Questions tagged [biblical-criticism]
Questions pertaining to biblical criticism, i.e., the application of various techniques of literary historical-critical methods in analyzing and studying the Bible.
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Textual evidence against Torah being composed as a "Foundation myth"
Some Biblical scholars suggest, that the Five Books of Torah were compiled between the fall of the Israelite Kingdom and the end of the Babylonian exile as a "founding myth" for the newly ...
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Is Rabbi David Halivni's theory of "Chate’u Yisrael" kfira?
Rabbi David Weiss Halivni proposed a theory of Chate’u Yisrael 1 to resolve tensions between traditional exegesis and source critical methods of examining the Torah. His theory provides a way to ...
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If the ENTIRE Egyptian army drowned, why didn't the Babylonians/Hittites invade Egypt?
The following is an excerpt of a critique on "Reason to Believe":
Critic: Under these conditions, were the Ten Plagues and a total crush of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea waters to happen,...
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What is the relationship between Ezra's scroll and the Aleppo/Leningrad codeces?
I'm a little bit confused. If Ezra re-established a singular text to the Torah, how is it that we have the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex and three different scribal traditions for Ashkenaz, ...
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Textual Criticism of Nach
I was recently learning Megillat Esther (as I prepare some shiurim on the topic), and was surprised to find the following comment by Rabbi Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi (Tedeschi), in his commentary to ...
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How did Jewish scholars deal with supposed "scribal errors" in the Tanach [closed]
There are some contemporary Christians (Evangelicals, etc) say that there are contradictions in the Old Testament caused by scribal errors (Who Killed Goliath? (2 Samuel 21:19; 1 Chronicles 20:5), How ...
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Why prohibitions and their corresponding punishments are separated in the Torah?
I was arguing with a Documentary Hypothesis supporter who claimed that we consistently find that Biblical prohibitions and their punishments are not written in one place. The Ten Commandments are a ...
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Rabbi Medan on the prophecy of Yoshiyahu
In this essay, pg. 64, note 38, with regards to the attempt to prove that there were actually two Yeshayahus, and subsequent attempts to counter that claim, Rabbi Yaakov Medan wrote:
ונסתייעו בנבואת ...
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How essential is it to accept the reliability of the text of the Torah?
(Related to Are Muslims fit to be Noahides?. ) The question came up there, are the Muslims heretical (in our view) because they reject our Torah as we currently have it?
This is based on a gemara ...
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Biblical Hebrew words for “sister” & “bride” interchangeable? “sister” can mean “friend”?
Paul M. Conner, O.P., Celibate Love p. 23 (PDF p. 27), claims:
In Hebrew the terms "sister" and "bride" do not always have literal application. Often they are interchangeable. ...
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Do any Jewish sources give a non-literal interpretation of the census in Bamidbar?
Are there any classical commentators that state that "elef" didn't literally mean 1 thousand, or something else to that effect, that would result in a smaller number? I am reading Ani Maamin ...
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David & Yonatan and homosexuality
I once heard an idea (in a non-Torah source, see for example the academic opinions cited in Wikipedia) that David and Yonatan had homosexual tendencies, based mainly on the following two pesukim:
I ...
user13937
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"Vaishakehu" Extra Points over entire word? or some letters?
Shalom!
The famous Passuk on which Esav and Jaacov ran, hug, kiss and cry.
The Word VAISHAKEHU has points-dots over every leter.
Siftei Chakhamim seems to have VAISHAKEHU וישקהו with 5 nekudot, ...
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Sefer Devarim not part of the original Torah?
I've been told by a few separate people that Sefer Devarim (as evidenced by historians' accounts and the stylistic differences between it and the other 4 books of Torah) was in fact written at a later ...
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Were there multiple Isaiahs?
Modern scholarship recognizes multiple authors of the book of Isaiah. While Isaiah 1-39 is attributed to the pre-exilic Isaiah ben Ammoz, Isaiah 40-66 is attributed to one or more later prophets ...
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Birth of Hezron and Hamul
Some critics of Genesis have noted that there is difficulty in understanding how Hezron and Hamul are considered part of the sojourning group into Egypt from the land of Canaan, when many notice that ...
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How do we explain genaelogy differences between Genesis 4 and 5?
I read in The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament "Genesis" by Diane Bergant that the similar names in both Cainite and Sethite genealogies found in Genesis 4 and 5 such as Lamech, Enoch, ...
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Why the term "Lord God" in Genesis 2–4?
We sometimes see the term "YHVH Elohim", like in Genesis 2-4. I don't understand why it doesn't just say one or the other, like in many other places in the torah.
According to the Documentary ...
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Command of the Eastern Tribes
Why is it that in Numbers 32:1–32 Moses only commands Reuben and Gad to cross the Jordan River, but then in Joshua 1:12–15 it has Joshua talking about how Moses commanded Manasseh to cross over as ...
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Who sells Yosef? Who brings him to Egypt?
Who sold Yosef to the Yishmaelim, is it the brothers or the Midyanim?
And who sold him to Potifar in Egypt? The Yishmaelim or the Midyanim?
(Medanim also appear in the text, but that might be the ...
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When was this verse written?
When was this written: "And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel." (Genesis 36:31)?
Are there any traditional commentators ...
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Are there traditional Orthodox websites that counter thetorah.com?
thetorah.com promotes arguments for the view that the Torah (and other books of Tanach) were written by multiple authors over a long period of time. They do this while still seeing themselves under ...
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Is there a place for the documentary-hypothesis in observant Judaism?
The documentary-hypothesis implies that Moses wasn't the writer of the Torah verbatim, but he could have transmitted it before it was written down. Evidence in the text shows several sources and that ...
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Who wrote the verse near the end of the story about Mahn in Shmot 16:35?
I am aware that the Talmud discusses a debate as to who wrote the last few verses in the Torah about Moses's death.
Near the end of the story about mahn, in Shmot (Exodus) 16:35, the verse says that ...
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Rabbinic understandings of non-Divine origin of Onqelos
Shavua' tov all,
A question from a friend that I thought I would post here regarding the origin of Onqelos. It seems fair to say that the classical rabbinic understanding is that the Aramaic ...
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Where can I find responses to biblical criticism?
Where can I find well documented source material by strictly orthodox Rabbis or scholars which directly address most (or all) of the major themes of academic biblical criticism such as, but not ...
user2110
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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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