Introduction to the Bible and its Structure

This set of flashcards covers the historical development, key terminology, and structural components of the Bible as described in the lecture.

Bible

A small library of books that emerged out of the history of the people of ancient Israel.

Prophets

Individuals who viewed Israel's story as central to God's work for humanity and used the Hebrew language to write epic narratives and sophisticated poetry.

Babylonians

The group that conquered the people of Israel and took them away into exile.

Second Temple Period

A crucial historical moment when Israelites returned to their land, rebuilt their temple, and the Jewish scriptures began to be formed into their current shape.

Tanakh

An acronym used in Hebrew to refer to the Jewish Bible, representing its three main sections.

Torah

The first section of the Tanakh, sometimes called the law, which consists of Israel's five book foundation story.

Nevi'im

The Hebrew word for prophets; the section of the Tanakh consisting of historical books and the poetic books of the prophets.

Ketavim

The Hebrew word for writings; a diverse collection in the Tanakh including poetic books, wisdom books, and narrative.

Jesus of Nazareth

A Jewish prophet who claimed to be carrying the Tanakh story forward and was seen by his followers as the leader who would restore the world.

Apostles

The earliest followers of Jesus who composed new literary works about his story and the spread of his movement.

Gospel

New literary works about the story of Jesus, also referred to as good news.

Acts

An account composed by the apostles concerning the spread of the Jesus movement outside of Israel.

Deuterocanonical books

The name given by the Catholic church to certain books from the second temple literature collection.

The Reformation

A movement in the fifteen hundreds where Protestant Christians chose to accept only the Old and New Testaments, focusing on the oldest writings of the prophets and apostles.