Soul Food For The Week Of 10/01/14

Soul food is a weekly collection of verses, stories, and quotes from various traditions to meditate on. All verses from the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical books, and New Testament, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). All verses from the Quran, unless otherwise noted, are from the MAS Abdel Haleem Translation.

Jewish

Torah

“And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.”                                                -Genesis 15:6

Talmud

“Love work, loath mastery over others, and avoid intimacy with the government.”                         -Ethics Of The Fathers 1:10

Deuterocanonical Literature and Pseudepigrapha

“Revere the Lord all your days, my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing; for those who act in accordance with truth will prosper in all their activities. To all those who practice righteousness give alms from your possessions, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have.”                                                -Tobit 4:5-8

Other

“Every human being has been given free-will. If he wishes to incline himself towards the good way and to be righteous, he is free to do so; and if he wishes to incline himself towards the evil way and to be wicked he is free to do that… Every individual is capable of being righteous like Moses or wicked like Jeroboam, wise or foolish, merciful or cruel, mean or generous.”                   -Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, 5.1–3

Christian

New Testament

“It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”                                                                                                                                                         -The Gospel Of Mark 7:20-23

Church Fathers

“My child, flee from every evil and everything that resembles it.”                                                                         -Didache 3:1

New Testament Apocrypha

“Faith receives, love gives. [No one can receive] without faith, no one can give without love. Therefore we believe in order that indeed we shall receive, yet we love in order that we may truly give. Otherwise, if someone gives without love, he derives no benefit from giving.”                 -Gospel Of Philip 49

Other

“By perfection, I mean the humble, patient, gentle love of God and our neighbour, ruling our tempers, words and actions.”                                                                                                                       -John Wesley, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection

Islamic

Quran

“[How] prosperous are the believers! Those who pray humbly, who shun idle talk, who pay the prescribed alms, 5 who guard their chastity except with their spouses”                                              -Quran 23:1-5

Hadith Al-Qudsi

Allah says: The first of his actions for which a servant of Allah will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection will be his prayers. If they are in order, then he will have prospered and succeeded: and if they are wanting, then he will have failed and lost. If there is something defective in his obligatory prayers, the Lord will say: See if My servant has any supererogatory prayers with which may be completed that which was defective in his obligatory prayers. Then the rest of his actions will be judged in like fashion.                              -Hadith Al Qudsi 9, related by Al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Ahmad.

Hadith

“Consideration is from God, and haste is from the devil.”                                                                                        -Al-Bayhaqi

Sufism

“Brother, stand the pain.
Escape the poison of your impulses.
The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do.
Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun.
Turn away from the cave of your sleeping.
That way a thorn expands to a rose.”
-Rumi, The Essential Rumi

Other

Abu Hanifa said to Al-Sadiq: Abu Abd Allah, how patient you are during the prayers!                                     He said: Woe unto you! Nu’man, do not you know that the prayer is the sacrifice of the God- fearing, the hajj (pilgrim) is the jihad of the weak, every thing has Zakat and the Zakat of the body is fasting, the best act is to wait the ease from Allah, the propagandist without act is like the archer without string? So, memorize these words, Nu’man.

Other Wisdom

Master K’ung said, He who could put the Five into practice everywhere under Heaven would be Good.        Tzu-Chang begged to hear what these were.                                                                                                      The Master said, Courtesy, breadth, good faith, diligence, and clemency.                                                              -Confucius, Analects, XVII, 6

“A man should be of good cheer about his soul…if he has earnestly pursued the pleasure of learning, and adorned his soul with the adornment of temperance, and justice, and courage, and freedom, and truth.”              -Plato, Phaedo, 114

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts: The Pseudepigrapha

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts will serve to educate the general public on the great religious texts, what they are and basic scholarship related to them. The Philosophy of this series is to educate with the hope of clearing up misconceptions and fighting ignorance, which can lead to hate. Also to make this information available and easily Understandable by the general public. Interaction with the blog, asking questions, and sharing are greatly encouraged. Words appearing in bold are important terms defined at the end of the post. Also included at the end of the post are online resources for further study.

If you have read my previous posts on the Old Testament and The Deuterocanonical Literature you have probably came across an unfamiliar word, one denoting a type of religious literature, the Pseudepigrapha. The Pseudepigrapha is unknown to many outside the field of religious studies, but thanks to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, documentaries such as Banned From The Bible, and movies such as The Da Vinci Code lay people have gained both an awareness and an interest in this type of literature, as well as Other “lost books” of the Bible. What exactly is the Pseudepigrapha? It is group of sixty-five texts related to but with a few exceptions, not part of any version of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. These books were authored by Jews or Christians, mostly during the three centuries before the Common era, and the first two centuries of the Common Era. These writings are labeled “Pseudepigrapha” due to the fact that in most instances, they are falsely attributed to an individual, usually a Patriarch or Prophet.ⁱ

The Origin and History Of the Term ‘Pseudepigrapha’

The literal meaning of the term Pseudepigrapha is “falsely attributed writings”. It is commonly used as a literary genre for any text incorrectly ascribed to an ancient figure. The word is used by scholars to refer to non-biblical Jewish works other than the Apocrypha, Josephus, or Philo, known prior to 1948, written in the time period mentioned above.ⁱⁱ The technical sense of the term “Pseudepigrapha” posses an extended and unique history. It was utilized first in the later portion of the second century by Serapion when he referred to the New Testament Pseudepigraphaⁱⁱⁱ. The word was granted importance in the initial portion of the 1700’s by J. A. Fabricius, who named the first volume of his monumental series Codex Pseudepigraphus Veteris Testamenti. In the 1800’s an assemblage of “Pseudepigrapha” was compiled by M. L’Abbe J.-P. Migne, who was Catholic, and was called ‘Dictionnaire des apocryphes, ou collection de tous les livres apocryphes relatifs a Vancien et au nouveau testament’, this work did not use the term “Pseudepigrapha”. This was due to the fact that Catholic Christians regard the Apocrypha to be deuterocanonical literature and thus use the term Apocrypha to refer to the Pseudepigrapha^iv. Modern scholars use the term “Pseudepigrapha”, due to the fact that the word has been handed down from former generations and is currently in use all over the world, not because it designates these texts as illegitimate.^v

The Books Of The Pseudepigrapha

These texts are rich in theological expressions and beliefs, all of which were formulated, at least partly, from those located in the Hebrew Bible. There are at minimum four momentous theological interests which are quite often found in these writings: “preoccupations with the meaning of sin, the origins of evil, and the problem of theodicy; stresses upon God’s transcendence; concerns with the coming of the Messiah; and beliefs in a resurrection that are often accompanied with descriptions of Paradise.”^vi

The books of the Pseudepigrapha can be placed into five loosely defined genres.

Apocalyptic Literature and Related Works: The word “Apocalypse” is a Greek word meaning a “revelation” or a “disclosure.” These texts incorporate a revelation of what is happening in the heavens above or what will occur in the imminent future. Such revelations are generally “graphically illustrated with visions and auditions, and there are often cosmic trips by Enoch or other “holy ones” into the hidden reaches of our universe.”^vii This genre consists of nineteen documents:

1 (The Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch (Also known as the Book Of Enoch or The First Book Of Enoch)

2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch (Also Known as The Second Book Of Enoch Of The Book Of The Secrets of Enoch)

3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch (Also known as The Third Book Of Enoch)

Sibylline Oracles

Treatise of Shem

Apocryphon of Ezekiel

Apocalypse of Zephaniah

4 Ezra

Greek Apocalypse of Ezra

Vision of Ezra

Questions of Ezra

Revelation of Ezra

Apocalypse of Sedrach

2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch

3 (Greek Apocalypse of) Baruch

Apocalypse of Abraham

Apocalypse of Adam

Apocalypse of Elijah

Apocalypse of Daniel

Testaments: The second variety of books in the Pseudepigrapha are “Testaments” (frequently they include apocalyptic sections); The narratives of the Hebrew Bible commonly render the setting for these “Testaments.” Though there was not a solid genre to stick to, the authors of these texts shared the structure or format of most of these writings. A patriarch of the Hebrew Bible, near his death, gathers his sons and followers around him so he can impart his final words of instruction and perception. These testaments (or last wills) contain ethical teachings and are commonly dramatized by visions into the future. In some aspects, this genre was inspired by Jacob’s testament to his sons.^viii This group contains the following documents:

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

Testament of Job

Testaments of the Three Patriarchs

Testament of Abraham

Testament of Isaac

Testament of Jacob

Testament of Moses (Also known as The Assumption Of Moses)

Testament of Solomon

Testament of Adam

Expansions of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Other Legends: The third category of texts in the Pseudepigrapha. These documents especially demonstrate the imaginative power of the Hebrew Bible; with only one exception, The Letter of Aristeas, they enlarge and embellish the narratives and stories of the Hebrew Bible. This genre contains the following documents:

The Letter of Aristeas

Jubilees

Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah

Joseph and Asenath

Life of Adam and Eve

Pseudo-Philo

Lives of the Prophets

Ladder of Jacob

4 Baruch

Jannes and Jambres

History of the Rechabites

Eldad and Modad

Wisdom and Philosophical Literature: The fourth kind of writings found in the Pseudepigrapha preserve some of the wisdom of the ancients, not just that found in early Judaism but also of the surrounding cultures. Here, we encounter the universalistic truths so necessary for refined and learned demeanor and behavior in all aspects of life, secular and religious. Jews inclined to adopt philosophical truths from other cultures, oftentimes but not always, recasting them in light of the Torah. This genre contains the following works:

Ahiqar

3 Maccabees^ix

4 Maccabees

Pseudo-Phocylides

The Sentences of the Syriac Menander

Prayers, Psalms, and Odes: The last genre of texts in the Pseudepigrapha contains some poetic compositions which are influenced by the thought and style of the canonical Psalms, while others display the more free evolutions of poetic style typical of early Jewish hymns. The final genre contains the following writings:

More Psalms of David

Prayer of Manasseh

Psalms of Solomon

Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers

Prayer of Joseph

Prayer of Jacob

Odes of Solomon

The Significance of The Pseudepigrapha

A fragment of The book of Enoch

The Pseudepigrapha offer us an improved understanding of Jewish thought and history in the last few centuries before the common era and the first few that preceded the opening of the common era. That period contains four features that are sensational. First, there was a plethora of literature, although we only have a fraction of the books produced by Jews during the period. Known to us today are many texts that are lost due to the fact that early Christians quoted from and mentioned them, since some writings are available only in shortened manuscripts or are fragmentary, since there are citations of volumes which were written but have been lost to time, such as those by Jason of Cyrene, Justus of Tiberias, and Nicolaus of Damascus. With each new discovery of a manuscript we are reminded that there are still countless numbers of texts to be recovered.

It is apparent that the Judaism of the time period after the Babylonian Exile was distinguished by large and wide-ranging literature: from the composition of epics or tragedies in hexameters or iambic trimeters to philosophical tractates, from what could be dependable histories to creative recreations of the bygone times, from apocalyptic dreams and visions of another world to wisdom of a humanistic variety, and from complaints in apparently Promethean arrogance, against God to hymnic and self-examining submissions to God as the only manner of righteousness and redemption. During this time in history, the Jewish genius rapidly expanded into creative new writings.

Secondly, the Pseudepigrapha exemplify the permeating influence of the books of the Hebrew Bible upon the Judaism of this period. That is seen not just in the genre of books labeled “Expansions of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament” but also in many texts of the apocalypses and testaments. Judaism became for all time a religion of the Book, the Hebrew Bible.

