The Hebrew Hammer (also known as the Jewish Bible, or תנ"ך, Tanakh in Hebrew) consists of 24 books. Tanakh is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Hammer: the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. Bible - Torah. The Torah, or "Teaching," is also known as the five books of Moses, thus Chumash or Pentateuch (Hebrew and Greek for "five," respectively). The five books are: I Genesis (Bereishit בראשית), II Exodus (Shemot שמות), III Leviticus (Vayikra ויקרא), IV Numbers ( ...

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Bible, Bible - The Hebrew Bible, Bible - Torah, Bible - Nevi'im, Bible - Ketuvim, Bible - Translations and editions, Bible - The Christian Bible, Bible - The Old Testament, Bible - The New Testament, Bible - The canonization of Scripture, Bible - Bible versions and translations, Bible - The Introduction of chapters and verses

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Jewish principles of faith - Monotheism. Judaism is based on a strict unitarian monotheism, the belief in one God. The prayer par excellence in terms of defining God is the Shema Yisrael, "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One", also translated as "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is unique/alone." God is conceived of as eternal, the creator of the universe, and the source of morality. God has the power to intervene in the world. The term God thus corresponds to an actual o ...

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Jewish principles of faith, Jewish principles of faith - Jewish principles of faith, Jewish principles of faith - Monotheism, Jewish principles of faith - God as Creator of the universe, Jewish principles of faith - God is One, Jewish principles of faith - God is all-powerful, Jewish principles of faith - God is personal and cares about humanity, Jewish principles of faith - Names of God, Jewish principles of faith - The Nature of God, Jewish principles of faith - To God alone may one offer prayer, Jewish principles of faith - Scripture, Jewish principles of faith - The words of the prophets are true, Jewish principles of faith - The status of Moses, Jewish principles of faith - The origin of the Torah, Jewish principles of faith - Holy Books, Jewish principles of faith - Reward and punishment, Jewish principles of faith - Israel chosen for a purpose, Jewish principles of faith - The messianic age, Jewish principles of faith - The soul is pure at birth, Jewish principles of faith - History and development, Jewish principles of faith - No formal text canonized, Jewish principles of faith - Gaining converts, Jewish principles of faith - Is faith necessary?, Jewish principles of faith - Belief in the Oral Law, Jewish principles of faith - Belief in the Medieval era, Jewish principles of faith - Maimonides' 13 principles of faith, Jewish principles of faith - Principles of faith after Maimonides, Jewish principles of faith - The Enlightenment, Jewish principles of faith - Holocaust theology, Jewish principles of faith - Dogma in Judaism

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The Hebrew Bible (also known as the Jewish Bible, or תנ"ך, Tanakh in Hebrew) consists of 24 books. Tanakh is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. Bible - Torah. The Torah, or "Teaching," is also known as the five books of Moses, thus Chumash or Pentateuch (Hebrew and Greek for "five," respectively). The five books are: I Genesis (Bereishit בראשית), II Exodus (Shemot שמות), III Leviticus (Vayikra ויקרא), IV Numbers (Bemidbar במדבר), and V Deut ...

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Bible, Bible - The Hebrew Bible, Bible - Torah, Bible - Nevi'im, Bible - Ketuvim, Bible - Translations and editions, Bible - The Christian Bible, Bible - The Old Testament, Bible - The New Testament, Bible - The canonization of Scripture, Bible - Bible versions and translations, Bible - The Introduction of chapters and verses

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According to one Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is related to the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb הוה (ha·wah, "to be, to become"), meaning "He will cause to become" (usually understood as "He causes to become"). Compare the many Hebrew and Arabic personal names which are 3rd person singular imperfective verb forms starting with "y", e.g. Hebrew Yôsêph = Arabic Yazîd = "He [who] adds"; Hebrew Yiḥyeh ...

