Worlds of Meaning

1
Worlds of Meaning

• What is in the Hebrew Bible?
• Torah
• Neviim
• Ketuvim

2
1) Torah - Genesis

• Torah law
• Torah 5 Books of Moses
• Pentateuch
• Gen 11 In the beginning God created the
  heavens and the earth.
• Gen 24 These are the generations of the
  heavens and the earth when they were created.
• Two creation accounts?

3
Torah - Genesis

• What is God called?
• Elohim vs Adonay Elohim
• Documentary hypothesis
• E (Elohist)
• J (Jawhist)
• P (Priestly)
• D (Deuteronomist)

4
Torah - Genesis

• etiological myths ( myths of origins)
• What are myths?
• Genesis opens with Biblical Myth, then Biblical
  legend (Abraham, Moses), then Biblical history
  (Exodus, entry into Canaan, tribes, monarchy, etc
  etc.

5
Torah - Genesis

• Biblical Myths and Mythical Characters
• Adam and Eve Garden of Eden
• Cain and Abel
• Noah
• The Flood Story

6
Torah - Genesis

• Sources for Stories
• Epic of Gilgamesh
• Marduk
• Utnapishtim
• Tower of Babel
• Job

7
Torah

• Genesis Bereshit
• Exodus Egypt
• Leviticus Priestly purity and other
  commandments
• Numbers from wilderness to Canaan
• Deuteronomy more laws, death of Moses

8
2) Neviim

• Prophets
• Former Joshua, Judges, Samuel (as one book),
  Kings (as one book)
• Later Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve
  e.g. Hosea, Micah, Malachi (as one book)
• Prophets speak Gods judgement of Israels
  behaviour.

9
3) Ketuvim

• Writings
• 11 Books
• Examples Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth

10
Psalm 23

• 1The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2He
  makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me
  beside still waters 3he restores my soul. He
  leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
  4Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
  I fear no evil for you are with me your rod
  and your staff-- they comfort me. 5You prepare a
  table before me in the presence of my enemies
  you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows.
  6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
  the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the
  house of the LORD my whole life long.

11
Psalm 110

• 1The LORD says to my lord, "Sit at my right hand
  until I make your enemies your footstool." 2The
  LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter.
  Rule in the midst of your foes. 3Your people
  will offer themselves willingly on the day you
  lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the
  womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will
  come to you. 4The LORD has sworn and will not
  change his mind, "You are a priest forever
  according to the order of Melchizedek." 5The Lord
  is at your right hand he will shatter kings on
  the day of his wrath. 6He will execute judgment
  among the nations, filling them with corpses he
  will shatter heads over the wide earth. 7He will
  drink from the stream by the path therefore he
  will lift up his head.

12
Proverbs

• The path of the wicked enter not, walk not on the
  way of evil men Shun it, cross it not, turn
  aside from it and pass on.-- Proverbs 414-15
• The lips of an adulteress drip with honey, and
  her mouth is smoother than oil But in the end
  she is as bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a
  two-edged sword.
• There are six things the Lord hates, yes, seven
  are an abomination to him haughty eyes, a lying
  tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood a
  heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run
  swiftly to evil, the false witness who utters
  lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.--
  Proverbs 616-19
• A worthy wife is the crown of her husband, but a
  disgraceful one is like rot in his bones.--
  Proverbs 124

13
Tanakh

• Torah
• Neviim
• Ketuvim
• TNK TaNaK Tanakh

14
Other Important Writings

• Midrash
• Halakhah
• Haggadah / Aggadah
• Mishnah

15
Mishnah

• oral law of the Pharisees
• Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi, or Judah I
• c. 200 CE
• Interpretation of Mishnah Gemara

16
Talmud

• Mishnah Palestinian Gemara Palestinian Talmud
  (completed 450 CE)
• Mishnah Babylonian Gemara Babylonian Talmud
  (completed 500 CE)

17
Other Important Writings

• Talmud
• Talmud Commentaries
• Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitshak (1040-1105 CE)
• RSHY Rashi
• most famous of Talmudic commentators

18
Other Important Writings

• Teshuva
• Also called Responsa
• Shulhan Arukh

19
The Ideology of Judaism

• 1) Monotheism
• henotheism vs monotheism
• Shema
• Hear o Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is
  one.
• Or
• Hear o Israel, the Lord is our God the Lord
  alone.

20
The Ideology of Judaism

• 2) Resurrection
• Eschatological
• Sheol
• 3) Theodicy

21
The Ideology of Judaism

• 6) Messiah
• 5) Synagogue
• 6) Sin
• Halakhah