Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

User talk:Jerm729

2014-07-02T03:02:54Z

Jerm729:

User talk:Jerm729

2014-06-28T20:36:14Z

Jerm729: ←Blanked the page

Talk:Abraham

2014-06-28T20:28:45Z

Jerm729: /* Avoiding edit wars over sections 2.1 and 3.1 */

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== Abraham's incestuous marriage with Sarah ==

I hesitate to make a new section but I can't see a place to put [[incest|this]]. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm a Catholic, but none of my Catholic friends have realized that Abraham was married to his half sister Sarah. This business all seems played down, presumably in light of cases such as [[Fritzl case|Fritzl]] in Austria.[[User:Fletcherbrian|Fletcherbrian]] ([[User talk:Fletcherbrian|talk]]) 15:18, 14 December 2013 (UTC)
:The article already mentions that Sarah was Abraham's sister in two places (section ''Abram and Sarai'', near the end, and section ''Abraham and Abimelech'' second paragraph. I don't really see the need for a seperate section on this, though you could mention it briefly in the lead of the article, or where Abram's marriage to Sarah is first mentioned. - [[User:Lindert|Lindert]] ([[User talk:Lindert|talk]]) 15:32, 14 December 2013 (UTC)[[User:Fletcherbrian|Fletcherbrian]] ([[User talk:Fletcherbrian|talk]]) 01:32, 15 December 2013 (UTC)

Christians and your line by line study and no knowledge of history. Sarah Was Abraham's niece - his half-brother's Haran' daughter, not his father's Terach's daughter. The quote you are referring to was Abraham trying to justify his lie because grandchildren are considered as children according to Rashi. You can't actually read Torah lines in isolation and expect to understand it. With love, a Jew. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/2001:44B8:31D6:1900:D527:B5A8:1B8D:5560|2001:44B8:31D6:1900:D527:B5A8:1B8D:5560]] ([[User talk:2001:44B8:31D6:1900:D527:B5A8:1B8D:5560|talk]]) 01:46, 25 January 2014 (UTC) 

Genesis 20 verse 12 Abraham says Sarah was the daughter of his father, and not of his mother. I don't know where the argument is based that Sarah was Abraham's niece. Geneis 12 and 13, especially 13, records the family in detail, and it does not confirm the parentage of Sarai, but it does mention Lot and Sarai together in several places, and it never adds that Sarah was Lot's sister. Does anyone want to give a source on that?
Also I want to mention another point regarding incest for this article but I'm not sure where it would go; Isaac married his second cousin, the daughter of Isaac's cousin Bethuel. See Gen. 24, verses 15 and 24. The article merely says that Isaac married one of his own people, and I think that's insufficient. [[User:Catsheepsut|Catsheepsut]] ([[User talk:Catsheepsut|talk]]) 17:49, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

== Opening sentences are misleading about historicity ==
The first sentence describes Abraham as if he were known to be a real historical figure, which is contradicted by later statements in the article. The events described in the next few sentences are also incorrectly presented as factual. [[Special:Contributions/86.176.209.238|86.176.209.238]] ([[User talk:86.176.209.238|talk]]) 20:33, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

:I've reverted the lead to an earlier version, not so much because of this comment (though it did motivate me) as because various edits have successively moved the contents of the lead away from the sources it cites. Please try to make sure that any edits are accurately sourced. [[User:PiCo|PiCo]] ([[User talk:PiCo|talk]]) 05:58, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
::Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I don't think that this edit has addressed the main problem of the opening sentences. Now it says "Abraham, first patriarch of the Jews, plays a prominent role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; his story is told in chapters 11:26-25:18 of the book of Genesis." Still it is worded as if he actually existed. [[Special:Contributions/86.160.219.163|86.160.219.163]] ([[User talk:86.160.219.163|talk]]) 12:30, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
:::I've edited it to read "Abraham is a key figure in the religious texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. First patriarch of the Jews, he is first mentioned in chapters 11:26-25:18 of the book of Genesis." I hope that's better. I changed the "story is told" as there is also Islamic material not in Genesis. I think it needs tweaking to get rid of "first" twice in one sentence. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 15:42, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
::::Agreed, except that "first mentioned in chapters 11:26-25:18 of the book of Genesis" isn't accurate - he's first mentioned in Ezekiel, about a hundred years before Genesis. I'd take out the word "first", maybe have something like "his story is most completely and most famously told in..." Personally the word I don't find the word "story" to imply true story - Bilbo Baggins the hobbit is a story, after all. [[User:PiCo|PiCo]] ([[User talk:PiCo|talk]]) 20:34, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
:::::That's not what I meant when I said I'd changed "story is told" - and I agree about what story suggests - at least to me stories are often fiction. I don't know that it is told more completely in Genesis than in Islamic sources, but if you do I guess that can be used, but not 'famously'. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Dougweller|contribs]]) 21:55, 17 January 2014 (UTC) 
:The whole entry reads as though the bible were a reliable book of history, which is not the case.--21:48, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

This is possibly rather tangential, but I've removed Andrews as a source for that first sentence. His article is in the Mercer Bible Dictionary, and when I read it, he represents a very Protestant/Chrtistian voice. He says Abraham is "an example of faith" in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and this just isn't true - he's an example of faith in Christianity only,in Judaism and Islam he serves quite different roles, as explained further on in our article. I'll look for something better. [[User:PiCo|PiCo]] ([[User talk:PiCo|talk]]) 22:11, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
*(OP) Thanks, I think the present opening wording is an improvement. [[Special:Contributions/86.171.43.151|86.171.43.151]] ([[User talk:86.171.43.151|talk]]) 14:10, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
::Good. I've also tried to solve the "first mentioned in" problem (or at least I find it a problem) by noting the Genesis chapters in brackets. [[User:PiCo|PiCo]] ([[User talk:PiCo|talk]]) 22:21, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

== Earliest camels dated to 930 BCE ==

The recent excavations in the [[Timna Valley]] dating copper mining to the 10th century BCE also discovered what may be the earliest camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This is seen as evidence that the stories of [[Abraham]], [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]], [[Jacob]] and [[Esau]] were written after this time.<nowiki><ref name=camels>{{cite news|last=Hasson|first=Nir|title=Hump stump solved: Camels arrived in region much later than biblical reference|url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/.premium-1.569091|accessdate=30 January 2014|newspaper=Haaretz|date=Jan. 17, 2014}}</ref></nowiki> [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 13:57, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

== Abraham in religious traditions ==

This section needs some work. I don't know much about Islam, so I'm focusing on Judaism and Christianity. In the first place,

:"Christianity and Islam in their beginnings challenged this special relationship, both Paul and Muhammad claiming Abraham for themselves as a "believer before the fact." In both cases the fact was the Mosaic law or its symbol, circumcision. For Paul, Abraham's faith in God made him the prototype of all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised;..."

Circumcision is not a symbol of the Mosaic Law, it is a rite that symbolizes one belongs to God - ergo, the ancient Jewish teaching that if one is not circumised in heart as in flesh, one is not a real Jew but only a Jew in appearance. Jewish Tradition has evolved beyond this, but, the ancient Jewish understanding of what circumcision symbolizes still stands.

Christianity did not challenge Jews' sonship with God, else it would challenge Jesus' Divine Sonship and His Messiahship as a Jew. Secondly, Abraham was always regarded as the Patriarch of the Jews' Covenant with God - he is, in fact, called so in the New Testament by Jesus and by Paul.

And Catholicism honors Abraham for his obedience to God and his faith in God: not as highly as Jesus since Abraham is not God, but, in accordance with dulia and hyperdulia, he is called - alone with the Virgin Mary - a model of faith and obedience, else Catholicism would disregard a piece of Sacred History: Abraham, his family and sons, Israel's lineage, etc.

Lastly, to claim "Christianity" considers Abraham one way or another is a fallacy: hasty generalization. Not all Jews think alike and not all Christians think alike.

[[User:Oct13|Oct13]] ([[User talk:Oct13|talk]]) 21:18, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

== Avoiding edit wars over sections 2.1 and 3.1 ==

@Jerm729 and @Kwishahave reverted my edits to sections 2.1 and 3.1, apparently without reading them, certainly without adequate explanation (the edit summaries are among the least informative I've ever read).

These are the passages in question.

Section 2.1: I deleted this sentence: ''Archaeologist and scholar William G. Dever argues that the biblical story of Abraham reflects a real figure from that period of history.'' This is unsourced, and I don't recall ever reading it in anything of Dever's. This should be obvious from the way it contradicts the immediately preceding sentence, in which Dever himself is quoted saying that archaeologists have "given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible 'historical figures'." The sentence I deleted should remain deleted unless a source can be provided.

Section 3.1: This is a single paragraph consisting of a number of sentences, all sourced to pages 170-171 of Peters' 1970 book "The Children of Abraham". The cite is at the end of the paragraph. For some reason our two editors want to have citations for every sentence, individually. That's ridiculous, but I suspect they haven't looked at Peters' book.

Given that the editors are acting in good faith, and my edit summaries haven't convinced them of their error, the next step is to begin the arbitration process. I propose that we ask @Dougweller, a respected admin who's been active on this article, to give us his informal views. Beyond that, of course, we have the entire arbitration process before us, all the way to Arbcom. But first, do you, @Jerm729 and @Kwishahave, agree to asking Doug to comment? [[User:PiCo|PiCo]] ([[User talk:PiCo|talk]]) 17:40, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
:Page 170 of that source can not be previewed. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]18:36, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
::A somewhat dubious and totally irrelevant assertion; there is no requirement for a source to be readily available online, and assuming "that source" refers to Peters, pages 170–71 can be seen at Amazon.com [[Special:Contributions/2600:1006:B11B:827:B945:D20A:9451:85D|2600:1006:B11B:827:B945:D20A:9451:85D]] ([[User talk:2600:1006:B11B:827:B945:D20A:9451:85D|talk]]) 19:29, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
:::Oh please, do provide a link since it's readable because the one provided in the article can't view pg.170, and yes it's important for a source to be readable genius. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]20:00, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
I don't even care anymore...do whatever[[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]] ([[User talk:Jerm729|talk]]) 20:28, 28 June 2014 (UTC)

Apollos

2014-06-28T20:15:42Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614800640 by OGO50 (talk)referenced in source|edit changed the contents correlating in the source provided

{{For|the butterflies|Parnassius}}
[[File:Епафродит, Сосфен, Аполлос, Кифа и Кесарь.jpg|thumb|Epaphroditus, Sosthenes, Apollos, Cephas and Caesar]]
'''Apollos''' (Ἀπολλώς) is a [[Christianity in the 1st century|1st century]] [[Alexandria]]n [[Jewish Christian]] mentioned several times in the [[New Testament]]. A contemporary of [[Paul the Apostle]], he played an important role in the churches of [[Ephesus]] and [[Ancient Corinth#Biblical Corinth|Corinth]].

==Apollos in the New Testament==

Apollos was a [[Jew]] from [[Alexandria]]. This led to speculations that Apollos preached in the allegorical style of [[Philo]]. Theologian [[Jerome Murphy-O'Connor]], for example, recently commented: "It is difficult to imagine that an Alexandrian Jew ... could have escaped the influence of Philo, the great intellectual leader ... particularly since the latter seems to have been especially concerned with education and preaching."<ref>J Murphy-O'Connor. ''Paul: A critical life.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996, p. 275</ref>

Apollos is first mentioned as a Christian preacher who had come to Ephesus (probably in the year 52-3), where he is described as "being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John." {{Bibleref2c|Acts|18:24-25}} [[Priscilla and Aquila]], a Jewish Christian couple who had come to Ephesus with the [[Paul of Tarsus|Apostle Paul]], instructed Apollos. "When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more adequately."{{bibleref2c|Acts|18:26}} The differences between the two and Apollos probably included baptism and the [[Holy Spirit]], for [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] says that Apollos "knew only the baptism of John" {{Bibleref2c|Acts|18:25}} and later, during Apollos' absence, recounts an encounter between Paul and some disciples at Ephesus:
{{cquote|And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.{{Bibleref2c|Acts|19:2-6}}}}

Before Paul's arrival, Apollos had moved from Ephesus to [[Achaia]]{{Bibleref2c|Acts|18:27}}<ref>So the [[Alexandrian text-type|Alexandrian recension]]; the text in [[Papyrus 38|<math>\mathfrak{P}</math>38]] and [[Codex Bezae]] indicate that Apollos went to Corinth. Joseph Fitzmyer, ''The Acts of the Apostles'' (New York: Doubleday, 1998), p. 639.</ref> and is located at [[Corinth]], the provincial capital of Achaia.{{Bibleref2c|Acts|19:1}} Acts reports that Apollos arrived in Achaia with letters of recommendation from Ephesian Christians and "greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the [[Old Testament|Scriptures]] that the Christ was Jesus.{{Bibleref2c|Acts|18:27-28}}

Paul's [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]] (55 AD) mentions Apollos as an important figure at Corinth. Paul described Apollos' role at Corinth: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."{{Bibleref2c|1co|3:6}} Paul's Epistle refers to a [[Schism (religion)|schism]] between four parties in the Corinthian church, of which two attached themselves to Paul and Apollos respectively, using their names (the third and fourth were Peter, identified as Cephas, and Jesus Christ himself).{{Bibleref2c|1co|1:10-13}} There is no indication that Apollos favored or approved an overestimation of his person. Paul urged him to go to Corinth at the time, but Apollos refused, stating that he would come later when he had an opportunity.{{Bibleref2c|1co|16:12}}

Apollos is mentioned one more time in the New Testament. In the [[Epistle to Titus]], the recipient is exhorted to "speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way".{{Bibleref2c|Titus|3:13}}

==Extrabiblical information==
[[Jerome]] states that Apollos was so dissatisfied with the division at Corinth, that he retired to Crete with Zenas the lawyer; and that the schism having been healed by Paul's letters to the Corinthians, Apollos returned to the city, and became its bishop.<ref name="JCET">Jerome, Commentary on the Epistle to Titus 3:13</ref> Less probable traditions assign to him the bishopric of Duras, or of Iconium in Phrygia, or of Caesarea.