Third, it is in the Pseudepigrapha that we learn that the consecutive conquests of Palestinian Jews by Persians, Greeks, and Romans, and the intermittent invasions by Syrian, Egyptian, and Parthian armies did not curb the liveliness of religious Jews for the traditions of their ancestors. The ancient Psalms of David were perpetually enlarged until some collections contained 155 psalms. Different psalm books appeared, especially the Psalms of Solomon, the Hodayoth, the Odes of Solomon, and perhaps the Hellenistic Synagogal Hymns. Apocalypses that emphasized the magnificence and transcendence of God were conventionally interspersed with hymns that celebrated closeness of God, and by prayers that were perceived as answered. The Jewish religion of this time was a thriving and heartfelt religion. New hymns, psalms, and odes testify to the reality that persecution could not extinguish the blessings by the faithful.

Finally, the Pseudepigrapha prove that the Jews of this era were often conflicted internally by divisions and sects, and were periodically conquered from the outside by foreign nations who disrespected, battered, and often subjected the Jewish people to deadly torture. This maltreatment by foreign occupants increased the want to revolt. A few books of the Pseudepigrapha reflect the hostilities among the Jews. Particularly worth mentioning are the Psalms of Solomon and the Testament of Moses, which record the idea that God alone is the source of power; it is he who will start action against the foreigners and remove them from Jerusalem. The apocalyptic texts are generally negative about the present: they present God as having withdrawn from the sphere of history and from the earth; he would only comeback to complete the end of the present era and to usher in a new era. It was by this belief that the apocalyptic authors supported the commitment of God to the covenant, arouse the reader to live in terms of another world, and imagine a positive finale for Israel in God’s completed story. Due to this the books of the Pseudepigrapha are an essential source for understanding the social constructs of the Judaism of that day. The simplistic idea of this Judaism should be remodeled; it surely was not a religion which had fallen into backbreaking legalism due to the crippling demands of the Law, nor was it defined by four dominant sects. A new view has been rising because of the ideas saved in these books. There are three illustrations which demonstrate this insight: First, we cannot determine, with certainty, any writer of these books as being a Pharisee or an Essene or as belonging to any other sect. Second, the Jews who lived in Palestine were influenced by Egyptian, Persian, and Greek ideas. Hence, the longtime distinction between “Palestinian Judaism” and “Hellenistic Judaism” has to be either redefined or discarded. Third, because of the varied, even conflicting, nature of the ideas common in many facets of the Judaism of this time, it is obvious that it was not monolithically organized or molded by a central and all-powerful “orthodoxy.”

At the beginning of the 1900’s it was commonly believed that the Judaism of the time in which the Pseudepigrapha originated, was shaped and defined by “normative Judaism” or a ruling orthodoxy centralized in Jerusalem. This belief is no longer supported by most biblical scholars. Since 1947, when the first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, there has even been an inclination to stress unduly the diversity in Early Judaism. Where as it is now accepted that foreign ideas entered deep into many facets of Jewish thought, and that sometimes it is challenging to decide whether an early text is in essence Jewish or Christian, it is, nevertheless, unwise to overstate the diversity in Early Judaism. In the first century Judaism was not unvaryingly normative nor chaotically diverse.^x

Due to the fact that it was in this period of Judaism that Christianity originated in, this texts also illuminate early Christianity. Many writers of Pseudepigrapha seriously thought they were transcribing the inerrant words of God. Early Christian communities, seemingly took several books of the Pseudepigrapha very seriously. The writer of the New Testament Epistle of Jude, in verses 14 and 15, quoted as prophecy a part of 1 Enoch, and this section, 1 Enoch 1:9, was discovered in Aramaic from one of the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were located.

Compare Jude 1:14-15^xi,

“And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all that are ungodly among them of all their works of ungodliness which they have impiously wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

With 1 Enoch 1:9^xii,

“Behold, he will arrive with ten million of the holy ones in order to execute judgment upon all. He will destroy the wicked ones and censure all flesh on account of everything that they have done, that which the sinners and the wicked ones committed against him.”

The author of Jude likely was dependent, in verses 9-10, upon a lost Jewish apocryphon about Moses. It appears that the early Pseudepigrapha were written during a time when the definitions of the canon seemingly remained fluid at least in part, to some Jews, and “that some Jews and Christians inherited and passed on these documents as inspired. They did not necessarily regard them as apocryphal, or outside a canon.”^xiii

How These Books Are Viewed By Religious Groups Today

An Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Many of these Pseudepigrapha were preserved by the Jews and Christians of Ethiopia.

With the exception of III and IV Maccabees, which is considered canonical by the Eastern Orthodox Churches, The books of 1 Enoch and Jubilees which are considered canonical by The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the group of Ethiopian Jews known as Beta Israel, and The Testaments of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are accepted as scripture by Beta Israel, these books are not accepted by any modern religious group as scripture. Be that as it may, due to the reasons why these texts are significant, many Jews and Christians study these texts today. However modern usage is not just limited to Jews and Christians, Muslims too, have found significance in this literature. Some Islamic theologians believe that some of the Pseudepigrapha, such as The Testament of Moses, contain prophecies of the Prophet Muhammad.

Important Pseudepigrapha Related Terms

Apocalyptic Literature and Related Works: A genre of Pseudepigrapha, the texts of this genre include a portion which reveals what is currently happening in the heavens or what will happen in the near future. The word “Apocalypse” is a Greek word meaning a “revelation” or a “disclosure.”

Babylonian Exile: Also known as the Babylonian captivity, is the period in Jewish history during which a number of Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylonia. After the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, resulting in tribute being paid by King Jehoiakim.

Expansions of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Other Legends: A genre of Pseudepigrapha, the texts of this genre elaborate on and embellish the narratives and stories of the Hebrew Bible.

Prayers, Psalms, and Odes: A genre of Pseudepigrapha, the texts in the this genre contain some poetic compositions which are influenced by the thought and style of the canonical Psalms.

Pseudepigrapha: A group of sixty-five texts related to but for the most part are not part of Hebrew Bibles or Old Testaments. These books were authored by Jews or Christians, mostly during the three centuries before the Common era, and the first two centuries of the Common Era. These writings are labeled “Pseudepigrapha” due to the fact that in most instances, the individual, usually a Patriarch or Prophet, with which they claim to have been written by, in fact was not.

Testaments: A loose genre of Pseudepigrapha. These texts are usually in the following format; a patriarch of the Hebrew Bible, near his death, gathers his sons and followers around him so he can impart his final words of instruction and perception. These testaments (or last wills) contain ethical teachings and are commonly dramatized by visions into the future. In some aspects, this genre was inspired by Jacob’s testament to his sons.

Theodicy: The defense of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.

Wisdom and Philosophical Literature: A genre of Pseudepigrapha, the texts of this genre conserve some of the perceptions of the wisdom of the ancients, not just that early Judaism but also of the surrounding cultures.

Online Resources For Further Study

Websites

A Great Website for these texts and others early Jewish writings, as well as scholarship on these works.

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/

Another collection of Texts

http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/

PDF Files

Scholarly Collections of Pseudepigrapha

The classic R.H Charles’ Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament Volume 2

https://ia700303.us.archive.org/11/items/apocryphapseudep02charuoft/apocryphapseudep02charuoft.pdf

The Best Modern collection of Pseudepigrapha, it comes in 2 volumes

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Volume 1: Apocalypses and Testaments

https://mega.co.nz/#!Sh8WAQba!T0i_XZZSaBHIpOebSzXv3GIBB3Dka3Eq3U1ISqU0pX4

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Volume 2: Expansions of the Old Testament and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic works

https://mega.co.nz/#!z8EWjL7Z!xGdeZkYgL11xvYLLNpDBRPPqmSynB_bXMJKakHAFPt0

A collection of separate PDF Pseudepigrapha files, including texts that are related to, but not int the Hebrew Bible but don’t quite meet the scholarly definition.

https://mega.co.nz/#F!vg8QnIaZ!d39cE9Qzbyy0k9NFpzwqbg

God willing next week’s post will be on The Hellenistic Jewish Literature.

i Achtemeier, Paul J. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. New York, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. , pp 47 894-895

ii This excludes the writings unique to The Dead Sea Scrolls.

iii ta pseudepigrapha, “with false superscription”; cf. Eusebius, HE 6.12

iv The word Pseudepigrapha is highly subjective, but unfortunately it is the only word we have for these texts.

v Charlesworth, James H. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983. Print. pp XXIV-XXV

viOld testament Psuedepigrapha, pp XXIX-XXX

viiHarper collins, pp 895

viiiFound in Genesis 49

ixThough this book is considered canonical by The Eastern Orthodox Church and many of The Oriental Orthodox Churches, because it is not considered canonical by Western Churches it is often placed in the Pseudepigrapha. I personally do not agree with this designation and have only included it here because it is often found on such lists.

x Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, pp XXVIII

xiNRSV

xii Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

xiiiOld Testament Pseudepigrapha xxiii

Soul Food For The Week Of 9/24/2014

Soul food is a weekly collection of verses, stories, and quotes from various traditions to meditate on. All verses from the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical books, and New Testament, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). All verses from the Quran, unless otherwise noted, are from the MAS Abdel Haleem Translation.

Jewish

Torah

“You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”                                                                                                                                                             -Leviticus 10:10-11

Talmud

“When sitting in judgement, do not act as a counselor-at-law. When the litigants stand before you, consider them both guilty; and when they leave your courtroom, having accepted the judgement, regard them as equally righteous.”                                                                                  -Ethics Of The Fathers 1:8

Pseudepigrapha

“The supremacy of the mind over these cannot be overlooked, for the brothers mastered both emotions and pains. How then can one fail to confess the sovereignty of right reason over emotion in those who were not turned back by fiery agonies?”                                                                              -4 Maccabees 13:4–5

Other

“Studying the laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things by reason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection.”    -Philo Judaeus, AKA Philo of Alexandria, De Vita Contemplative 3:25

Christian

New Testament

“Pay attention to what you hear! The standard you apply will be the standard applied to you, and then some.”                                                                                                                                              -Jesus, The Gospel of Mark 4:24 SV

Church Fathers

“First of all, believe that there is one God who created and finished all things, and made all things out of nothing. He alone is able to contain the whole, but Himself cannot be contained. Have faith therefore in Him, and fear Him; and fearing Him, exercise self-control. Keep these commands, and you will cast away from you all wickedness, and put on the strength of righteousness, and live to God, if you keep this commandment.”          -The Shephard Of Hermas Book 2, 109-111

New Testament Apocrypha

“[Control] yourselves, receive the imperishable seed, bear fruit, and do not be attached to your possessions.”                                                                                                                                                   -Marsanes 25:26

Other

“He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king.”           -Milton

Islamic

Quran

“Good and evil cannot be equal. [Prophet] Repel evil with what is better and your enemy will become as close as an old and valued friend, but only those who are steadfast in patience, only those who are blessed with great righteousness, will attain to such goodness.”                                 -Quran 41:34-35

Hadith Al-Qudsi

Allah said: Pride is my cloak and greatness My robe, and he who competes with Me in respect of either of them I shall cast into Hell-fire. It was with sound chains of authority. This Hadith also appears in Muslim in another version.                                                                                                                                                        -Hadith Qudsi 19, Related by Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah and Ahmad.

