Questions tagged [tanach]
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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HaGra about Rambam's position concerning the status of pilagshim taken by Jewish commoners
I am an Italian noahide.
My question expresses a purely intellectual curiosity, concerning the Jews and not the Gentiles.
As we know Rambam states in Hilchot Melachim 4: 4:
“A commoner is ...
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Supernatural occurrences in Tanakh not condoned by G-d
What examples do we have in Tanakh of non-righteous individuals being able to "tap into" the supernatural realm?
By "tap into", I am referring to any indication that even non-righteous individuals ...
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what is a good summary of each book of tanach?
What is the basic one line summary of each book in the Tanach? It would be very convenient. Thanks for your effort!
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Does the Tanach ever use letters for numbers?
Does the Tanach ever use letters for numbers?
For example it says אַרְבָּעָה מְלָכִים i.e. 4/four kings.. but it doesn't say it as
ד מְלָכִים it uses the word for four (arba/arbaah), but not the ...
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Did the invention of the printing press change Judaism? [closed]
Before 1440 and the invention of the printing press, most Jewish people would not have had their own personal Tanakh. So I would assume the only place they would see one would be in a synagogue read ...
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Action of decimation of the city of Shechem admonished in Vayehi?
In Parashat Vayeshlach (34:30) Yaakov admonishes Shimon and Levi, not for their destruction of Shechem, rather for the degradation of the hitherto tenuous relationship between he and the inhabitants ...
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Why does Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer only connect certain berachos of Shemoneh Esrei to events in Tanach?
According to Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer:
The first beracha of Shemoneh Esrei, "Blessed are You, Hashem, Protector of Avraham," refers to Hashem's protecting Avraham during the war with the four kings (ch....
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Two gender switches in one Posuk “וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ וּמְעוֹנָתוֹ בְצִיּוֹן”
וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סֻכּוֹ וּמְעוֹנָתוֹ בְצִיּוֹן׃
Salem became His abode; Zion, His den. (Tehhilim 76.3)
In the same Posuk סוכה becomes masculine (סוכו) and מעון becomes feminine (מעונתו). In proper ...
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Pesukim in Chumash where Rashi adds in extra words or switches order
I have been trying to remember examples in chumash where Rashi uses dikduk rules to significantly change the order of words or add words to a passuk so that it has another meaning.
What are some ...
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Are there two or more prophets who have the same name?
Are there any examples of two different prophets who have the same name?
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What is the total number of Pesukim in Tanach? [duplicate]
What is the total number of Pesukim in Tanach?
This question addresses the Torah, but I have yet to find an answer for Tanach (at least, in the Jewish tradition - the answer for Christians is easily ...
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Does the Tanach tell us 36 times to love the stranger?
If you Google "love the stranger 36 times" you get 93,100,000 returns. Indeed, I've been hearing this line for ages:
"36 times in the Tanach God tells us to love the stranger." [Bava Metzia 59b]
...
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1answer
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How many ‘Watches’ were there in an ancient Hebrew day?
A few mentions in the scriptures point to the existence of night and morning ‘watches,’ a notable example being Gideon’s arrival at the Midian camp in the middle watch. (Judges 7:19)
Another example ...
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Are there any debates about the presence of entire words in Scripture?
Besides for the odd letter, such as an extra Vov or Yud, what Scriptual verses that we would find in Tanach today, were once or still debated by Halachic Authorities as to what is the correct text. Or ...
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Hashem Elokim in Torah
In the second chapter of Bereishit, God is referred to as "Hashem Elokim". As far as I know, this seems to be a rare phenomenon. (Note, it is pretty common to have 2 names of God next to each other ...
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The Battle of Gog and Magog
Very little is known about The Battle of Gog and Magog, it is shroud in mystery and countless debates. The prophet Ezekiel (chapters 38-39) describes the battle and the prophet Zachariya (chapter 14) ...
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Do scriptures mention the presence of the Egyptians in the Holy Land after Yehoshua's conquer?
Archaeological sources (only an example) mention such presence/influence in the time of the conquer which gradually faded before David's Kingdom.
