Jewish Theological Writings

Jewish Theological Writings This article is an outline introduction to the written and oral Torahs were considered to major lines of Jewish theological literature. You have been given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. should also study these other topics: The Targums 1 TOPIC: JEWISH LITERATURE The Targums were explanations of the TOPIC: THE APOCRYPHA Hebrew, translations and paraphrases of the Hebrew in the Chaldean language, for Jews who Wikipedia has excellent articles on most of the no longer understood Hebrew. The word means concepts listed here and is an excellent “explanation” or “interpretation”. A 2 resource for further study. combination of Chaldean and Hebrew languages became the Aramaic language. Basic listing of Jewish literature Many Jews of the Babylonian captivity had 1. Torah adopted the Aramaic language, both in the 2. Targums areas of captivity and in Jerusalem itself. The Jewish worship also had shifted from temple- 3. Talmud centered worship to several other things: 4. Mishnah Study of the Law in common 5. Gemara Chanting of Psalms, and united prayers 6. Midrash The common language used in worship was 7. Halakhah usually Aramaic. 8. Haggadah The three basic Targums of the Old Testament are: 9. Septuagint 1. The Targum on the Pentateuch, known as 10. Aquila’s Greek Version the Targum of Onkelos, about 70 AD 11. Apocrypha 2. The Targum on the Prophets, the Targum of 12. Pseudepigrapha Jonathan ben Uzziel, a student of the school st 13. Philo’s Canons of Hillel, first half of the 1 century AD. 3. The Targum on the Writings, or The Torah Hagiographa; includes Psalms, Proverbs, The Torah is the name given to the canon of Job, Chronicles, Esther Hebrew scriptures. Originally, the word “torah” The oral Targums date back as far as 444 BC, referred to the first five books, the Pentateuch. with written Targums being produced from the Later, the Pharisees and Rabbis expanded the 1st to the 10th centuries AD. definition to include the poetical and prophetical books of the Old Testament. Nehemiah 8:8 describes how the Targums were communicated. It was a three-fold process: The Jewish scholars also recognized an Oral Torah, which was made up of general 1. they read “distinctly”, they read the Law in applications of general principles. Both the Hebrew 2. they gave the “sense”, they translated the 1 Topics cited are found in the Grace Notes Topical Hebrew into Aramaic Library, http://www.gracenotes.info. 2 http://en.wikipedia.org Jewish Theological Writings 2 3. they caused them to understand the Joshua to the elders, from the elders to the reading; that is, they interpreted in Aramaic prophets, from the prophets to the men of the the meaning of the translation. Great Synagogue, and from them to their successors in the 2nd century AD. The Talmud (see below) gives extensive and explicit rules for interpreting the Hebrew text The Mishnah was divided into six sections, each of the Old Testament. There is always a dealing with broad subject matter. question, of course, of how carefully individual 1. Seeds teachers follow the rules. Here is a sample of the rules of interpretation: 2. Feasts The Law was read by the reader, verse by 3. Women verse, and each verse was followed by 4. Damages translation into Aramaic and interpretation. 5. Sacred Things In prophetic books, three verses were read before interpretation. 6. Purifications The reader had to keep his eyes on the text TOPICS: ORGANIZATION OF THE TALMUD; STRUCTURE without looking up. The one giving the OF THE TALMUD translation and interpretation had to do so The Gemara without looking at the text. This was done to make very clear the difference between the The Gemara is the part of the Talmud which actual words of the text and the contains the notes, commentaries, explanations, interpretation given in Aramaic. and illustrations of the Mishnah, along with At first, it was forbidden to write the Targums. much other information. It was written in Aramaic and completed about 500 AD. The The Talmud Babylonian Gemara contains about 6000 pages. The word “Talmud” means “teaching” or Midrash “doctrine”. The Midrash is a less formal explanation and The Talmud is a Jewish work which contains exposition of the Old Testament, from and the civil and religious laws not found in the doctrinal and homiletical point of view. The Pentateuch, with commentaries and name means “investigation and interpretation”. illustrations of these laws. It represents the It is written in both Hebrew and Aramaic. learning, teaching, opinions, and decisions of Jewish teachers over a period of about 800 The Midrash differs from the Targums in that it years, from 300 BC to 500 AD. is not a translation, but a commentary. And it differs from the Talmud in that it deals only The Talmud has two parts: (1) The Mishnah, or with the written Law. There are two parts of oral law, and (2) the Gemara, the