Hadith

“A man does not accuse another of being a transgressor, nor does he accuse him of being a kāfir, but it (the epithet) comes back to him, if his companion is not such.”                                                                                     -Muslim, Book 1, Chapter 27, Hadith 0118

Sufism

“Brother, stand the pain.
Escape the poison of your impulses.
The sky will bow to your beauty, if you do.
Learn to light the candle. Rise with the sun.
Turn away from the cave of your sleeping.
That way a thorn expands to a rose.”
-Rumi, The Essential Rumi

Other

“If you knew the true value of yourself, you will never allow yourself to be humiliated by committing sins.”       -Ibn Al-Qayyim

Other Wisdom

“A pleasure-loving man is useless in everything.”                                                                                                   -The Sentences of Sextus 172

“There is no one who follows his stomach or his lust,                                                                                             who immediately shall not be dishonored and despised.                                                                       Blessed is the man who has mastered his stomach and his lust.                                                       he is one on whom one can rely at all times.”                                                                                         -The Sentences Of The Syriac Menander 63-66

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts: The Deuterocanonical Literature

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts will serve to educate the general public on the great religious texts, what they are and basic scholarship related to them. The Philosophy of this series is to educate with the hope of clearing up misconceptions and fighting ignorance, which can lead to hate. Also to make this information available and easily Understandable by the general public. Interaction with the blog, asking questions, and sharing are greatly encouraged. Words appearing in bold are important terms defined at the end of the post. Also included at the end of the post are online resources for further study.

Any one whom has ever read a modern Protestant Bible, such as the King James Version or the New International version and has read a Bible such as the Douay Rheims or the New Revised Standard version has probably realized that in these Bibles are extra books not found in most Protestant Bibles. These books are vastly unknown to many, but not all Jews and Protestants. What exactly is this deuterocanonical literature? It is a set of books or parts of books there are not included in the Judaic canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, yet are found in the Septuagint and in some Christian versions of the Hebrew Bibleⁱ.

What’s In a Name?

There are some issues in the world of religion in which you can tell where a person or group stands by the names they use, and this is the case of the deuterocanonical literature. Both Catholic and Orthodoxⁱⁱ Christians accept this literature as canonical. To Orthodox Christians it is known as the anagignoskomena and to Catholics it is known as the deuterocanon, where as Protestants, who mostly reject them, call it the apocrypha. Anagignoskomena is a Greek word that literally means those which are to be read or ecclesiastical books. Deuterocanon is a combination of two Greek words deuteros (second) and kanon (rule or measuring stick). The term means these texts were recognized as canonical at a later date, to differentiate them from the “protocanonical” texts. The protocanonical books are the books of the TaNaK, all of which are universally accepted by Christiansⁱⁱⁱ. The word apocrypha is Greek as well, and means concealed or hidden. The way the word is used today it has the connotation of “set aside” or “withdrawn” from full canonical status as Scripture.^iv Occasionally these texts are called inter-testamental literature. This is because when the initiator of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther included these in his Bible, he placed them in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments.

The term apocrypha is problematic for many reasons and is the source of much confusion. The collection of non-canonical books outside of the New Testament are also known as apocrypha, this causes the two distinct groups of books to be mistaken for one another. The term apocrypha is also very subjective, it means different things to different groups. To a Catholic the term is applied to the Pseudepigrapha, a collection of Jewish texts different from those of the deuterocanonical literature, that have been preserved and utilized by different groups of Christians but, “with some exceptions (in Ethiopia, for example), not included in the

Bible.”^v The term is viewed by some Catholic and Orthodox Christians as offensive. The words deuterocanonical and apocrypha, while referring to the same books, are not synonyms.^vi Of the names for these books, deuterocanonical literature is the least problematic and is the preferred name by Scholars. The Style Manual for the Society of Biblical Literature suggests that the name deuterocanonical literature be used in place of apocrypha for academic writing^vii.

The Books Of The Deuterocanonical Literature

The texts of the deuterocanonical Literature belong to several different genres, occasionally the same book will contain multiple genres. “These include wisdom literature, which gives advice for right conduct and a successful life, linked to a religious outlook; apocalyptic writing, offering hope of momentous supernatural intervention at the end of history in order to save the people of God, sometimes through the agency of an anointed one or ‘Messiah’; historiography or writing that purports to be history; edifying stories which are essentially folk-tales with a religious message; rewritten Bible, where a familiar story from Scripture is retold with different emphases; prayers and psalms which may have had a liturgical or devotional function.”^viii

The Following Books are accepted by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians:

1 Esdras

2 Esdras

Tobit

Judith

The Rest of the Book of Esther

The Wisdom of Solomon

Ecclesiasticus (Also known as Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira (Jesus Ben Sirach), The Book of Ecclesiasticus, Siracides, or just simply Sirach)

Baruch

The Letter of Jeremiah

The Additions to the Book of Daniel:

The Song of the Three Children (with the

Prayer of Azariah)

Susanna

Bel and the Dragon

The Prayer of Manasseh

I Maccabees

II Maccabees

The following books are accepted by Orthodox churches, either as fully canonical or as appendices:

III Maccabees

IV Maccabees^ix

Psalm 151

History Of The Deuterocanonical literature

The deuterocanonical literature originated during the time of the second temple period, with some created in the Jewish homeland, while others were created abroad. This literature did not originate with the Septuagint, but their history and development are intertwined. The Septuagint was initiated in the late third century BCE. As I noted in last week’s post, the Septuagint began as just a translation of the Torah, the first five books of Moses, but gradually grew to include the whole Hebrew Bible. However as Alexandrian Jews worked, they began to include books authored closer to their own period of time, and some books continued to be authored and added for sometime afterward. The books that would come to be known as the deuterocanon are mixed in with the protocanonical books in the Septuagint, and in this Alexandrian Jewish collection of books, there was no distinction made between the two. It is important to keep in mind that at this point in time the Jewish canon was not closed^x. The Torah was defined and the prophets were as well, but the writings were not. Some books which are not apart of the Writings today, where accepted by some Jews at this time, such as the Book Of Enoch, while others which are apart of the writings today, such as Esther were not accepted by some Jews^xi. It is important to note too that the Septuagint became the first Bible for Christians.

Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest copies of the Septuagint and the Bible.

After 70 CE the Rabbis in Palestine, acknowledged a twenty-four book Palestinian canon,what is known today as the Jewish Scriptures or Hebrew Bible. This is due to their belief that revelation began with Moses and ended with Ezra. The deuterocanonical literature came later than Ezra, and some were written in Greek. This denied them acceptance as Scripture. The Rabbis did debate books after 70 CE, but these were books that were accepted into the Judaic canon^xii, not the deuterocanonical books. The Talmud is full of warnings against these books. Rabbis of the Talmud “claim that the person who brings together more than twenty-four books creates confusion.”^xiii and “one who reads in the outside books will have no place in the world to come.”^xiv Though it is important to note that for sometime after this, Rabbis continued to study and quote from Ecclesiasticus.^xv

Jerome painted by Jusepe de Ribera

Early Christians tended to make no distinction between the books of the Septuagint and tended to quote from them all. As history progressed some of the eastern Christian thinkers gained knowledge of the contents of the Judaic canon of scripture. These thinkers wanted to limit their canon to the twenty-four books accepted by Jews. In the fourth century when Jerome was commissioned to compile the Latin Vulgate, he went to Bethlehem to learn Hebrew, so he could translate straight from the Hebrew text. While there he discovered that the number of books in the Hebrew canon was not the same as that of the Septuagint. While most of the books of the Septuagint^xvi were included in the Latin Vulgate, Jerome made a distinction between the books of the Jewish scriptures and those found only in the Septuagint.^xvii

I said in last weeks post that Jerome’s distinction between the protocanonical and deuterocanonical^xviii books would have far reaching consequences for the Old Testament of the Protestants. Western Christians were aware of the distinction made by Jerome and this distinction would be one of the leading problems Protestants had with this literature. This was by no means the only issue they had with it. During the heated Protestant reformation, the deuterocanonical literature became embroiled in the debate. Some saw it as a source for Catholic doctrines, such as being able to obtain salvation by works. Some passages such as Tobit 12:9 supported this,

“For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life,”^xix

One common slogan among Luther and other Protestant reformers was Sola fide, a Latin phrase meaning, by Faith alone. This refers to the Protestant belief that salvation comes from faith alone and not works. Because of these doctrinal conflicts and the distinction made by Jerome Protestants did not accept these books as canonical^xx. Though initially they still retained this literature in there Bibles. Originally the texts were separated from the other books of the Old Testament and placed into a section of their own. Later generations of Protestants would expunge these books from their Bibles all together. In the 1800 and early 1900’s many Protestant Bible Societies outright refused to print any Bible with the deuterocanonical literature. This changed in the mid 1900’s, and now one can find these texts in many Bibles, not just in Catholic or Orthodox Bibles, but in Ecumenical Bibles, such as the Revised Standard Version and The New Revised Standard Version.

The Significance Of The Deuterocanonical Literature

These books of immense value, furnish us with an extraordinary amount of details about Judaic thought and practice in the centuries before the advent of both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism^xxi. These books are being studied more and more at a scholarly level due to what they disclose about the religious ideas of their authors and the communities which originally accepted them^xxii. The deuterocanonical literature especially, are priceless testaments to the numerous varieties of the Jewish religion during the time of the Second Temple. This is about the segment of time which falls in between the composition of the TaNaK and the New Testament books^xxiii.

These books tell us about grave military, religious, and political persecutions and oppressions, despite this these texts also contain profoundly soul-stirring calls to encouragement and reassurance. These texts tell us of the trials that not only the people went through, but that of which their culture did as well, due to the encounter with Hellenistic culture, both in Palestine and the diaspora. They tell narratives of heroes of the Jewish faith, both fierce combatants and peaceful people who died for their faith. It is these narratives which offer us an unfathomed awareness of a sacred tradition and a race fighting to endure the challenges of the different ancient nations that dominated them^xxiv. These texts provide ample testament to the continued role in Judaic culture, of the narrative. The books of the deuterocanon also indicate the continued advancement of the wisdom tradition and the increase in the functions of females in the sacred texts. In this literature women are depicted as the innocent vindicated, as with Susanna and Sarah in the book of Tobit, as the heroic mother, who died for her faith in 4 Maccabees, as Wisdom embodied as a female in the Wisdom of Solomon 6-12 and Ecclesiasticus 24, or as with Judith, a freedom giving agent of the Jewish people, sent by God.^xxv Finally this content illuminates the texts of the New Testament as their authors make many allusions to the deuterocanonical literature.

A Manuscript of IV Maccabees.

Religious Views Of The Deuterocanonical Literature Today

Below are short summaries of views of religious groups and points which were not discussed above.

1. Jewish

Most modern Jews do not accept the deuterocanonical literature. However some reports claim that Beta Israel, the Jews of Ethiopia do, accepting books that are not found any where else. It is worth noting that while the majority of Jews do not accept these books, two of these books, I Maccabees and II Maccabees relate the story of Hanukkah, the only Jewish religious holiday not to be mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.^xxvi

2. Oriental Orthodox

All Oriental Orthodox Christians accept this literature, though to varying degrees. The Coptic Orthodox Church accepts the same books that are accepted by Catholics^xxvii, Where as the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church^xxviii accepts III Maccabees. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church accepts most of this literature, but rejects the books of Maccabees, while adding unique books not included by any other Church.^xxix

3. Eastern Orthodox

Although this literature is included in the canon of the Church, its authoritative status compared to that of the undisputed books, is still an unanswered question. Orthodox Christians, imitating Athanasius, refer to the protocanonical literature as “canonical” and to the deuterocanonical literature as anagignoskomena^xxx.

4. Protestant

Some Protestants, such as the The Anglican Church^xxxi accepts them for instruction of the Church, but not to base doctrine on. In Bibles, which are Anglican, you will find these books in a separate section either between the Old and New Testaments or after the New Testament.

Important Terms Related To The Deuterocanonical Literature

Anagignoskomena: The term for the deuterocanonical literature used by Eastern Orthodox Christians. It is a Greek word that means those which are to be read or ecclesiastical books.

Apocrypha: The term for the deuterocanonical literature historically used by Protestants. It is a Greek word that means concealed or hidden.

Athanasius: Athanasius of Alexandria, also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or, primarily in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Athanasius the Apostolic, was the twentieth bishop of Alexandria.