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Tetragrammaton, Tetragrammaton - Meaning, Tetragrammaton - Using consonants as semi-vowels, Tetragrammaton - Using the vowels of YHWH, Tetragrammaton - Vowel marks, Tetragrammaton - The Scholarly Reconstructed pronunciation יַהְוֶה i.e. Yahweh, Tetragrammaton - Scholarly sources in which יַהְוֶה is found, Tetragrammaton - Jewish use of the word, Tetragrammaton - Possible effect on the Hebrew Language, Tetragrammaton - Alternative names, Tetragrammaton - Possible origins, Tetragrammaton - Popular culture, Tetragrammaton - Footnotes

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Names of God in Judaism - The Tetragrammaton. The most important name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God. This name is first mentioned in the book of Genesis and is usually translated as 'the Lord'. Because Jews have for a long period of time considered it blasphemy to pronounce, the correct pronunciation of this name has been forgotten—the original Hebrew texts only included consonants. Modern scholars conjecture that it was pronounced "Yahweh". The Hebrew letters are named See also:

Names of God in Judaism, Names of God in Judaism - Names of God, Names of God in Judaism - The Tetragrammaton, Names of God in Judaism - Other names of God, Names of God in Judaism - Miracles of the divine names, Names of God in Judaism - Kabbalistic use, Names of God in Judaism - Laws of writing divine names, Names of God in Judaism - The tradition of seven divine names, Names of God in Judaism - Bibliography

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The earliest labors of the Masoretes included standardizing division of the text into books, sections, paragraphs, verses, and clauses (probably in the chronological order here enumerated); the fixing of the orthography, pronunciation, and cantillation; the introduction or final adoption of the square characters with the five final letters (comp. Numbers and Numerals); some textual changes to guard against blasphemy and the like (though these changes may pre-date the Masoretes - see Tikkune Soferim); the enumeration of letters, words, verses, etc., and the sub ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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The chapter divisions and verse numbers have no significance in the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, they are noted in all modern editions of the Tanakh so that verses may be located and cited. The division of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into parts I and II is also indicated on each page of those books in order to prevent confusion about whether a chapter number is from part I or II, since the chapter numbering for th ...

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Tanakh, Tanakh - Terminology, Tanakh - The canon, Tanakh - Books of the Tanakh, Tanakh - Chapters and verse numbers, book divisions, Tanakh - Oral Torah, Tanakh - Available texts

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In the course of time, differences in spelling and pronunciation had developed not only between the schools of Palestine and of Babylonia – differences already noted in the third century – but in the various seats of learning in each country. In Babylonia the school of Sura differed from that of Nehardea; similar differences existed in the schools of Palestine, where the chief seat of learning in later times was the city of Tiberias. These differences must have become accentuated with the introduction of graphic signs for pronunciation and cantillation; and every locality, follo ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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The history of the Masorah may be divided into three periods: (1) creative period, from its beginning to the introduction of vowel-signs; (2) reproductive period, from the introduction of vowel-signs to the printing of the Masorah (1525 CE); (3) critical period, from 1525 to the present time. The materials for the history of the first period are scattered remarks in Talmudic and Midrashic literature, in the post-Talmudical treatises Masseket Sefer Torah and Masseket Soferim, and in a Masoretic chain of tradition found in Ben ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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In Judaism, pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is a taboo; it is widely considered forbidden to utter it and the pronunciation of the name is generally avoided. Usually, HaShem is used as a substitute in prayers or readings from the Hebrew Bible. The difference is marked by the vowelization in printed Bibles—the Tetragrammaton takes on the vowels of the word it's to be pronounced as. Torah scrolls have no diacritical vowel marks, and therefore the reader must memorize the correct pronunciation for each ins ...

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Tetragrammaton, Tetragrammaton - Meaning, Tetragrammaton - Using consonants as semi-vowels, Tetragrammaton - Using the vowels of YHWH, Tetragrammaton - Vowel marks, Tetragrammaton - The Scholarly Reconstructed pronunciation יַהְוֶה i.e. Yahweh, Tetragrammaton - Scholarly sources in which יַהְוֶה is found, Tetragrammaton - Jewish use of the word, Tetragrammaton - Possible effect on the Hebrew Language, Tetragrammaton - Alternative names, Tetragrammaton - Possible origins, Tetragrammaton - Popular culture, Tetragrammaton - Footnotes