[[Martin Luther]] and some modern scholars have proposed Apollos as the author of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], rather than [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] or [[Barnabas]]. Both Apollos or Barnabas were Jewish Christians with sufficient intellectual authority.<ref>''The NIV study bible, new international version''; English (UK) edition; London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1987; p.1817.</ref> Other than this, there are no known surviving texts attributed to Apollos.

Apollos is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the [[Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod]], which hold a commemoration for him, [[Aquila and Priscilla]] on February 13.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Portal|Eastern Christianity}}
* Articles in
**''[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]''
**Herzog-Hauck, ''Realencyklopadie''
**''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' ([http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1650&letter=A&search=Apollos Jewish Encyclopedia: Apollos])
*''[[Jerome]]'' [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0347-0420__Hieronymus__Commentariorum_In_Epistolam_Beati_Pauli_Ad_Titum_Liber_Unus__MLT.pdf Commentary on the Epistle to Titus]
*[[James Hastings]], ''[[Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible|Dictionary of the Bible]]''
* [[Karl Heinrich von Weizsäcker]], ''Das apostolische Zeitalter'' (1886)
* [[A. C. McGiffert]], ''History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age''.
* ''Initial text from Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion''
* {{EB1911}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollos}}
[[Category:1st-century bishops]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Christianity in Roman Corinth]]
[[Category:Early Jewish Christians]]
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity from Judaism]]
[[Category:Biblical apostles]]
[[Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]

Anna the Prophetess

2014-06-28T20:03:02Z

Jerm729: link added

{{About||the mother of the Virgin Mary|Saint Anne|the Old Testament person|Hannah (Bible)}}
[[Image:Giotto - Scrovegni - -19- - Presentation at the Temple.jpg|thumb|Anna at the presentation of Jesus (right), from [[Giotto]], Chapel of Scrovegni.]]

'''Anna''' ({{lang-he|חַנָּה}}, {{lang-grc|Ἄννα}}) or '''Anna the Prophetess''' is a woman mentioned in the [[Gospel of Luke]]. According to that Gospel, she was an aged Jewish woman who [[prophecy|prophesied]] about [[Jesus]] at the [[Temple of Jerusalem]]. She appears in {{bibleref|Luke|2:36–38}} during the [[presentation of Jesus at the Temple]].

==New Testament==
The passage mentioning Anna is as follows:
{{quotation|Luke 2:36–38 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[e] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
:Footnote Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years. [[New International Version]]}}

From the three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna:
*She was a [[prophetess]].
*She was a daughter of [[Phanuel]].
*She was a member of the [[tribe of Asher]].
*She was widowed after seven years of marriage (her husband is not named).
*She was a devout [[Jew]] who regularly practiced [[prayer]] and [[fasting]].

Luke describes Anna as "very old." Many Bibles and older commentaries state that she was 84 years old.<ref>{{cite book|accessdate = 2010-01-16|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mQ0MAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=MCcLintock+cyclopedia&cd=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false
|title= Cyclopædia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature Vol 1 p.235
|publisher=John McClintock,James Strong}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0000245 Easton's Dictionary]</ref>

The Greek text states that "she was a widow of eighty four years".<ref>UBS Greek NT καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων</ref> The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years,<ref>Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and ... – Page 136 John MacArthur – 2008 "The Greek text is ambiguous as to her exact age. (“This woman was a widow of about eighty-four years.”) It might mean literally that she had been a widow for eighty-four years. Assuming she married very young (remember, thirteen was a ..."</ref><ref>[[Joel B. Green|Green, Joel B.]], ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC&pg=PA151 The Gospel of Luke]'', Eerdmans, 1997, ISBN 0-8028-2315-7, p. 151.</ref> Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option.<ref>[[I. Howard Marshall|Marshall, I. Howard]], ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rKqiibViFowC&pg=PA123 The Gospel of Luke: A commentary on the Greek text]'', Eerdmans, 1978, ISBN 0-8028-3512-0, p. 123.</ref> On this option, she could not have married younger than about age 14, and so she would have been at least 14 + 7 + 84 = 105 years old.<ref>Elliott, J.K., "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/1560649 Anna's Age (Luke 2:36–37)]," ''Novum Testamentum'', Vol. 30, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 100–102.</ref> What is certain, however, is that Luke is indicating a very old woman.

Modern translations, such as the [[New International Version|NIV]], [[English Standard Version|ESV]], [[Contemporary English Version|CEV]], and [[New Living Translation|NLT]], add a footnote indicating that another interpretation may be possible.

== Church traditions and veneration ==
The [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] commemorate Anna as a [[saint]], Anna the Prophetess. The Eastern Orthodox Church consider Anna and [[Simeon (Gospel of Luke)|Simeon the God-Receiver]] as the last prophets of Old Testament and observes their feast on February 3/February 16 as the [[synaxis]] (afterfeast) following the [[Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church#Presentation of Christ|Presentation of Christ]], which Orthodox tradition calls "The Meeting of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ".<ref>{{cite web
|accessdate = 2007-09-05
|url=http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSM=2&FSD=3
|title=Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple
|publisher=Orthodox Church of America| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070930023608/http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSM=2&FSD=3| archivedate= 30 September 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Along with [[Simeon (Gospel of Luke)|Simeon]] the prophetess Anna is commemorated on February 3 in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church.<ref>''February 3 is the feast day of the elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna'' [http://www.metropolitancantorinstitute.org/liturgy/Meeting.html Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh])</ref>

Also her figure is drawn in the [[icon]]s of the Presentation of Christ, together with the Holy Child and the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Simeon the God-Receiver. Orthodox tradition considers that Christ met his people, Israel, in the persons of those two, Simeon and Anna.<ref>{{cite web
|accessdate = 2007-09-05
|url=http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=100407
|title=The Meeting of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple
|publisher=Orthodox Church of America| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070930030746/http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=100407| archivedate= 30 September 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Anna is often placed behind Mary. Anna either raises her hands to Christ, to show people him as Christ, or hands a scroll which is attributed often to prophets in Orthodox iconography.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Anna}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{New Testament Prophets}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna}}
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:People in the canonical gospels]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian female saints]]
[[Category:Gospel of Luke]]
[[Category:Women in the Bible]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish women]]

Talk:Abraham

2014-06-28T20:00:27Z

Jerm729: /* Avoiding edit wars over sections 2.1 and 3.1 */ r

Talk:Abraham

2014-06-28T18:36:44Z

Jerm729: r

Talk:Abraham

2014-06-28T18:36:14Z

Jerm729: /* Avoiding edit wars over sections 2.1 and 3.1 */ r

Anna the Prophetess

2014-06-28T18:21:13Z

Jerm729: Reverted to revision 608841063 by ClueBot NG (talk). (TW)

{{About||the mother of the Virgin Mary|Saint Anne|the Old Testament person|Hannah (Bible)}}
[[Image:Giotto - Scrovegni - -19- - Presentation at the Temple.jpg|thumb|Anna at the presentation of Jesus (right), from [[Giotto]], Chapel of Scrovegni.]]

'''Anna''' ({{lang-he|חַנָּה}}, {{lang-grc|Ἄννα}}) or '''Anna the Prophetess''' is a woman mentioned in the [[Gospel of Luke]]. According to that Gospel, she was an aged Jewish woman who [[prophecy|prophesied]] about [[Jesus]] at the [[Temple of Jerusalem]]. She appears in {{bibleref|Luke|2:36–38}} during the [[presentation of Jesus at the Temple]].

==New Testament==
The passage mentioning Anna is as follows:
{{quotation|Luke 2:36–38 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[e] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
:Footnote Or then had been a widow for eighty-four years. [[New International Version]]}}

From the three verses in Luke, the following is known of Anna:
*She was a [[prophetess]].
*She was a daughter of [[Phanuel]].
*She was a member of the [[tribe of Asher]].
*She was widowed after seven years of marriage (her husband is not named).
*She was a devout [[Jew]] who regularly practiced [[prayer]] and [[fasting]].

Luke describes Anna as "very old." Many Bibles and older commentaries state that she was 84 years old.<ref>{{cite book|accessdate = 2010-01-16|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mQ0MAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=MCcLintock+cyclopedia&cd=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false
|title= Cyclopædia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature Vol 1 p.235
|publisher=John McClintock,James Strong}}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0000245 Easton's Dictionary]</ref>

The Greek text states that "she was a widow of eighty four years".<ref>UBS Greek NT καὶ αὐτὴ χήρα ὡς ἐτῶν ὀγδοηκοντατεσσάρων</ref> The passage is ambiguous: it could mean that she was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years,<ref>Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and ... – Page 136 John MacArthur – 2008 "The Greek text is ambiguous as to her exact age. (“This woman was a widow of about eighty-four years.”) It might mean literally that she had been a widow for eighty-four years. Assuming she married very young (remember, thirteen was a ..."</ref><ref>[[Joel B. Green|Green, Joel B.]], ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC&pg=PA151 The Gospel of Luke]'', Eerdmans, 1997, ISBN 0-8028-2315-7, p. 151.</ref> Some scholars consider the latter to be the more likely option.<ref>[[I. Howard Marshall|Marshall, I. Howard]], ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rKqiibViFowC&pg=PA123 The Gospel of Luke: A commentary on the Greek text]'', Eerdmans, 1978, ISBN 0-8028-3512-0, p. 123.</ref> On this option, she could not have married younger than about age 14, and so she would have been at least 14 + 7 + 84 = 105 years old.<ref>Elliott, J.K., "[http://www.jstor.org/pss/1560649 Anna's Age (Luke 2:36–37)]," ''Novum Testamentum'', Vol. 30, Fasc. 2 (Apr., 1988), pp. 100–102.</ref> What is certain, however, is that Luke is indicating a very old woman.

Modern translations, such as the [[New International Version|NIV]], [[English Standard Version|ESV]], [[Contemporary English Version|CEV]], and [[New Living Translation|NLT]], add a footnote indicating that another interpretation may be possible.

== Church traditions and veneration ==
The [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] commemorate Anna as a [[saint]], Anna the Prophetess. The Eastern Orthodox Church consider Anna and [[Simeon (Gospel of Luke)|Simeon the God-Receiver]] as the last prophets of Old Testament and observes their feast on February 3/February 16 as the [[synaxis]] (afterfeast) following the [[Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church#Presentation of Christ|Presentation of Christ]], which Orthodox tradition calls "The Meeting of Our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ".<ref>{{cite web
|accessdate = 2007-09-05
|url=http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSM=2&FSD=3
|title=Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple
|publisher=Orthodox Church of America| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070930023608/http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSM=2&FSD=3| archivedate= 30 September 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Along with [[Simeon (Gospel of Luke)|Simeon]] the prophetess Anna is commemorated on February 3 in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church.<ref>''February 3 is the feast day of the elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna'' [http://www.metropolitancantorinstitute.org/liturgy/Meeting.html Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh])</ref>

Also her figure is drawn in the [[icon]]s of the Presentation of Christ, together with the Holy Child and the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Simeon the God-Receiver. Orthodox tradition considers that Christ met his people, Israel, in the persons of those two, Simeon and Anna.<ref>{{cite web
|accessdate = 2007-09-05
|url=http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=100407
|title=The Meeting of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple
|publisher=Orthodox Church of America| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20070930030746/http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=100407| archivedate= 30 September 2007 | deadurl= no}}</ref> Anna is often placed behind Mary. Anna either raises her hands to Christ, to show people him as Christ, or hands a scroll which is attributed often to prophets in Orthodox iconography.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Anna}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{New Testament Prophets}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anna}}
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian female saints]]
[[Category:Gospel of Luke]]
[[Category:Women in the Bible]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish women]]

Agabus

2014-06-28T18:19:18Z

Jerm729: Reverted to revision 597594106 by Cydebot (talk). (TW)

{{for|the genus of beetles|Agabus (beetle)}}
{{Infobox saint
|name=Agabus
|birth_date=1st century AD
|death_date=unknown
|feast_day=February 13 (Roman Catholic) March 8 (Eastern Orthodox)
|venerated_in=[[Christianity]]
|image=Agabus.JPG
|imagesize=240px
|caption=''The Prophecy of Agabus'' by [[Louis Cheron]]
|birth_place=[[Antioch]]
|death_place= Antioch
|titles=Prophet, Disciple, & Martyr
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes=
|patronage=[[prophet]]s
|major_shrine=
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
}}

'''Agabus''' ({{lang-el|Ἄγαβος}}) or '''Agabo''' was an early follower of [[Christianity]] mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as a [[prophet]]. He is traditionally remembered as one of the [[Seventy Disciples]] described in [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] {{Bibleverse-nb||Luke|10:1-24}}.