Beta Israel: A people of uncertain origin, living since ancient times in what is now central Ethiopia and practicing a form of Judaism. During the period 1984-1991 most Ethiopian Jews were resettled in Israel.^xxxii

Deuterocanonical literature: A set of books or parts of books there are not included in the Judaic canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, yet are found in the Septuagint and in some Christian versions of the Hebrew Bible. This is the preferred, scholarly name for this literature.

Diaspora: The settling of scattered colonies of Jews outside Palestine after the Babylonian exile.^xxxiii

Hanukkah: A Jewish festival, lasting eight days from the 25th day of Kislev (in December) and commemorating the rededication of the Temple in 165 BCE by the Maccabees after its desecration by the Syrians. It is marked by the successive kindling of eight lights.

Martin Luther: The first Protestant Reformer and the founder of the Lutheran Church.

Protestant reformation: Also known as the Protestant Revolution or simply the Reformation, was the schism within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early Protestants.

Protocanonical: The books of the TaNaK, all of which are universally accepted by Christians.

Society of Biblical Literature: The Society of Biblical Literature, founded in 1880 as the “Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis,” is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies, with the stated mission to “Foster Biblical Scholarship”

Sola fide: A Latin phrase meaning, by Faith alone. This refers to the Protestant belief that salvation comes from faith alone and not works.

Online Resources

Websites

Septuagint

The Septuagint Online

http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX

Bibles With The Deuterocanonical Literature

King James Version

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Apocrypha-Books/

New Revised Stand Version

http://bible.oremus.org/

Douay-Rhiems

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rhe/

The Deuterocanonical Literature

A Great Website for these texts and others from the same time period, as well as scholarship on these works.

http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/

PDFs

The Septuagint

A New English Translation of the Septuagint Translated By Pietersma & Wright

https://mega.co.nz/#!C89VBaLa!Gv3aCd2xbrF70Di1H2YRBwNBSbpcA7zjYbvoOw5noH8

Bibles That Contain The Deuterocanonical Literature

King James with The Apocrypha

http://www.davince.com/download/kjvbiblea.pdf

The New Revised Standard Version

http://www.allsaintstupelo.com/Bible_NRSV.pdf

The Eastern or Greek Orthodox Bible Or The Holy Bible Of The Orthodox Church Old Testament

https://mega.co.nz/#!ilNngDra!hSH8YTzWwO8PGSnKK1hpVeLYeZ0Si0XL7BWxQJWNUP0

Douay-Rheims Bible of 1914

Catholic Bible

http://www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/douayrheimsbible.pdf

The Beloved and I

The same books accepted by Catholics

The Beloved and I Volume 4 Ezra to Job To Translated By Thomas McElwain

https://mega.co.nz/#!ugsRFA4Z!tnWbLIxFl5WknoIbY3mb_bXEa0MKX1mI3Cnxw6ALut0

The Beloved and I Volume 5 Psalms To Sirach Translated By Thomas McElwain

https://mega.co.nz/#!j9FizbpA!LNG60aEUyirwT063rvYX14g2fThadWgJQyOhTu2yDBQ

The Beloved and I Volume 6 Isaiah to Malachi Translated By Thomas McElwain

https://mega.co.nz/#!Ts1gxKoL!Dgnf8uBoePjpu16Jrmlkmqu6ZOW5DeYnv4jcjhyhi0w

Scholarly Collections Of Deuterocanonical Literature

The Apocrypha And Psuedepigrapha Volume One Apocrypha Edited By R. H. Charles

https://ia700303.us.archive.org/14/items/apocryphapseudep01charuoft/apocryphapseudep01charuoft.pdf

The Apocrypha And Psuedepigrapha Volume Two Psuedipigrapha By R. H. Charles

Contains IV Maccabees

https://mega.co.nz/#!z8EWjL7Z!xGdeZkYgL11xvYLLNpDBRPPqmSynB_bXMJKakHAFPt0

The Encyclopedia Of Lost and Rejected Scriptures By Lumpkin

Includes the deuterocanonical texts and other non-canonical books.

https://mega.co.nz/#!25lAHYIB!zTng9-KnW71h9W9mClCK0UaqU40YKif_Q3xe4bpL7l4

The Five Books Of Maccabees Translated By Henry Cotton

Includes a Fifth book, that is not apart of the deuterocanonical literature

https://mega.co.nz/#!Ttt1xCZT!Lr7RDrqfKR-zAYQxGU5-IPhp1KxWHEe6S8ZY4ui5WgI

Scholarly Works On The Deuterocanonical Literature

The Lost Books Of The Bible For Dummies

https://mega.co.nz/#!Kg0ihRwb!t8RDl4nEBNuTm1XOV-tcgcP5Tc5GP48hg_6O0wuuYmM

Oxford Handbook of Biblical studies

Its focus is on broad Biblical scholarship, but there is a section dedicated to this literature.

https://mega.co.nz/#!epl3kSKb!P01NzH72xt17XNSUQ7EXqjC6NTMI2RFA-06Ip0P1zsY

Scholarly Works On The Septuagint

The Septuagint By Dines

https://mega.co.nz/#!C49FXTYa!a8AcpNZlhHlqLsmizoK_K81NmZfFvsfmkAtRD0uNpcE

The Septuagint In Context

https://mega.co.nz/#!a98HVZbK!HE_FOB6RHGJAGZDqw3sywgylk-xX1wPb3QH1qAD-8LY

Translation and Survival

https://mega.co.nz/#!XkkknDCI!rSi0TrbxdfJLMHwX0JDXkyKI4wNbNbFME9Qd9TBa10k

God willing, next week’s post will be on The Pseudepigrapha

iAchtemeier, Paul J. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. New York, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. , pp 47 39-40

iiBoth Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox accept these books, though not all of these books are accepted by all Oriental Orthodox Churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church omits the Books of Maccabees, for example.

iiiHaper Collins Bible dictionary, pp 40

ivHaper collins Bible Dictionary, pp 39-40

vHaper collins Bible Dictionary, pp 40

viLumpkin, Joseph B. The Encyclopedia of Lost and Rejected Scriptures: The Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha. Blountsville, AL: Fifth Estate, 2010. Print.

vii Alexander, Patrick H. The SBL Handbook of Style: For Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999. Print, pp 17

viii Rogerson, J. W., and Judith Lieu. The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print., pp 491

ixThe Greek and Slavonic Orthodox Churches accept it as an appendix, but the Georgian Orthodox Church accepts it as canonical.

xSmith-Christopher, Daniel L., and Stephen J. Spignesi. Lost Books of the Bible for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2008. Print, pp 64

xiThe Essenes, whom are believed by most scholars to be the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, seem to have accepted the book of Enoch, either as canonical or at least useful to be read. They did not have a copy of Esther, though scholars are unsure why, as every other book of the TaNaK was found.

xiiSuch as Esther.

xiiiMidr. Qoh. 12:12

xivb. Sanh. 100b

xvHaper collins Bible Dictionary, pp 40

xviIII and IV Maccabees and Psalm 151 were not included

xviiHaper collins Bible Dictionary, pp 41

xviiiThese terms did not exist in Jerome’s time.

xixNRSV

xxLuther also felt similarly about the New Testament Epistle of James, but finally decided to accept it as canonical.

xxi Lost Books Of The Bible For Dummies, pp 80

xxii The same is also true of the Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the writings of Josephus and Philo, all of which I will address in coming posts.

xxiii Oxford hand book of biblical studies, pp 491

xxivLost Books Of The Bible For Dummies, pp 80

xxv Harper Collins Bible dictionary, pp 42

xxvi Though it is the most well attested Jewish religious holiday in ancient documents, as not only is it mentioned in I and II Maccabees it is also mentioned in the Talmud and in the writings of Josephus.

xxvii III Maccabees is found in some manuscripts but is not considered canonical.

xxviiiIV Maccabees was also accept earlier in the tradition, but is no longer considered canonical.

xxix Such as The Book of Enoch or Jubilees, these will be discussed in more depth in mext weeks post.

xxx The Eastern/Greek Orthodox Bible, 9

xxxi Also known as the Church of England and as the Episcopalian Church in the U.S.

xxxii “Ethiopian Jew.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 2003. Houghton Mifflin Company 17 Sep. 2014 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Beta+Israel

xxxiii“Diaspora.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diaspora&gt;

Soul Food For The Week Of 9/17/2014

Soul food is a weekly collection of verses, stories, and quotations from various traditions to meditate on. All verses from the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical books, and New Testament, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). All verses from the Quran, unless otherwise noted, are from the MAS Abdel Haleem Translation.

Jewish

Torah

“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.’”                                                                                -God, Genesis 4:7

Talmud

“Distance yourself from a bad neighbor, do not cleave to a wicked person, and do not abandon belief in retribution.”                                                                                             -Ethics Of The Fathers 1:7

Pseudepigrapha

“Do not afflict your heart with bygone evils;                                                                      For what has been done can no more be undone.”                                                                                -Pseudo-Phocylides 55–56

Other

“Don’t spit into the well from which you might have to drink.”                                             -Yiddish Proverb

Christian

New Testament

“Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”                                             -Jesus, Mark 10:18

Church Fathers

“The body prospers in the measure in which the soul is weakened, and the soul prospers in the measure in which the body is weakened.”                                                                 -Abba Daniel, Sayings Of The Desert Fathers, pg.52

New Testament Apocrypha

His disciples asked him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?”                                         Jesus said, “Don’t lie, and don’t do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed.”                                                                                                                 -Gospel Of Thomas 6, SV

Other

“One who is poor in spirit and of a humble mind does not despise or make light of law, order, precepts and holy customs, nor yet of those who observe and cleave wholly to them.”                                                                                                                                  -Theologia Germanica, 26

Islamic

Quran

“Whoever directs himself wholly to God and does good work has grasped the surest handhold, for the outcome of everything is with God.”                                                                         -Quran 31:22

Hadith Al-Qudsi

“Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed. It was related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.                                                           -Hadith Al-Qudsi 16, Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim

Hadith

Abu Muntafiq said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me what will save me from Allah’s punishment and enter me into Paradise.”                                                                       The Messenger of Allah said, “Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, establish the prescribed prayers, give the obligatory charity, (and I think he said) fast the month of Ramadan, and however you love for the people to treat you, then treat them that way, and however you hate for the people to treat you, then do not treat them that way.”                              -Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer At-Tabarani, Hadith 15833

Sufism

“As far as you can avoid it, do not give grief to anyone. Never inflict your rage on another. If you hope for eternal rest, feel the pain yourself; but don’t hurt others.”
-Omar Khayyam, Quatrains

Other

“Some people have passed away, but their character has kept them alive, others are alive, but their character has killed them.”
– Al-Shafi’i

Other Wisdom

“Faithful is he who is first with all good works.”                                                                   -The Sentences of Sextus 166

“Of divine goods, the first and chiefest is wisdom; and next after it, sobriety of spirit; a third, resultant from the blending of both these with valour, is righteousness; and valour itself is fourth.”                                                                                                                     -Plato, Laws, i, 631

Attention America: Feed The Poor!

I originally wrote the following in August of 2013, a week after the incident, described below, took place in Raleigh, NC. Since then more incidents like it have occurred across the country, so I have adapted it slightly due to this. To my amazing readers I would like to make a quick note: This will be my last Monday post for a few weeks. I am in the process of writing a book and I am currently in the editing stages, with about three weeks to go until I am finished, and it is ready for translation. After which point, I will resume the Monday posts. I will continue the Wednesday and Friday posts as normal. Thank you all for readership and for your patience.    

