Kingdom of Judah. Archaeological record[edit] Mesha Stele c. 850 BCE -An inscribed stone set up c. 840 BCE by Mesha of Moab tells how Chemosh, the God of Moab, had been angry with his people and allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab.[5] Significant academic debate exists around the character of the Kingdom of Judah. Little archaeological evidence of an extensive, powerful Kingdom of Judah before the late 8th century BCE has been found; Nimrud Tablet K.3751, dated c.733 BCE, is the earliest known record of the name Judah (written in Assyrian cuneiform as Yaudaya or KUR.ia-ú-da-a-a). Archaeologists of the minimalist school doubt the extent of the Kingdom of Judah as depicted in the Bible.
However, others maintain that recent findings support the biblical story. Biblical narrative[edit] Relations with the Northern Kingdom[edit] Clash of empires[edit] Destruction and dispersion[edit] Biblical Mount Sinai. The approach to Mount Sinai, painting by David Roberts According to the Book of Exodus, Mount Sinai (Hebrew: הר סיני, Har Sinai) is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. In the Book of Deuteronomy, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Horeb. According to the documentary hypothesis, the name "Sinai" is only used in the Torah by the Jahwist and Priestly source, whereas Horeb is only used by the Elohist and Deuteronomist.[1] "Sinai" and "Horeb" are generally considered to refer to the same place, although there is a small body of opinion that the two names may refer to different locations.
Hebrew Bible texts describe Mount Sinai in terms which some scholars[who?] Believe may describe the mountain as a volcano, although the word is omitted. Etymology[edit] 'Out of the Sinai desert', painting by Eugen Bracht, c. 1880 Regarding the Sumerian Sin deity assumption, William F. Other names[edit] Also: Biblical description[edit] Critical views[edit] Mount Horeb. Moses with tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt, (1659) Mount Horeb, Hebrew: חֹרֵב, Greek in the Septuagint: χωρηβ, Latin in the Vulgate: Horeb, is the mountain at which the book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. It is described in two places (Exodus 3:1, 1 Kings 19:8) as הַר הָאֱלֹהִים the "Mountain of God".
The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH.[1] In other biblical passages, these events are described as having transpired at Mount Sinai. Etymology[edit] Occurrences[edit] Moses Striking the Rock at Horeb, engraving by Gustave Doré from "La Sainte Bible", 1865 The name Horeb first occurs at Exodus 3:1, with the story of Moses and the Burning bush. Exodus 17:6 describes the incident when the Israelites were in the wilderness without water. In Deuteronomy, Horeb is mentioned several times in the account of the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness, Deuteronomy 1:2, 1:6, 1:19. Location[edit] Jews. The Jews (Hebrew: יְהוּדִים ISO 259-3 Yehudim Israeli pronunciation [jehuˈdim]); (בני ישראל, Standard: Bnai Yisraʾel; Tiberian: Bnai Yiśrāʾēl; ISO 259-3: Bnai Yiśraʾel, translated as: "Children of Israel" or "Sons of Israel"), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group[14] originating from the Israelites (Hebrews) of the Ancient Near East.
The world Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II,[25] but 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Name and etymology The English word Jew continues Middle English Gyw, Iewe. These terms derive from Old French giu, earlier juieu, which had elided (dropped) the letter "d" from the Medieval Latin Iudaeus, which, like the New Testament Greek term Ioudaios, meant both Jews and Judeans / "of Judea".[29] According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition (2000): Origins According to the Hebrew Bible, all Israelites descend from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Judaism. Judaism. Judaism (from the Latin Iudaismus, derived from the Greek Ἰουδαϊσμός, and ultimately from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah";[1][2] in Hebrew: יהדות, Yahadut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean ethnos)[3] is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people.[4] Judaism is a monotheistic religion, with the Torah as its foundational text (part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Mishnah and the Talmud.
Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God established with the Children of Israel.[5] Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Judaism claims a historical continuity spanning more than 3,000 years. Defining character and principles of faith Defining character Glass platter inscribed with the Hebrew word zokhreinu - remember us Core tenets 13 Principles of Faith: Torah. Torah (/ˈtɔːrə/; Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, "Instruction, Teaching"), or what is often referred to in English as "Pentateuch" (/ˈpɛntəˌtuːk, -ˌtjuːk/), is the central concept in the religious Judaic tradition.
It has a range of meanings: it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh; it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries in it; the term Torah means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it; it can mean the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh; it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice.[1] Common to all these meanings, Torah consists of the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws (halakha). Meaning and names[edit] Torah as Pentateuch[edit] Contents[edit] Genesis[edit]
Ketuvim. Ketuvim[pronunciation?] (in Biblical Hebrew: כְּתוּבִים Kəṯûḇîm, "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets). In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually entitled "Writings" or "Hagiographa".[1] The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the Ruach HaKodesh, but with one level less authority than that of prophecy.[2] Found among the Writings within the Hebrew scriptures, I and II Chronicles form one book, along with Ezra and Nehemiah which form a single unit entitled "Ezra–Nehemiah".[3] (In citations by chapter and verse numbers, however, the Hebrew equivalents of "Nehemiah", "I Chronicles" and "II Chronicles" are used, as the system of chapter division was imported from Christian usage.)
Collectively, eleven books are included in the Ketuvim. Groups of books[edit] The poetic books[edit] The five scrolls (Hamesh Megillot)[edit] Other books[edit] Order of the books[edit] Other Books. Nevi'im. Nevi'im[pronunciation?] (Hebrew: נְבִיאִים Nəḇî'îm, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh), between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim (writings). It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets (Nevi'im Rishonim נביאים ראשונים, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets (Nevi'im Aharonim נביאים אחרונים, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the Twelve Minor Prophets). Many of the writings of the Latter Prophets are thought by scholars to be older than the narratives of the Former Prophets which precede them in the canon, and were profoundly influential on the direction and development of Hebrew religion.
The Latter Prophets have also had a wide influence on literature and on political and social activism in cultures outside of Judaism. Synopsis[edit] In Judaism, Samuel and Kings are each counted as one book. Former Prophets[edit] Joshua[edit] The book essentially consists of three parts: Judges[edit]