== Biblical account ==
Agabus appears to have been a resident of Jerusalem. He is said to have been one of the seventy disciples, mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, commissioned to preach the gospel. Agabus was with the twelve disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost.<ref name=cocn>[http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/6_4.html "The Martyrdom of St. Agabus, One of the Seventy Disciples", Coptic Orthodox Church Network]</ref>

According to Acts {{Bibleverse-nb||Acts|11:27-28}}, he was one of a group who came to [[Antioch]] from [[Jerusalem]]. Agabus had received the gift of prophecy, and predicted a severe [[famine]] that the author says came under the reign of the [[Roman Emperor]] [[Claudius]].<ref name=maas>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01200a.htm Maas, Anthony. "Agabus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 14 Jan. 2014]</ref>

According to Acts {{Bibleverse-nb||Acts|21:10-12}} in 58 AD, he met [[Paul of Tarsus]] at [[Caesarea Maritima]] and warned him of his coming capture; he bound his own hands and feet with Paul's belt to demonstrate what would happen if he continued his journey to Jerusalem, though Paul would not be persuaded to stay away.<ref name=maas/>

He went to many countries, teaching and converting many. This moved the Jews of Jerusalem to arrest him, and they tortured him by beating him severely, and putting a rope around his neck. He was dragged outside the city and stoned to death.<ref name=cocn/> Maas says he was martyred at Antioch.<ref name=maas/>

==Veneration==
[[File:Maino St. Agabus standing in front of a clouded sky 110.5 x 90.2 cm.jpg|thumb|left|]]
The [[Roman Catholic Church]] celebrates his [[feast day]] on February 13, while the [[Eastern Christianity]] celebrates it on March 8.<ref name=maas/>

== See also ==
* [[Paul the Apostle]]
* [[Barnabas]]
* [[Saint Stephen|Stephen]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{New Testament Prophets}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{Persondata
| NAME = Agabus
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Prophet
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Antioch]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH = Antioch
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agabus}}
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:Ante-Nicene Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:Acts of the Apostles]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]

Achaicus of Corinth

2014-06-28T18:16:51Z

Jerm729: /* References */ link added

{{Eastern Christianity}}
'''Achaicus''' was a Corinthian Christian who according to the Bible, together with [[Fortunatus (disambiguation)|Fortunatus]] and [[Stephanas]], carried a letter from the Corinthians to [[Apostle Paul|St. Paul]], and from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:17; cf. also 16:15).<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Achaicus}}</ref>

By church tradition, Achaicus is also often numbered as one of the [[Seventy disciples]], a group of early followers sent out by Jesus in [[Luke's gospel]]. The Biblical account does not mention the names of the seventy disciples, but various lists including Achaicus have been compiled since the 7th century,<ref name="Metzger">{{cite book|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=New Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic|year=1980|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-06163-7|page=31}}</ref> such as in the ''[[Orthodox Study Bible]]''.<ref name="OSB">{{cite book|title=The Orthodox Study Bible|year=2008|publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-1-4185-7636-3|page=1822}}</ref>

Achaicus is venerated as saint by [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]] and other Christian Churches. In the Orthodox Church, he is commemorated with a feast day on June 15, with his companion Fortunatas.<ref name=OSB/> He is also remembered on the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles|url=http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/01/04/100017-synaxis-of-the-seventy-apostles|publisher=Orthodox Church in America|accessdate=19 August 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{New Testament people}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achaicus Of Corinth}}
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:1st-century Greek people]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:People in the Pauline epistles]]
[[Category:Greek saints]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Saints of Roman Corinth]]
[[Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians]]

{{Saint-stub}}

Achaicus of Corinth

2014-06-28T18:15:55Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614789256 by Jerm729 (talk)will add

{{Eastern Christianity}}
'''Achaicus''' was a Corinthian Christian who according to the Bible, together with [[Fortunatus (disambiguation)|Fortunatus]] and [[Stephanas]], carried a letter from the Corinthians to [[Apostle Paul|St. Paul]], and from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:17; cf. also 16:15).<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Achaicus}}</ref>

By church tradition, Achaicus is also often numbered as one of the [[Seventy disciples]], a group of early followers sent out by Jesus in [[Luke's gospel]]. The Biblical account does not mention the names of the seventy disciples, but various lists including Achaicus have been compiled since the 7th century,<ref name="Metzger">{{cite book|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=New Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic|year=1980|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-06163-7|page=31}}</ref> such as in the ''[[Orthodox Study Bible]]''.<ref name="OSB">{{cite book|title=The Orthodox Study Bible|year=2008|publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-1-4185-7636-3|page=1822}}</ref>

Achaicus is venerated as saint by [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]] and other Christian Churches. In the Orthodox Church, he is commemorated with a feast day on June 15, with his companion Fortunatas.<ref name=OSB/> He is also remembered on the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles|url=http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/01/04/100017-synaxis-of-the-seventy-apostles|publisher=Orthodox Church in America|accessdate=19 August 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{New Testament people}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achaicus Of Corinth}}
[[Category:1st-century Greek people]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:People in the Pauline epistles]]
[[Category:Greek saints]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Saints of Roman Corinth]]
[[Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians]]

{{Saint-stub}}

Achaicus of Corinth

2014-06-28T18:15:27Z

Jerm729: fixed link

{{Eastern Christianity}}
'''Achaicus''' was a Corinthian Christian who according to the Bible, together with [[Fortunatus (disambiguation)|Fortunatus]] and [[Stephanas]], carried a letter from the Corinthians to [[Apostle Paul|St. Paul]], and from St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:17; cf. also 16:15).<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Achaicus}}</ref>

By church tradition, Achaicus is also often numbered as one of the [[Seventy disciples]], a group of early followers sent out by Jesus in [[Luke's gospel]]. The Biblical account does not mention the names of the seventy disciples, but various lists including Achaicus have been compiled since the 7th century,<ref name="Metzger">{{cite book|last=Metzger|first=Bruce|title=New Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic|year=1980|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-06163-7|page=31}}</ref> such as in the ''[[Orthodox Study Bible]]''.<ref name="OSB">{{cite book|title=The Orthodox Study Bible|year=2008|publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-1-4185-7636-3|page=1822}}</ref>

Achaicus is venerated as saint by [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]] and other Christian Churches. In the Orthodox Church, he is commemorated with a feast day on June 15, with his companion Fortunatas.<ref name=OSB/> He is also remembered on the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles on January 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles|url=http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/01/04/100017-synaxis-of-the-seventy-apostles|publisher=Orthodox Church in America|accessdate=19 August 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{New Testament people}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achaicus Of Corinth}}
[[Category:1st-century Greek people]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:Greek saints]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Saints of Roman Corinth]]
[[Category:First Epistle to the Corinthians]]

{{Saint-stub}}

Nevi'im

2014-06-28T18:13:55Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614772046 by 70.185.194.202 (talk)

{{Multiple issues |refimprove=December 2011 |cleanup=December 2011}}
{{for|a more general definition|Prophet}}
{{Books of Nevi'im |all |width=22.0em}}
{{Tanakh OT}}
{{Jews and Judaism sidebar |texts |width=22.0em}}
{{Bible-related |CB}}

'''''Nevi'im'''''{{Pronunciation-needed}} ({{lang-he|נְבִיאִים ''Nəḇî'îm''}}, "Prophets") is the second main division of the [[Hebrew Bible]] (the ''[[Tanakh]]''), between the [[Torah]] (instruction) and [[Ketuvim]] (writings). It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ({{lang |he|''Nevi'im Rishonim'' נביאים ראשונים}}, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ({{lang|he|''Nevi'im Aharonim'' נביאים אחרונים}}, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]).

Many of the writings of the Latter Prophets are thought by scholars to be older than the narratives of the Former Prophets which precede them in the [[Biblical canon|canon]], and were profoundly influential on the direction and development of Hebrew religion. The Latter Prophets have also had a wide influence on literature and on political and social activism in cultures outside of [[Judaism]].

== Synopsis ==

In [[Judaism]], ''[[Books of Samuel|Samuel]]'' and ''[[Books of Kings|Kings]]'' are each counted as one book. In addition, twelve relatively short prophetic books are counted as one in a single collection called ''Trei Asar'' or "The [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]". The Jewish tradition thus counts a total of eight books in ''Nevi'im'' out of a total of 24 books in the entire Tanakh. In the Jewish [[liturgy]], selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' known as the ''[[Haftarah]]'' are read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each [[Shabbat]], as well as on Jewish festivals and fast days. The [[Book of Daniel]] is part of the Writings, or ''[[Ketuvim]]'', in the Tanakh.{{Efn | In the various Christian Bibles for Protestants, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, there are deviations and exceptions: The prophets are placed in the final section (following the writings) of the Hebrew Bible text. The major prophets (''[[Book of Isaiah]]'', ''[[Book of Jeremiah]]'' and ''[[Book of Ezekiel]]'') are followed by ''[[Book of Daniel]]'' due to its prophetic nature according to common Christian theology. The Roman Catholic Bible also places [[additions to Daniel]] here, and the Eastern Orthodox Church includes additions to Daniel, plus 4 Maccabees following Malachi in its Bible canon. The ordering of the twelve minor prophets, however, which is roughly chronological, is the same for all three Christian texts.<ref>{{Citation | last = Coogan | first = Michael D | title = A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2009 | pages = 8–9}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | contribution = The Making of the Old Testament Canon | first = Lou H | last = Silberman | title = The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible | publisher = Abingdon Press | place = Nashville | origyear = 1971 | year = 1991 | page = 1209}}.</ref>}}

===Former Prophets===
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, 1st & 2nd Samuel, 1st & 2nd Kings. They contain historical narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land, and end with the release from imprisonment of the last king of Judah. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
# Joshua’s conquest of the land of Canaan (in the [[Book of Joshua]]),
# the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the [[Book of Judges]]),
# the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the books of 1st & 2nd [[Samuel]])
# the possession of the land under the divinely-appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile (1st and 2nd Kings)

====Joshua====
The [[Book of Joshua]] (''Yehoshua'' יהושע) contains a history of the [[Israelites]] from the death of [[Moses]] to that of [[Joshua]]. After Moses' death, Joshua, by virtue of his previous appointment as Moses' successor, receives from God the command to cross the Jordan. In execution of this order Joshua issues the requisite instructions to the stewards of the people for the crossing of the Jordan; and he reminds the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half of Manasseh of their pledge given to Moses to help their brethren.

The book essentially consists of three parts:
# The history of the conquest of the land (1–12).
# The allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the Levites (13–22), and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes.
# The farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death (23, 24).

====Judges====
The [[Book of Judges]] (''Shoftim'' שופטים) consists of three distinct parts:
#The Introduction (1:1–3:10 and 3:12) giving a summary of the book of Joshua
#The Main Text (3:11–16:31), discussing the five Great Judges, Abimelech, and providing glosses for a few minor Judges
#The Appendices (17:1–21:25), giving two stories set in the time of the Judges, but not discussing the Judges themselves.

====Samuel====
The [[Books of Samuel]] (''Shmu'el'' שמואל) consists of five parts:
* The period of [[Tetragrammaton|God]]'s rejection of [[Eli (Biblical priest)|Eli]], [[Samuel (biblical figure)|Samuel's]] birth, and subsequent judgment (1 Samuel 1:1–7:17)
* The period of the life of [[Saul]] prior to meeting [[David]] (1 Samuel 8:1–15:35)
* The period of Saul's interaction with David (1 Samuel 16:1 – 2 Samuel 1:27)
* The period of David's reign and the rebellions he suffers (2 Samuel 2:1–20:22)
* An appendix of material concerning David in no particular order, and out of sequence with the rest of the text (2 Samuel 22:1–24:25)

A conclusion of sorts appears at [[1 Kings]] 1-2, concerning [[Solomon]] enacting a final revenge on those who did what David perceived as wrongdoing, and having a similar narrative style. While the subject matter in the Book(s) of Samuel is also covered by the narrative in [[Books of Chronicles |Chronicles]], it is noticeable that the section (2 Sam. 11:2-12:29) containing an account of the matter of [[Bathsheba]] is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chr. 20.

====Kings====
The [[Books of Kings]] (''Melakhim'' מלכים) contains accounts of the kings of the ancient [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]], and the [[annal]]s of the Jewish commonwealth from the accession of [[Solomon]] until the subjugation of the kingdom by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] and the [[Babylonians]].

===Latter Prophets===
The Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the [[Major prophet]]s (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]] (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) collected into a single book.

====Isaiah====
The 66 chapters of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] (''Yeshayahu'' [ישעיהו]) consist primarily of prophecies of the judgments awaiting nations that are persecuting [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. These nations include [[Babylon]], [[Assyria]], [[Philistia]], [[Moab]], [[Syria]], [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] (the northern kingdom), [[Ethiopia]], [[Egypt]], [[Arabia]], and [[Phoenicia]]. The prophecies concerning them can be summarized as saying that [[Tetragrammaton|God]] is the God of the whole earth, and that nations which think of themselves as secure in their own power might well be conquered by other nations, at God's command.

Chapter 6 describes Isaiah's call to be a prophet of God. Chapters 35-39 provide historical material about King [[Hezekiah]] and his triumph of faith in God. Chapters 24-34, while too complex to characterize easily, are primarily concerned with prophecies of a [[Messiah]], a person anointed or given power by God, and of the Messiah's kingdom, where justice and righteousness will reign. This section is seen by Jews as describing an actual king, a descendant of their great king, David, who will make Judah a great kingdom and [[Jerusalem]] a truly holy city.

The prophecy continues with what some{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} have called "The Book of Comfort" which begins in chapter 40 and completes the writing. In the first eight chapters of this book of comfort, Isaiah prophesies the deliverance of the [[Jew]]s from the hands of the Babylonians and restoration of Israel as a unified nation in the land promised to them by God. Isaiah reaffirms that the Jews are indeed the chosen people of God in chapter 44 and that [[Tetragrammaton|Hashem]] is the only God for the Jews (and only the God of the Jews) as he will show his power over the gods of Babylon in due time in chapter 46. In chapter 45:1 the Persian ruler [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] is named as the [[messiah]] who will overthrow the Babylonians and allow the return of Israel to their original land. The remaining chapters of the book contain prophecies of the future glory of [[Zion]] under the rule of a righteous servant (52 & 54). Chapter 53 contains a very poetic prophecy about this servant which is generally considered by [[Christians]] to refer to the [[crucifixion]] of [[Jesus]], though Jews generally interpret it as a reference to God's people. Although there is still the mention of judgment of false worshippers and idolaters (65 & 66), the book ends with a message of hope of a righteous ruler who extends salvation to his righteous subjects living in the Lord's kingdom on earth.

