An acronym of "Torah" (Five Books of Moses), "Neviim" (Prophets), and "Kesuvim" (Writings). The three books together form the "Written Torah".
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Why Daniel is not Among the Prophets?
If Daniel was one of the Prophets, I do not understand why he is not counted among the Prophets.
Why is his book among the Ketuvim and not Neviim?
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Moses lived 120 years, and tradition says no one can live longer, so why do they?
Genesis 6:3: And the LORD said: 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.'
In Deut. 34:7 the age of Moses upon his ...
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What is the Yetzer Harah?
What is the meaning of the "Yetzer Harah" - יצר הרע? How does it compare to the סטן?
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Did anointed kings of Israel have contact with their parents?
This answer to another question makes me wonder: Did anointed kings of Israel have any contact with their parents? David was dead when Shlomo succeeded him, and Shlomo ruled until his own death. But ...
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Teaching Written Torah to Christians
There is an idea mentioned by the Rambam, but not in the Mishneh Torah as I recall, that it is permissible to teach Wrtitten Torah to Christians because they accept it as Divine and don't study it in ...
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Why isn't the book of the Maccabees part of the Jewish canon?
I believe they are in the Christian canon... why not Jewish?
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Does the vav hahipuch also mean “and”? Do all those extra “ands” belong in the Bible?
I know that in Biblical Hebrew, take a word like "Vaydaber." "Yedaber" = "He will speak"; the "v" flips the word from future tense to past, so it's "he spoke."
Most translations understand the "v" ...
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How to find if a particular pasuk is used in davening
My father is trying to find out if a pasuk is ever quoted in any davening and I don't know of a specific resource which would help in a search. Other than using ctrl-f after downloading each ...
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Root of the name Aharon
What is the etymology of the name Aharon? The only serious site I've found that proposes an etymology is this, but I'm hoping for a more classical source, i.e. Chazal or Rishonim.
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Who are these “aliens” in Isaiah 56?
I was reading through this passage in Isaiah 56:
4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My
sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My
covenant. 5 ...
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Why is ויהי נועם said after הנני מוכןs?
Most (but not all) Siddurim have the פסוק of ויהי נועם at the end of הנני מוכןs (such as before ספירת העומר, before the ארבע כוסות, or before בדיקת חמץ).
Where does this practice come from?
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Why is Hebrew Called “Jewish” in the Bible?
We see that in most of the Bible, the Jews are called "בני ישראל/Israelites"; only in later books are they called "יהודים/Jews" (e.g. Esther 2:5, Zechariah 8:23), after the loss of the 10 tribes. ...
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Changing someone else's name
In parshas Shlach Moshe changes Yehoshua's name.
Does this mean his name really changed? IE was he called up to the torah as Yehoshua? Were his kids "ben Yehoshua"?
Are there any other examples in ...
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The order of Tehillim
Sefer Tehillim (Psalms) consists of 150 mizmorim, most likely compiled (and perhaps even entirely written) by King David. The mizmorim are not in chronological order following the events that inspired ...
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Why did none of the later kings of Israel destroy Amalek?
There is a commandment to obliterate Amalek.
Shaul Hamelech was commanded to obliterate Amalek and failed.
Dovid continued in the process, but obviously didn't destroy them completely.
None of the ...
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Why do the names of neviim change?
I was curious why a number of names in Navi- the prophets- seem to change. Yirmiyah is also called Yirmiyahu, Yeshayah/Yeshayahu, etc. and a number of the kings have a similar variation. Is there a ...
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List of people in Tanach
Can I find anywhere a comprehensive list of every single person that is mentioned in Tanach. Including somewhat "biographical" information, who they were, family, what they did, how they fit into ...
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Where is there a good online source to check how often a word appears in Tanach?
Where is there a good online source where you can check how often a word appears in Tanach?
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The Meaning of Aishdas
I have read that Aishdas (Deut. 33:2) means "fiery law" or something of the sort. However, doesn't the word das with the meaning of law/religion come from Persian (i.e. did not have the meaning of ...
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Navi will be annulled when Moshiach comes?
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Meggilah 1:5) says that the Neviim and the Kesubim will be annulled in the future. The Rambam (Hilchos Meggilah 2:18) that it is talking about the days of Moshiach. What does ...
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What does the Bible mean by “those that urinate against the wall” in I Samuel 25:22?
A more precise version of this vague question:
What does the Bible mean by "those that urinate against the wall" in I Samuel 25:22?
There are different translations for the phrase; what is the ...
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How did Dovid Hamelech kill Amaleikim?
Similar to this question.
How did Dovid Hamelech kill the Amaleikim when they were almost completely obliterated (their only survivor was a baby fathered by Agag on his last day) by Shaul Hamelech ...
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Why isn't Tanach regularly studied in many Yeshivot?
There is a Tosafot in Sanhedrin 24a
that says that by learning Gemara one does not fulfill what the Gemara (Kidushin 30a, Avoda Zara 19a) says: one should split his learning into three --- Tanach, ...
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Nothing new under the sun, except for women chasing men?
I noticed that in Yermiyahu 31:21, it says .
עַד-מָתַי תִּתְחַמָּקִין, הַבַּת הַשּׁוֹבֵבָה: כִּי-בָרָא יְהוָה
חֲדָשָׁה בָּאָרֶץ, נְקֵבָה תְּסוֹבֵב גָּבֶר.
"...and Gd will create a new ...
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The spelling of the name פינחס Pinchas in Tanach
In the entire Tanach the name Pinchas פינחס is spelled with a Yud. The only place the Yud is missing is שמואל א: א. ג.
ועלה האיש ההוא מעירו מימים ימימה להשתחות ולזבח ליהוה צבאות בשלה ושם שני בני עלי ...
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Why is the Sefer Shmuel called Shmuel?
