The Bible and Its Influence
CHAPTER 1
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURE
Tanakh
 The Jewish title for the Hebrew Scriptures.
 Acronym formed from Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim.
 The books share one central theme: the relationship
between God and humans.
 Israel is God’s “chosen people,” set apart to be an
example to the world.
The Three Divisions of the Jewish Bible
 Torah- “Teaching” Includes the first 5 books of the
Bible.
 Contains the following information and accounts:
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central teachings and laws of Judaism,
humanity’s beginnings,
religious history of Israel,
instructions for conducting worship and celebrating festivals,
genealogies.
The Three Divisions of the Jewish Bible,
continued
 Nevi’im- “Prophets”
 This section includes both historical narratives and
prophetic messages.
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Religious history of Israel from the arrival in the Promise Land
to the fall of the kingdom of David
Destructive conquests by the Assyrian empire
Conquests by the Babylonians
Poetic messages addressed to the people of Israel
The Three Divisions of the Jewish Bible,
continued
 Ketuvim- “Writings”
 The assortment of literary forms include
Prayers
 Poetry
 Wise sayings
 Short narratives
 The continuation of Israel’s religious history
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How Jews Read the Bible
 Jews may draw on one or any of these ways to
understanding the Bible.
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Plain sense-surface meaning of the text
Inquiring-interpretive reading
Allegorical-looks for parallels between scripture and more
abstract concepts
Mystical-a symbolic code
Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses
Christians and the Hebrew Scriptures
 Ordering of the books is different.
 Christians see Hebrew text as pointing toward Jesus
Christ and a new covenant established in the New
Testament.
 Christians call the Hebrew scriptures the Old
Testament.
Characteristics of Hebrew Literature
 The importance of word
 The entire universe comes into being at God’s spoken
command.
 Symbolic word choices
 Personal and place names have symbolic meanings.
 Parallelism and repetition
 Made it easier to commit to memory.
 Figures of Speech
 Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, irony, and personification
Midrash
 A Jewish tradition of free and creative commentary
on the Scriptures.
 Uses storytelling to illustrate point of teaching.
 Rabbis would suggest possible interpretations of
biblical texts by inventing their own narratives,
describing what might have happened, often drawing
on clues they perceived hidden in the biblical texts’
wording.
 See handout for example.
Biblical Allusions
 Macbeth, William Shakespeare
 Absalom, Absalom, William Faulkner
 John Donne
 “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T. S. Eliot
 60% of allusions on Advanced Placement Exams are
biblical allusions.
 See list of most common biblical allusions.
Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Torah
Nevi’im
Ketuvim
Tanakh
Plain sense
Inquiring
Allegorical
Mystical
Midrash
Literary Analysis
 The introduction to the Hebrew Bible indentified
various genres contained in the Hebrew Scripture.
How do these genres parallel those used in the
selections from your literature textbook?
 Use specific examples in your response.
The Bible and Its Influence
CHAPTER 2
GENESIS-ORIGINS
 Genesis- “origin”
 “When God began to create heaven and earth-the
earth being unformed and void, with darkness over
the surface of the deep and a wind from God
sweeping over the water-God said, ‘Let there be
light’; and there was light”—Genesis 1:1
 God creates by spoken command.
God the Creator
 The abyss-the primal chaos that is “formless and
void”
 It is not an evil force that must be overcome. Rather,
the abyss needs to be ordered to reach its full
potential.
 The God of Genesis, who needs nothing, chooses to
create anyway.
 Genesis gradually reveals a God who loves zealously,
who chooses favorites, who inflicts terrible
punishments, and shows mercy beyond measure, but
who is never distant or detached.
7 Days
 Complete the following chart:
Pairing of Days and Works
Day One
Day Four
Day Two
Day Five
Day Three
Day Six
Stewardship of Creation
 According to Genesis 1:26-28, what distinguishes
humans from other created things?
 What is the relationship of the human beings to
nature?
Themes of the Creation Account
 Creation has the responsibility to obey the limits set
by the creator.
 Humans are intended to be social, to find community
with other humans.
 The relationship between men and women was
intended to be fundamentally good and holy.
A Note on Names
 Adam- “humankind” or “earth”
 Woman- “closely related to man”
 Eve- “mother of all living”
“Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be the Same”—
Robert Frost
 Who is the “he” in the poem?
 Who is the “she”?
 What “belief” of Adam’s does the poem describe?
 To what common human experience does this poem
allude?