====Jeremiah====
The [[Book of Jeremiah]] (''Yirmiyahu'' [ירמיהו]) can be divided into twenty-three subsections, and its contents organized into five sub-sections or 'books'.
# The introduction, ch. 1.
# Scorn for the sins of Israel, consisting of seven sections, (1.) ch. 2; (2.) ch. 3–6; (3.) ch. 7–10; (4.) ch. 11–13; (5.) ch. 14–17:18; (6.) ch. 17:19–ch. 20; (7.) ch. 21–24.
# A general review of all nations, foreseeing their destruction, in two sections, (1.) ch. 46–49; (2.) ch. 25; with an historical appendix of three sections, (1.) ch. 26; (2.) ch. 27; (3.) ch. 28, 29.
# Two sections picturing the hopes of better times, (1.) ch. 30, 31; (2.) ch. 32,33; to which is added an historical appendix in three sections, (1.) ch. 34:1–7; (2.) ch. 34:8-22; (3.) ch. 35.
# The conclusion, in two sections, (1.) ch. 36; (2.) ch. 45.

In Egypt, after an interval, Jeremiah is supposed to have added three sections, viz., ch. 37–39; 40–43; and 44. The main Messianic prophecies are found in 23:1–8; 31:31–40; and 33:14–26.

[[Jeremiah]]'s prophecies are noted for the frequent repetitions found in them of the same words, phrases, and imagery. They cover the period of about 30 years. They are not in chronological order. Modern scholars do not believe they have reliable theories as to when, where, and how the text was edited into its present form.

====Ezekiel====
The [[Book of Ezekiel]] (''Yehezq'el'' [יחזקאל]) contains three distinct sections.
# Judgment on Israel – Ezekiel makes a series of denunciations against his fellow Judeans ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%203:22-24;&version=49; 3:22–24]), warning them of the certain destruction of [[Jerusalem]], in opposition to the words of the false prophets ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204:1-3;&version=49; 4:1–3]). The symbolic acts, by which the extremities to which Jerusalem would be reduced are described in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204-5;&version=49; Chapters 4 and 5], show his intimate acquaintance with the Levitical legislation. (See, for example, [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2022:30;&version=49; 22:30]; [[Deuteronomy]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut%2014:21;&version=49; 14:21]; [[Leviticus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%205:2;&version=49; 5:2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%207:18,24;&version=49; 7:18,24]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2017:15;&version=49; 17:15]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2019:7;&version=49; 19:7]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2022:8;&version=49; 22:8])
# Prophecies against various neighboring nations: against the [[Ammon]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2025:1-7;&version=49; Ezek. 25:1–7]), the [[Moab]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%208-11;&version=49; 25:8–11]), the [[Edom]]ites ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2012-14;&version=49; 25:12–14]), the [[Philistines]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2015-17;&version=49; 25:15–17]), [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]] and [[Sidon]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2026-28;&version=49; 26–28]), and against [[Egypt]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2029-32;&version=49; 29-32]).
# Prophecies delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]: the triumphs of Israel and of the kingdom of God on earth ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2033-39;&version=49; Ezek. 33–39]); Messianic times, and the establishment and prosperity of the kingdom of God ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2040;48;&version=49; 40–48]).

====Twelve Minor Prophets====
The [[Twelve Minor Prophets]] are:
# [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] or ''Hoshea'' [הושע]
# [[Book of Joel|Joel]] or ''Yo'el'' [יואל]
# [[Book of Amos|Amos]] [עמוס]
# [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]] or ''Ovadyah'' [עובדיה]
# [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]] or ''Yonah'' [יונה]
# [[Book of Micah|Micah]] or ''Mikhah'' [מיכה]
# [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]] or ''Nachum'' [נחום]
# [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]] or ''Habaquq'' [חבקוק]
# [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]] or ''Tsefania'' [צפניה]
# [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]] or ''Haggai'' [חגי]
# [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] ''Zekharia'' [זכריה]
# [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]] or ''Malakhi'' [מלאכי]

==Liturgical use==
{{main|Haftarah}}
The [[Haftarah]] is a text selected from the books of ''Nevi'im'' that is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each [[Shabbat]], as well as on Jewish festivals and fast days.

===Cantillation===
There is a special [[cantillation]] melody for the haftarah, distinct from that of the Torah portion. In some earlier authorities there are references to a tune for the "prophets" generally, distinct from that for the haftarah: this may have been a simplified melody for learning purposes.{{Efn | The article on "Cantillation" in the [[Jewish Encyclopedia]] shows tunes for "Prophets (other readings)" for both the Western Sephardi and the Baghdadi traditions.}}

Certain cantillation marks and combinations appear in Nevi'im but not within any of the Haftarah selections, and most communities therefore do not have a musical tradition for those marks. J.L. Neeman suggested that "those who recite Nevi'im privately with the cantillation melody may read the words accented by those rare notes by using a "metaphor" based on the melody of those notes in the five books of the Torah, while adhering to the [[musical scale]] of the melody for Nevi'im." Neeman includes a reconstruction of the musical scale for the lost melodies of the rare cantillation notes.<ref>{{Citation | last = Neeman | first = JL | title = The Tunes of the Bible – Musical Principles of the Biblical Accentuation | place = Tel Aviv | year = 1955 | language = Hebrew | volume = 1 | pages = 136, 188–89}}.</ref> In the Ashkenazi tradition, the resemblance between the Torah and Haftarah melodies is obvious and it is easy to transpose motifs between the two as suggested by Neeman. In the Sephardi traditions the haftarah melody is considerably more florid than the Torah melody, and usually in a different musical mode, and there are only isolated points of contact between the two.

===Extraliturgical public reading===
{{Main|Seder ha-Mishmarah}}
In some Near and [[Mizrahi Jews|Middle Eastern Jewish]] traditions, the whole of Nevi'im (as well as the rest of the Tanakh and the Mishnah) is read each year on a weekly rota, usually on Shabbat afternoons. These reading sessions often take place in the synagogue courtyard but are not considered to be synagogue services.

==Aramaic translation==
A ''[[targum]]'' is an [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] [[translation]] of the Hebrew Scriptures that was compiled or written in the [[Land of Israel]] or in [[Babylonia]] from the [[Second Temple]] period until the early [[Middle Ages]] (late first millennium). According to the [[Talmud]], the targum on Nevi'im was composed by [[Jonathan ben Uzziel]]. Like [[Targum Onkelos]] on the Torah, [[Targum Jonathan]] is an eastern ([[Babylon]]ian) targum with early origins in the west ([[Land of Israel]]).

Like the targum to the Torah, [[Targum Jonathan]] to Nevi'im served a formal liturgical purpose: it was read alternately, verse by verse, or in blocks of up to three verses, in the public reading of the Haftarah and in the study of Nevi'im. [[Yemenite Jews]] continue the above tradition to this day, and have thus preserved a living tradition of the Babylonian vocalization for the Targum to Nevi'im.

==See also==
*[[Ketuvim]]
*[[Codex Cairensis]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist |64em}}

{{Jews and Judaism}}
{{Theology}}

[[Category:Hebrew words and phrases]]
[[Category:Nevi'im| ]]

User talk:Doug Weller

2014-06-27T17:34:26Z

Jerm729: /* Requesting lock */ new section

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You can email me from[[Special:Emailuser/Dougweller| this link]] but in the interests of Wiki-transparency, please message me on this page unless there are pressing reasons to do otherwise.
'''Comments which I find to be [[WP:Civility|uncivil]], full of [[vulgar]]ities, flame baiting, or that are excessively rude may be deleted without response.''' If I choose not to answer, that's my right; don't keep putting it back. I'll just delete and get annoyed at you.

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==Require administer for discussion in [[Talk:Nanking Massacre|talk page of Nanking Massacre]]==
I see you are an administrator.If you are an administrator, can you administer [[Talk:Nanking Massacre|the discussion of Nanking Massacre]] in its talk page? This discussion is totally mess. I hope there is at least two administrator to administer it for fair. 
It is really a mess and endless discussion if no administrator to manage it. I hope at least two administrator to manage this. There will be no result to make everyone satisfactory. I hope there is a vote which is managed by administrator. Otherwise, this discussion will be endless. Everyone is wasting their time. This discussion started from section "I see a significant change of the figure about people killed in this Massacre". [[User:Miracle dream|Miracle dream]] ([[User talk:Miracle dream|talk]]) 23:42, 22 February 2014

==Require administer for discussion in [[Talk:Nanking Massacre|talk page of Nanking Massacre]]==
I see you are an administrator.If you are an administrator, can you administer [[Talk:Nanking Massacre|the discussion of Nanking Massacre]] in its talk page? This discussion is totally mess. I hope there is at least two administrator to administer it for fair. 
It is really a mess and endless discussion if no administrator to manage it. I hope at least two administrator to manage this. There will be no result to make everyone satisfactory. I hope there is a vote which is managed by administrator. Otherwise, this discussion will be endless. Everyone is wasting their time. This discussion started from section "I see a significant change of the figure about people killed in this Massacre". [[User:Miracle dream|Miracle dream]] ([[User talk:Miracle dream|talk]]) 23:42, 22 February 2014

==Notice of Edit warring noticeboard discussion==
[[Image:Ambox notice.svg|link=|25px|alt=Information icon]]
Hello. This message is being sent to inform you that there is currently a discussion involving you at [[Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Edit warring]] regarding a possible violation of Wikipedia's policy on [[Wikipedia:Edit warring|edit warring]]. The thread is http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Edit_warring&oldid=610312951 reported by User:75.73.22.81  Thank you.<noinclude>

== Stop threatening people ==
I have to say your conduct is a disgrace. This isn't an attack. It's an observation.
I have been editing Wikipedia for a decade now, and I not only deserve more respect from the likes of you, I also don't deserve you strolling onto my profile page and threatening me with warnings.
How about entering into civilised conversation with someone before rolling out your position as admin and threatening someone with blocking.
My point that I made was a valid one. Ie: That the reason this individual removed my edit was because the UKIP official website was not a valid one. Yet he has allowed the Liberal Democrats reference on their membership to stand. It's a Liberal Democrat website for goodness sakes!
So where is the even-handedness. The even treatment.
I didn't see any warnings put on his page exactly?
He asked for a third party reference. To which I added a third party reference and then suddenly that wasn't good enough either?!
This whole matters has dissolved into a joke! I would kindly ask you to remove your threat from my talk page and enter into civilised debate instead of abusing your position to threaten people.
This is a civilised world is it not?
It seems to me that the user in question is making up justifications to his undoing of edits.
I also note that the user in question has been questioned on multiple occasions accused of engaging in Edit Wars. Not that you noticed that I am sure?
How can anyone think it's acceptable to make an Wikipedia entry solely based on Newspaper articles and references. I look through the main political parties pages every day and see direct sourcing from official lines.
So why is it any different for UKIP? [[User:RoverTheBendInSussex]] ([[User talk:RoverTheBendInSussex|talk]]) 01:22, 18 June 2014 (GMT)

Hey rover, the thing is this guy seems to have a liberal dem slant as well. He's denying credible sources because they disagree with his worldview, in spite of their factual accuracy! — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/65.34.232.202|65.34.232.202]] ([[User talk:65.34.232.202|talk]]) 16:11, 21 June 2014 (UTC) 

== The Guardian ==
My humblest apologies. The Guardian is a broadsheet, not a tabloid! I am sorry if I degraded your intellect for a moment or two there!
But my point stands. Whether the Guardian Newspaper is Left-Wing or Center-Left. Being objective towards UKIP is something the Guardian, The Times and the Huffington Post have proven they cannot be with repeat attacks on UKIP and their character.
If I cited articles written by the likes of Dan Hodges, you could edit UKIP to say it's a "racist", "homophobic" and "far right" party.
These papers cannot be considered "impartial".

The reference included by your esteemed colleague saying that UKIP.org cannot be considered as a reliable source speaks volumes as to the biased editing that is going on with the UKIP page on Wikipedia at present. Put simply. It stinks! [[User:RoverTheBendInSussex]] ([[User talk:RoverTheBendInSussex|talk]]) 01:45, 18 June 2014 (GMT)

== Cilicia ==

I just started reading the article on [[Cilicia]], and I have found a sentence in which something doesn't seem quite right. It is in the middle of the first paragraph in the section [[Cilicia#Geography and nomenclature]]. It reads:

:"Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias divided by the Lamas Su. Salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction."

Can you figure out how it ought to read?

Also, at the end of that paragraph is the phrase, "the northwesternmost part of the peninsula", but no peninsula has yet been mentioned in the article, so my reaction was "''What'' peninsula?" I don't even see one in the map of Cilicia. Perhaps the northeasternmost corner of Cyprus? [[User:CorinneSD|CorinneSD]] ([[User talk:CorinneSD|talk]]) 18:28, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

:

[[User:CorinneSD|CorinneSD

]], sorry, real life... I really don't know. Try [[Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities]] perhaps? [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 07:22, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

== The Wikipedia Library: New Account Coordinators Needed ==

Hi Books & Bytes recipients: [[WP:TWL|The Wikipedia Library]] has been expanding rapidly and we need some help! We currently have 10 signups for free account access open and several more in the works... In order to help with those signups, distribute access codes, and manage accounts we'll need 2-3 more '''''Account Coordinators'''''.