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In the first half of the tenth century Aaron ben Moses ben Asher and Ben Naphtali were the leading Masoretes in Tiberias. Their names have come to symbolise the variations among Masoretes, but the differences between ben Asher and ben Naphtali should not be exaggerated. There are hardly any differences between them regarding the consonants, though they differ more on vowelling and accents. Also, there were other authorities such as Rabbi Pinchas and Moshe Moheh, and ben Asher and ben Naphtali often agree against these others. Further, it is ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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The two rival authorities, Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, practically brought the Masorah to a close. Very few additions were made by the later Masoretes, styled in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Naḳdanim, who revised the works of the copyists, added the vowels and accents (generally in fainter ink and with a finer pen) and frequently the Masorah. Many believe that the Ben Asher family were Karaites. Considerable influence on the development and spread of Masoretic literature was exercised during the eleventh, twelfth, and thi ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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In the Haggadah (the traditional Hebrew Passover text) it is written that the divine names of God could be used to perform miracles if one knew their combination. Names of God in Judaism - Kabbalistic use. The system of cosmology of the Kabbalah explains the significance of the names. One of the most important names is that of the En Sof אין סוף ("Infinite" or "Endless"), who is above the Sefirot. The forty-two-lettered name contains the combined names אהיה יהוה אדוני הויה, th ...

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Names of God in Judaism, Names of God in Judaism - Names of God, Names of God in Judaism - The Tetragrammaton, Names of God in Judaism - Other names of God, Names of God in Judaism - Miracles of the divine names, Names of God in Judaism - Kabbalistic use, Names of God in Judaism - Laws of writing divine names, Names of God in Judaism - The tradition of seven divine names, Names of God in Judaism - Bibliography

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The vowelized [ i.e. vocalized ] Hebrew spelling of the Tetragrammaton "יַהְוֶה" ( i.e. Yahweh ) (see picture to the right) started to appear in scholarly sources in the early and mid 19th century. "יַהְוֶה" is sometimes referred to as a "Scholarly Reconstruction" and is based in large part on various Greek transcriptions (ιαουε—iaoue and ιαουαι—iaouai and ιαβε—Iabe) dating from the first centuries BC and AD. Particularly cited is Clement of Alexandria's spelling of the Tetragrammaton in his Greek See also:

Tetragrammaton, Tetragrammaton - Meaning, Tetragrammaton - Using consonants as semi-vowels, Tetragrammaton - Using the vowels of YHWH, Tetragrammaton - Vowel marks, Tetragrammaton - The Scholarly Reconstructed pronunciation יַהְוֶה i.e. Yahweh, Tetragrammaton - Scholarly sources in which יַהְוֶה is found, Tetragrammaton - Jewish use of the word, Tetragrammaton - Possible effect on the Hebrew Language, Tetragrammaton - Alternative names, Tetragrammaton - Possible origins, Tetragrammaton - Popular culture, Tetragrammaton - Footnotes

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Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah, having collated a vast number of manuscripts, systematized his material and arranged the Masorah in the second Bomberg edition of the Bible (Venice, 1524-25). Besides introducing the Masorah into the margin, he compiled at the close of his Bible a concordance of the Masoretic glosses for which he could not find room in a marginal form, and added an elaborate introduction – the first treatise on the Masorah ever produced. In spite of its numerous errors, this excellent work has generally been ackn ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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The Talmud (and also Karaite mss.) state that a standard copy of the Hebrew Bible was kept in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem for the benefit of copyists; there were paid correctors of Biblical books among the officers of the Temple (Talmud, tractate Ketubah 106a). This copy is mentioned in the Aristeas Letter (§ 30; comp. Blau, Studien zum Althebr. Buchwesen, p. 100); in the statements of Philo (preamble to his "Analysis of the Political Constitution of the Jews") ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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The language of the Masoretic notes is partly Hebrew and partly Palestinian Aramaic. The Masoretic annotations are found in various forms: (a) in separate works, e.g., the Oklah we-Oklah; (b) in the form of notes written in the margins and at the end of codices. In rare cases, the notes are written between the lines. The first word of each Biblical book is also as a rule surrounded by notes. The latter are called the Initial Masorah; the notes on the side margins or between the columns are called the Small or Inner Masorah; and those ...

