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Is there a difference between the Old Testiment of the Bible & the Tanakh ?

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favourite answer

    In the Tanakh, the three sections indicate varying levels of holiness. The Torah is by itself- the holiest of books, the only one dictated by G-d through direct prophecy. Nevi'im, prophets, ar ebooks through indirect prophecy. The third section, Ketuvim, is at the lowest level of holiness- the books here were written with divine inspiration and not prophecy. This is important as when understanding things, obviously the hierarchy dictates that when in doubt, we follow the interpretation from the book in the higher category. Thus everything in Nevi'im and Ketuvim has to be interpreted according to the Torah. everything in Ketuvim according to Nevi'im.

    Whent he Christians altered the order- it was to true and alter this hierarchy. Since some of their interpratations would create difficulties with books higher in the order (especially Tehillim (Psalms) which is in Ketuvim), they thus altered the order to try and push their interpretation ot Jews they were trying to convert. The same thinking governs many of the changes in chapter and verse numbering- by shifting where verses are, what is considered a verse etc, they alter emphasis and meaning.

    The third category of alterations by the Christians, that of mistranslations and even interpolations into the text (such as inserting the name Lucifer into the text where no proper name exists in the Hebrew) also fit the model of molding the text to try and support the insertion of new ideas and theology into it

    Source(s): Orthodox Jew; acting Rabbi
  • 5 years ago

    comprehend-how Hebrew could be useful you already know factors of the modifications extra without project, notwithstanding it truly is a techniques from needed. you will get your self off to an outstanding start up with information from studying finished chapters, really than a verse or 2 in theological isolation. The textual content that Christians get the virgin delivery of a savior from is only a connection with a youthful lady sitting contained in the court of King Ahaz; the financial ruin is about a particular prophecy related to a siege the court replaced into less than. Use Jewish components anytime a threat (once you're trying to analyze something on-line, use the Jewish names of the books instead of the English ones (which provides you with a gazillion Christian web content), so 'Bereshit' instead of 'Genesis'). That way you is only no longer left wondering how a virgin can provide delivery. :-)

  • Bill C
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    As far as the number of books, the Protestant Old Testament contains the same ones as the Tanakh. They are, however, in a different order, and chapter and verse numbering varies in some places.

    There are also issues of content: All translators of the Tanakh, whether Christians or Jews, seem to have had difficulty being honest. There are errors, and some of them are deliberate. Only way to be sure you are getting the absolute correct original is to read the Hebrew (and Aramaic) text.

    Source(s): Hebrew teacher
  • As was already said, the order of the books.

    Which is kind of a moot point, anyway. With a few exceptions (Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Alexandrinus), the idea of the entire Bible in one volume was unheard of in the ancient and midieval world. It wasn't until the 13th century that it became standard to put the Bible in a single volume, and only then was there a need to choose an "order" to put the books in. It's actually kind of interesting. Even the order of the gospels took a while to become fixed, and ancient gospel books are known to arrange them in every order imaginable. Etc. Acts was usually listed after Paul's epistles, not before them. So on and so forth.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    answer: Yes, there are differences - order of books, break down of chapters is just the beginning. Many translation and interpretation problems.

    One especially telling difference is that Christians have an entirely different breakdown of the Ten Commandments than Jews do. For Jews, the first commandment is "I am the Lord your G-d," and the second is "You shall have no other gods before me... You shall not make graven images." Christians don't consider "I am the Lord your G-d" as a commandment, and split the first two into "No other gods" and "no graven images." This seems like a small, inconsequential thing. But from the point of view of Judaism vs. Christianity, it is very telling. For Jews, the statement of G-d's identity is a commandment in and of itself, because there is only one G-d - the "I" in question. And therefore for Jews the commandment against other gods goes hand in hand with idolatry - you can not divide G-d, you can not worship more than one god, you can not pray to idols depicting other gods.

    Zechariah 12:10 − The Hebrew Tanakh: “and they shall look upon me whom they have stabbed/ thrust through [with swords”) The King James Version of Zechariah changes one word [stabbed] to “pierced.” BUT John 19:37 (New Testament) misquotes Zechariah to change the entire meaning by saying, “They shall look on him (instead of ME) whom they pierced.”

    Isaiah 7:14 − The Hebrew Tanakh says “Therefore, the Lord, of His own, shall give you a sign; behold, the young woman (alma) is with child, and she will bear a son and she shall call his name Immanuel.” **Take note, this was written in the present tense. ** But the Greek Septuagint changed “alma,” saying “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:22-23). The church changed the entire verse from present to FUTURE tense and then went further to change the Hebrew alma, meaning a young woman to virgin.

    Isaiah 53:10 − The Hebrew Tanakh says “And the Lord wished to crush him, He made him ill; if his soul makes itself restitution (acknowledge guilt) he shall see children, he shall prolong his days and God’s purpose shall prosper in his hand.” But the KJV says:: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he had put him to grief: when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand”

    Source(s): and more
  • neil s
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    Yes, the order of the books. The Christians put the prophecy texts at the end so they would neatly lead into the New Testament.

  • ?
    Lv 5
    1 decade ago

    Different language (unless you have a Hebrew Bible), and different order. That's about it.

  • 1 decade ago

    No, they are really the same, just different translations.

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