The Jewish Scriptures
The Torah, Prophets, and Writings developed into a recognized collection over time within Jewish communities.
On a Saturday morning at a synagogue, a reader chants a story from Genesis. Minutes later, a prayer quotes a line from Psalms. How did such different writings become books a whole community treats as sacred?
4 minutes. No sign-up needed.
What you'll learn5 ideas
- The Torah, meaning instruction, is the five books from Genesis to Deuteronomy.
- A canon is a collection of writings accepted as sacred authority, and agreement on some books, like Ecclesiastes, came slowly.
- The Torah already guided the whole community, as in Nehemiah's public reading, even while the place of other books wasn't settled.
- The Prophets holds messages like Isaiah and history like Kings, and the Writings holds songs, prayers and sayings like Psalms and Proverbs.
- Writing a book and placing it in a sacred collection are different steps, and clues from about 132 BCE and 200 CE show groups and debates, not a start or end date.