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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Why do the Sifrei Eme"s (i.e. Job, Proverbs, Psalms) have cantillation marks?
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?
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Complete list of verses corresponding to people's names?
There is a custom to say a verse corresponding to ones name at the end of the Amidah, as a Segulah not to forget his name on the day of Judgement. There are several sources for this practice, ...
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Is Rashi really pshat?
If Rashi on Tanach is a purely pshat oriented commentary, as professed several times, why do many of his comments originate from midrashim that most other "pshat" meforshim dismiss as "derech drash"? [...
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How many prophets were there and who were they?
How many prophets are recognized by Judaism, and what were their names?
I found a website that claims the number of prophets is 124000. Is this true?
Are all of their speeches or writings ...
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Was Malbim an innovator?
The Malbim - Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel(1809 – 1879) - wrote a commentary on most of Tanach. In his introduction (to Yeshayahu) he writes the assumptions with which he operates in his commentary:
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Can songs use the words from pesukim?
I asked Is it OK to compose a song that breaks up a pasuk? and was told (in comments) that perhaps it would be good to first clarify whether songs can use pesukim at all.
So, question: Can songs, ...
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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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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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Is there "Torah Inerrancy"?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc ...
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How many words are there in Tanach?
How many letters are in the Torah?
How many words are in the Torah?
How many verses are in the Torah?
How many chapters are in the Torah?
How many letters, words, verses, and chapters are in every ...
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Is it heresy to read the Bible literally?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in this debate with Richard Dawkins says:
Rabbis in the 10th century laid down the following principle: If a biblical narrative is incompatible with established scientific fact,...
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Is there a resource that shows all uses of a Tanach verse in the Talmud?
Is there a website or book that can tell me all the places in Shas where a certain pasuk is mentioned or referenced?
(Preferably website, and preferably can show places in Midrash, too.)
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Is it permissible to name one's child with a name from the opposite gender?
Is a person allowed to name a boy with a girl's name and vice versa?
I remember seeing that one musn't, although in Nach one finds these things a lot.
I understand it is not best practice for ...
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Laws of Abrogation
To my limited knowledge there is no such thing as "abrogation" within the Tanach. Such would seem to defeat the immutability of G-d's Law. This issue of abrogation comes up a lot in both Christian and ...
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How long was the period of Oppression
How can Genesis 15:13 says that the Israelites were enslaved for 400 years?
Genesis 41:46 states that Joseph was 30 when he came to power: “Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of ...
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Are there any jokes in Tanach?
Are there any examples of actual jokes in Tanach? Please provide sources.
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Anyone who says these people sinned is mistaken. For real?
The Gemara (Talmud Bavli Shabbos 55b-56b) relates that several Biblical figures who, from the text itself, seemed to have sinned, in reality did not. These statements take the form of "כל האומר פלוני ...
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Where in Tanach is Shavuot associated with Matan Torah?
There is nowhere I can see in the tanach that associates Shavuot with Matan Torah.
However, we say in the prayers on Shavuot: "Z'man Matan Toratainu" (the time of the giving of the Torah).
Whenever ...
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First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months?
The Chumash refers to the months simply as "the first", "the second", and so on. Today we know them by their Babylonian names (Nisan, Iyar ...) Occasionally the Prophets from the First-Temple Era use ...
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Do Jewish people have a collection of books which are the equivalent of the Christian Old Testament?
One claim that is made in our Christian Church is that the Jewish people use the Old Testament and that Christians use both the Old Testament and the New Testament. How correct is this statement?
Do ...
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Rationalist Position on Bible Ancients' Long Lives
How would a rationalist interpret the long lives of the ancient people enumerated in the Bible, from Methuselah on down? Virtually no person lives more than 120 years today, even with the assistance ...
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Scriptural evidence that angels have no free will
Judaism does not believe in the free will of angels. What is the scriptural evidence for that and since when has such belief been held within the Jewish community?
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Why does Halacha not follow the simple reading of the Biblical text?
There are many Halachot which appear to contradict explicit Biblical statements. For example, that an "Eye for an Eye" means monetary compensation.
Why does Halacha not follow the simple reading of ...
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Is there a good visual companion to Tanach?