Is it mentioned anywhere in the Nac"h that the ...
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How Many vav Hahipuchs in each of the 24 books of Tenach
How Many vav Hahipuchs (Conversive vav) are in each of the 24 books of Tenach compared with the number of letters / verses in that book. As far as I know they are only in Tenach rather than Mishna or ...
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Nechemiah 13 changes Hashem to Elokim
Nechemia 13:1 reads
בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא נִקְרָ֛א בְּסֵ֥פֶר מֹשֶׁ֖ה בְּאָזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וְנִמְצָא֙ כָּת֣וּב בּ֔וֹ אֲ֠שֶׁר לֹא־יָב֨וֹא עַמֹּנִ֧י וּמֹאָבִ֛י בִּקְהַ֥ל הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים עַד־עוֹלָֽם
This verse ...
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Difference between תא and לשכה
Middos 4:3 uses the term תאים to refer to the 38 chambers in the Beis HaMikdash.
I was surprised to see this usage, as the term לשכה appears 29 times in Mishnayos, plus another 12 in the plural, ...
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seven days in a week [closed]
Is there any proof apart from the bible and creation that a week has seven days. Like is there proof from the planets. And if not why does the whole world even those who had never seen the bible count ...
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If “not in Heaven” how could Nac"h be the source of Halacha?
As the Gemmorah states (Temura 16a), the idea of "Not in Heaven" traces back to Moses' death and Yehoshua was the first asked to use it and he refused, referring to that verse.
Nevertheless, from ...
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Did David Hamelech reference his mother's name in Tehillim?
I'm pretty sure I heard this at Shul:
Someone asked R' Zilberstein if he's allowed to publicly praise his living mother, if she doesn't want to be honored. So I think R' Zilvberstein answered that ...
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What is 1,530 a reference to?
In his commentary to Genesis 7:12, R. Isaiah of Trani (the Elder) writes:
וכן במניין ישראל אלף וחמש מאות ושלשים ואי אפשר דבר זה שלא היה אחד מהם יתר או חסר אלא כן דרך המקראות לתפוש מניין שלם ואפי' ...
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Are there any instances in Tanach of Lashon Hara said purely for non-constructive purposes?
I can think of several said with proper intentions - for instance, Miriam (Bamidbar ch. 12) wasn’t trying to harm Moshe with her speech; likewise those who told Gedaliah that he was to be killed by ...
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Chizkiyahu and Messengers from Bavel
I’m looking at Yeshayahu 39 and Melachim 2 20.
What was so bad about Chizkiyahu showing his treasures to the king of Bavel?
If it was so bad, why was he not punished personally? It seems unfair to ...
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What verses in Na"ch describe the details of Jewish calendar like Kidush HaChodesh and Ibbur Hashanah?
The Gemmorah in Jerusalem Rosh Hashana 6a explains the process of adopting the Babylonian names instead of Biblical ones.
דא"ר חנינה שמות חדשים עלו בידם מבבל
R'Hanina said: the names of the ...
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Why are many conversations in Tanach between two parties exclusively
Inspired by a comment on this question it seems the vast majority, if not the entirety, of conversations in Tanach are between two and only two parties. I would like to understand conceptually why ...
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Are there examples in Tanach of 3 or more parties having an ongoing conversation?
From what I have seen in reading Tanach every conversation is between two parties and two parties only. Sometimes those parties consist of 1 person and other times of several people for example "And ...
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Can anyone explain R. Nissim of Marseilles's seemingly problematic opinion on longevity in Genesis?
Recently, I have been looking into the idea of longevity in Genesis. Today, I stumbled upon R. Nissim of Marseilles's opinion of it, but no matter how many times I read over the article that mentioned ...
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What would the status of the “Book of the Wars of God” be today?
The Torah makes reference to a Book of the Wars of God (Bamidbar 21:10-16). According to most opinions this was an actual written work which has been lost over time. It is not clear (at least to me) ...
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Level of exactness of Na'"ch
Torah was dictated by G-d to Moses and is exact by letter.
