Tenakh & Talmud
Religious Studies: KS3, topic 1.2.6
Tenakh and Talmud
The Tenakh and Talmud form key Jewish religious texts.
The Hebrew Bible
- The Hebrew Bible is called the Tenakh (‘TNK’).
- The Tenakh is made up of:
- T for Torah (Law)
- N for Nevi’im (Prophets)
- K for Ketuvim (Writings)
The Tenakh
- The Tenakh was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic.
- The Tenakh is made up of 24 books divided into chapters and further sub-divided into verses.
Divine inspiration
- The Tenakh was formed during the post-exilic period (starting around 538 BCE),
- Based on the divine inspiration they possessed, Jewish rabbis and scholars brought together the Scriptures that would form the Tenakh.
- The Tenakh was used by early Christians to form the first part of their Scriptures.
- The early Christians called it the Old Testament.
The Talmud
- Jewish sacred texts include the Talmud.
- Talmud is the oral interpretation of the Law.
- Jews believe that the Oral Torah was given to Moses at Mount Sinai at the same time he was given the written Torah.
Mishnah and the Gemara
- Talmud is made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara.
- The Mishnah contains clarifications about what is in the Torah.
- The Gemara is a commentary about the Mishnah.
- Rabbis and Jewish scholars spend the majority of their time studying the Talmud, along with the Torah.
Test yourself on Tenakh & Talmud
What is the Tenakh made up of?
How many books does the Tenakh include?