It takes about an hour to get up and running and then only takes a couple hours per week, flexible depending upon your schedule and routine. If you're interested in helping out, please drop a note in the next week at [[User:Ocaasi|my talk page]] or shoot me an email at: jorlowitz{{@}}gmail.com. Thanks and cheers, Jake [[User:Ocaasi|Ocaasi]] via [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 23:41, 20 June 2014 (UTC)


== Please comment on [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Television#rfc_D6EAB2B|Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Television]] ==

Greetings! You have been randomly selected to receive an invitation to participate in the [[Wikipedia:Request for comment|request for comment]] on '''[[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Television#rfc_D6EAB2B|Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Television]]'''. Should you wish to respond to the invitation, your contribution to this discussion will be very much appreciated! If in doubt, please see [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment#Suggestions for responding|suggestions for responding]]. If you do not wish to receive these types of notices, please remove your name from [[Wikipedia:Feedback request service]]. —  [[User:Legobot|Legobot]] ([[User talk:Legobot|talk]]) 00:06, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

<s>what makes one website a legitimate source and another one a "conspiracy theory" website, Mr. Gestapo man sir? is it all based on which books and records you like and thus don't burn, and which books and records you decide to destroy all trace of? i'm sorry, sir, i'll try to remember from now on that only sources which *YOU* deem are legitimate thus truly are so! please don't send me to reeducation camp, okay great and glorious leader? from now on I only read state-approved news sites and not anything from those "conspiracy theorists"! </s> — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/65.34.232.202|65.34.232.202]] ([[User talk:65.34.232.202|talk]]) 16:08, 21 June 2014 (UTC) 
:@[[Special:Contributions/65.34.232.202|65.34.232.202]]. Please refrain from [[WP:CIVIL|uncivil]] comments. This can be considered a form of [[WP:VANDALISM]]. With respect to conspiracy theories I would refer you to [[WP:FRINGE]]. Best regards... -[[User:Ad Orientem|Ad Orientem]] ([[User talk:Ad Orientem|talk]]) 16:16, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
::Thanks [[User:Ad Orientem|Ad Orientem]]. Love the IP's edits, eg ". It is useful to note that the crescent moon and star looks like the falling star, Lucifer, as he falls through the atmosphere ascending to earth during his fall." And at the Sandy Hook shooting article, "It is very important to note that to date, no pictures or any other evidence of victims has ever been revealed." with links to the usual suspects. Etc. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 16:38, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
:::{{Template:UserMandatorySignin}} -[[User:Ad Orientem|Ad Orientem]] ([[User talk:Ad Orientem|talk]]) 16:50, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

 ::{{userbox|id-c=black|id-fc=white|info-c=black|info-fc=white|id=[[Image:Straitjacket-rear.jpg |80px]]|info=This user favors quicker use of the [[straitjacket|conspiracy theorist camisole]].}} [[User:John Carter|John Carter]] ([[User talk:John Carter|talk]]) 17:11, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
:I am sooo stealing that. -[[User:Ad Orientem|Ad Orientem]] ([[User talk:Ad Orientem|talk]]) 17:22, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
::It gets even better, found this edit to [[Veil]] by the IP:" It is important to note that the word "veil", when rearranged, spells out "evil". The veil is primarily used by Muslim men to force their women to hide bruises, scars, and other telltale signs of domestic abuse." [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 20:51, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

== ''The Signpost'': 18 June 2014 ==

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== June 2014 ==

[[File:Information.svg|25px|alt=|link=]] Hello, I'm [[User:BracketBot|BracketBot]]. I have automatically detected that [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=613927753 your edit] to [[Military Order of the Purple Heart]] may have broken the [[syntax]] by modifying 1 "[]"s. If you have, don't worry: just [{{fullurl:Military Order of the Purple Heart|action=edit&minor=minor&summary=Fixing+typo+raised+by+%5B%5BUser%3ABracketBot%7CBracketBot%5D%5D}} edit the page] again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?action=edit&preload=User:A930913/BBpreload&editintro=User:A930913/BBeditintro&minor=&title=User_talk:A930913&preloadtitle=BracketBot%20–%20{{subst</noinclude>:REVISIONUSER}}&section=new my operator's talk page].
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*<nowiki>spending on programs outside the organization's core mission. At a 2008 National Convention speech</nowiki>{{red|''']'''}}<nowiki>, a graduate of the Foundation's flagship training initiative, the Veterans Business Training</nowiki>
*<nowiki>programs he bankrolled through the Foundation litter the internet like virtual abandoned houses </nowiki>{{red|'''('''}}<nowiki>e.g., http://www.purplehearttechsupport.com/, http://www.purpleheartcallcenter.com/, http://www.</nowiki>
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==Re: Military Order of the Purple Heart==

Page was originally a redirect, and it was turned into an article a few months ago. Re: this [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_Order_of_the_Purple_Heart&diff=613927753&oldid=609044748 edit], which part of the article you wanted to comment out? You know that most of the paragraph is based on that reference, so you may have to clean up more. [[User:OccultZone|'''OccultZone''']] ([[User talk:OccultZone#Top|Talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/OccultZone|Contributions]] • [[Special:Log/OccultZone|Log]]) 12:28, 22 June 2014 (UTC)

:Thanks [[User:OccultZone]]. I raised the issue at BLPN and most if it has now been deleted. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 12:45, 22 June 2014 (UTC)

I tried to make a infoboox for the Battle of Halys articlr. It's there bu can you help fix it? — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Alexander Gellos|Alexander Gellos]] ([[User talk:Alexander Gellos|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Alexander Gellos|contribs]]) 16:12, 22 June 2014 (UTC) 

== bakshi ka talab ==

thanks for your comments. I would like to tell you that we have a long tradition in our family that we are the descendants of the Raja Tripur Chand but unfortunately we have no documents to prove this. Some of our elders had tried to get the priest to let them see the title deeds that the Raja had given to him but of no avail.There are relatives in Farrukhabad and Shshjehanpur who also confirm that he was a Saxena Kayastha. We are still searching for relevant papers.. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Kaleepeare|Kaleepeare]] ([[User talk:Kaleepeare|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Kaleepeare|contribs]]) 13:24, 24 June 2014 (UTC) 

== bakshi ka talab ==

thanks for your comments. I would like to tell you that we have a long tradition in our family that we are the descendants of the Raja Tripur Chand but unfortunately we have no documents to prove this. Some of our elders had tried to get the priest to let them see the title deeds that the Raja had given to him but of no avail.There are relatives in Farrukhabad and Shshjehanpur who also confirm that he was a Saxena Kayastha. We are still searching for relevant papers.. hope you understand.

kaleepeare — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Kaleepeare|Kaleepeare]] ([[User talk:Kaleepeare|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Kaleepeare|contribs]]) 13:27, 24 June 2014 (UTC) 

== Falsified information from Source ==

Unless User:Torontas produces a quote from "Sykes, Percy, History of Persia, Vol. 1, (Routledge and Kegan Paul: London, 1969), pg. 492" to support his edit-warred[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muslim_conquests&diff=next&oldid=614284894][https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muslim_conquests&diff=next&oldid=614286742] inclusion of "Arab Christians", I believe Torontas is falsely using said source. Just thought I would give you a heads up. --[[User:Kansas Bear|Kansas Bear]] ([[User talk:Kansas Bear|talk]]) 23:28, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

== Please comment on [[Wikipedia talk:Verifiability#rfc_D4D0F69|Wikipedia talk:Verifiability]] ==

Greetings! You have been randomly selected to receive an invitation to participate in the [[Wikipedia:Request for comment|request for comment]] on '''[[Wikipedia talk:Verifiability#rfc_D4D0F69|Wikipedia talk:Verifiability]]'''. Should you wish to respond to the invitation, your contribution to this discussion will be very much appreciated! If in doubt, please see [[Wikipedia:Requests for comment#Suggestions for responding|suggestions for responding]]. If you do not wish to receive these types of notices, please remove your name from [[Wikipedia:Feedback request service]]. —  [[User:Legobot|Legobot]] ([[User talk:Legobot|talk]]) 00:07, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

==[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Zgmet Zgmet]==
Hello. Zgmet/[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?limit=50&tagfilter=&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=62.147.217.114&namespace=&tagfilter=&year=2014&month=-1 62.147.217.114] (whom you have warned once warned) keeps inserting their poems and essays into talk pages despite repeated warnings and reverts by several editors. What would you suggest? --[[User:Omnipaedista|Omnipaedista]] ([[User talk:Omnipaedista|talk]]) 01:58, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

== Bhumihar brahmins/babhan ==

hi Mr X i want to make some comment on you. you are always referring the fake or defamatory stories of aswani kumar book as the origin of bhumihar brahmin. Any storis or fake rumours can not be cited as a reference. Even the author has mentioned it as a tale and i do not think that i need to tell you the meaning of this word. If u are so keen to know about bhumihar caste then gather all the clans information of bhumihar caste and their origin, that is done by noted personalities like swami sahjanand saraswati. he was a noted freedom fighter and many brahmins refer his book to know all the facts about their origin, since he has compiled it well. If ypu want to practically know the clans you should visit the village of BABHAN(Bhumihar) and ask them about clans and search for their origin. It is a nice sociological topic, you can do phd on this topic just like bibha jha has done. swami ji material will be helpful for you in this course.
so i request you repeatedly not to put up some story or myth on wikipedia that is derogatory and contested. wikipedia is the collection of most credible materials not rumours or stories so please do not revert those stories. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Bpandey89|Bpandey89]] ([[User talk:Bpandey89|talk]] •
[[Special:Contributions/Bpandey89|contribs]]) 17:40, 25 June 2014 (UTC) 

:[[User:Bpandey89|Bpandey89]] - this is the thing. I could visit and do a sociological study (and I have studied some sociology), but unless I got it published academically it would be of no use on Wikipedia. My knowledge, or your knowledge, would be fine if we were writing blogs. But this is Wikipedia and our articles should be based on sources that are reliable by our criteria, which are at [[WP:VERIFY]] and [[WP:RS]]. It isn't up to us to judge them, although if there are sources that disagree and also meet our criteria we can use them. Sometimes this can mean that our articles aren't entirely accurate, but if we follow our policies and guidelines articles will reflect what the best ''published'' sources say. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 18:20, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

== Check this out ==

Seems posting evidence(ie. a quote) is way too much effort. So notifying anyone he can is in order.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Torontas] Not to mention, a paragraph at Adam Bishop's and two at Callanecc's about me, and no mention of the quote, of course. --[[User:Kansas Bear|Kansas Bear]] ([[User talk:Kansas Bear|talk]]) 22:30, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

== Religious persecution ==

The [http://www.academia.edu/4427135/The_Chinese_Islamic_Goodwill_Mission_to_the_Middle_East_-_Japonyaya_Karsi_Savasta_Cinli_Muslumanlarin_Orta_Dogu_iyi_Niyet_Heyeti_-_Wan_LEI article] talks about multiple incidents which happened all across China and not just Nanjing. The Japanese smearing of pork fat on Mosques and deliberate recruitment of Hui Muslim girls as sex slaves happaned in other provinces and which were targeted at their religion, the article mentions they opened a special school for Hui girls for that purpose. What happened in Nanjing is in fact is only mentioned on one or two pages of the article.[[User:Rajmaan|Rajmaan]] ([[User talk:Rajmaan|talk]]) 22:37, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

:[[User:Rajmaan|Rajmaan]], the source makes it clear that this as anti-Hui. It also talks of an Islamic policy of "mobilizing Muslim forces against the United Kingdom, Holland, China and Russia in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.” It says "Many available sources reveal the brutality and violence of the Japanese against the Hui." No where does it say Japan was being anti-Muslim. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 05:26, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

::'''Hui means Muslim in the Chinese language. Being Hui in the [[Republic of China]] (1911-1949) by definition means being a Muslim, you could not be a Hui without being Muslim.''' Hui jiao (Hui religion) meant Islam and Hui meant Muslim in the Republic of China and still mean that in Taiwan today, the Communists changed the name in the 1950s to Yi-si-lan jiao (Islam religion) and Mu-si-lin (Muslim). Only in the 1980s did the [[People's Republic of China]] let some non-Muslims like the [[Ding (surname)]] classify themselves as Hui because of their Muslim ancestry. Japan mobilizing Muslim forces for its own pursposes has nothing to do with Japan being Muslim friendly. Inciting other people to do their bidding as slaves does not make them their friend. Japan made it clear that the Yamato (Japanese) race was superior, that they regarded the Emperor as a God (which is offensive to Islam) and wanted to use Muslims as its puppets in its war against the west.