Mishnah and Gemmorah (and all subsequent books) are man-made and written loosely (at least not letter-exact - see תנא ושייר and more).
The ...
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The purpose and the permission to write Na"ch?
Torah (the 5 books) is [considered] G-d dictated, holistic and include all the necessary knowledge. It is allowed to be passed in the written form.
The detailed interpretations were given orally and ...
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What does the Canonization of Tanach mean?
Following "did-the-men-of-the-great-assembly-canonize-tanach" (please read for all the related sources):
To recap: before the canonization there were many man-made books, incl. Meggilot, Nevi'im, ...
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What is the trope for Ezra/Nehemiah and Daniel
I have been studying these seforim and noticed the text is marked with trope. However, since these seforim are not read publically, what is the proper cantillation? Like neviim?
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How could Ruth do yibbum if she converted only after her husband died?
How could Boaz be required to do Yibbum with Ruth being that she was a non jew when she was married to?
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Why is the word for silver in Torah the same word for money? [closed]
Is there a reason why the Hebrew word for silver is the same word for money in Hebrew?
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Source of small/large letters in the torah
Although there are many small and large letters throughout tanach, both the aleppo codex and the Leningrad codex have extremely few of them. Were they later introduced? The different miforshim, ...
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Who is Eliakim? Could he be both a son of the son of Hilkiah and Josiah?
In Kings II 18, Eliakim is the son of Hilkiah the kohen gadol, in Kings II 23 he is referred to as Jehoiakim son of Josiah. How could he be both?
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The Jewish View on a Person's Physical Appearance? [duplicate]
In my experience Judaism doesn’t place any importance at all in a persons appearance, wether they are attractive or not. Does anywhere in TaNaCh or Chazal even discuss this topic? (That appearance isn’...
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Do Jews accept the Bible as the inspired word of God? [duplicate]
According to the New Testament, the Bible is the inspired Word of God Himself.
2 Timothy 3:16.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for ...
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Sefer which expounds names in Tanach [duplicate]
The Torah itself in several places explains the names of people's names. For instance:
Yaakov was so called because he grabbed onto Esav's heel (Bereishis 25:26), and he was later called Yisrael as a ...
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Did any Navi get angry at HaShem?
At any point in the Torah does Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabbeinu, or any of the other great Neviem ever get angry with HaSem?
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Keter Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Crown) tanach on the ten sons of Haman
I'm currently writing a paper on the famed "purimfest 1946." In attempt to respond to all rebuttals that are brought up, I need to take a glance at the most authoritative tanach, the Aleppo Codex. ...
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Views on participation in the Chidon Hatanach
In perusing Rav Moshe Tzuriel's Otzros Hamussar (page 1125, here), I noticed a section in which he writes strongly against participation in (and watching) the Chidon Hatanach, and also cites Rabbi ...
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Is there any Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible that is available in several different languages worldwide?
From what I understand, the Jewish tradition is very insistent that translations of the Hebrew Bible accurately reflect the original text.
Because of this, several Jewish English Bible translations ...
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Why no dot over the letter vav in the name of G-d in Genesis 2:4? [duplicate]
Reading Genesis 2:4, I noticed that the four-letter name of G-d does not have a dot over the letter "vav" as it usually has in other places in Tanakh. Why is that?
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What is the source for the midrash about Jewish soldiers escaping to Romania?
Specifically, looking for the midrash quoted by Radaq to Shoftim 20:15 as saying that the missing 1,000 Jewish soldiers "escaped to Romania."
Thanks!
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Why this order of words: יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּיר
We end the Rabbi Chananyah ben Akashya quote with a quote from Yeshayahu 42:21, the last 3 words of which say יַגְדִּיל תּוֹרָה וְיַאְדִּיר, meaning "Torah great and glorious" (which quote also ...
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Sources for what happened to Avraham’s Converts? [duplicate]
In Bereishis (12:5 and in Rashi) we see that Avraham converted people in Charan, and then took them with him to Kena’an.
Do we know what happened to them?
• When Avraham and Lot separated, who did ...
