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biblical literature
Table of Contents
Introduction
Influence and significance
Historical and cultural importance
In Judaism
In Christianity
Major themes and characteristics
Influences
On Western civilization
On the modern secular age
Old Testament canon, texts, and versions
The canon
The Hebrew canon
The number of books
The tripartite canon
The history of canonization
The divisions of the TaNaKh
The Torah
The Neviʾim
The Ketuvim
The Samaritan canon
The Alexandrian canon
The canon at Qumrān
The Christian canon
Texts and versions
Textual criticism: manuscript problems
Problems resulting from aural conditioning
Problems visual in origin
Exegetical problems
Deliberate changes
Textual criticism: scholarly problems
Texts and manuscripts
Sources of the Septuagint
The Samaritan Pentateuch
The Qumrān texts and other scrolls
Masoretic texts
Collations of the Masoretic materials
Printed editions
Early versions
The Aramaic Targums
The Septuagint (LXX)
The version of Aquila
The revision of Theodotion
The translation of Symmachus
Origen’s Hexapla
Manuscripts and printed editions of the Septuagint
Coptic versions
The Armenian version
The Georgian version
The Ethiopic version
The Gothic version
The Old Latin version
Versions after the 4th century
The Vulgate
Syriac versions
Arabic versions
Later and modern versions: English
Old English versions
Middle English versions
The Wycliffite versions
English translations after the Reformation
The translation of William Tyndale
The translation of Miles Coverdale
The Thomas Matthew version
The Great Bible
The Geneva Bible
The Bishops’ Bible
The Douai-Reims Bible
The King James and subsequent versions
The King James (Authorized) Version
The English Revised Version
The American Standard Version
The Revised Standard Version
The New English Bible
The New International Version
The New King James Version
The New Revised Standard Version
Mid-20th-century Roman Catholic versions
Special versions
Jewish versions
Medieval and modern versions: Dutch, French, and German
Dutch versions
French versions
German versions
Greek, Hungarian, Italian, and Portuguese translations
Greek versions
Hungarian versions
Italian versions
Portuguese versions
Scandinavian, Slavic, Spanish, and Swiss translations
Scandinavian versions
Slavic versions
Spanish versions
Swiss versions
Non-European versions
Old Testament history
Early developments
Background and beginnings
Exodus and conquest
The tribal league
The united monarchy
From the period of the divided monarchy through the restoration
The divided monarchy: from Jeroboam I to the Assyrian conquest
The final period of the kingdom of Judah
The Babylonian Exile and the restoration
Old Testament literature
The Torah (Law, Pentateuch, or Five Books of Moses)
Composition and authorship
The documentary hypothesis
Other Pentateuchal theories
Genesis
The primeval history
The patriarchal narratives
Exodus
Redemption and revelation
Legislation
Instructions on the Tabernacle
Leviticus
Offerings, sacrifices, and priestly worship
Purification laws
The Holiness Code
Commutation of vows and tithes
Numbers
The conclusion of the Sinai sojourn
Wanderings in the desert of Paran
Events in Edom and Moab
Deuteronomy: Introductory discourse
Special nature and problems
First introductory discourse of Moses
Second introductory discourse
Deuteronomy: the lawbook and the conclusion
The lawbook
Concluding exhortation and traditions about the last days of Moses
The Neviʾim (Prophets)
The canon of the Prophets
Hebrew prophecy
Joshua
The conquest of Canaan
Division of the land and renewal of the Covenant
Judges: background and purpose
The Deuteronomic “theology of history”
Canaanite culture and religion
Judges: importance and role
The role of the judges
The role of certain lesser judges
The roles of Deborah, Gideon, and Jephthah
The role of Samson
Samuel: Israel under Samuel and Saul
Theological and political biases
The role of Samuel
The rise and fall of Saul
Samuel: the rise and significance of David
Early reign of David
The expansion of the Davidic Empire
Kings: background and Solomon’s reign
The succession of Solomon to the throne
The reign of Solomon
Kings: Solomon’s successors
The divided monarchy
The significance of Elijah
Kings: the second book
The significance of Elisha
The fall of Israel
The fall of Judah
Isaiah
The prophecies of First Isaiah
The prophecies of Deutero-Isaiah
The oracles of Trito-Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Ezekiel—the man and his message
Prophetic themes and actions
Oracles of hope
The first six minor prophets
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
The last six minor prophets
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
The Ketuvim
Overview
Psalms
Proverbs
Job
The Megillot (the Scrolls)
Song of Solomon
Ruth
Lamentations of Jeremiah
Ecclesiastes
Book of Esther
Daniel
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles
Intertestamental literature
Nature and significance
Definitions
Texts and versions
Persian and Hellenistic influences
Apocalypticism
Apocryphal writings
Apocryphal works indicating Persian influence
Esdras
Judith
Tobit
The Story of Ahikar
Baruch
Apocryphal works lacking strong indications of influence
The Letter of Jeremiah
Prayer of Manasseh
Additions to Daniel and Esther
The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon
Greek additions to Esther
I and II Maccabees
I Maccabees
