Names for the Jewish Scriptures
Asher Chee |
Today, the Jewish Scriptures are most commonly known as the “Old Testament”. However, this term was not used by Jesus, his fellow Jews, nor the first Christians.
Miqra (מִקְרָא)
The original name for the Jewish Scriptures was Miqra, a Hebrew word which means, “a reading; a thing that is read”.
Miqra can be found used in the Mishnah:
Every person who engages in the Scripture [Miqra], in the Mishnah, and in the way of the land does not sin quickly, as it is written: A threefold cord will not break quickly. (Mishnah Qiddushin 1:10)
Even throughout the Apostolic Scriptures (“New Testament”), the Jewish Scriptures were called “Scripture” or “the Scriptures”, using the Greek term graphē (γραφή). This was most likely a reference to the Hebrew term Miqra.
The Threefold Division
Shortly after the time of Jesus, three divisions of the Jewish Scriptures were developed:
- Torah (תּוֹרָה), meaning “Law”;
- Nebi’im (נְבִיאִים), meaning “Prophets”; and
- Ketubim (כְּתוּבִים), meaning “Writings”.
Often, each division was treated as an individual unit. For example, we find in the Tosefta:
He who begins, begins with a passage from the Law [Torah], and finishes with a passage from the Law [Torah], but says passages from the Prophets [Nebi’im] and from the Writings [Ketubim] in between. (Tosefta Rosh HaShannah 2:10)
Yet, when Jews wanted to refer to the Jewish Scriptures as a whole, they would still use the term Miqra.
Tanakh (תַּנַ״ךְ)
About 1,000 years later, a new name was invented for the Jewish Scriptures: Tanakh. It is an acronym from the names of the three divisions.
The earliest known use of the term Tanakh was by Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Aderet, who died in 1310 CE. Ibn Aderet wrote:
Those who write blessings are like those who burn Torah, even though now we write books of blessings and the prayers, which contain some verses of Tanakh [תנ״ך]. (Responsa 5.119)
Today, Tanakh is used most widely by Jews as the name for the Jewish Scriptures.