“I have read in a Historia del Giudicio that when Judgment day comes, God will say to that person: you are wicked, you have never done a good deed for me; and that person replies: ‘my lord I have never seen you so that I could do you a good deed.’ And God said ‘I was hungry and you did not feed me, I was thirsty and you did not give me drink, I was naked and you did not clothe me, when I was in prison you did not come to visit me.'”
-Menocchio, The Cheese and the Worms, pg 37

“Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resigns his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.”
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

For six years an out reach ministry has been giving food away to the local poor and homeless in a park in Raleigh, NC, until a year ago they were told that if they handed out any more food they would be arrested.ⁱ This was just one of the first of a series of similar incidents to occur across the US. There are many laws being passed by major cities, that are seeking to make it illegal to be homeless or to help the homelessⁱⁱ. How can a person or group of people not only ignore the cries of the poor and hungry, but prevent others from answering them?
Despite what a corrupt government may command of us to do, God’s law commands us to reach out our hand to the poor and needy.
To my Jewish brother’s and sisters, you are told this:

“Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, “Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.”
–Deuteronomy 15:11

“Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”
-Proverbs 31:8-9

“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.”
-Ezekiel 16:49

To my Christian brothers and sisters you are told this:

“Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’”
-Matthew 25:41-45

“How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. ”
-1 john 3:17-18

“They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do. ”
-Galatians 2:10

To my Muslim Brothers and sisters, we are told this:

“Have you considered the person who denies the Judgement? It is he who pushes aside the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy.”                                                                      -Quran 107:1-3

“Give relatives their due, and the needy, and travellers– do not squander your wealth wastefully: those who squander are the brothers of Satan, and Satan is most ungrateful to his Lord”
-Quran 17:26-27

“On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection:
O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not.He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.”                                    -Hadith Qudsi 18, related by Muslim.

By now there should no longer be a doubt, if there ever was one, that God commands us to help the poor. My question to you is this, what will you do if a hungry person comes and asks you for food in one of these cities? What if that was you and you had no other source of food? Would you want to be fed? What is morally right and wrong cannot be manipulated by the law, but is only decreed by God almighty and placed into each one of our hearts. I implore you be the voice of the voiceless, stand up for your fellow man!
You may object to this because it is illegal, and may say that means it is immoral. Remember the words of Dr. King,

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

Legality does not equal morality.

Then some one may object saying, “I could get arrested or go to jail”. So be it, that is the worst that could happen, but remember what ever may befall you as punishment in this life, greater still is the punishment in the next. On the day you meet your Lord do you want to hear him say, “ Why didn’t you feed me, why didn’t you give me drink?”

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

PLEASE GO FEED THE HUNGRY! REMEMBER: it’s much better for you to go before a judge of the Law, and be asked why you fed a hungry man, than to go before God on the Day of Judgement and be asked why DID YOU NOT feed that hungry man.

ihttp://lovewins.info/2013/08/feeding-homeless-apparently-illegal-in-raleigh-nc/

iihttp://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/7/the-growing-criminalizationofhomelessness.html

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts: The Old Testament

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts will serve to educate the general public on the great religious texts, what they are and basic scholarship related to them. The Philosophy of this series is to educate with the hope of clearing up misconceptions and fighting ignorance, which can lead to hate. Also to make this information available and easily Understandable by the general public. Interaction with the blog, asking questions, and sharing are greatly encouraged. Words appearing in bold are important terms defined at the end of the post.

The Christian version of the Hebrew Bible, commonly known by Christians as the Old Testament, makes up the first half of their Bible, but it is shrouded in almost as much confusion as the Hebrew Bible is. This is due not to names though, but the fact that there are so many versions. Many Protestants are surprised to find out that some Old Testaments contain more books than others. Why, exactly are their so many different versions? There are so many versions because the various Christian traditions use different ancient versions or translations. What follows is an examination of a few of the most important ancient translations of the Jewish scriptures, a few of the major versions of the Old Testament, and the major differences between the TaNaK and The Old Testament. At the end I have included some online resources for further study.

The Septuagint

While it was not the first ancient translation of the Hebrew Bibleⁱ, it was by far the most important. It was this translation which was utilized to render the Bible into many other languages. Originally the term ‘Septuagint’ only meant the translation of the Torah or Pentateuchⁱⁱ. This was the first translation to be called a ‘bible’ ⁱⁱⁱ. The Septuagint was enlarged gradually by adding all of the separate texts of the Hebrew Bible. Some of the books that were added were not included in the Hebrew Bible^{iv v}. The word Septuagint is Greek for “seventy” and is often abbreviated as LXX, alluding to the seventy-two translators who are supposed to have made this translation during the period of Ptolemy II Philadelphus^vi. The Septuagint was written, not in classical Greek, such as one finds Homer or Plato written in, but Kione Greek, or common Greek. With the conquests of Alexander the Great, from Greece to Western India, Kione Greek became the universal language due to this diffusion of Hellenistic culture. Due to this, anyone in the Hellenistic world could read this translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s overall importance cannot be over estimated. “Whether one considers its general fidelity to the original, its influence over the Jews for whom it was prepared, its relationship to the Greek New Testament, or its place in the Christian church, the Septuagint stands preeminent in the light it casts on the study of the Scriptures.”^vii Before the recovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls^viii, the Septuagint was the essential and just about the sole source for learning the history of the Hebrew Bible’s text, and for learning the theological and exegetical beliefs of the Judaism found in both Alexandria and Palestine.^ix

The Old Latin Translation

The Old Latin translation is somewhat of a misleading title, as there was not one set translation, as there was with the Septuagint, but many divergent translations. These translations where present before Jerome compiled his Latin translation, the Vulgate, hence they are called Vetus Latina, or Old Latin.^x These translations, unlike their eventual replacement, the Vulgate, were not meant to be widely circulated, but were intended for local communities. Because their was no set translation, the Old Latin translations differ in style. They all however, are translations of the Septuagint.

The Latin Vulgate

Medieval Spanish Latin Vulgate manuscript

Around the year 382 C. E. Pope Damasus asked, The Early Church Father, Jerome to create a new translation of the Bible to replace the Old Latin versions. The translation that he crafted was quite ahead of its time, relatively speaking^xi. He compared the texts of the Hebrew Bible with that of the Septuagint. When the books existed in the Hebrew cannon, he translated from it and if the book was not apart of the Hebrew cannon, he translated it from the Septuagint. He wrote prefaces to many of the books and sections of his translation, but these were not meant for a general audience, but for individuals who he had sent copies to. Jerome made a distinction between the books from the Hebrew Bible and those found only in the Septuagint, preferring that of the Hebrew over the Greek. This distinction would have far reaching consequences in the development of the Christian version of the Hebrew Bible by the Protestant reformers.

The Peshitta

Peshitta Fragment

The Peshitta is the most important, complete Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible. The word Peshitta means simple, common, or straight. It is often times referred to as the Syriac Vulgate. The reason why it was compiled is similar to the Latin Vulgate, it was meant to be a revision of the older Syriac translations^xii. Among these translations the Peshitta is perhaps unique as it is generally believed that for the translation of the Hebrew Bible of the Peshitta, the books were translated from the Hebrew cannon and not the Septuagint^{xiii xiv}. In addition to the books of the Hebrew cannon, the books of the Septuagint was added as well, though there is no consensus about what language these books were translated from, some scholars believe they are from the Greek, while others believe Hebrew. The way these books are included in manuscripts is erratic, some do not include the books unique to the Greek cannon, while others do, yet others only include some, and others included books that are today considered Psuedepigrahical. This is perhaps reflective of the diverse groups that used it^xv. Similar to the other translations mentioned above, except the Latin Vulgate, the author is unknown. It is believed to have originated as a Jewish translation^xvi, though the individual or group whom compiled it is as much a mystery to us as it was to the ancient church as Theodore of Mopsuestia said,

“These Scriptures were translated into the tongue of the Syriacs by someone indeed at some time, but who on earth this was has not been made known down to our day”^xvii

Versions Of The Old Testament Used By Different Christian Sects

It is well beyond the scope of this post to present every version used by the various Christian sects and denominations. What follows are major Christian sects, what ancient translation they traditionally used to base their Old Testaments on^xviii, a list of the books they accept in their cannon to demonstrate the order of the books, and notes or points of interest about their Old Testament Canon.

The Old Testament Of The Syrian Churches

The version of the Old Testament used by the different types of Syrian Christians such as the Syrian Orthodox Church^xix and The Nestorian Church, also known as The Church of The East, is The Peshitta. What one finds distinguishing at first glance to the following canonical list is the order of the texts. Job immediately follows the five books of Moses. What is astonishing about this fact is that though in most canons it is situated in either the middle or later portion of the Hebrew Bible, while the story of the book is believed to have happened, according to some traditions, around the time of the Patriarchs^xx.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Job

Joshua

Judges

1 and 2 Samuel

1 and 2 Kings

1 and 2 Chronicles

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Ruth

The Song of Songs

Esther

Ezra

Nehemiah

Isaiah

Twelve Minor Prophets

Jeremiah and Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

The Old Testament Of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church^xxi

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Old Testament is either translated directly from the Septuagint or from a Coptic translation of the Septuagint. It is worth noting the books contained in this canon which distinguish it from any other Old Testament cannon. It includes the books of Jubilees, Enoch, and I-III Meqabyan, among others which are consider Psuedipigraphical by the rest of Christendom. Because of its acceptance of such books, which were popular among early Christians, some scholars believe the Church represents a very early form of Christianity. What is interesting to note is that this canon, being a translation of the Septuagint lacks the books of Maccabees. Many people confuse the books of Meqabyan with the books of Maccabees but there is no connection. There has yet to be an English translation of The full Ethiopian Orthodox Old Testament, but currently there is a team of scholars seeking undertake such a translation.^xxii

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

I and II Samuel

I and II Kings

I Chronicles

II Chronicles (including the Prayer of Manasseh)

Jubilees

Enoch

Ezra-Nehemiah (In Catholic Bibles Ezra-Nehemiah are sometimes known as I and II Esdras)

Ezra (2nd) and Ezra Sutuel (Also known as I and II Esdras in the KJV, II Esdras is Chapters 3-14)

Tobit

Judith

Esther (Including the Greek additions to Esther)

I Meqabyan (Not the same as I Maccabees)

II and III Meqabyan (Not the same as II and III Maccabees)

Job

Psalms (Including Pslam 151)

Messalë (Proverbs ch 1–24)

Tägsas (“Reproof”; Proverbs ch 25–31)

Wisdom of Solomon (Also known just simply as Wisdom)

Ecclesiastes

Song of Songs (Also known as Song of Solomon)

Isaiah

Jeremiah (incl. Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch and Ethiopic 4 Baruch)

Ezekiel

Daniel (Including the Greek additions to Daniel)

Hosea

Amos

Micah

Joel

Obadiah

Jonah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

Wisdom Of Sirach (Also known as Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira (Jesus Ben Sirach), The Book of Ecclesiasticus, Siracides, or just simply Sirach)

The Book of Josephas the Son of Ben Gorion (Pseudo Josephus)^xxiii

The Old Testament of the Greek/Eastern Orthodox Churches

The Eastern Orthodox Churches^xxiv base their translation on the Septuagint. The one major difference between current Eastern Orthodox Old Testaments and the Septuagint is the placement of the book of IV Maccabees. In the Septuagint it is placed between III Maccabees and Psalms, however, although Eastern Orthodox Bibles include IV Maccabees, it is not considered canonical, and is included only as an appendix. Also the books of Daniel and Esther include additions which are not found in the Hebrew cannon. There are a few translations of the Eastern Orthodox Old Testament in English, one of the latest is The Eastern Orthodox Bible.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

I Kingdoms (Also known as 1 Samuel)

II Kingdoms (Also known as 2 Samuel)

III Kingdoms (Also Known as 1 Kings)

IV Kingdoms (Also Known as 2 Kings)

Chronicles I

Chronicles II

Ezra

I Esdras (Also known as Greek Ezra, 3 Esdras in the Vulgate and Bibles derived from it, 2 Esdras in the Slavonic Bible, Ezra Kali in The Ethiopic Bible)