II Maccabees
Wisdom literature
Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach)
The Wisdom of Solomon
The Pseudepigraphal writings
Works indicating a Greek influence
The Letter of Aristeas
IV Maccabees
III Maccabees
The Lives of the Prophets
The Ascension of Isaiah
Paralipomena of Jeremiah
The Testament of Job
Life of Adam and Eve
Apocalyptic and eschatological works
III Baruch
II Enoch
The Psalms of Solomon
The Assumption of Moses
The Sibylline Oracles
II Esdras (or IV Esdras)
The Apocalypse of Baruch
Pseudepigrapha connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Book of Jubilees
The Book of Enoch
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Qumrān literature (Dead Sea Scrolls)
Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Findings and conclusions
Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings
Pesharim
The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness
Books of ordinances
Hodayot
New Testament canon, texts, and versions
The New Testament canon
Conditions aiding the formation of the canon
The process of canonization
The need for consolidation and delimitation
Impulse toward canonization from heretical movements
Late-2nd-century canons
Canonical standards of the 3rd and 4th centuries
Determination of the canon in the 4th century
Developments in the 16th century
Texts and versions
Textual criticism
The physical aspects of New Testament texts
Types of writing materials and methods
Types of manuscript errors
Critical scholarship
Texts and manuscripts
Uncials
Minuscules
Papyri
Versions
Early versions
Later and modern editions
New Testament history
The Jewish and Hellenistic matrix
Background
The Hasmonean kingdom
Rule by the Herods
Roman occupation and Jewish revolts
Jewish sects and parties
The Pharisees
The Sadducees
The Zealots
The Essenes
The religious situation in the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century
ad
Hellenistic religions
Astrology
Philosophical solutions
Adaptation of the Christian message to the Hellenistic religious situation
The life of Jesus
The chronology of Paul
New Testament literature
Introduction to the Gospels
Meaning of the term
gospel
Form criticism
The Synoptic problem
Early theories about the Synoptic problem
The two- and four-source hypotheses
The Synoptic Gospels
The Gospel According to Mark: background and overview
The Gospel According to Mark: unique structure
The Gospel According to Matthew
The Gospel According to Luke
The fourth Gospel: The Gospel According to John
Uniqueness of John
Form and content of John
The Acts of the Apostles
The purpose and style of Acts
The content of Acts
The Pauline Letters
Background and overview
The Letter of Paul to the Romans
The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
The Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians
The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians
The Letter of Paul to the Philippians
The Letter of Paul to the Colossians
The First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians
The Pastoral Letters: I and II Timothy and Titus
The Pastoral Letters as a unit
Content and problems
The Letter of Paul to Philemon
The Letter to the Hebrews
Textual ambiguities
Christology in Hebrews
The Catholic Letters
The Letter of James
The First Letter of Peter
The Johannine Letters: I, II, and III John
The First Letter of John
The Second Letter of John
The Third Letter of John
The Letter of Jude
The Revelation to John
Purpose and theme
Authorship and style
New Testament Apocrypha
Nature and significance
The New Testament apocryphal writings
Gospels
Acts
Letters
Apocalypses
Biblical literature in liturgy
Biblical literature in the liturgy of Judaism
Biblical literature in the liturgy of Christianity
Eastern Orthodoxy
Roman Catholicism
Protestantism
The critical study of biblical literature: exegesis and hermeneutics
Nature and significance
Critical methods
Textual criticism
Philological criticism
Literary criticism
Tradition criticism
Form criticism
Other types of exegetical critical techniques
Redaction criticism
Historical criticism
“History of religions” criticism
Types of biblical hermeneutics
Literal interpretation
Moral interpretation
Allegorical interpretation
Other hermeneutical principles
Anagogical interpretation
Parallelism
Analogical interpretation
Other types
The development of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics in Judaism
Early stages
The Hellenistic period
The medieval period
The modern period
The development of biblical exegesis and hermeneutics in Christianity
Early stages
The patristic period
The medieval period
The Reformation period
The modern period
Developments since the mid-20th century
References & Edit History
Related Topics
Images & Videos
Quizzes
Christianity Quiz
Related Questions
Why is the Bible important?
What language was the Bible originally written in?
How is the Bible organized?
When was the Bible written?
What does the Bible say?
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biblical literature: Media
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Videos
Understanding the story of Purim
Purim commemorates the survival of a Jewish community marked for death in ancient...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls
Overview of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Images
Gutenberg Bible
Two-page spread of the Book of Ecclesiastes from Johannes Gutenberg's 42-line Bible,...
