Intro to Hebrew Bible Quiz #1
convergence
Convergence is the process wherein YHWH gradually absorbed the properties of all the other deities in the ancient Near Eastern pantheon, but in a manner that was distinctly Israelite. For example, many of the properties of El, the primary Canaanite god, were transferred to YHWH, as seen in the language of the biblical texts- like Psalms- as well as ancient artwork.
cult/cultic
Cultic practices in the ancient Near East refer to the performance of rituals. Cult is a neutral term in this context and is not associated with the modern-day Western depiction of cults as seen in the media.
megillot
"Megillot" itself can be translated as stories on a scroll. The Five Megillot/Scrolls of the Ketuvim, read during special festivals during the Jewish calendar: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther. They are all short, stand-alone, engaging stories that span multiple genres, yet may all be a way of reacting to the trauma of the Babylonian exile. This pentad also reflects the 5 books of the Torah and Psalms.
'am ha'aretz
'Am Ha'aretz, meaning "the people of the land," refers to the people who were not exiled from Judah. These people were typically the lowlifes and peasants because only the elite were forced into exile. These people were not allowed to lay claim to the name of Israel because they did not fulfill the prophetic pattern of leaving and coming back.
lament
A lament is a passionate expression of grief. The Book of Lamentations is a lament expressing sorrow for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC by the Babylonian empire. Laments were a popular genre in the ancient Near Eastern world, containing rhetorical strategies that are also found in Lamentations, such as a plea to an unanswering god and invective against an enemy; the purpose of the Mesopotamian laments was to quench the anger of their god.
manuscript tradition
A manuscript tradition is a particular line of biblical text, a collection of certain translations and parts of a particular body of works; for example, there are many manuscript traditions of the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Masoretic Text is the manuscript tradition that the Jews believe is authoritative. In Christian religions, the authoritative manuscript tradition is a combination of the Masoretic Texts and the Septuagint, with a heavier emphasis on the Septuagint.
acrostic
An acrostic poem is a type of poetry where the first letters in a line spell out a particular word, phrase, or the alphabet. Alphabetic acrostic poems are found in the Bible in books such as Lamentations, where the first four chapters all contain 22 verses, each verse beginning with a letter of the alphabet in order. In the ancient Israelite culture, the alphabet was seen as powerful, so recitation of the alphabet may have served protective, apotropaic purposes. The alphabet also helps with memorization, which suggests that Lamentations may have been used as a public recitation.
apotropaic
Apotropaic refers to rituals intended to protect the people from malevolent forces. For example, in the ancient Israelite culture, the alphabet was seen as powerful, even magical, and may have been recited to protect the people.
asherah
Asherah is the Ugaritic mother-goddess believed to be the consort to El in the Canaanite pantheon. As YHWH converged with El, he also became associated with Asherah in many texts and artwork.
hesed
Hesed is an untranslatable Hebrew term that can best be described as loyalty, commitment, and an abiding goodness. Hesed is typically attributed to God, but humans can also display hesed, as Ruth does to Naomi in the book of Ruth. It is through the hesed of Ruth and Boaz that Naomi is able to come to know the hesed of God and transform her relationship with him.
hokmah
Hokmah translates to wisdom. It is a feminine word, which allows it to be personified as a woman in the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs, Woman Wisdom tries to instruct the people, calling out to them and beckoning them; God and wisdom have a close, intertwined relationship. However, wisdom is portrayed differently in different biblical texts; for example, in Ecclesiastes, wisdom is portrayed as unknowable and inaccessible.
586 BCE- babylonian destruction/exile
In 586 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonian army to lay siege to Jerusalem, destroying the temple and causing the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. A vast majority of the Israelites were exiled from their land. The literature that follows the Babylonian destruction mourns the loss of Jerusalem and struggles with the theodicy of how this could happen to the people. Many books written in the postexilic time period are a response to the event of the Babylonian destruction and exile.
701 BCE- assyrian conquest of israel
In 701 BCE, the Assyrian army captured the Israelite capital at Samaria and took the citizens of the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) into captivity, though the Kingdom of Judah (in the south) survived. Thus, literature following the Assyrian conquest of Israel focuses on theodicy and reasons that Israel must have been evil in order to deserve their destruction.
ketuvim
Ketuvim, or "Writings", is the third division of the Hebrew Bible. Ketuvim is a widely diverse collection of books that span a multitude of genres. They likely came together and were canonized toward the end of the Second Temple period, after the Nevi'im canon was closed. Ketuvim is a distillation of the word of God that humans understand; it is different ways of people reflecting about life.
kuntillet-ajrud
Kunjtillet-Ajrud is an Israelite archaeological site from the 8th century BCE in the Sinai Desert. Archaeologists have uncovered a pithos from this site with the inscription "I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and [his] Asherah" as well as a painted image. Scholars debate whether the bulls are the Egyptian god Bes or Yahweh.
nevi'im
Nevi'im is the second main division of the Hebrew Bible, between the Torah and Ketuvim. Nevi'im contains the books of the prophets, both the former prophets and the latter prophets. The books emphasizes the significance of heeding the mediated divine world.
qumran
Qumran is a settlement and archaeological site on the west side of the Dead Sea where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. A Jewish sectarian group, likely comprised of Essenes, lived there around the second century BCE and are widely regarded as the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
2nd temple period
The 2nd temple period spans the time from the rebuilding of the temple after the return from exile until around 70 CE. This is the time period in which much of the books of Ketuvim reflect. It was the time period in which the Israelites began to call themselves the Jews. It is also the time period where monotheism more strongly began to develop.
