa “evterocanonical “belonging to second order of the canon” they are treated in both theclogy and It ‘urgy a etirely ona par with other biblical books. And there the ques tim ret: the extent ofthe Ol Testament canon never seams to be on the agenda for ecumenical discuslon and i simply accepted tht dierent churches have diferent Old Testaments. Indeed the Orthodox churches recognizes few aditonal books (Ps 1513 and 4 Mace beste Prayer of Mansi) that are not ve inthe Cathob Bible while the church in Ethiopia has an even more expansive canon of Scripture ‘Whereas all Christians agree on every dtl of the New Testament, the (Testament remains gray area, So far Ihave writen abot the “aly church” meaning the church from abou the second century onward, in which Greck was the stn dard language and acest Scriptre in Hebrew was barely avaable to ‘ost Cristian. But what was the station if we go back stil eae, into the age ofthe New Testament? What was the biblical canon (Le the authoritative lst of septal book) fr Jesus or Pal or thei im rmedite fllowers? Here the ire become complicate. Is 3 natural ‘sssumption that Serptare for Jews-and Jesus and Pal were Jews— ‘ompesed only the books that exis in Hebrew and Arama and that the Greckbooks aot have been garded a canonical But ab wes, ‘many Jews were blingual in Hebrew and Grek even in that period, and Jews in Egypt may in many cases have ben monolingual Grek and tablet ead the Hebrew book tall: that why the LXX was made in theft plac. So itis ot alla mater ofcourse hat Jews would have regarded ony the Hebrew book as hay ‘An old theory wa that the shorter Hebrew canon of Serpe was authoritative in Palestine but he lnger Greek one was authoritative in Egypt and there war sense in sucha conc. Ba it now sem ike ler that in both teas the Bibl, aher thas being tightly defined set of books in which gven book was defniiey “i of"out consnted of ‘enzalcore and a penumbra. The central core coained the Torah or Pentateach and many ofthe hstrial and prophetic boks, especially perhaps sin (hich is refered to a0 pleniflly in the New Test ‘ent, together with the Palms, The penumbra consisted of varios tater books, ncn some tht are nowin the Hebrew Ble Jab, clsastes) and others tht ae oly inthe Greek Bible (eg, Wisdom of Salomon, ith), Some fw revered some ofthe penumbra books owe than thers bu there had been no definite rlingson the exact extent of the con. Femay be that ve Jewish groups were clearer han others shout thete questions. It has recently Been argued thatthe Pharisees tered toward the Hebrew canon and were flowed in thi the Jew ish historian Josephus whe the Dead Sea community, for example, probably hada more expansive Scriptr, which included books such s 1 Boch and Jabiles, which eid oti the end make ito the main Jewish or Christian canons (though Enoch canonical in Ethiopia) Ith troadly correc then the word ante may bea i anh ronitic forthe very cay period. Most Jewish communities knew and revered he main books that re now in the Hebrew Bibl, but they did tot posinely reject ther books, and he houndary between sxpre snd noncrptre was nota ea ne. (New Testament writers nowhere ‘lacus wich books they regarded as Scrip: we can only workit xt byrseing which books they ete) Though there i no record of any fa smal eanonizaton process in Judaism, itis perfec lea by the time of the Minna (econd and third entries CE) hatte Bible was taken 0 include the book that are now th Hebree anon: only they ae cited ‘script (This accords with what Melo established) Very oc Sonal we hea of dscussions of canoaiciy: the main examples iach (cles), which was widely approved of but regarded a 100 re cent tobe part of Serie Some think (hough disagree) tha thee ‘wee dupes abou cesses and the Songf Songs Bat noone ever ‘decided that Genesis sy, should be regarded as Serpture: it had been {to foras long as memory retched back Christiane tries were rch more prone than Jews to dacs he sue of wat belonged i the Bible, but even among them decisions sbout the canon were mostly a matter of endorsing what hd come down fom the pst, na resting a ‘amon from fs principles, at were, And doubts were only eer ex: pressed about books onthe margins there was ver large ed coe To return to the ise ofteminlogy If we use “Hebrew Bb” does that include or exci the books some call Apocrypha On the fice of it excludes them, since they ext in Greek, not Hebrew Or worse stil, includes any auch books for which an original Hebrew turns up i Ai for rach, at excades Wisdom a Solomon, whichis plainly Cred ln ts whole conception and never existed in Hebrew In practice, bib cal scholars who say that they stay “the Hebrew Bible are git likely tobe interested ia the “Apocrypha” and indeed one canst bea sil scholar without knowing about these books, But “Hebrew Bibl” i, then, avery inexact way of describing the subject of tidy "Old Testa mentale asthe drawback that des not lel inate whether or not the apocryphaldestercanonical hooks ae inchide. In the end there so eal erm but o the wo wider consideration, Hebrew Bile is the more estictive and les informatie, eventhough vols the anger ofsupersessionisn, which we have seen to be a major cancer and which probably tps the sales or mot schoastday Ics somtimes sid