Library of Congress, Rosenwald Rare Book Collection
Sefer Torah
Sefer Torah at Glockengasse Synagogue, Cologne, Germany.
Horsch, Willy
József Molnár:
The March of Abraham
The March of Abraham
, painting by József Molnár, 19th century; in the Hungarian...
© G. Dagli Orti—DeA Picture Library/age fotostock
The Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel, oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563; in the Kunsthistorisches...
Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Nicolas Poussin:
Adoration of the Golden Calf
Adoration of the Golden Calf
, oil on canvas by Nicolas Poussin, c. 1634....
Fine Art Images/Heritage Image/age fotostock
Ezekiel
Ezekiel.
© Anthro/Shutterstock.com
Samson killing Philistines
Standing dish depicting Samson crushing the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass,...
Photograph by Jenny O'Donnell. Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, Taft collection 1931.299
David composing psalms
David composing psalms, miniature in the Paris Psalter (Gr. 139), 10th century; in...
Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich
Jeremiah, painted by Michelangelo
Jeremiah, detail from a fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican, c....
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Tanner, Henry Ossawa:
Daniel in the Lions' Den
Daniel in the Lions' Den
, oil on paper mounted on canvas by Henry Ossawa...
Photograph by Beesnest McClain. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William Preston Harrison Collection, 22.6.3
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, at the Israel Museum in...
© Buddy Mays/Travel Stock
Simone Martini: detail of
The Annunciation
Detail of
The Annunciation
, tempera on wood by Simone Martini and Lippo...
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Satan and Job
Satan leaving the presence of God to test God's faithful servant Job, engraving by...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
Adam and Eve
“Adam and Eve,” detail by Giulio Clovio from the
Book of Hours of Cardinal Alessandro...
Courtesy of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City
Solomon
The judgement of Solomon, engraving by Gustave Doré, 19th century.
Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Moses and the Ten Commandments
Moses Showing the Tables of the Law to the People
, oil painting by Rembrandt,...
Courtesy of Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Gospel According to John, Coptic papyrus
Coptic papyrus of the Gospel According to John, 4th century
Courtesy of the British and Foreign Bible Society, London
Holy Trinity
The Trinity represented by Christ as a man, the Holy Spirit as a dove, and God the...
Ara Guler, Istanbul
St. Paul in Athens
St. Paul the Apostle preaching to the Athenians.
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Codex Sinaiticus
Gospel According to John 5:38–6:24, from the Codex Sinaiticus. In the British Museum.
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Socrates
Socrates, herm from a Greek original, second half of the 4th century bce;...
© Alfredo Dagli Orti/Shutterstock.com
Liberale da Verona:
Jesus Before the Gates of Jerusalem
Jesus Before the Gates of Jerusalem
, manuscript illumination by Liberale...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Pontius Pilate
Jesus appearing before Pontius Pilate, fresco, 15th century; in Öja Church, Gotland,...
Wolfgang Sauber
St. Paul the Apostle
St. Paul preaching the gospel, detail of a 12th-century mosaic in the Cappella Palatina,...
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Lindisfarne Gospels
Insular script from the Lindisfarne Gospels, Hiberno-Saxon, c. 700 (British Library,...
Reproduced by permission of the British Library
St. Mark the Evangelist
St. Mark the Evangelist, illuminated manuscript page from the Gospel book of the...
Stadtbibliothek, Trier, Ger.
St. Matthew, in the Ada Codex
“St. Matthew,” page from the Ada Codex, c. 890; in the Stadtbibliothek Trier, Germany....
Courtesy of the Stadtbibliothek Trier, Ger.
St. Luke the Evangelist
St. Luke, illuminated page from the Beatus Apocalypse, Mozarabic, 975; in the Gerona...
Archivo Mas, Barcelona
manuscript illumination
St. John the Evangelist, manuscript illumination from the Lindisfarne Gospels, late...
Photos.com/Thinkstock.
Eustache Le Sueur:
The Sermon of Saint Paul at Ephesus
The Sermon of Saint Paul at Ephesus
, oil on canvas by Eustache Le Sueur,...
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
St. Paul in prison
St. Paul the Apostle in prison, where tradition holds he wrote the epistle to the...
Photos.com/Getty Images
James the Greater
St. James, detail from a mural, 12th century; in the monastery of Eski Gümüs, Turkey.
Sonia Halliday
St. Peter the Apostle
St. Peter the Apostle, stained-glass window, 19th century; in St. Mary's Church,...
© Ronald Sheridan/Ancient Art & Architecture Collection
John Milton
John Milton.
© Photos.com/Thinkstock
Virgin Mary
Detail of a statue of the Virgin Mary.
© Getty Images
St. Augustine
Fresco of St. Augustine by Sandro Botticelli, 1480; in the Church of Ognissanti,...
Leemage—Corbis Historical/Getty Images
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