I'm looking for a visual companion to Tanach, i.e. maps, charts, and timelines. So when I'm learning Sefer Yehoshua, for example, I can see maps that chart the various battles and such.
Are there any ...
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Why identify personalities in midrash?
As noted previously on this site (quoting Mail-Jewish), there's a general tendency in midrashim to claim two persons in Tanach are the same. This is familiar to anyone who has studied Rashi's ...
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Learning non-jewish topics as a creative process during Shabbat
Is 'learning' non-Jewish topics a prohibited creative process on Shabbat? If so, on what grounds is learning Tanakh exempted? I read that the study non-Jewish subjects is banned or frowned upon, and I ...
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Why don't we see magic today?
Throughout Tanach and Talmud, there are numerous recorded uses and practitioners of magic1.
From Pharaoh's magicians to Shaul's necromancer, and magic cucumbers to were-donkeys, the references are ...
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Does Judaism have a concept of holy text literalism?
Apologies if this is an ignorant, foolish or offensive question. I am not Jewish, and am asking to satisfy my curiosity.
Some time ago, on a political forum online, I was discussing religious ...
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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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Which books help one acquire a systematic understanding of Biblical Hebrew grammar?
A question for the grammar experts. How can I learn Hebrew grammar in a systematic way? Especially a book that would help me understand how to layn properly. Something that covers rules of nikkud, ...
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Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
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Does Torah inerrancy extend to the prophets and the writings?
Most Orthodox Jewish scholars hold that the Torah is 100% factually accurate (see previous question). I believe this is generally understood to refer specifically to the five books of Moses. What do ...
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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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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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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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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 --- Mikra, ...
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What is the best English translation of the Tanakh (hard copy, not online)?
I'm looking for the best available English translation of the Tanakh, and because I prefer to hold an actual book in my hands, I'd rather have a hard copy as opposed to an online version.
Some ...
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What is the reason that you are not allowed to learn Torah shebictav at night?
I saw in some books (Rav Belsky, Arizal) that you are not allowed to learn torah Shebictav (Tanach) at night without commentaries. Why is that?
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What are signs of a prophet mentioned in Tanach
Does the tanach provides us some guidelines to Identify a future prophet?
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When did Hashem stop the sun?
As in the time of Milchemes Ay, Hashem stopped the sun for 36 hours. Where else in Tanach did it happen? I need more then one.
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Why Yehoshua **Bin** Nun and not Yehoshua **Ben** Nun
The Torah refers to Yehoshua as Yehoshua Bin Nun. (See here for an example).
Why Bin Nun and not Ben Nun?
Are there any places in Tanach where he is referred to as Ben Nun?
Is there anyone else in ...
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Why are none of the Pharaohs in the Torah identified by name?
Throughout the Torah, the various Egyptian Pharaohs are always referred to as simply "Pharaoh" or "the king of Egypt" (or both), but never with any other parts of their official titulary.
By contrast,...
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What is the nature of the numeral "ashtei-asar" (11)?
What is the nature of the numeral ashtei-asar (meaning 11) as in (BeMidbar 29:20, Parashat Pinchas):
וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי פָּרִים עַשְׁתֵּי-עָשָׂר
What is the basic word? Is this using ...
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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 ...
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Division of Verses in Tanach
In light of comments here, what is the history of the current division of tanach into pesukim? Specifically, to what extent do we view our breaks as coming from Sinai? Are there Christian influences ...
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Names of the books of Tanakh
When did the books of Tanakh get their canonical names? I understand that Five Books of the Torah were named after the first words in them, and that most of Navi was named after their authors, but ...
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Why does the Mishna misquote the Tanakh?
In a number of instances, the Mishna provides quotes from Tanakh that differ from the versions of Tanakh that we have today. So, for example, Sotah 6:4 (31b). There, the mishna quotes Deuteronomy 19:...
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Does the term "ארץ ישראל" ever appear in Tanach?
Do these words ever appear together as one phrase in Tanach?
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General understanding of Kri and Ktiv
A number of questions regarding the 'kri and ktiv'
What is the source (talmudic or otherwise) for this concept?
Why is it necessary; meaning why could we not adduce whatever concept is being taught ...
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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 Tanach and elsewhere?
Is this too ill-defined a topic to have an exhaustive answer?
Do the 70 in the ...
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