::What other purpose does rubbing pork fat on Mosques serve other than insulting Islam?[[User:Rajmaan|Rajmaan]] ([[User talk:Rajmaan|talk]]) 18:40, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

:::[[User:Rajmaan]] I have copied this and replied at [{Talk:Persecution of Muslims#Japanese]] so that others can respond. Please continue this there, not here. Thanks. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 12:58, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

== [[Kurgan]] ==

[[User:Ragdeenorc]] is edit-warring just to keep his fringecruft. He's already broken 3RR, again. --[[User:Florian Blaschke|Florian Blaschke]] ([[User talk:Florian Blaschke|talk]]) 00:29, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
:How can this be a case of undue? [[File:1UNDUE.PNG|100px|left|thumbnail|.]]--[[User:Ragdeenorc|Ragdeenorc]] ([[User talk:Ragdeenorc|talk]]) 00:33, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
:And you will be the one who would have broken the 3RR, again: [[File:111 edit warring.PNG|100px|left|thumbnail|.]] --[[User:Ragdeenorc|Ragdeenorc]] ([[User talk:Ragdeenorc|talk]]) 00:37, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
The reported user uses WP like a cheap forum. He uploaded his browser screenshots to WP! Wow... good for WP! --[[Special:Contributions/89.165.80.64|89.165.80.64]] ([[User talk:89.165.80.64|talk]]) 10:58, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

Further discussion [[Talk:Kurgan#Proto-Altaic|here]]. --[[User:Ragdeenorc|Ragdeenorc]] ([[User talk:Ragdeenorc|talk]]) 23:32, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== Rima Laibow and 3RR ==

I've stopped putting the tag up since I knew I was edging in on 3RR, but thanks for the heads up anyway =) [[User:WegianWarrior|WegianWarrior]] ([[User talk:WegianWarrior|talk]]) 13:38, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

:No problem, just wanted to make sure you knew. It also worries me I'll miss it sometime! [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 14:40, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== WP:ERA stuff on [[Han Chinese]] ==

BC/AD notation for this article was actually begun on July 27, 2003[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Han_Chinese&oldid=1421571]. I did not, however, check later, where all era notation was removed for a few years, until a BCE system was added in 2006 as you point out. I'm not going to fuss about it though, since my main concern is when wholesale dating changes to BCE wind up incorrectly changing the titles of cited articles. [[User:Russ3Z|Russ3Z]] ([[User talk:Russ3Z|talk]]) 15:15, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
:[[User:Russ3Z|Russ3Z]], that's one reason why the original era notation isn't the deciding factor. Here you have an 11 year old article which indeed started with BC but has been BCE for 8 out of those 11 years, and some of the 11 had no era notation. Clearly BCE is the stable version. ''Any'' wholesale changes whether it goes BCE to BC or vice versa, spelling changes in names, etc can cause problems (including renaming books and journal articles). But please in the future remember the word is 'stable'. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller#top|talk]]) 16:10, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== When to pull the trigger ==

Wondering how to proceed regarding what is to my eyes one of the most obvious cases of group misconduct I have seen in a while. I am referring to the [[Dorje Shugden]] content. {{ping|JzG}} has some experience regarding this so I am pinging him as well. So far as I can see 3 POV pushers [[User:VictoriaGrayson]] [[User:Heicth]] and [[User:kt66]] are all historically rather obvious SPA POV pushers apparenty intending to stifle any disagreement with them on their topic of primary if not almost exclusive interest. Two of them are even apparently trying to get their “opponent” banned from editing. And I have received indications regarding the latter which I have asked the person who raised them to send to ArbCom. To me this looks very much like the earlier Falun Gong cases which between them led to the banning of pretty much everyody involved particularly those with obvious problematic behavior like the three mentioned above. Personally I am finding the conduct of the one most active of them to be increasingly tiresome and am coming very very close to starting a request for ArbCom involvement now but I do know I have a bit of a short fuse and I would welcome review by you and anyone else who might see this for their opinions regarding whether there is any good reason to think these matters will improve without intervention of ArbCom.

Also on a more or less unreated note I was wondering whether someone under an interaction-ban who might be clearly seen to be stalking the person he is banned from interacting with is grounds for going to AE.

And probably next week I look to be starting an RfC on “major holidays” as we use that term here. Right now I'm still getting material together but I would very much welcome any input regarding that matter when I raise it as well. [[User:John Carter|John Carter]] ([[User talk:John Carter|talk]]) 16:50, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
:I knew it wouldn't take long for John Carter to call me a SPA POV pusher as well. My main interest is the Hinduism pages, and only got involved after John Carter specifically asked for neutral editors to be involved.[[User:VictoriaGrayson|VictoriaGrayson]] ([[User talk:VictoriaGrayson|talk]]) 21:52, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
::Regardless of your disagreement with him, he seems to me to be entirely right in his characterisation of you. [[User Talk:JzG|Guy]] ([[User:JzG/help|Help!]]) 22:01, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
:::I acknowledge you had in your short history here only become singularly involved with this subject recently and I apologize for that error although I cannot remember asking ''you'' personally to be involved. However if as you say you only became involved at my request then I guess I can now say I withdraw that request that you seem to believe was made to you on a personal basis. That is at least until you show a better grasp of policies and guidelines than you have displayed to date. [[User:John Carter|John Carter]] ([[User talk:John Carter|talk]]) 22:30, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
::::John Carter, what about the pro-Shugden campaigners such as [[User:Prasangika37]] or [[User:Kjangdom]]?[[User:VictoriaGrayson|VictoriaGrayson]] ([[User talk:VictoriaGrayson|talk]]) 22:43, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== H. L. Mencken ==

You might be interested in a request for consensus regarding the proposed addition of some lines to [[H. L. Mencken]] that is on the talk page at [[Talk:H. L. Mencken]]. You'll see that the first section, written on March 23, 2014, proposes the addition of material which is now in the article (I don't see any response from any other editors). This is a new request for consensus. [[User:CorinneSD|CorinneSD]] ([[User talk:CorinneSD|talk]]) 17:44, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== Phonetics ==

There have been some back-and-forth edits at [[Phonetics]], with one impolite edit summary by an IP editor. [[User:CorinneSD|CorinneSD]] ([[User talk:CorinneSD|talk]]) 21:27, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

== A barnstar for you! ==

{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" | [[File:WikiDefender Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | '''The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | Good work in removing "Veterans.today.com" links. Sometimes I couldn't decide if recent edits were constructive or not, and then I would see edit from you, I would know right, for example.[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suriname&diff=prev&oldid=600635159] On my watchlist there are many of your edits, at times they seemed so essential that they would often resolve the content dispute. Thanks a lot for your contributions! [[User:OccultZone|'''OccultZone''']] ([[User talk:OccultZone#Top|Talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/OccultZone|Contributions]] • [[Special:Log/OccultZone|Log]]) 12:10, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
|}

== Requesting lock ==

Hello Dougweller, I am requesting article protection: [[Abraham]] with [[Wikipedia:SEMI|WP:SEMI]]. Unconstructive editing done by multiple IPs. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]17:34, 27 June 2014 (UTC)

Abraham

2014-06-27T17:22:39Z

Jerm729: Reverted to revision 614658293 by Jerm729 (talk): editing . (TW)

{{about|the [[Bible|biblical]] Abraham|Islam|Abraham in Islam|other uses}}

{{redirect10|Abram|Avram|Ibrahim}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox religious biography
|name = Abraham
|image = Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 035.jpg
|imagesize = 250px
|caption = ''Sacrifice of Isaac'' by [[Rembrandt]] (1635)
|birth_name = Abram
|birth_place = [[Mesopotamia]]<ref group="Notes" name="scripture">For Abraham's place of birth, see [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 11:28 and 24:4-10, [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 7:2. For the place where he died, see Genesis 25:7-10.</ref>
|death_place = [[Canaan]]<ref group="Notes" name="scripture"/>
|resting_place = [[Cave of the Patriarchs|Cave of Machpelah]]
|resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|31.524744|35.110726|type:landmark|display=inline}}
|spouse = {{hlist |[[Sarah]] |[[Hagar]] |[[Keturah]]}}
|children = {{hlist |[[Ishmael]] |[[Isaac]] |[[Zimran]] | [[Jokshan]] |[[Medan (son of Abraham)|Medan]] |[[Midian (son of Abraham)|Midian]] | [[Ishbak]] |[[Shuah]]}}
|influenced = {{hlist |[[Jews]] |[[Christian]]s |[[Muslim]]s}}
}}

[[File:Hortus Deliciarum, Der Schoß Abrahams.JPG|thumb|''The bosom of Abraham'' - medieval illustration from the [[Hortus deliciarum]] of [[Herrad of Landsberg]] (12th century)]]
'''Abraham''' ({{lang-he|אַבְרָהָם}} {{Audio|He-Avraham.ogg|listen}}), originally '''Abram''', is the first of the three [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarchs]] of [[Israel]] whose story is told in chapters 11 through 25 of the [[Book of Genesis]].

Abram was called by [[Yahweh|God]] to leave his father [[Terah]]'s house and native land of [[Mesopotamia]] in return for a new land, family, and inheritance in [[Canaan]], the [[promised land]]. Threats to the covenant arose{{snd}} difficulties in producing an heir, the threat of bondage in Egypt, of lack of fear of God{{snd}} but all were overcome and the covenant was established.{{sfn|Hill and Walton|2010|p=2024–2030}} After the death and burial of his wife, [[Sarah]], in the [[Cave of the Patriarchs|grave]] that he purchased in [[Hebron]], Abraham arranged for the marriage of [[Isaac]] to a woman from his own people.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=30–31}} Abraham later married a woman called [[Keturah]] and had six more sons, before he died at the recorded age of 175 and was buried by his sons, [[Isaac]] and [[Ishmael]]. ({{bibleref2|Gen.|25:1-10|9|Genesis 25:1–10}})

The Bible's internal chronology places Abraham around 2000 BCE,{{sfn|Shea|2000|p=248}} but the stories in Genesis cannot be related to the known history of that time and most biblical histories accordingly no longer begin with the patriarchal period.{{sfn|McNutt|1999|p=41}}

== Genesis narrative ==
[[File:Molnár Ábrahám kiköltözése 1850.jpg|thumb|right|A painting of Abraham's departure by [[József Molnár (painter)|József Molnár]].]]

The story of Abraham is related in {{Bibleverse||Genesis|11:26–25:10|HE}} of the [[Hebrew Bible]].

===Abram's origins and calling===
[[Terah]], the tenth in descent from [[Noah]], begat three sons, Abram (later called Abraham), [[Nahor]] and [[Haran]]. Haran begat [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]] (who was thus Abram's nephew), and died in his native city, [[Ur of the Chaldees]]. Abram married [[Sarah|Sarai]], who was barren. Terah, with Abram, Sarai, and Lot, then departed for Canaan, but settled in a place named Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|11:27–32|HE}}) The {{LORD}} had told Abram to leave his country and kindred and go to a land that he would show him, and promised to make of him a great nation, [[blessing|bless]] him, make his name great, bless them that bless him, and curse "him" that curses him. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|12:1–3|HE}}) Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to [[Shechem]] in [[Canaan]]. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|12:4–6|HE}})

[[File:Tissot Abram's Counsel to Sarai.jpg|thumb|left|230px|''Abram's Counsel to Sarai'' (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by [[James Tissot]])]]

===Abram and Sarai===
There was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram and Lot and their households, travelled south to [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. On the way, Abram told his wife Sarai to say that she was his sister, so that the [[Egypt]]ians would not kill him. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|12:10–13|HE}}) When they entered Egypt, the princes of the Pharaoh praised Sarai's beauty to the [[Pharaoh]], and she was taken into his palace, and Abram was given provisions: "oxen, and he-asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she-asses, and camels". However, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with great plagues, which he tried to find the reason for.({{Bibleverse||Genesis|12:14–17|HE}}) Upon discovering that Sarai was a married woman, Pharaoh demanded that they and their household leave immediately, along with all their goods. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|12:18–20|HE}})

===Abram and Lot separate===
[[File:Wenceslas Hollar - Abraham and Lot separating (State 2).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Depiction of the separation of Abraham and Lot by [[Wenceslaus Hollar]].]]
{{main|Abraham and Lot's conflict}}
When they came back to the Bethel and Hai area, Abram's and Lot's sizeable numbers of livestock occupied the same pastures. This became a problem for the herdsmen who were assigned to each family's cattle. The conflicts between herdsmen had become so troublesome that Abram graciously suggested that Lot choose a separate area, either on the left hand [north] or on the right hand [south], that there be no conflict amongst brethren. But Lot chose to go east to the plain of [[Jordan river|Jordan]] where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoar, and he dwelled in the cities of the plain toward Sodom. Abram went south to [[Hebron]] and settled in the plain of [[Mamre]], where he built another altar to worship [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]]. ({{bibleref|Genesis|13:1–18|KJV}})

===Abram and Chedorlaomer===
{{Main|Battle of Siddim}}
[[File:Meeting of abraham and melchizadek.jpg|thumb|175px|Meeting of Abram and Melchizedek (painting circa 1464–1467 by [[Dieric Bouts|Dieric Bouts the Elder]])]]
During the rebellion of the [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Jordan River cities]] against [[Elam]], ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|14:1–9|HE}}) Abram's nephew, Lot, was taken prisoner along with his entire household by the invading [[Elamite]] forces. The Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodom's armies. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|14:8–12|HE}}) Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Kingdom of Sodom]] which made them a visible target. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|13:12|HE}})

One person that escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants. Abram's force headed north in pursuit of the Elamite army, who were already worn down from the [[Battle of the Vale of Siddim|Battle of Siddim]]. When they caught up with them at [[Dan (Bible)|Dan]], Abram devised a battle plan by splitting his group into more than one unit, and launched a night raid. Not only were they able to free the captives, Abram's unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King [[Chedorlaomer]] at Hobah, just north of [[Damascus]]. They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, and recovered all of the goods from Sodom that had been taken. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|14:13–16|HE}})

Upon Abram's return, Sodom's king came out to meet with him in the [[King's dale|Valley of Shaveh]], the "king's dale". Also, [[Melchizedek]] king of Salem ([[Jerusalem]]), a priest of [[Elyon|God Most High]], brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram and God. Abram then gave Melchizedek a [[tithe|tenth]] of everything. The king of Sodom then offered to let Abram keep all the possessions if he would merely return his people. Although he released the captives, Abram refused any reward from the king of Sodom, other than the share to which his allies were entitled. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|14:17–24|HE}})

[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 024.png|thumb|left|200px|The Vision of the Lord Directing Abram to Count the Stars (woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]] from the 1860 ''Bible in Pictures'')]]

===Abrahamic covenant===
{{see also|Covenant of the pieces}}
The word of God came to Abram in a vision and repeated the promise of the land and descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram and God made a covenant ceremony, and God told of the future bondage of Israel in Egypt. God described to Abram the land that his offspring would claim: the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites. ({{bibleref2|Gen.|15:1-21|9|Genesis 15:1–21}})

===Abram and Hagar===
{{see also|Hagar|Hagar in Islam}}
[[File:Foster Bible Pictures 0032-1.jpg|thumb|right|''Abraham, [[Sarah]] and [[Hagar]]'', imagined here in a Bible [[illustration]] from 1897.]]

