An Introduction to Holy Bible
Along with the Qur’an, the Bible is perhaps ranked one of the most read, distributed and discussed books in the world. Read for nearly two thousand years or more it has been a force, molding, shaping, and reshaping the lives and views of millions into its thought patterns. Some of its readers have taken it literally and others figuratively or symbolically. Some have related themselves to it and revered it as the fountainhead of their faith and tradition, whilst others have read it to criticize it or study it as a powerful force that has led to or helped to create several great civilizations and cultures. Whatever the case, the fact remains that the Bible has, without doubt, been part and parcel of various human religious, educational, political, and social institutions, in different capacities since its compilation, or canonization, centuries ago. So vast is the work connected with it, says Geddes MacGregor, a that “even if an international commission were set up with unlimited funds to investigate the work, a complete inventory of it would be impossible.”
Meaning of Bible
The word “Bible” is derived from the Greek “biblos,” which itself is a translation of the Hebrew Sepharim meaning “books.” As a general term it can be used for any book venerated as “Sacred” by its followers but as a specific term “the Bible” denotes the books which are acknowledged as canonical by the Christian Church.
Three Categories
The Bible consists of two main parts, commonly referred to as the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both form part of the Christian Canon but the Old Testament is specifically the sacred scripture of the Jews who refer to it as the “Hebrew Bible” or just the Bible rather than the Old Testament, as this designation implies a new Testament based on events the Jews believe never happened. For Christians, on the other hand, the Hebrew Bible is traditionally accepted as heavenly-inspired along with the New Testament and hence authoritative in shaping their religious teachings and practices.
Hebrew Bible and Christian Bible
The Hebrew (or Jewish) Bible differs from the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible in a number of respects, and this concerns the number and order of the books that comprise it. Most importantly the Hebrew Bible excludes the twelve books of the Apocrypha, which are accepted by Catholics as canonical and part of their compilation of the Bible. Like the Jews, the Protestants also do not treat these Apocryphal works as canonical, or heavenly inspired, and so do not include them. However, the order of the books in the Protestant Old Testament differs from that of the Hebrew Bible.
The Jews divide their Bible into three main categories comprising a total of 39 books: the Law or Torah, the Prophets or Neve’im and the Writings or Ketuvim. These three sections are collectively known as TaNaKh, which is an acronym derived from a combination of the first letters of each section in their Hebrew terminology (Torah, Neve’im, and Ketuvim).
Law
The Law or Torah comprises the Chumash (five) or the Pentateuch, the five “Books of Moses”: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Prophets
The “Prophets” fall into two further subdivisions: the “Former Prophets” (four historical books) comprising Joshua, Judges, Samuel (I & II) and Kings (I & II) and the “Latter Prophets” comprising Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and “The Books of the Twelve Prophets”: Hosea, Nahum, Joel, Habakkuk, Amos, Zephaniah, Obadiah, Haggai, Jonah, Zechariah, Micah, and Malachi.
Writings
The third section “Writing” or Hagiographa contains the rest of the books: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles (I & II) Daniel, Ruth and Esther.
This threefold division of the Hebrew Bible is simply a reflection of its historical development and in no way or form represents any topical or stylistic classification or categorization. It is frequently believed to correspond to the three historical stages during which the books of each section received canonical recognition. Although all three parts of the scripture were believed to be inspired and their significance and authority determined by their respective positions in this tripartite division, the Pentateuch stands in a special class with its author Moses considered as the fountainhead of the rest of the books. Therefore, the prophets are transmitters of a continuous tradition beginning with Moses; the Prophets and the Hagiographa explain the Pentateuch. Thus, all the rest of [the] books, with no detraction from their divine inspiration and authority, are an authority of the second rank; they repeat, reinforce, amplify, and explain the Law, but are never independent of it.
See details in my book "Concept of God in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic Traditions."
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