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Masoretic Text, Masoretic Text - Etymology, Masoretic Text - Language and form, Masoretic Text - Origin, Masoretic Text - Numerical Masorah, Masoretic Text - Fixing of the text, Masoretic Text - Tikkune Soferim, Masoretic Text - Mikra and ittur, Masoretic Text - Suspended letters and dotted words, Masoretic Text - Inverted letters, Masoretic Text - History of the Masorah, Masoretic Text - Differences between Babylonia and Palestine, Masoretic Text - Ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, Masoretic Text - The Middle Ages, Masoretic Text - Critical study, Masoretic Text - Some important editions, Masoretic Text - External link

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Hebrew has two kinds of stress: on the last syllable (milra‘) and on the penultimate syllable (the one preceding the last, mil‘el). The former is more frequent. Specific rules connect the location of the stress with the length of the vowels in the last syllable; however due to the fact that Modern Hebrew does not distinguish between long and short vowels, these rules are often ignored in everyday speech. Interestingly enough, the rules that specify the vowel length are different for verbs and nouns, which influences the str ...

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Hebrew language, Hebrew language - History, Hebrew language - Early history, Hebrew language - Later history, Hebrew language - Revival, Hebrew language - Modern Hebrew, Hebrew language - Hebrew language in the USSR, Hebrew language - Dialects, Hebrew language - Languages strongly influenced by Hebrew, Hebrew language - Sounds, Hebrew language - Vowels, Hebrew language - Consonants, Hebrew language - Historical sound changes, Hebrew language - Grammar, Hebrew language - Writing system, Hebrew language - Romanization, Hebrew language - Notes, Hebrew language - Bibliography

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See main article Hebrew grammar Hebrew grammar is mostly analytical, expressing such forms as dative, ablative, and accusative using prepositional particles rather than grammatical cases. However inflection does play an important role in the formation of the verbs, nouns and the genitive construct, which is called "smikhut". Words in smikhut are often combined with hyphens. ...

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Hebrew language, Hebrew language - History, Hebrew language - Early history, Hebrew language - Later history, Hebrew language - Revival, Hebrew language - Modern Hebrew, Hebrew language - Hebrew language in the USSR, Hebrew language - Dialects, Hebrew language - Languages strongly influenced by Hebrew, Hebrew language - Sounds, Hebrew language - Vowels, Hebrew language - Consonants, Hebrew language - Historical sound changes, Hebrew language - Grammar, Hebrew language - Writing system, Hebrew language - Romanization, Hebrew language - Notes, Hebrew language - Bibliography

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Modern Hebrew is written from right to left using the Hebrew alphabet. Modern scripts are based on the "square" letter form. A similar system is used in handwriting, but the letters tend to be more circular in their character, and sometimes vary markedly from their printed equivalents. Biblical Hebrew text contains nothing but consonants and spaces, and most modern Hebrew texts contain only consonants, spaces and western-style punctuation. A pointing system (nikud, from the root word meaning "points" or "dots") developed around the 5th Centu ...

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Hebrew language, Hebrew language - History, Hebrew language - Early history, Hebrew language - Later history, Hebrew language - Revival, Hebrew language - Modern Hebrew, Hebrew language - Hebrew language in the USSR, Hebrew language - Dialects, Hebrew language - Languages strongly influenced by Hebrew, Hebrew language - Sounds, Hebrew language - Vowels, Hebrew language - Consonants, Hebrew language - Historical sound changes, Hebrew language - Grammar, Hebrew language - Writing system, Hebrew language - Romanization, Hebrew language - Notes, Hebrew language - Bibliography

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See main article Jewish languages Yiddish, Ladino, Karaim, and Judaeo-Arabic were all highly influenced by Hebrew. Although none are completely derived from Hebrew, they all make extensive use of Hebrew loanwords. In a less direct manner, the revival of Hebrew is often cited by proponents of International auxiliary languages as the best proof that languages long dead, with small communities, or modified or created ...

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Hebrew language, Hebrew language - History, Hebrew language - Early history, Hebrew language - Later history, Hebrew language - Revival, Hebrew language - Modern Hebrew, Hebrew language - Hebrew language in the USSR, Hebrew language - Dialects, Hebrew language - Languages strongly influenced by Hebrew, Hebrew language - Sounds, Hebrew language - Vowels, Hebrew language - Consonants, Hebrew language - Historical sound changes, Hebrew language - Grammar, Hebrew language - Writing system, Hebrew language - Romanization, Hebrew language - Notes, Hebrew language - Bibliography

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