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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Where to find references of words in the Tanach and other ancient texts? [duplicate]
I am interested in understanding the usage of some words in their biblical context, as the centuries have changed the meaning of some words. Given a word, for instance עולם, how might I find all ...
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Are the stories in the Midrashim and Targumim meant to be historical? [duplicate]
The Midrashim and Targumim contain stories meant to further elaborate on the accounts in the Hebrew Bible. Are these stories meant to be historically accurate?
Further reading on this issue would be ...
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What passages in the Torah/Tanakh are relevant to the subject of abortion?
Abortion has been in the news recently, and I would like to know what the Tanakh has to say on the matter. While I don't believe that the Torah in particular or the Tanakh in general addresses ...
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Where can I find a simple Tanakh online without verse and chapter numbers?
I'm looking for a simple Tanakh online with the original 24 divisions and without chapter or verse numbers. Just want to read it without all the chapter and verse numbers just like in the good old ...
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Looking for a midrash mentioned by Falaquera
When Noah recovered from his wine, he enslaved his grandson Canaan to his sons Shem and Japheth. The relationship he envisioned for his sons Japheth and Shem is spelled out in Gen 9.27:
יפת אלהים ...
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Is there a Possuk in Tanach that starts with a Pheh פ and ends with an Aleph א? [duplicate]
In the list for names printed in many Siddurim, there is no Possuk for פיגא.
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Best way to track Torah learning
What is a good method to track your progress in learning all of the Torah. (Tanach, Shas, etc.)
I was thinking of an excel template if anyone has one or for other suggestions.
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1Samuel 16,12 on David
According to the translation of 1Samuel 16:12 of The Koren Jerusalem Bible it translates that David: "was ruddy, with fine eyes, and good lookin".Some rabbinical comments, however, such as ...
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Was the Talmud written with diacritcs?
This might sound like a strange question, but was the Talmud written with diacritics? The MT today is written with critical marks that were added in the middle of the first millennium. But the Talmud ...
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Is the consumption of bone marrow forbidden?
Is eating bone marrow the same as eating blood? Do any sources address this issue? Though not the only source I'm interested in, I'd prefer references to the Tanakh, if possible.
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Proof that the laws of Torah are to be followed eternally?
Some websites with christian apologists say that 'olam' doesn't mean 'eternal'and can also mean for a certain duration. But olam ve ad does mean eternal. Is there any place where Torah laws are seen ...
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Conversational prayer
Are short, few-second prayers permissible, or should prayer be more formal? For example, if I hear news that a family member is not feeling well, am I able to pray, "Please be with them that they ...
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Who teaches Tanakh?
I would like to study Tanakh in its entirety with a focus on dikduk, hebrew language, basic meaning/commentators, and possibly cantillation. I am not very self-motivated so I would prefer to join a ...
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Why וְעָֽרְבָה֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה מִנְחַ֥ת יְהוּדָ֖ה וִירֽוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם ? Why not only Yerushalayim?
In Malachi 3:4
וְעָֽרְבָה֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה מִנְחַ֥ת יְהוּדָ֖ה וִירֽוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם כִּימֵ֣י עוֹלָ֔ם
וּכְשָׁנִ֖ים קַדְמֹנִיֹּֽת׃
Is this referring to the two kingdoms that were separated (and Benjamin had ...
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Rabbits in the Torah
Are there are quotes about Rabbits in Tanach, Midrash, Gemara etc..
I am looking for somewhere which speaks about them.
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Who wrote Shir Hashirim, Koheles and Mishlei?
Was it King Shlomo or Chizkiyahu and his colleagues? And when did Chizkiahu live?
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Only one high priest
In the Holy of Holies, only one high priest could enter, is that correct? Sorry, but then why did Nadab and Abihu they entered together (Lev. 10,1-2)? An explanation for this contradiction?
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What were the negative names of holy people in Tanakh, and vice versa?
Quoting from Chabad's articles on Sha'ar Gilgulim:
God created a corresponding reality with respect to this as well.
Therefore just as there is for a person a pre-determined name from the
side of ...
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What destroyed the walls of Jericho?
What destroyed the walls of Jericho in Joshua 6-20? The Shofar and the screams? Are there any explanations in rabbinical comments? I did not find any, apart from a contradictory explanation of the ...