Esther

Judith

Tobit

I Maccabees

II Maccabees

III Maccabees

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song Of Songs (Also known as The Song of Solomon)

Wisdom Of Solomon (Also known just simply as Wisdom)

Wisdom Of Sirach (Also known as Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira (Jesus Ben Sirach), The Book of Ecclesiasticus, Siracides, or just simply Sirach)

Isaias / Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Baruch

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Naum

Ambacum / Habakkuk

Sofonias / Zephaniah

Haggai

Zacarias / Zechariah

Malacias / Malachi

Odes: The Prayer Of Manasses

IV Maccabees (appendix)

The Old Testament Of The Roman Catholic Church

While the Old Testament of the Catholic church is based on that of Latin Vulgate, which in turn used the Septuagint as a source, it did not accept all of the books that are in the Septuagint as canonical, namely III Maccabees. The Latin Vulgate became the common Bible of the Church by the 1300’s CE. However, it was at the Council of Trent. 1545-1563 C.E, that it became the Official Bible and Canon of the Catholic faith. The most famous English translation to date of the church’s Bible, is the Douay Rheims translation.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Kings (Also known as 1 Samuel)

2 Kings (Also known as 2 Samuel)

3 Kings (Also known as 1 Kings)

4 kings (Also known as 2 Kings)

1 Paralipomenon (Also known as 1 Chronicles)

2 Paralipomenon (Also known as 2 Chronicles)

1 Esdras (Also known as Ezra)

Nehemiah

Tobit

Judith

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Canticle of Canticles (Better known as the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs

Wisdom (Also known as the Wisdom of Solomon)

Ecclesiasticus (Also known as Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira (Jesus Ben Sirach), Wisdom of Sirach, The Book of Ecclesiasticus, Siracides, or simply as Sirach)

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Baruch

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

I Maccabees

II Maccabees

The Old Testament Of The Protestant Churches

Generally most protestants reject the books found only in the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew Canon, known to Protestants as the Apocrypha and Catholics as the deuterocanon, though this is not universally true. The Protestant Old Testament is based directly on the Hebrew Bible. The most popular, by far, English translation of the Protestant Old Testament is The King James Version.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Songs (Also known as The Song of Solomon)

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

Cannon Comparison Table

The Major Differences Between The TaNaK and The Christian Old Testaments

1. Books

The Canons of Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and a few Protestant Christians includes books that are not apart of the Jewish canon.

2. Book Order

The observant reader will notice, based on the above canonical list, that these Old Testaments’ orders (Except for those of the Syrian tradition) are in agreement with that of the TaNaK until after the book of Kings. In the Hebrew Canon the prophets form the middle part of the scriptures, but in all of the Old Testament canons they form the later portion. The book of Daniel, in the Jewish scriptures is apart of the Writings, but in the Christian scriptures is placed with the Prophets.

3. Book Divisions

Some of the books are divided up differently in the Christian canon than they are in the Jewish canon. In the Hebrew canon Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, The Twelve Prophets and Proverbs are one book each. While in the various Christian versions Samuel, kings, and Chronicles are split into two, where as the Twelve Prophets are split into twelve books. Most of Christendom accepts Proverbs exactly how it is found in the Jewish scriptures, except for The Ethiopian Orthodox Church which splits it in to two books, Messalë (Proverbs ch 1–24) and Tägsas (“Reproof”; Proverbs ch 25–31).

In modern editions of The Jewish and Christian scriptures, for most of the books, the verse numbering is the same. However there are some books such as Psalms and The minor prophets that use entirely different numbering systems, so if you are looking up a verse reference made from one canon in another, it may not exist or be a completely different verse! There is a system of converting references of the Psalms, from one canon to another, but no such one exists for the Minor Prophets.

Psalms Conversion Table

4. The Name Game: Expert Level

As noted in the lists of Old Testament Canons many some of the same books have many different names. No where is this more confusing than the relationship between the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the books of Esdras. For an explanation of what these books are in relation to the various traditions, please see the table below.

 

Important Old Testament Related Terms

Aramaic: a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew. It has been spoken in the Levant from the ninth century B.C. until the present in a variety of dialects. It originated among the Arameans of northern Syria.^xxv The Peshitta is written in this language, as well as a few passages in the Hebrew Canon.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity: The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also referred to as the Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy, is the second largest Christian church in the world. It claims its origin directly to the apostles, a claim also made by the Oriental Orthodox Church and The Roman Catholic Church. It was the official Christian church of most of Eastern Europe. It includes such churches as, The Greek Orthodox Church, The Russian Orthodox Chuch, The Romanian Orthodox Church, etc. It is not connected with the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Its Old Testament is based on the Septuagint.

Hebrew: The original language of the Jewish Scriptures or Old Testament. It was the tongue spoken by the ancient Israelites. It is still used today as both a liturgical language and a spoken language, in a modern form.^xxvi

Jerome: An Early Church father and saint in many Christian traditions. He was commissioned by Pope Damasus to create the Latin Vulgate.

Kione Greek: Common Greek, the dialect of Greek that spread because of the conquests of Alexander the Great. The Septuagint was written in this language.

Latin: Was the language spoken by the Romans and the primary language used among the

educated and romanized populace in the western part of the Roman Empire. It was until the 1900’s the liturgical language of the Catholic Church. It is the language of the Latin Vulgate^xxvii.

Latin Vulgate: The ancient translation into Latin made by Jerome of the Hebrew Canon and the Septuagint. It was meant to replace the Old Latin translations. The Latin word Vulgate means common text.

Nestorian Church: Also known as the Church of the East. Nestorianism is the doctrine that there were two separate persons, one human and one divine, in the incarnate Christ. It is named after Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (428–31 C.E), and is/was believed by some ancient churches of the Middle East, Central Asia, and even as far east as China. It’s Old testament is based on the Peshitta.

Old Latin Translations: Pre-Latin Vulgate translations of the Old Testament into Latin. These texts were not meant for wide circulation. They differ widely in their translation style, though they are all translations of the Septuagint.

Old Testament: The first section of the Christian Bible. It contains the same books as the Jewish Scriptures, though they are not arranged in the same order. Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and some Protestant Christians have additional books as well in their Old Testament. The Term Old Testament is considered offensive by Jews, the term Hebrew Bible is preferable.

Oriental Orthodox Christianity: Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Orthodox Eastern Christian churches which recognize only the first three ecumenical councils; the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon. Hence, these Oriental Orthodox churches are also called Old Oriental churches, Miaphysite churches, or the Non-Chalcedonian churches, known to Western Christianity and much of Eastern Orthodoxy as Monophysite churches (although the Oriental Orthodox themselves reject this description as inaccurate, having rejected the teachings of both Nestorius and Eutyches). These churches are in full communion with each other but not with the Eastern Orthodox churches. Slow dialogue towards restoring communion began in the mid-20th century. Despite the potentially confusing nomenclature (the word “Oriental” being synonymous with “Eastern”), Oriental Orthodox churches are distinct from those that are collectively referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Oriental Orthodox communion comprises six churches: Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Syriac, Malankara Syrian (Indian Orthodox Church) and Armenian Apostolic churches. These churches, while being in communion with one another, are hierarchically independent. These churches use different versions of the Old Testament, some use the Septuagint, while others use the Peshitta.

Peshitta: The Most important, complete Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible. It is the basis for every Old Testament used by the various Syrian Christian Traditions.

Protestant Christianity: Protestantism is a religious movement that encompasses forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with doctrines and religious, political, and ecclesiological impulses of the Protestant Reformers, against what they considered the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. Its Old Testament is based on the Hebrew canon.

Roman Catholic Christianity: The largest Christian sect, it claims to be the oldest and original church (A claim that is also made by the Orthodox Christians). It was the official church of all of Western Europe until the Protestant Reformation. Its Old Testament is based on the Latin Vulgate.

Septuagint: The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that began in the third century B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt. The name Septuagint comes from the Greek word for “seventy” (hence the symbol LXX, 70 in Roman numerals) and refers to the seventy-two Jewish translators brought to Egypt by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.) to translate the Pentateuch, according to the legendary account in the Letter of Aristeas^xxviii.

Resources

Catholic Bible

Douay Rheims PDF

Click to access douayrheimsbible.pdf

Ecumenical Bible

The New Revised Standard Version is a translation that makes use of all of the ancient versions and includes all of the books of the Septuagint. Online Searchable version:

http://bible.oremus.org/

PDF Version:

Click to access Bible_NRSV.pdf

Ethiopian Orthodox Bible

These people are attempting to compile the first English Translation of the full Bible of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Includes great information about the Church’s traditions, Bible, and many great resources.

http://ethiopianorthodoxbible.wordpress.com

Greek/Eastern Orthodox Bible

http://www.orthodox-church.info/eob/

Jewish Translation Of The Hebrew Bible

Jewish Publication Society TaNaK

Click to access Tanakh1917.pdf

Latin Vulgate

1861 Edition

http://www.sacredbible.org/vulgate1861

Latin Vulgate with Parallel English Douay-Rheims and King James Version

http://www.latinvulgate.com

Timeline of Jerome’s translations

http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/jerome-translations-ofscripture

Old Latin Translation

http://www.vetuslatina.org/

Peshitta

Trilinear Translation

http://www.peshitta.org/

A newer translation

http://peshitta.info

Protestant Bible

King James Version PDF

https://archive.org/details/KingJamesBibleKJVBiblePDF

Septuagint

The Septuagint Online

http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX

The Septuagint Institute

http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX

God willing, next Friday’s post will be on the Books of the Deuterocanon or Apocrypha.

iAramaic Targums were the first, though they were more paraphrases than word for word translations. I will discuss Targums more in depth in their own post when I get to Rabbinic literature.

iiThe first document to refer to the Greek Torah translation as the Septuagint was the Letter of Aristeas §§3–5, 19, 30, etc., a text of the Pseudepigrapha which was written to explain the writing of the Septuagint. The letter claims to be a contemporaneous record by an Alexandrian named Aristeas, an official at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Aristeas states to have first hand knowledge of the details of its creation. The Church Father Jerome refers to this translation of the Torah as the Septuagint as well in his Hebraica Questiones in Libro Geneseos I/1.

iii The Letter of Aristeas §316

iv These texts are called apocryphal by Protestant Christians and deuterocanonical by Catholics. Orthodox Christians make no distinction between them. I will discuss them further in next Friday’s post.

vRogerson, J.W and Judith Lieu. Oxford Handbook of Biblical studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006., pp. 778

vi 285–246 B.C.E

vii,Metzger, Bruce M.. The Bible in Translation Ancient and English Versions. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001. pp 7

viiiI will discuss the Dead Sea Scrolls in much greater depth in a coming post, however it should suffice to note here that the Oldest copy of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, was discovered at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

ix Barrera, Julio Trebolle. The Jewish Bible and The Christian Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Brill Academic Publishers, 1998., pp 301

x Plater, W.E and H.J White. A Grammer Of The Vulgate. : Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1926.

xiOrigen’s Hexapla was even more impressive, including the Hebrew, a critical edition of the Septuagint, as well as several other Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible in columns, arranged side by side. Unfortunately no complete version has survived.

xiiSyriac Versions of the Bible by Thomas Nicol (http://www.bible-researcher.com/syriac-isbe.html)

xiiiThis is what is believed by most scholars, however not all accept this.

xivSebastian P. Brock The Bible in the Syriac Tradition 2006– Page 17

xvThe Peshitta was used by all of the Churches of the Syriac tradition, of which there were many. It seems that every time there was a Theological or Christological controversy in the early church it was at the expense of the Syrian Church. Because of this, it became wide spread in the East, even making its way to China with the Nestorians.

xviFrancis Crawford Burkitt, Early Eastern Christianity, pp 71

xviiEberhard Nestle in Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, IV, 645b.

xviii I used the term traditionally, because most modern translations, such as the New Revised Standard Version, compare these ancient version or consult them when making their translations.

xixA Church of the Oriental Orthodox tradition, a tradition distinct from the Greek or Eastern Orthodox Tradition.

xxAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

xxiA Church of the Oriental Orthodox tradition.

xxiiThis is their website, http://ethiopianorthodoxbible.wordpress.com

xxiiihttp://ethiopianorthodoxbible.wordpress.com/ethiopian-orthodox-canon-of-scripture/

xxivThe Greek, Slavonic, Macedonian, Russian (any East European Orthodox Church)

xxvAchtemeier, Paul J.. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. New York, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. , pp 47

xxvi Ibid, 408

xxvii Ibid, 592

xxviii Ibid, 996

Soul Food For The Week Of 9/10/2014

Soul food is a weekly collection of verses, stories, and quotations from various traditions to meditate on and be inspired by. All verses from the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical books, and New Testament, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). All verses from the Quran, unless otherwise noted, are from the MAS Abdel Haleem Translation.