dead sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient biblical texts found in the Qumran Caves on the shores of the Dead Sea from 1947-1956. The scrolls are composed of parchment made of animal hides, papyrus, or sheets of bronze. The texts were likely written around the 2nd century BCE, and scholars have not found any other complete biblical texts that were written prior to this time period. Although these texts were not found in situ, they are valuable for determining which texts the Jews of that sect and time period found important.
masoretic text (masorah, masoretes)
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative manuscript tradition for Rabbinic Judaism. In the 7th century CE, a group of rabbis in Tiberius, Israel known as the Masoretes added vowels to the written Hebrew Bible because the Hebrew language was previously all consonants, leading to ambiguity and multiple interpretations. The notations about vowels and how to read the text are known as masorah. Vowels are added above and below the consonants because the consonantal text is sacred.
meren-ptah inscription
The Meren-Ptah inscription is a stone slab engraved with retellings of the military conquests of Egyptian pharaoh Merenptah from 1206 BC. It is the earliest reference of Israel outside the Bible. This is significant because it shows that by 1206 BC there was a group of people that called themselves the Israelites, a group defined by belief in YHWH.
new testament
The New Testament is the second part of the Christian Biblical canon that discusses the life and teachings of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, a man believed by Christians to be the Son of God. The New Testament also discusses the life of the early Christian Church as it developed and separated from Judaism. The Jewish religion does not contain the New Testament works in its canon.
old testament
The Old Testament is a collection of ancient religious writings that correspond essentially to the texts of the Hebrew Bible. However, the term "Old Testament" refers to the texts in the context of Christianity, wherein these books are only the first half of a bible that contains the New Testament as well. The Old Testament differs from the Hebrew Bible in the order of the books, the translations, and which manuscript traditions are recognized as authoritative.
septuagint (LXX)
The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Legend holds that the name Septuagint, meaning 70, is because there were 72 translators, 6 from each of the tribes of Israel. The translations of the Septuagint are different than the Masoretic texts, although they are not inherently incorrect, just different.
TaNaKh
The TaNaKh is an acronym for the three traditional subdivisions of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim. These texts together make up the collection of Jewish canonical texts, the works that Jewish people believe to be the Word of God. The Torah primarily contains laws and teachings, Nevi'im contains the books of the prophets, and Ketuvim contains the books referred to as the "Writings", a diverse collection of distinct stories.
torah
The Torah contains the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible and is often referred to as the Pentateuch because it contains the 5 books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Jews believe that the Books of Moses were given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Torah contains over 600 laws and commandments that form the basis of many of the practices and beliefs of the ancient Israelites.
delayed punishment
The belief that wicked people's offspring could be the ones who suffer. A common proverb of Israel states that "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." However, the prophet Ezekial disagrees with this proverb and the idea of delayed punishment, supporting instead the idea that salvation does not depend on one's ancestors.
intertext
The intertext of a work relates to the other texts and ideas that shape the reader's interpretation of how to read the work. The intertext is the relationship of a work to the other works in its culture or even beyond its culture. A work's intertextuality also includes the knowledge and ideas that the reader brings to the work because every reader is influenced by the previous things he or she has learned and experienced.
"israel"
The nation of Israel was the people of the descendants of Abraham and Jacob, people who believed in YHWH and in the covenant He made with Abraham. The nation was originally composed of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, but after the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom, only those in the southern kingdom laid claim to the name of Israel. Then, after the exile of these people and their return to Jerusalem, only those who had been exiled and returned could lay claim to the name of Israel.
theodicy
Theodicy is the attempt to address the question of what motivates God to do what he does and why bad things happen to good people. In the ancient Israelite tradition, if bad things happen to you, it is because you did something wrong or your ancestors did something wrong, a theory called delayed punishment. This viewpoint can be seen in books such as Lamentations, where the speaker (in traditional Jewish interpretation) recognizes that the people deserve this destruction because they sinned.
539 bc- cyrus decree
When the Persians overthrew the Babylonians in 539 BC, their king, Cyrus, issued a decree that enabled all the Israelites to return from exile. Cyrus's edict proclaimed that the temple would be rebuilt and that the Persians were to assist financially with this endeavor. This decree was essential because only when the Israelites returned to Jerusalem was the prophetic cycle complete and they began to call themselves the Jews; after this time, monotheism also began to develop.
wisdom literature
Wisdom Literature consists of the biblical books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Wisdom literature contains themes of light and knowledge of the ways of God. The books seek to find an understanding of how God operates and why He does what He does. They are focused on the human condition as it is actually experienced.
YHWH (yahweh)
YHWH, "I AM", is the name for the ancient Israelite god. This name was revealed to Moses by YHWH himself in the Book of Exodus. In later years, Jews ceased to use this name, as they view it too sacred to speak aloud, so they substitute YHWH for "Lord" or other names.
yehudim
Yeduhim, meaning "someone from Judah" is a term for Jewish people. The idea of Judaism formed after the returning of the people from exile. To consider yourself a Jew, the people believed that you had to have left Judah and come back, a pattern that fulfilled biblical prophecy. A critical moment in establishing Judaism was Nehemiah 9.