Samuel dies less than halfway through the books of Samuel. Why name the books after him?
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Ish chai rav pe'alim mikavtze'el
Another in the mi.yodeya gravestone series:
I recently obtained a photograph of the gravestone of one of my ancestors. The first line of the inscription on the stone is:
איש חי רב פעלים מקבצאל
...
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What's the difference in Biblical Hebrew between “zahav” and “paz”?
Artscroll calls one "gold", the other "fine gold." Any other distinctions?
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In the book of Esther, was Haman plotting to kill/overthrow Ahasueros?
At first reading, Haman is very powerful and wants to use that power to kill the Jews, but he's not actually interested in harming his boss, King Ahasueros ("Achashveirosh" to most of us), in any way. ...
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Silent aleph (no, I mean really silent)
Please explain what is going on with the letter aleph in certain places in Tanakh (e.g. the second to last word of Devarim 3:12, the first word of Tehilim 34:10) where the aleph contributes neither a ...
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Order of birth of Ya'akov's children
The back of my Feldheim Tanakh has a timeline which gives the birth and death years of various Tanakh characters. The birth years of the sons of Ya'akov are not listed in the order given in Parashat ...
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Hashem calls people twice and Hinneni
In many places in the Tanach Hashem uses a name twice (ie Avraham, Avraham in Breshit 22:11; Jacob Jacob in Breshit 46:2; Shmuel shmuel in Shmuel Aleph 3:10 and more).
Rashi says that this is an ...
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ALL Names of God
Where can I find an exhaustive list of all of the names of Hashem (preferably שמות and כינוים) in תנ"ך (Tanakh) and elsewhere?
Is this too ill-defined a topic to have an exhaustive answer?
Do the 70 ...
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Why do the Sifrei Eme"s (i.e. Job, Proverbs, Psalms) have cantillation marks?
Are they read to a tune or is it just punctuation for personal usage?
Have they ever been read publicly with the tune?
(See here for what inspired me to ask this.)
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Is there a Possuk in Tanach that starts with a Samech ס and ends with a Aleph א?
I have a relative with the name סימא and she has been unable to find a Possuk in Tanach that starts with a Samech ס and ends with a Aleph א. Is there such a Possuk?
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Is there a freely distributable English translation of Tanach available?
I am in the midst of creating a media project. The content is 'religion'. There is a publicly distributable set of 4 documents in XML format (programmer speak for a document that can easily be ...
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Where else is Hashem's name missing?
In Shmuel Aleph, when Shmuel becomes a Navi, he runs to Eli each time Hashem comes to him thinking it is Eli not Hashem. After the fourth time Eli realizes it is Hashem and tells Shmuel (in ...
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Why is the age of 30 important in the Bible?
Why is the age of 30 important in the Bible? Joseph, Ezekiel, and many more were all around 30 yrs old.
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Is there a site where I can see several different jewish translations at the same time?
The christians have that
http://bible.cc/psalms/82-6.htm
Is there something like that for jews?
If there isn't, then perhaps lists of several good online jewish translation would be nice too. It ...
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Modern Traditionalist Scholars Combatting Critical Approaches to the Tanach
I know that Shadal, David Hoffman, and many others tried very hard to combat the claims of scholars that criticized the Torah (both in terms of Higher and Lower Criticism). Can anyone help me find ...
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Esav & Yishma'el today
Historically, how did Esav come to be associated with Rome/Christianity? How did Yishma'el come to be associated with Arabs/Islam?
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why does Ruth 1:8 use עמדי instead of עמי?
Ruth 1:8 says:
ח וַתֹּאמֶר נָעֳמִי, לִשְׁתֵּי כַלֹּתֶיהָ, לֵכְנָה שֹּׁבְנָה, אִשָּׁה לְבֵית אִמָּהּ; יעשה (יַעַשׂ) יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם חֶסֶד, כַּאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם עִם-הַמֵּתִים וְעִמָּדִי.
8 And ...
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Why isn't Shimson's mother named?
Why isn't Shimson's mother named in Pesukim that tell the story? She is featured rather prominently, and the angel appears to her before speaking with both her and Manoaḥ. It would stand to reason ...
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Why is it that there's NO mention in the entire Torah (including Tanach) considering the Brain (Moach) as the source for thought?
Wherever the Torah refers to thinking and feelings of Anger, compassion etc. it always mentions the Heart as the controlling organ (also Kidney) but NEVER the Brain?
(Even in the G'mara the Moach is ...
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Online tanach with qamatz qatan marked?
Although there are many places to find the Tanach online, I'd like to find one where qamatz qatan is specially marked. Preferably free, of course, though I'll take what I can get. Does anyone know of ...
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Nature of cryptic prophecies
I understand that prophecies in the Tanach seem to be very cryptic until the prophecy actually happens: then do the verses become clear and be correlated to the happened events. What are good examples ...
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Spouses in Tanach whose names start with the same letter?
This is one of those parsha sheet trivia questions: There are six couples in Tanach where the names of the spouses start with the same letter. Who are they?
I've got five of them, but I can't think ...
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All, every: how to interpret these words in the Scriptures?
What is the correct way in interpreting, understanding the words "all", "every" in the Bible? My problem is that I learned maths for years and sometimes it makes me very hard to understand things. ...
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איש אחד What does the Echad refer to and where else in the Tanch is it found?
In Shmuel Aleph Perek Aleph Elkana is refered to as Ish Echad before his name is given. The Midrash, according to Meam Loez, says that the Echad means Singular or Special. I was wondering where else ...
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Why are few names the same in Tanakh?
Nowadays we name our children after characters in Tanakh and/or great tzaddikim. In Tanakh why weren't people named after the Avot, the Shevatim, Moshe Rabbeinu, etc?