tht whatever the theoretical poston, n ra tice New Testament writers oly appeal atl substantially tothe books row inthe Hebrew canon ott those in the Apocrypha, In terms of ‘ctl quotation thi i generally tus though there i the remarkable fac that the Later Jude quots fom 1 Boch which, as we uve seen, ‘sot even inte larger Greek canon a that as come down tous? (AP iments that ts not quoted “a Serpur” ae usually speci pleading fan Behalf ofa conservative theory ofthe canon) But Paul shows ex tensive knowledge ofthe Wisdom of Solomon in his agurnet about human sin inthe fist chapter of Romans at east of somthing very lies and when he dices he ergins sna yng with Ada, he ‘annot be dependent on the Hebrew Bible alone hich never reflects ‘om Adami in afer Genesis 3) bt, ater mare an the traditions o be found in Wid of Sl 12-16 and Si 2524, which cea ideniy ‘Adam an veo the vource of urivesl human snflnes snd death incuacly the same way a Paul does. On a traditional understanding of thematter we shoud ave to sy tht Pol ws despy indebted o some noncanonical books. Bat beter way is probably to say that Pal knew any lewis books, some nearer the center of Scripture than others which he drew on fo his ews, Unlet we havea ery personal ire rent in knowing exactly which books are to be counted a "The Bile” we can best express thi by saying thi for Pala for many ety Jes and Christan, nay books that were Kaown tobe anclent execeed {ects authority and influence. The question “Is ths book pat of the anon of Scripture or no” was not ne tt exercised thei minds 0 one had ye formed iin those terms. For the modern “biblical scolar” amy books rom ancen ral are isly af interest and concern, and it dos not matter very much whether or not they were “canonical” Ac ordingy i probably slo docs not rater mach forthe discipline of tibial scholarship whether we cll the subject of study "Hebrew Bie ‘Ok Testament “Fst Testament oe romthing ele. Within religious communes, however, may matter 2 good deal and finding aterm hat wil ot be offensive to oher igus group isan important am ‘THE HEBREW BIBLESOLD TESTAMENT IN JUDAISM. AND CHRISTIANITY Both Judism and Christianity regard the Old Testament Hebrew Bible 2 posesing special authori, which i imple by calling the ol tion of books "Serptze” But in both cases the authority isnot exactly Tike hat of legal document consttaton or of credo "confession in the Chriaian case (uch a8 the Augsburg Confession for Lutherans or the Westminster Contson for Presbyterian) In both communities the authority ofthe Od Testament i subject 1 various complicated checks and blanc, ferent in character inthe fo eases and ile ended, n ferent branches ofthe two reigns In Judai the books ofthe Hebrew Bibl reorganized diferemy han what faa fon the Christian Ol Testament. There ae three visions: the Law or Torah (the Pstiteuch; the Prophets (which in ‘hes not oly what everyone calls the prophetic books, such as sah And Hose, bt lo the "istrclbooks” Joshua, adges, Samuch, and Kings, and the Weking, a miscellaneous section including Pans, Proverbs, Job and Eirs-Nehemiah ut also Chronic, which does not therefore appear alngsdetheoter historical books ast does in the Cuistan Bible, The threfold division is relected in the name some- times used in modern Judaism forthe Bibl, “Tanah an acronym rom the ini eters of Torah, Nebin, and Ketubi, the Hebrew words for Law, Prophets, nd Weiings. Its posible that the threefold division reflects the historical relies of anonivatio” and that inthe Gres Bibl, which s arranged more according to therypes of Iterature his tory, wisdom, prophecy) an ancient order has een disturbed ot may be thatthe Jewish and Christian arrangements ae roughly contempo: rary adn epesene diferent ways of dering the materia the Jewish sytem is older, however may indicat thatthe Pentateuch was the fire seton tobe universally accepted as oly serpture in ancient Israel (possibly aera the fourth century BCE, an some think that the Prophets came nex and then finally the Writings, which were til hid into the Bist century BCE or even CE. On the model suggested above, i perhaps more Ukly thatthe Prophets and Writings were both stl in fix down almost into the age of the New Testament and thatthe division between then occured in rabbinic ies (fcr the nd ofthe fst cenury CE. Ths maybe suggested bythe fact tat the [New Testament seems to atest more loa tafe dstncion (the lav an he prophets) and tat eatly rabbinic sayings also diferente the Law fom the et but do not point oa division between Prophets and Writings. Bat s things now tan, dhe threefold division is egarded as standard in ada, and printed Hebrew Bibles, flowing the eis ‘evidence for the MT in the Aleppo and Leningrad codes, adopt this pattern. ‘Sometimes thas been swggested thatthe threflddision wees theconints ofthe book. The Tor isthe word of God apoken diet by hin the Prophet represent Gods word mediated through human ‘hiss the Wrstings are human rection oa the word of God, This “heme works more o ls wel i practice, but wth some inconsiste ‘es: Desteronomy, for example, wih the Torah is pesented very much as medi through Moses, while on the oer hand, ther are Places in Job—in the Writings-sthere God i epresented a speaking Airety However, itis ery uly to be istoriclythe reson forthe {isin ite more ahomiletic account ofthe given at eying to make ie frat for religious faith, The distinctions ae defintely function Iturgically in Judaism. 