Abram and Sarai tried to make sense of how he would become a progenitor of nations since after 10 years of living in Canaan, no child had been born from Abram's seed. Sarai then offered her Egyptian handmaiden, [[Hagar]], for Abram to consort with so that he may have a child by her, as a wife. After Hagar found she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress, Sarai. Therefore, Sarai mistreated Hagar, and Hagar fled away. En route, the angel of the [[God in Abrahamic religions|Lord]] spoke with Hagar at the [[fountain]] on the way to [[Shur (Bible)|Shur]]. He instructed her to return and that her son would be "a wild ass of a man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren." She was told to call her son [[Ishmael]]. Hagar then called God who spoke to her "[[El Roi|El-roi]]", ("Thou God seest me:" KJV). From that day, the well was called Beer-lahai-roi, ("The well of him that liveth and seeth me." KJV margin). She then did as she was instructed by returning to her mistress in order to have her child. Abram was eighty-six years of age when Ishmael was born. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|16:4–16|HE}})

===Abraham and Sarah===
Thirteen years later, when Abram was ninety-nine years of age, God declared Abram's new name: "Abraham" – "a father of many nations" ({{Bibleref|Genesis|17:5|HE}}). Abraham then received the instructions for the covenant of circumcision ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|17:10-14|HE}}). [[Religious male circumcision|Circumcision]] was necessary to be part of this 'great nation', whether by bloodline or inducted. Then God declared Sarai's new name: "[[Sarah]]" and blessed her and told Abraham, "I will give thee a son also of her". ({{bibleref|Genesis|17:15-16|HE}}) But Abraham laughed, and "said in his heart, Shall a ''child'' be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" ({{bibleref|Genesis|17:17|9}}) Immediately after Abraham's encounter with God, he had his entire household of men, including himself (age 99) and Ishmael (age 13), circumcised. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|17:22–27|HE}})

===Abraham's three visitors===
[[File:Tissot Abraham and the Three Angels.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Abraham and the Three Angels (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by [[James Tissot]])]]
Not long afterward, during the heat of the day, Abraham had been sitting at the entrance of his tent by the [[Pistacia palaestina|terebinths]] of [[Mamre]]. He looked up and saw three men in the presence of God. Then he ran and [[Bowing (social)|bowed]] to the ground to welcome them. Abraham then offered to wash their feet and fetch them a morsel of bread, of which they assented. Abraham rushed to [[Sarah]]'s tent to order cakes made from choice flour, then he ordered a servant-boy to prepare a choice calf. When all was prepared, he set curds, milk and the calf before them, waiting on them, under a tree, as they ate. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|18:1–8|HE}})

One of the visitors told Abraham that upon his return next year, Sarah would have a son. While at the tent entrance, Sarah overheard what was said and she laughed to herself about the prospect of having a child at their ages. The visitor inquired of Abraham why Sarah laughed at bearing a child at her age, as nothing is too hard for God. Frightened, Sarah denied laughing.

===Abraham's plea===
{{main|Sodom and Gomorrah|Lot (biblical person)}}
[[File:Tissot Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames.jpg|thumb|left|198px|Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)]]
After eating, Abraham and the three visitors got up. They walked over to the peak that overlooked the 'cities of the plain' to discuss the fate of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] for their detestable sins that were so great, it moved God to action. Because Abraham's nephew was living in Sodom, God revealed plans to confirm and judge these cities. At this point, the two other visitors left for Sodom. Then Abraham turned to the Lord and pleaded decrementally with Him (from fifty persons to less) that "if there were at least ten righteous men found in the city, would not God spare the city?" For the sake of ten righteous people, God declared that he would not destroy the city. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|18:17–33|HE}})

When the two visitors got to Sodom to conduct their report, they planned on staying in the city square. However, Abraham's nephew, Lot, met with them and strongly insisted that these two "men" stay at his house for the night. A rally of men stood outside of Lot's home and demanded that they bring out his guests so that they may "know" (v.5) them. However, Lot objected and offered his virgin daughters who had not "known" (v.8) man to the rally of men instead. They rejected that notion and sought to break down Lot's door to get to his male guests, ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|19:1–9|HE}}) thus confirming that their "cry" had waxed great before the Lord, and they would be destroyed. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|19:12–13|HE}})

Early the next morning, Abraham went to the place where he stood before the Lord. He "looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah" and saw what became of the cities of the plain, where not even "ten righteous" (v.18:32) had been found, as "the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace." ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|19:27–29|HE}})

===Abraham and Abimelech===
{{see also|Endogamy|Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis}}
Abraham settled between [[Kadesh (South of Israel)|Kadesh]] and [[Shur (Bible)|Shur]] in the land of the [[Philistine]]s. While he was living in [[Gerar]], Abraham openly claimed that Sarah was his sister. Upon discovering this news, King [[Abimelech]] had her brought to him. God then came to Abimelech in a dream and declared that taking her would result in death because she was a man's wife. Abimelech had not laid hands on her, so he inquired if he would also slay a righteous nation, especially since Abraham had claimed that he and Sarah were siblings. In response, God told Abimelech that he did indeed have a blameless heart and that is why he continued to exist. However, should he not return the wife of Abraham back to him, God would surely destroy Abimelech and his entire household. Abimelech was informed that Abraham was a prophet who would pray for him.({{Bibleverse||Genesis|20:1–7|HE}})

Early next morning, Abimelech informed his servants of his dream and approached Abraham inquiring as to why he had brought such great guilt upon his kingdom. Abraham stated that he thought there was no fear of God in that place, and that they might kill him for his wife. Then Abraham defended what he had said as not being a lie at all: "And yet indeed ''she is'' my sister; she ''is'' the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." ({{Bibleref2|Gen.|20:12|9|Genesis 20:12}}) Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, and gave him gifts of sheep, oxen, and servants; and invited him to settle wherever he pleased in Abimelech's lands. Further, Abimelech gave Abraham a thousand pieces of silver to serve as Sarah's vindication before all. Abraham then prayed for Abimelech and his household, since God had stricken the women with infertility because of the taking of Sarah. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|20:8–18|HE}})

After living for some time in the land of the Philistines, [[Abimelech]] and [[Phicol]], the chief of his troops, approached Abraham because of a dispute that resulted in a violent confrontation at a well. Abraham then reproached Abimelech due to his Philistine servant's aggressive attacks and the seizing of Abraham's well. Abimelech claimed ignorance of the incident. Then Abraham offered a pact by providing sheep and oxen to Abimelech. Further, to attest that Abraham was the one who dug the well, he also gave Abimelech seven ewes for proof. Because of this sworn oath, they called the place of this well: [[Beersheba]]. After Abimelech and Phicol headed back to [[Philistia]], Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called upon "the name of the Lord, the everlasting God." ({{Bibleref2|Gen.|21:22–34|9|Genesis 21:22–34}})

===Birth of Isaac===
[[File:Sacrifice of Isaac-Caravaggio (Uffizi).jpg|thumb|''Sacrifice of Isaac'', by [[Caravaggio]]]]
As had been prophesied in Mamre the previous year ({{bibleref|Genesis|17:21|9}}), Sarah became pregnant and bare a son to Abraham, on the first anniversary of the covenant of circumcision. Abraham was "an hundred years old", when his son whom he named Isaac was born; and he circumcised him when he was eight days old. ({{bibleref2|Genesis|21:1-5|9|Genesis 21:1–5}}) For Sarah, the thought of giving birth and nursing a child, at such an old age, also brought her much laughter, as she declared, "God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." ({{bibleref2|Genesis|21:6-7|9|Genesis 21:6–7}}) Isaac continued to grow and on the day he was weaned, Abraham held a great feast to honor the occasion. During the celebration, however, Sarah found Ishmael mocking; an observation that would begin to clarify the birthright of Isaac. ({{bibleref|Genesis|21:8-13|9|Genesis 21:8–13}})

===Abraham and Ishmael===
{{See also|Ishmael in Islam#The sacrifice}}
[[Ishmael]] was fourteen years old when Abraham's son [[Isaac]] was born to a different mother, Sarah. Sarah had finally borne her own child, even though she had passed her child bearing period. When she found [[Ishmael]] teasing Isaac, Sarah told Abraham to send both Ishmael and Hagar away. She declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was greatly distressed by his wife's words and sought the advice of his God. The Lord told Abraham not to be distressed but to do as his wife commanded. God reassured Abraham that "in Isaac shall seed be called to thee." ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|21:12|HE}}) He also said that Ishmael would make a nation, "because he is thy seed". ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|21:9–13|HE}})

Early the next morning, Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together. He gave her bread and water and sent them away. The two wandered in the wilderness of [[Beersheba]] until her bottle of water was completely consumed. In a moment of despair, she burst into tears. The boy then called to God and upon hearing him, an [[angel]] of God confirmed to Hagar that he would become a great nation. A well of water then appeared so that it saved their lives. As the boy grew, he became a skilled [[Archery|archer]] living in the wilderness of [[Desert of Paran|Paran]]. Eventually his mother found a wife for Ishmael from her home country, the land of Egypt. ({{Bibleverse||Genesis|21:14–21|HE}})

===Abraham and Isaac===
{{main|Binding of Isaac}}
{{see also|Isaac#Binding of Isaac}}
At some point in [[Isaac]]'s youth, Abraham was commanded by God to offer his son up as a sacrifice in the land of [[Moriah]]. The patriarch traveled three days until he came to the mount that God told him of. He commanded the servants to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone into the mount. Isaac carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. Along the way, Isaac asked his father where the animal for the burnt offering was, to which Abraham replied, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he was interrupted by the Angel of the Lord, and he saw behind him a [[Domestic sheep|ram]] caught in a thicket by its horns, which he sacrificed instead of his son. For his obedience he received another promise of numerous descendants and abundant prosperity. After this event, Abraham went to [[Beersheba]]. ({{Bibleref2|Gen.|22:1-19|9|Genesis 22:1–19}})

===Later years===
Sarah died, and Abraham buried her in the [[Cave of the Patriarchs]] (the "Cave of Machpelah"), near [[Hebron]] which he had purchased along with the adjoining field from Ephron the [[Biblical Hittites|Hittite]]. ({{Bibleref2|Genesis|23|9|Genesis 23:1–20}}) After the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife, a [[concubine]] named [[Keturah]], by whom he had six sons: [[Zimran]], [[Jokshan]], [[Medan (son of Abraham)|Medan]], [[Midian (son of Abraham)|Midian]], [[Ishbak]], and [[Shuah]]. ({{Bibleref2|Genesis|25:1-6|9|Genesis 25:1–6}}) Abraham lived 175 years, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. ({{Bibleref2|Genesis|25:7-10|9|Genesis 25:7–10}})

== Historicity and origins ==

===Historicity===
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 11347 Abrams well.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Abraham's well at Beersheba]]
In the early to mid-20th century, leading scholars such as [[William F. Albright]] and [[Albrecht Alt]] believed the patriarchs and matriarchs to be either real individuals or believable composite people living in the "[[patriarchal age]]", the 2nd millennium BCE. In the 1970s, however, new conclusions about Israel's past and the biblical texts challenged this portrait. The two works largely responsible were [[Thomas L. Thompson]]'s ''[[The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives]]'' (1974), and [[John Van Seters]]' ''[[Abraham in History and Tradition]]'' (1975). Thompson's argument, based on archaeology and ancient texts, was that no compelling evidence pointed to the patriarchs living in the 2nd millennium and that the biblical texts reflected first millennium conditions and concerns; Van Seters, basing himself on an examination of the patriarchal stories, agreed with Thompson that their names, social milieu and messages strongly suggested that they were [[Iron Age]] creations.{{sfn|Moore|Kelle|2011|p=18-19}} By the beginning of the 21st century, and despite sporadic attempts by more conservative scholars such as [[Kenneth Kitchen]] to save the patriarchal narratives as history, archaeologists had "given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible 'historical figures{{'"}}.{{sfn|Dever|2002|p=98 and fn.2}} Archaeologist and scholar [[William G. Dever]] argues that the biblical story of Abraham reflects a real figure from that period of history.