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How did the Jewish people have livestock when leaving Egypt?
Exodus 12:38
Moreover, a mixed multitude went up with them, and very much
livestock, both flocks and herds.
How can it be that the Israelites left Egypt with much livestock after they were slaves in ...
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If the nations' ministers are all appointed by Hashem, why is it idol worship? [closed]
I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I was pondering it today and I hope you will find it as interesting as I do. Every Rabbinic opinion I've seen, although there are plenty I haven't of ...
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What are the best (english) texts for wordplay in commentaries? Ie, concordance. Also, that include mystical interpretations from multiple Rabbis? [closed]
In Tanakh specific to the first levels of pardes, every word has a meaning, and many Rabbinic teachings in "oral Torah" associated with those meanings. However, with Kabbalistic ...
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On sefer Job 2:9 "ברך אלהים"
In the sefer of Job 2:9 it is written:
"וַתֹּאמֶר לוֹ אִשְׁתּוֹ עֹֽדְךָ מַֽחֲזִיק בְּתֻמָּתֶךָ בָּרֵךְ אֱלֹהִים וָמֻֽת׃"
Why "ברך אלהים" is translated as Curse G-d and not as ...
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Neviim and Ketuvim in 1-2 volumes
It’s possible to buy a Chumash containing Rashi comments in one volume (e.g. Artscroll Schottenstein Interlinear ed.).
Having a Chumash, I’d like to buy Hebrew/English Nevi’im and Ketuvim with ...
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What books/texts for Modern Hebrew
Which of these books/texts would be possible to read when you know only Modern Hebrew?
Kizur Shulchan Aruch
Shulchan Aruch
Mishnah Berurah
Mishnah
Babylonian Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
Comments by:
...
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Was the diet that Daniyel HaNabi took on a common diet amongst the Yisraelites?
In chapter 1 of the book of Daniyel HaNabi states at verse 12:
נַס־נָ֥א אֶת־עֲבָדֶ֖יךָ יָמִ֣ים עֲשָׂרָ֑ה וְיִתְּנוּ־לָ֜נוּ
מִן־הַזֵּרֹעִ֛ים וְנֹאכְלָ֖ה וּמַ֥יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּֽה
“Please test your ...
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Who is "Shilo" in Bereshit? [duplicate]
In bereshit 49: 10 it is written:
"לֹֽא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִֽיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּֽי־יָבֹא שִׁילֹה וְלוֹ יִקְּהַת עַמִּֽים׃"
Who is Shiloh?
"Shiloh, to whom the scepter ...
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Radak's commentary on Ezekiel
May I please have a translation of Radak's commentary on Ezekiel?
(44:17):
והיה בבאם אל שערי החצר הפנימית. אם נאמר החצר הפנימית כמשמעו יהיה פירושו שער עזרת הכהנים והמזבח וממנו לשער האולם כי הכל הוא ...
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Examples of "Mitzvah X was not practiced since the times of Y"
The book of Nehemia states that the Israelis didn't keep Succot from the times of Joshua Binun (about 1000 years, Nehemiah.8.17.
וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כָל־הַקָּהָל הַשָּׁבִים מִן־הַשְּׁבִי סֻכּוֹת וַיֵּשְׁבוּ ...
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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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Yehoshua 5:15 - Why is the ground considered holy?
"וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ שַׂר־צְבָ֨א יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֗עַ שַׁל־נַֽעַלְךָ֙ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֔ךָ כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתָּ֛ה עֹמֵ֥ד עָלָ֖יו קֹ֣דֶשׁ ה֑וּא וַיַּ֥עַשׂ יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ כֵּֽן:"
"And the ...
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Is the Prophet Malachi the same person as Ezra Hasofer?
I saw in a few places that when they write Malachi, in parentheses they write Ezra. Does that mean that some people agree that they are one person?
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Is spending time in a city a cure for exhaustion (Koheleth 10:15)?
Koheleth 10:15 states: 'The toil of fools wearies him, for he does not know to go to the city'.
Rashi, it seems to me, interprets 'city' as Torah study. Are there any authorities who claim that a ...