Jewish

Torah

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

-Moses, Deuteronomy 31:8

Talmud

“Assume for yourself a master, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every man to the side of merit.”

-Ethics Of The Fathers 1:6

Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

“Great is truth and mighty above all things!”

-1 Esdras 4:41

Other

“God doesn’t care which is which, poor or rich.”

-Yiddish Proverb

Christian

New Testament

“Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

-Paul, Philippians 4:7

Church Fathers

“I have never gone to sleep with a grievance against anyone, and, as far as I could, I have never let anyone go to sleep with a grievance against me.”

-Abba Agathon, Sayings Of The Desert Fathers, pg.20

New Testament Apocrypha

“There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. He said, “I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.” These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!”

-Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas 63 SV

Other

“If you cannot be perfect, do what you can.”

-Didache

Islamic

Quran

“The believers are brothers, so make peace between your two brothers and be mindful of God, so that you may be given mercy.”

-Quran 49:10

Hadith Al-Qudsi

“Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones. Then He explained it [by saying that] he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed. It was related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

-Hadith Al-Qudsi 16, Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim

Hadith

“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

-Al-Bukhari, Book 2, Volume 1, Hadith 12

Sufism

“Come you lost Atoms to your Centre draw,
And be the Eternal Mirror that you saw:
Rays that have wander’d into Darkness wide
Return and back into your Sun subside” 

-Farid al-Din Attar

Other

“Virtuous action does not consist in doing good to someone who has done good to you—that is merely returning a favor. Virtuous action consists in doing good [even] to those who have wronged you.”
-Jesus, Ahmad bin Hanbal

Other Wisdom

“Life, he said, is like a festival; just as some come to the festival to compete, some to ply their trade, but the best people come as spectators, so in life the slavish men go hunting for fame or gain, the philosophers for the truth.”

-Pythagoras, Diogenes Laertius, VIII,8

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

-Maria Skłodowska-Curie

The Importance Of Muslim Unity

Before I begin I would like to point out that this is not directed at all Muslims, as there are many that already have nothing but love for their brothers and sisters from different Islamic traditions, but to those whom still remain in their ignorance and bigotry.

“We must put an end to anything which brings about any Islamic unity between the sons of the Muslims. As we have already succeeded in finishing off the Khilafah, so we must ensure that there will never arise again unity for the Muslims, whether it be intellectual or cultural unity.”

-George Curzon, former British Foreign Minister

As a Muslim when ever I read that quote I get infuriated. There has never before been any moment in history with a greater need of Muslim unity than the present moment. Yet when I think of that quote, no matter how mad I get, I realize Islam does not need any outside force to keep it divided, we do that ourselves. Sure the European nations which colonized the Islamic world divided it up into superficial states that did not exist before hand. However the problems that prevent Islamic unity are religious and theological, and these disputes are caused by Muslims.

At present moment Shia and Sunni Muslims both condemn and kill each other. The animosity between Sunni and Shia is one that has existed since atleast the Abbasid era (1258 C.E). There is a history of violence and persecution of Ahmadiyya by their Muslim brothers. More recently Hadith believers and those who do not accept the Hadith, Quranistⁱ, both denounce each other as not being real Muslims. It is not just sect against sect, it is sometimes madhhabⁱⁱ against madhhabⁱⁱⁱ. Once here in Indonesia I heard an Imam say that Muslims in North Africa don’t have fiqh because they follow the Maliki madhhab. This mentality of, “If you don’t believe just as I do you are not a Muslim, you are not my brother or sister.”, has to stop^iv.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Sunni and Shia Muslims praying together in Iraq. Can you distinguish between the two?

The Consequences Of This Infighting

The world is no longer a collection of disconnected nations and peoples but an interconnected global community, which the Islamic world and Muslims are apart of. This is due to the advent of jet planes and the internet. People can travel from one side of the planet to the next in less than a day now and information can circle the globe with the press of a button. When something happens on one side of the planet, it can be known all over the globe almost instantly. Another reality of the modern world is: whether we like it or not, regardless of whether it is fair or not, Non-Muslims judge Islam based on our actions. Every single Muslim, no mater what sect or tradition they follow is an ambassador of Islam to the World.

Whenever one Muslim calls another Muslim, who practices a different form of Islam a disbeliever, insults them, and/or threatens them, this has far reaching consequences. As does assaulting these Muslims or vandalizing their Mosques and homes, even in the most remote lands. In this technologically advanced age of social media and news outlets, news can travel very far and fast. Nothing makes great ratings for a news story quite like violence and hate carried out by Muslims, in the West, where Islamophobia runs ramped. If a Muslim writes derogatory remarks about a fellow Muslim on the internet, it is likely to remain there permanently for all to see. Islamophobes and those who wish to discredit Islam love it when Muslims participate in this type of behavior. It gives validity to their world view.

If you live in an Islamic country or one with a Muslim majority population, you will probably not feel the effects of this type of behavior, but if you are a brother or sister who lives in North America, Europe, or any Muslim minority country you will. As a Muslim who has lived in a small town in the American Southeast, I experienced back lash from this type of behavior. I was told that I believed in a Satanic religion and that I would one day become a full fledged terrorist. When one Muslim disrespects a Muslim of a different variety, Muslim around the world feel it.

Not only does this make the lives of our brothers and sisters who live in Muslim minority countries more difficult, it also makes the work our brothers and sisters who undertake performing dawah^v more difficult as well. Anyone who has ever performed dawah, or who defends Islam from Christian missionaries and apologists, can tell you that the atrocities carried out by supposed Muslims comes up very often. Christian missionaries and apologists use such material to make Islamophobic material, to create hate among Non-Muslims, whom are not well educated, against Islam. When a Muslim disrespects another Muslim or commits acts of violence against them, he or she gives the enemies of Islam ammunition to use against us.

When a Muslim hurts another Muslim of a different sect or background, not only does he hurt that brother or sister, he hurts all Muslims, including those of their own variety, such as his own mother and father. A believer in Islam who does such things is even more Anti-Islamic than the worst Islamophobe, close minded missionary and apologist.

Benefits Of Muslim Unity

If our infighting and hatred harms our religion, then our doing the exact opposite will strengthen it. This could bring with it several benefits for both us as individual Muslims and our religion as a whole.

1. Islam’s Self Image

As I said before, we as Muslims are representatives of our religion, when people see us, they believe they see Islam. Islam is a religion of peace. Islam calls us to better our world, to help our fellow man, not just our fellow Muslims, to establish and protect justice. Yet when people see infighting in Islam, Muslim’s killing one another, it causes doubts. “How can it be a religion of peace, when they kill each other?” Fortunately the opposite is also true, when we live by Islam, and we love our fellow Muslims as ourselves, as the Prophet commanded us^vi, the image of Islam can inspire not doubt, but interest in Islam, even conversion to the faith!

Malcolm X is a prime example of the power the image of Islam has to change people’s lives. When he was first introduced to Islam, it was by the Nation of Islam, a racist, black supremest religious group. He adhered to this view for sometime, but after journeying to Mecca, where he saw equality between Muslims, despite the color of their skin, he renounced his belief in racism and embraced Sunni Islam.^vii

2. A Tighter Ummah^viii

This serves two functions, first with a tighter community we can stand together more firmly. When a crisis strikes, whether man made or natural, community and unity is a must. Members of a community must come together to support one another. As the old adage goes, there is in fact strength in numbers. A community is a lot like a forest, when a wind storm comes the trees support each other, some block the wind, others entangle their roots, but they all support each other. Thus the trees in the forest will have a better chance of surviving, than a lone tree, or disconnected tress.

Secondly with a tighter Ummah comes a more closer knit brotherhood and sisterhood of Islam. Not only can this cause us to build stronger relationships with members of the Muslim community, this can offer us great learning experiences. Though we may disagree on some issues, we agree on many as well, and we could learn how to see these commonalities from different perspectives.

The Commonalities All Muslims Share

We do disagree on some issues, such as the hadiths^ix, and these differences are important ones that we should be able to discuss freely with one another, but we also have many commonalities. These include:

1. Belief in one God Allah.

2. Belief in Muhammad (PBUH) as a prophet.

3. Acceptance of The Quran as authoritative scripture

4. Prayer

5. Fasting

6. Giving to poor

7. Pilgrimage

Can you distinguish Sufi, Shia, Quranist, Ahmadiyya, and Sunni from each other?

We don’t have to agree on everything, but we do need realize that at the core of our Islamic traditions is the same foundation. We may not disagree with these elements, but we may differ in our interpretation of them, and we need to realize and accept that. It is certainly possible to disagree with out being disagreeable.

How Can We Bring about Muslim Unity?

1. We have respect each other as Muslims

Not only must different Muslims and their beliefs be tolerated but they each must be counted as a full member of the Muslim community. More so, we as individual Muslims have to love each other as brothers and sisters in Islam, even if we do not believe the exact same way they do.

2. We have to educate ourselves

We have to educate ourselves, so that we can become more familiar with the beliefs of our brothers and sisters. The more we educate ourselves, the less alien those different from us appear. More so there is much negative, false material out there that demonizes Muslims from various Islamic tradition, this education can give us the ability to shift through this stuff and to defend each other against those that wish to divide us. When you are learning it is important to be critical of your sources. As Krister Stendahl said,

“When trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.”^x

If you cannot find sources that meet these requirements, then seek those by neutral, mainstream, and qualified scholars^xi, but never trust anything that is written by someone that is biased against a group of people. An even better way to learn is to meet and befriend other Muslims whom come from the different Islamic traditions.

3. We have to educate our children

Just as important, if not more so, than educating ourselves, we have to educate our children. It is cliche to say, but still very true, our children are our future. More so they and their children are our extensions into the future. We need to be very mindful of their education about others, even more than we are with ours. If you befriend believers from other Islamic traditions and they have children, introduce your children to them. Their most important source of education must be from you though. Not your words but your actions. Your children must learn how to respect other Muslims from how you respect them. Be sure you set a positive example for your children to follow, for the world of tomorrow is built by our actions of today, and through our children, we will inhabit that world.

What This Does Not Mean

This does not mean you have to accept, agree with, or believe in what other Muslims, those different from you believe in. It does mean you have to respect their right to believe in it and their right to practice their form of Islam.

Lastly if you ever think about hating a fellow Muslim or if you think that a Muslim is not your brother or sister just because they do not believe and practice exactly like you, and stop and remember this

“We must put an end to anything which brings about any Islamic unity between the sons of the Muslims. As we have already succeeded in finishing off the Khilafah, so we must ensure that there will never arise again unity for the Muslims, whether it be intellectual or cultural unity.”