commentaries the Midrash, the Halakhah and the Haggadah. and illustrations. Halakhah TOPIC: ORIGINS OF THE TALMUD The Halakhah is the collection of all Jewish Law, Mishnah including the biblical law (the 613 The Mishnah was begun by Hillel in the years commandments) and later Talmudic and before the birth of Christ; it was called the rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions. Second Law. It’s chain of succession was The Halakhah confines itself to the Pentateuch supposed to be from Moses to Joshua, from and gives explanation and additions to the Law Jewish Theological Writings 3 and ritual. It also covers cases which the Law Septuagint – Influence on Christianity does not cover; and it gives decisions of Rabbis The Septuagint was also a source of the Old on controversial subjects. Testament for early Christians during the first Halakhah guides not only religious practices few centuries AD. Many early Christians spoke and beliefs, but numerous aspects of day-to-day and read Greek, thus they relied on the life. Halakhah is often translated as "Jewish Septuagint translation for most of their Law", although a more literal translation might understanding of the Old Testament. The New be "the path" or "the way of walking". The word Testament writers also relied heavily on the derives from the Hebrew root that means to go Septuagint, as a majority of Old Testament or to walk. quotes cited in the New Testament are quoted directly from the Septuagint (others are quoted Haggadah from the Hebrew texts). Greek church fathers The Haggadah covers the entire Old Testament are also known to have quoted from the and includes the historical, prophetical, and Septuagint. Even today, the Eastern Orthodox poetical sections. It is popular, and covers Church relies on the Septuagint for its Old history, tradition, stories, legends, parables, Testament teachings. Some modern Bible allegories, beliefs, customs. Much of the writing translations also use the Septuagint along side is fanciful, some of it is good. Hebrew manuscripts as their source text. The Haggadah was used mostly between 100 What Does the Septuagint Contain BC and 300 AD The Septuagint contains the standard 39 books 3 Septuagint – What is it? of the Old Testament canon, as well as certain apocryphal books. The term "Apocrypha" was Septuagint (sometimes abbreviated LXX) is the coined by the fifth-century biblical scholar, name given to the Greek translation of the Jerome, and generally refers to the set of Jewish Scriptures. The Septuagint has its origin ancient Jewish writings written during the in Alexandria, Egypt and was translated period between the last book in the Jewish between 300-200 BC. Widely used among scriptures, Malachi, and the arrival of Jesus Hellenistic Jews, this Greek translation was Christ. The apocryphal books include Judith, produced because many Jews spread Tobit, Baruch, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), the throughout the empire were beginning to lose Wisdom of Solomon, First and Second their Hebrew language. The process of Maccabees, the two Books of Esdras, additions translating the Hebrew to Greek also gave many to the Book of Esther, additions to the Book of non-Jews a glimpse into Judaism. According to Daniel, and the Prayer of Manasseh. an ancient document called the Letter of Aristeas, it is believed that 70 to 72 Jewish The Apocryphal books were included in the scholars were commissioned during the reign Septuagint for historical and religious purposes, of Ptolemy Philadelphus to carry out the task of but are not recognized by Protestant Christians translation. The term “Septuagint” means or Orthodox Jews as canonical (inspired by seventy in Latin, and the text is so named to the God). Most reformed teachers will point out credit of these 70 scholars. that the New Testament writers never quoted from the Apocryphal books, and that the Apocrypha was never considered part of the canonical Jewish scripture. However, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox 3 churches include the Apocrypha in their Bible [published on the Septuagint web site: http://www.septuagint.com] Jewish Theological Writings 4 (except for the books of Esdras and the Prayer slight errors in translation and copying of Manasseh). (Hebrew scribal rules attest to how exacting scribes were). Even then, the Bible has Septuagint - Is it a Reliable Translation? redundancy built into its text, and anything Since the Septuagint is a translation, scholars significant is told more than once. If speculate if it accurately reflects the Hebrew grammatical mistakes were introduced that scriptures of the 2nd century BC. A close makes a point unclear, it would be clarified in examination of the Septuagint and the several other places in scripture. Masoretic Text (the early Hebrew text of the Septuagint - Dramatic Evidence for the Old Testament) show slight variations.

Load more