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Why all the Bnei Yakov (the holy tribes) went to Egypt for food
What is the reason that all the holy tribes (except for Benjamin) went to Egypt for food? Couldn't they send only several of them or to split themselves and go in different time? Or even send some of ...
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Was the servant in Isaiah 52 'marred' or 'anointed'? [closed]
Source texts
Targum Yonatan (TY) of Isaiah 52:13 identifies the servant as the anointed one:
הָא יַצְלַח עַבְדִי מְשִׁיחָא יְרוּם וְיִסְגֵי וְיִתְקוֹף לַחֲדָא (source)
Behold, my servant the Messiah ...
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Differences between Breuer Tanachim
I stayed with Dr. Gabriel Wasserman for Shabbos over the summer and he mentioned that the different editions of R' Mordochai Breuer's זצ"ל Tana"ch have some small differences (eg. the Mosad ...
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How did King Manasseh and King David repent? [closed]
In Judaism it’s said if you sin against man you must make it right with that person, but Kings Manasseh and David didn’t, yet God accepted their Teshuva.
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Why did the Chachamim change this Passuk?
The Gemara brings in the incident of a king gathering 72 sages to translate the Torah to Greek. They all came with the idea to change some Psukim. One of them was
זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בְּרָאָ֑ם ...
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Did Bible Characters Typically Drink Water?
I've always heard that in the medieval era, people drank dilute beer all the time because the water wasn't safe.
We find all over Tanach accounts of people "eating bread and drinking water." ...
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Is Historical (or narrative) Present Used in Tanakh?
In the beginning of ויצא, the first couple of verses are written in past tense but Yaakov's dream is in present tense. I assumed that a possible explanation for this is that the Torah is using the ...
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Could someone help me find a Tanakh vowelised according to the Yemenite Tradition?
I would like to study the Yemenite traditions of pronounciation in reading. However, I'm unsure where to find a copy of the Tanakh with such notation. If anyone could assist me in this it would be ...
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When did Noah enter the ark?
Did Noah enter the ark 7 days before the flood or on the day of that the flood began?
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ לְנֹ֔חַ בֹּֽא־אַתָּ֥ה וְכׇל־בֵּיתְךָ֖
אֶל־הַתֵּבָ֑ה כִּֽי־אֹתְךָ֥ רָאִ֛יתִי צַדִּ֥יק לְפָנַ֖י ...
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Immanuel / Emmanuel the angel
I recently ran across a reference to the angel named "Immanuel" or "Emmanuel" ... it reads:
Emmanuel ("God with us")-the angel in the
fiery furnace who appeared beside ...
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'Anshei' vs 'B'nei'
Ezra 2 contains a big list of the size of different families. However, some of the verses (eg 16, 17, 18) introduce those they count as בני, and some of the verses (eg 22, 23, 27) introduce those they ...
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Daniel 9:12 k’ri-k’tiv
Do any commentators or other sources address the rationale of דבריו becoming דברו in Daniel 9:12? I’ve so far been unable to find any explanation for this.
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Did אָכִיש actually use Hashem?
וַיִּקְרָ֨א אָכִ֜ישׁ אֶל־דָּוִ֗ד וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵ֠לָיו חַי־יְהוָ֞ה כִּי־יָשָׁ֣ר אַתָּ֗ה
(שמואל א 29:6)
This has the פְּלִשְׁתִּי swearing by Hashem.
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What's this recurring progression in Hallel?
Commonly recited from Psalms is Chapter 118, recited in Hallel on Rosh Chodesh and Festivals. It begins (v. 1-4):
הוֹד֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה כִּי־ט֑וֹב כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃
Praise the LORD, for He is ...
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Could Moses Have Failed?
Was having a conversation with another user in which I made the argument that Moses didn't fully believe he was talking to God because he doubts he can fulfill this mission from God even with God's ...
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Where does "Yeshurun" come from?
Am Yisrael has a number of names in Tanach. "Yaakov" (such as "Beit Yaakov") and "Yisrael" ("Bnei Yisrael") come from the names of Yaakov Avinu. "Yehudim&...
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Do any Jewish commentators or any targum or midrash see Haggai 2:7 as a reference to the messiah?
Haggai 2:7 speaks about the coming of "the desired of nations". Christians say this is a reference to the messiah. But I'm wondering if any of the sages - the commentaries or targum or ...
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