-George Curzon, former British Foreign Minister

iSometimes called Quran Aloners, Quran Alone Muslims, or by their detractors Hadith Rejectors.

iiA school of usual al-fiqh, which is principals of Jurisprudence

iiiThis is a new occurrence. Historically most of the Sunni schools of Madhhab respected each other and considered each to be valid. Robinson, Francis. Atlas of the Islamic World since 1500. New York, NY: Facts On File, 1982. Print. Pp 29

ivThis issue is not unique to Islam. In Judaism the Ultra-Orthodox Jews considers Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionalist Judaism not to be real Judaism. In Christianity, many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians believe that Catholic and Orthodox Christians are not really Christians and that they are idolaters.

vThe preaching of Islam to Non-Muslims to convert them

vi “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”, Al-Bukhari, Book 2, Volume 1, Hadith 12

viiMalcolm, X, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: With the Assistance of Alex Haley. New York: Grove Press, 1965. Print. pp. 388–393

viiiArabic for nation or community.

ixSunni and Shia do not except all of the same traditions, though there is much overlap, where as the Quran Alone Muslims do not accept any hadiths, as their name suggests..

xStendahl’s three rules of religious understanding

xiSuch as Karen Armstrong.

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts: The Hebrew Bible

Brief Introductions To Religious Texts will serve to educate the general public on the great religious texts, what they are and basic scholarship related to them. The Philosophy of this series is to educate with the hope of clearing up misconceptions and fighting ignorance, which can lead to hate. Also to make this information available and easily Understandable by the general public. Interaction with the blog, asking questions, and sharing are greatly encouraged.

The Hebrew Bible is probably one of the most mysterious books to those whom are not Jewish, not religious scholars, have never taken a religion course in college or is not knowledgeable in biblical studies. Many believe it is entirely different than the Christian Bible. What exactly is The Hebrew Bible? The Hebrew Bible is the collection of texts considered canonical by Judaism. Almost 2/3 of the worlds population is influenced by the contents of this book in in some form. Christians accept the Hebrew Bible as scripture, though not in the same formⁱ and sometimes with additional books and passagesⁱⁱ. The Hebrew Bible shares many of its stories with the Quranⁱⁱⁱ, the holy book of Islam. In the past, some Gnostics even drew upon the stories of the Hebrew Bible to compile their texts.^iv

The Name Game

Much of the confusion and mystery surrounding the Hebrew bible comes from the fact that it goes by various names. The term Hebrew Bible, is largely a neutral name. You will find it used in secular, academic religious courses, such as those taught at a Public University in America, in scholarly writings, and interfaith dialogue, though some Christians are starting to use this term as well. Some synonyms include the Hebrew Scriptures or the Jewish Bible. These names, with the exception of the Jewish Bible, are not generally used by the Jewish and Christian faith communities. Jews tend to refer to it as the TaNaK, also transliterated as TaNaCH, The Jewish Bible, or sometimes, though rarely, as the Torah. The name TaNaK is an acronym of the first letter of the names of the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible in the Jewish Tradition, Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. These three divisions will be explained in detail below. Christians refer to the Hebrew Bible commonly as the Old Testament or less commonly as The Old Covenant, The Law, The Old Law, The Mosaic Law. These names are considered offensive and disrespectful to Jews and Judaism. This names are also misleading, the Hebrew Bible deals with more than just law and covenants, though these are major themes.^v

From this point on the remainder of this post will be mainly from the traditional Jewish point of view and that of the secular scholar, with an occasional reference to Christianity and Islam. I will treat the Christian “Old Testament” separately in its own post.

Torah

As I noted above the term Torah is used, rarely, to refer to the whole TaNaK, however the term commonly refers to the first five books of the Bible:

Bereishith (Genesis)

Shemoth (Exodus)

Vayiqra (Leviticus)

Bamidbar (Numbers)

Devarim (Deuteronomy)

The English names of these books are derived from their Greek names. The Hebrew names of these texts are taken from the first few words of these books: Bereishith (In the beginning…), Shemoth (The names…), Vayiqra (And He called…), Bamidbar (In the wilderness…), and Devarim (The words…). Sometimes you will find these names spelled slightly different, due to different transliterations being possible. The term Torah is translated in various ways such as law^vi, instruction, or teaching. The term Torah is usually translated into English as Pentateuch, a Greek word made of the words, pente (five) and teuchos (scrolls, books, or volumes).

Traditionally practitioners of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic^vii faiths believe that Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai. It is sometimes called the Written Torah to distinguish it from the Oral Torah, the Talmud, which most traditional Jews^viii believe Moses received at the same time he received the written Torah. The Torah is the most important part of the Hebrew Bible for Jews. It contains the 613 laws^ix, 248 positive commandments, things one should do, and 365 negative commandments, things not to do, which they try to live their lives around.^x Not only are the commandments found in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, but so are the stories of the beginning of the human race, the origin of the children of Israel, and the founding of their nation. The Torah is divided into weekly portions known as Parsha, which are studied and read aloud in synagouges.

A Torah scroll is traditionally read every Sabbath in Synagogues.

Nevi’im

The name of the second division of the TaNaK is a much more simple word to translate. The term Nevi’im means prophets. Nevi’ means prophet and in the Hebrew language when im is added it makes the word plural. The second section of the Hebrew Bible is further divided into two sections, Nevi’im Rishonim, former prophets, and Nevi’im Aharonim, the later prophets. The books that make up the Former Prophets section are:

Yehoshua (Joshua)

Shoftim (Judges)

Shmuel (I &II Samuel)

Melakhim (I & II Kings)

In the TaNak, I & II Samuel are one book, as is I & II Kings. The books that make up the later prophets are:

Yeshayah (Isaiah)

Yirmyah (Jeremiah)

Yechezqel (Ezekiel).

The following books are apart of the Latter prophets, but they are just one book in the Hebrew Bible: Hoshea (Hosea)

Yoel (Joel)

Amos

Ovadyah (Obadiah)

Yonah (Jonah)

Mikhah (Micah)

Nachum (Nahum)

Chavaqquq (Habbakkuk)

Tzefanyah (Zephaniah)

Chaggai (Haggai)

Zekharyah (Zechariah)

Malakhi (Malachi)

The Nevi’im while not as important as the Torah, continues the narrative where the Torah left off. The history of the nation of Israel continues until the end of book of Kings. Though scholars believe the latter prophets were written first. The diversity of the content type is almost like that of the Torah, though there is no unique legal material. The first four books are sometimes referred to as the Deuteronomistic history, as a major theme found in them is the Israelites trying to live according the laws of Deuteronomy. Unlike the Torah there is no complete reading cycle of the Prophets, though there selections from the prophets that are read with the weekly parsha, called haftarah. Unlike the parsha, the haftarah is not universally the same among the different Jewish traditions nor are they universally the same within any one of the various Jewish traditions.

Ketuvim

The third and final portion of the Hebrew Bible is the Ketuvim, a Hebrew word that is often translated as Writings, but sometimes it is translated as Hagiographa. The books of the Writings are:

Tehillim (Psalms)

Mishlei (Book of Proverbs)

Iyov (Book of Job)

Shir Ha-shirim (Song of Songs) or (Song of Solomon)

Ruth

Eikhah (Lamentations)

Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes)

Esther

Daniel (Book of Daniel)

Ezra and Nechemyah (Book of Ezra-Book of Nehemiah)

Divrei Ha-Yamim (Chronicles)

The Writings are a step below The Prophets in authority. The Ketuvim was not only the last section of the TaNaK to be added, but of the three sections, it went through the longest period of canonization. Some of these texts may have been added as early as immediately following the canonization of the Prophets, about 132 BCE^xi, with the canon finally closing around 95 CE, according to Josephus. In Against Apion, he referred to the Hebrew Bible as being finalized by saying, “… no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable…”.^xii The genres of writing in this section are very diverse, with poetry, narrative, history, wisdom literature, and prophecy. Unlike both the Torah and the Nevi’im there is no reading cycle throughout the year, the Psalms are used daily in prayers and most, but not all, of the books are read on holidays, like The Book Of Esther is on Purim, for example.

Normally Synagogues are places of sober worship, but on Purim, when the Book Of Esther is Read, it becomes quite festive.

A Brief Selection From The Hebrew Bible: The Song of Moses^xiii

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.

2 The Lord is my strength and my might,

and he has become my salvation;

this is my God, and I will praise him,

my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The Lord is a warrior;

the Lord is his name.

4 ‘Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea;

his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

5 The floods covered them;

they went down into the depths like a stone.

6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power—

your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy.

7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrew your adversaries;

you sent out your fury, it consumed them like stubble.

8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up,

the floods stood up in a heap;

the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy said, “I will pursue, I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.

I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”

10 You blew with your wind, the sea covered them;

they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 ‘Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in splendour, doing wonders?

12 You stretched out your right hand,

the earth swallowed them.

13 ‘In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed;

you guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

14 The peoples heard, they trembled;

pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

15 Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed;

trembling seized the leaders of Moab;

all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.

16 Terror and dread fell upon them;

by the might of your arm, they became still as a stone

until your people, O Lord, passed by,

until the people whom you acquired passed by.

17 You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your own possession,

the place, O Lord, that you made your abode,

the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.

18 The Lord will reign for ever and ever.’

19 When the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his chariot drivers went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground.

Important Hebrew Bible Related Terms

Deuteronomic History: The story of Israel living according to the laws of Deuteronomy. It includes the books: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings.

Haftarah: A Hebrew term meaning conclusion. A selection from the Nevi’im section of the Hebrew Bible, read along with the weekly Torah portion.

Hebrew Bible: The collection of texts considered canonical by Judaism. Also called TaNaK, Jewish Bible, and The Old Testament.

Ketuvim: A Hebrew term meaning Writings or Hagiographa. It is the third and last canonized portion of the Hebrew Bible. It is the least authoritative section of the Jewish scriptures.

Nevi’im: A Hebrew term meaning prophets. The second division of the Hebrew Bible. Is less authoritative than the Torah, but more authoritative than the Ketuvim.

Parsha: A selection from the Torah which is read each Sabbath in synagogues. These are universally the same among all Jewish traditions.

Purim: A joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the rescue of the Jews from their foes in the Book of Esther.

Synagogue: The building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.

Torah: A Hebrew term meaning Teaching or Instruction, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, also referred to as the Five books of Mosses and the Pentateuch.

God willing, Next Friday’s post will be on the Christian version of the Hebrew Bible, called the Old Testament, and the ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible upon which they are based.

Notes

iSome books in are divided in two, the sequence is different, and some books have different verse numbering. This will be discussed in more detail in my post about the Christian Version of the Hebrew Bible.

iiCatholic and Orthodox Christians have additional books such as Tobit and the Books of Maccabees. They also have additions to some books like Daniel and Esther. This will be discussed in more detail in my post about the Christian Version of the Hebrew Bible.

iiiSometimes transliterated as Koran or Qu’ran.

ivSuch as the Apocryphon Of John which retells the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden.

vThe book of Job, for example contains nothing about laws or covenants. In fact it is not even about an Israelite!

viMany people disagree with translating the word Torah as law, as do I. The Torah does contain laws, but it is not just legal material, there is much history, narrative, and poetical material as well. I have included it here because one will occasionally find it translated as law.

viiThere is much debate however upon what the word Torah in the Quran refers to. Some believe it refers to the whole Hebrew bible, others believe it is the first five books of the Bible, still others believe it was another document that has since been lost, changed, or mixed with other sources

viiiAn exception to this are the Karaites, Jews who rejected the Talmud and lived their existence solely by the Hebrew Bible. Armstrong, Karen. Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. New York: Ballantine, 1997. pp. 231

ixTalmud, Tractate Makkot 23B

xMany of which involved the temple.

xiHenshaw, T. The Writings: The third division of the Old Testament canon. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963, pp. 16–17

xiiAgainst Apion Book 1, 8

xiiiExodus 15:1-19, NRSV