1a the synagogue try the whole Tra ead through anual in age sections ad ta each section here coresponds a second reading aly ftom the Prophets though they ae readonly very selectively Five ofthe ‘Wetings (Lamentations Ester, Song of Songs, Eclesastes and Rat) teresa varios festivals, and parts ofthe Psalms are sed vegulary in ‘worship, ut oer books in the Wetings do not appest inthe rey = {IL The reading ofthe Torah suerounded by ceremonial and the scrls from which tis ead mut be handwaten and occupy te hoist place in the synagogue the ater scriptural books can be read fom imple printed editions, Just when these usage all became etblsed is ot own fo certsn, but in moderates they re certainly more or less universal in fads and atest to the funcional importance of the threefold division, ‘Dos the division have any npotance for interpretation? i ver nhelmingly the Tora hat mater for questions of ala that fr Tow life ito belived, Texts fom the Prophets and Writings may be ddcedin support, butte Torah reigns supreme In he Misha, terial fom the Writings, special frm Proverbs, ther more pln “if than that from the Prophets, veal in Jesh tests especially the two Talmud, all of the Prophets and Writings certainly comtibue torabbinic discussions, andi eincpl any texan cinch an argument, Whichever section it came from. Purthermor, the canon i lesely "coved that there nol abou which xt count as Serptre, sinc only those fom the Hebrew Bibl are eve ted withthe formal "asi writen’ ona ts i But to speak of theautorit ofthe Bible in rabbinic discussion can tjvea miseading impression. In Talmudic dtcourse—and even the death, where texts te commented a seal —the ill text isp pele to as an authority, but the rlings and arguments resented often sina world more conrlled in realty by what i called the Ona ‘Torah—tat the accumulated teachings and speculations of gener tions of rabbis. Tr, very opinion mast be raced back oa serptral texts butt isnot often the bial tea sel that calls the tune In theory the writen Torah ha belts juriston;n practic, isthe accu lation of trains interpretation that determines whats taught. it tions from the Toa (or fom the rest ofthe Bible) come ia to unde ‘care whats aut, but they ae 201 ts rue og. "Tha there sa para, a paradox that tends to charscterine many seligions that apps fied scriptures, Prec because the scriptures tresocenral they tend to be ead in auch away ato endorse what i tlready believed ax partfthe region in question. Yetthat elon would fot be what itis without the Scriptures. Judaism woud not be Judaism vthou the Febrew Eble from which in many ways i derives Yet it reads the Bibl in aecordance with norm that themseles are post ‘aL As religious belive, we rondo scred texts in the ight of what wesley belive, yet what we zea blevedoesto some degre arise from those sae sced texts CCuistanty i no exception to this ele tn desperate tempts to extract the doctrine ofthe Tit from the Bible, for example, one ses the sme tg-f-var between what the text appears to mean andthe ‘meaning thatthe reigion supports nods to derive fom i Traitionl Catholic has in some mesa ave ths problem by strength theessence ofthe faith drives from tation rather ha from Scripture, though that solaton then takes is own revenge by leading people 0 read the documents ofthe tation creeds and bul nd ecplels— inthe same “erentive™ way, so ato make se that they speak with he voice fate orthodoxy. And even then thas often ad io interpet the ble in accordance wit tradton, since has ot been wing simpy to abandon the dea that the Bibles authortatve, even ancioally ‘ccupies a more secondary cle than aparently ds i ada. But Protestant, which has radonallyivetedall authority inthe Bible, hasbeen very stongly constrained to rad allt wanted to believe out ofthe Bible and has done so by reading tess some of into the ibe inthe ia place. Cristini, however has «more complicated relationship than Ja Asin to the OL Testament in particular Ther ate varieties of Protes tuntsn, an, indo of rational Catholics, for which the OM Tex tament is see as exc ona pr with the New in terms oft atbority Inprincl, for thers, the laws Leviticus at a indi on Chris they ae on Jes thogh in cates sch the fod laws they ten 0 be lnterpretd metaphorically rather than Ueraly. Bu most kinds of Cristiani seth elation of theft othe Od Testament more ds leccally. The Ol Testament presents the basi pitureof God to eich Cristian ae commited a ane, athe cetto, a the dy whose ‘hot als the preserves o all human, yet inthe Hight ofthe re ‘inion in Crist some of whst it affirms nceds madison, and some Is perhaps even abrogated. Ths many Christians would think tha the more vengeflapects ofthe Old Testament God have tobe moderated Jn the ight of what revealed of Gol in Christ, and most would ee some oft es the o-ale ceremonial law no lnger applicable a the Christan dapenstion How far down thio Christan shouldbe prepared to go sa mal ter of opinion The mainseam churches have always rected "Mar

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