===Origins of the narrative===
The patriarchal stories most likely had a substantial oral prehistory.{{sfn|Pitard|2001|p=27}} Abraham's name is apparently very ancient, as the tradition found in Genesis no longer understands its original meaning, probably "Father is exalted" - the meaning offered in Genesis 17:5, "Father of a multitude", is a popular etymology.{{sfn|Thompson|2002|p=23-24}} At some stage in Israel's history the oral traditions became part of the written tradition of the [[Pentateuch]]; a majority of scholars believes this stage belongs to the Persian period, roughly 520–320 BCE.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=260}} The mechanisms by which this came about remain unknown,{{sfn|Enns|2012|p=26}} but there are currently two important hypotheses.{{sfn|Ska|2006|p=217,227-228}} The first is Persian Imperial authorisation, the idea that the post-Exilic community needed a legal basis on which to function within the Persian Imperial system; the second relates to the community of citizens organised around the Temple, with the Pentateuch providing the criteria for who would belong to it (the narratives and genealogies in Genesis) and establishing the power structures and relative positions of its various groups.{{sfn|Ska|2006|p=217,227-228}}

Nevertheless, the completion of the Torah and its elevation to the centre of post-Exilic Judaism was as much or more about combining older texts as writing new ones - the final Pentateuch was based on existing traditions.{{sfn|Carr|Conway|2010|p=193}} In [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] {{bibleverse-nb||Ezek|33:24|HE}}, written during the Exile (i.e., in the first half of the 6th century BCE), Ezekiel, an exile in Babylon, tells how those who remained in Judah are claiming ownership of the land based on inheritance from Abraham; but the prophet tells them they have no claim because they don't observe Torah.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=43}} [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] {{bibleverse-nb||Isaiah|63:16|HE}} similarly testifies of tension between the people of Judah and the returning post-Exilic Jews (the "[[Golah|gôlâ]]"), stating that God is the father of Israel and that Israel's history begins with the Exodus and not with Abraham.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=44}} The conclusion to be inferred from this and similar evidence (e.g., [[Ezra-Nehemiah]]), is that the figure of Abraham must have been preeminent among the great landowners of Judah at the time of the Exile and after, serving to support their claims to the land in opposition to those of the returning exiles.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=44}}

== Abraham in religious traditions ==
{{Infobox saint
|name = Abraham
|feast_day = October 9 – Roman Catholicism
|venerated_in = {{hlist |[[Judaism]] |[[Christianity]] |[[Islam]] |[[Baha'i Faith]]}}
|image = Aert de Gelder 009.jpg
|imagesize = 200px
|caption = ''Abraham and the Angels'' by [[Aert de Gelder]] ([[Circa|c.]] 1680–85)
|titles = First Patriarch
}}

===Overview===
Abraham is given a high position of respect in three major world faiths, [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]. In Judaism he is the founding father of the Covenant, the special relationship between the Jewish people and God – a belief which gives the Jews a unique position as the [[Jews as the chosen people|Chosen People of God]]. Christianity and Islam in their beginnings challenged this special relationship, both [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] and [[Muhammad]] claiming Abraham for themselves as a "believer before the fact."{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} In both cases the fact was the [[Mosaic law]] or its symbol, [[circumcision]].{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} For Paul, Abraham's faith in God made him the prototype of all believers, circumcised and uncircumcised; for Muhammad, Abraham's belief separated ''islam'', submission to God, from the [[Torah]].{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} Thus Abraham, by his faith (according to Paul) or by his submission (according to Muhammad), undercut Jewish claims to an exclusive relationship with God and the Covenant.{{sfn|Peters|2010|p=170–171}}{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

===Judaism===
In Jewish tradition, Abraham is called ''Avraham Avinu'' (אברהם אבינו), "our father Abraham," signifying that he is both the biological progenitor of the Jews (including converts, according to Jewish tradition), and the father of Judaism, the first Jew.{{sfn|Levenson|2012|p=3}} His life can be read in the weekly [[Torah]] reading portions, predominantly in the [[parashot]]: [[Lech-Lecha (parsha)|Lech-Lecha]] (לֶךְ-לְךָ), [[Vayeira (parsha)|Vayeira]] (וַיֵּרָא), [[Chayei Sarah (parsha)|Chayei Sarah]] (חַיֵּי שָׂרָה), and [[Toledot (parsha)|Toledot]] (תּוֹלְדֹת).

===Christianity===
Abraham (Abram) does not loom so large in Christianity as he does in Judaism and Islam{{snd}} it is [[Jesus]] as the [[Messiah]] who is central to Christianity, and the idea of the supernatural [[Christ]] is what separates Christianity from the other two religions.{{sfn|Peters|2010|p=171}} In [[Letter to the Romans|Romans]] 4, Abraham's merit is less his obedience to the divine will than his faith in God's ultimate grace; this faith provides him the merit for God's having chosen him for the covenant, and the covenant becomes one of faith, not obedience.<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/issues/Abraham.pdf Firestone, Reuven, Encyclopedia of World History -Abraham (PDF)]</ref>

The Roman Catholic Church calls Abraham "our father in Faith" in the [[Eucharistic prayer]] of the [[Roman Canon]], recited during the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] (see ''[[Abraham in the Catholic liturgy]]''). He is also commemorated in the [[calendar of saints|calendars of saints]] of several denominations: on 20 August by the [[Maronite Church]], 28 August in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]] and the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] (with the full [[daily office|office]] for the latter), and on 9 October by the Roman Catholic Church and the [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]]. In the introduction to his 15th-century translation of the Golden Legend's account of Abraham, William Caxton noted that this patriarch's life was read in church on [[Sunday before Lent|Quinquagesima Sunday]].<ref name=Caxton>{{cite web|last=Caxton|first=William|title=Abraham|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/GoldenLegend-Volume1.asp#Abraham|work=The Golden Legend|publisher=Internet Medieval Source Book|accessdate=3 April 2014}}</ref>
He is the [[patron saint]] of those in the hospitality industry.{{sfn|Holweck|1924|p=}} The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] commemorates him as the "Righteous Forefather Abraham", with two [[feast day]]s in its [[Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar|liturgical calendar]]. The first time is on 9 October (for those churches which follow the traditional [[Julian Calendar]], 9 October falls on 22 October of the modern [[Gregorian Calendar]]), where he is commemorated together with his nephew "Righteous Lot". The other is on the "Sunday of the Forefathers" (two Sundays before Christmas), when he is commemorated together with other [[Genealogy of Jesus|ancestors of Jesus]]. Abraham is also mentioned in the [[Divine Liturgy]] of [[Saint Basil the Great]], just before the Anaphora, and Abraham and Sarah are invoked in the prayers said by the priest over a newly married couple.

In 1835 [[Joseph Smith]] claimed to translate some [[papyrus|papyri]] which "purport[ed] to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the [[Book of Abraham]], written by his own hand, upon papyrus."<ref>[http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/willard-richards-copy-of-abraham-manuscript-early-1842-a-abraham-11-218 Willard Richards Copy of Abraham Manuscript, Early 1842]</ref> The writings discuss Abraham's flight from Egypt, God's promises to Abraham, Abraham's [[Agency (LDS Church)|foreordination]], and the creation story.<ref>[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/abr?lang=eng Book of Abraham]</ref> The work was recognized as one of the [[standard works]] of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] in 1880.<ref name=BoA>{{cite web |url=http://ldsfaq.byu.edu/viewEM.aspx?number=32 |title=LDS FAQ - Book of Abraham |author= |publisher=Brigham Young University |accessdate=2014-04-02}}</ref>

===Islam===
{{Ibrahim}}
{{main|Abraham in Islam}}
Islam focuses on Abraham ({{lang-ar|{{large|إبراهيم}}}}ʾIbrāhīm) more than either Judaism or Christianity, but with an important difference: where Judaism holds that one becomes a descendant of Abraham through birth, and Christianity that one becomes a descendant through faith, Islam holds that descent is unimportant – Abraham, in other words, is not the father of the believing community, but a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Mohammad.{{sfn|Levenson|2012|p=[http://books.google.com/books?id=EUO2Mhd-drcC&pg=PA8#v=snippet&q=%22chain%20of%20prophets%22&f=false PA8]}}

[[Abraham in Islam|Ibrāhīm]] is mentioned in 35 chapters of the [[Quran]], more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses.{{sfn|Peters|2003|p=[http://books.google.com/books?id=HYJ2c9E9IM8C&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q=thirty-five%20chapters&f=false PA9]}} He is called both a ''hanif'' ([[monotheist]]) and ''muslim'' (one who surrenders to God),{{sfn|Levenson|2012|p=[http://books.google.com/books?id=EUO2Mhd-drcC&pg=PA200#v=onepage&q=hanif%20muslim&f=false PA200]}} and Muslims regard him as a [[prophet]] and [[patriarch]], the archetype of the perfect [[Muslim]], and the revered reformer of the [[Kaaba]] in [[Mecca]].<ref name="Mecca, Martin Lings, c. 2004">''Mecca'', Martin Lings, c. 2004</ref>

Islamic traditions consider [[Abraham in Islam|Ibrāhīm]] (Abraham) the first Pioneer of Islam (which is also called ''millat Ibrahim'', the "religion of Abraham"), and that his purpose and mission throughout his life was to proclaim the [[Tawhid|Oneness of God]]. In Islam, he is referred to as "Ibrahim El Khalil" ({{lang|ar|{{large|إبراهيم الخليل}}}}), meaning "Abraham the Friend [of Allah]". When Ibrahim ''(Abraham)'' was asked for sacrifice, he took [[Ishmael in Islam|Ismā'īl]] ''(Ishmael)'' to sacrifice. When he was about to use the knife, God placed a sheep under his hand. From that day onward, every [[Eid al-Adha]] ({{lang|ar|{{large|عيد الأضحى}}}} ''‘Īd al-’Aḍḥá'') once a year Muslims around the world slaughter a sheep to follow the path of Ibrāhīm (Abraham) that is called [[Qurban]] ("sacrifice").<ref name="Siddiqui">{{cite news |last=Siddiqui |first=Mona |title=Ibrahim - the Muslim view of Abraham |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/ibrahim.shtml |work=[[BBC]] |date=September 4, 2009 |accessdate=September 12, 2013}}</ref>

===Baha'i Faith===
[[Bahá'u'lláh]], the prophet of the Baha'i Faith, affirms the highest religious station for Abraham and generally for prophets mentioned among the other Abrahamic religions,{{sfn|May|1993|p=102}} and has claimed a lineage of descent from Abraham through [[Keturah]] and [[Sarah]].{{sfn|Hatcher|Martin|1998|p=}}<ref>{{cite web | title = Abrahamic Religion | work = Christianity: Details about ... | publisher = Christianity Guide | accessdate =19 September 2009| url =http://www.christianity-guide.com/christianity/abrahamic_religion.htm}}</ref><ref name="crimson">{{cite news | last = Flow | first = Christian B. | last2 = Nolan | first2 = Rachel B.| title = Go Forth From Your Country | newspaper = [[The Harvard Crimson]] | date = 16 November 2006| url = http://www.abrahampath.org/downloads/harvard_crimson.2006.11.16.pdf| accessdate =19 September 2009}}</ref> Additionally Bahá'u'lláh actually did lose a son, [[Mírzá Mihdí]].{{sfn|Ma'ani|2008|p=150}} Bahá'u'lláh, then in prison, eulogized his son and connected the subsequent easing of restrictions to his dying prayer and also compared it to the intended sacrifice of Abraham's son.{{sfn|Taherzadeh|1984|p=204-220}}

== Abraham in the arts ==

===Painting and sculpture===
Paintings on the life of Abraham tend to focus on only a few incidents: the sacrifice of Isaac; meeting Melchizedek; entertaining the three angels; Hagar in the desert; and a few others.<ref name = "Abeart" >For a very thorough online collection of links to artwork about Abraham see: [http://www.jesuswalk.com/abraham/abraham-artwork.htm Artwork Depicting Scenes from Abraham's Life] Accessed 25 March 2011</ref> Additionally, Martin O'Kane, a professor of Biblical Studies, writes that the parable of [[Rich man and Lazarus|Lazarus]] resting in the "[[Bosom of Abraham]]", as described in the [[Gospel of Luke]], became an iconic image in Christian works.{{sfn|Exum|2007|p=135}} According to O'Kane, artists often chose to divert from the common literary portrayal of Lazarus sitting next to Abraham at a banquet in Heaven and instead focus on the "somewhat incongruous notion of Abraham, the most venerated of patriarchs, holding a naked and vulnerable child in his bosom".{{sfn|Exum|2007|p=135}} Several artists have been inspired by the life of Abraham, including [[Albrecht Dürer]] (1471–1528), [[Caravaggio]] (1573–1610), [[Donatello]], [[Raphael]], [[van Dyck|Philip van Dyck]] (Dutch painter, 1680–1753), and [[Claude Lorrain]] (French painter, 1600–1682). [[Rembrandt van Rijn]] (Dutch, 1606–1669) created at least seven works on Abraham, [[Rubens|Petrus-Paulus Rubens]] (1577–1640) did several, [[Marc Chagall]] did at least five on Abraham, Gustave Doré (French illustrator, 1832–1883) did six, and [[James Jacques Joseph Tissot]] (French painter and illustrator, 1836–1902) did over twenty works on the subject.<ref name = "Abeart"/>

[[File:Isaac sarcifice Pio Christiano Inv31648.jpg|thumb|Cast of the [[Sacrifice of Isaac]]. The hand of God originally came down to hold Abraham's knife (both are now missing).]]

The [[Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus]] depicts a set of biblical stories, including Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. These sculpted scenes are on the outside of a marble [[Early Christian art|Early Christian]] [[sarcophagus]] used for the burial of [[Junius Bassus]]. He died in 359. This sarcophagus has been described as "probably the single most famous piece of early Christian relief sculpture."<ref>[http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/journal_of_early_christian_studies/v001/1.1.rutgers.html Journal of Early Christian Studies], Leonard Victor Rutgers, ''The Iconography of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus'' (review of Malbon book), Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 1993, pp. 94–96; for Janson it is also the "finest Early Christian sarcophagus".</ref> The sarcophagus was originally placed in or under [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]], was rediscovered in 1597,<ref>or 1595, see Elsner, p. 86n.</ref> and is now below the modern basilica in the Museo Storico del Tesoro della Basilica di San Pietro (Museum of [[Saint Peter's Basilica]]) in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]. The base is approximately 4 × 8 × 4 feet. The Old Testament scenes depicted were chosen as precursors of Christ's sacrifice in the [[New Testament]], in an early form of [[Typology (theology)|typology]]. Just to the right of the middle is Daniel in the lion's den and on the left is Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac.

[[George Segal (artist)|George Segal]] created figural sculptures by molding plastered gauze strips over live models in his 1987 work ''Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael''. The human condition was central to his concerns, and Segal used the Old Testament as a source for his imagery. This sculpture depicts the dilemma faced by Abraham when Sarah demanded that he expel Hagar and Ishmael. In the sculpture, the father's tenderness, Sarah's rage, and Hagar's resigned acceptance portray a range of human emotions. The sculpture was donated to the Miami Art Museum after the artist's death in 2000.<ref>[http://www.miamiartmuseum.org/collection-selected-segalgeorge.asp Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael. ''George Segal.'' Miami Art Museum. Collections: Recent Acquisitions.] Accessed 10 April 2011.</ref>

;Abraham in Christian Iconography
Usually Abraham can be identified by the context of the image{{snd}} the meeting with [[Melchizedek]], [[:commons:Category:Abraham and three angels|the three visitors]], or [[:commons:Category:Sacrifice of Isaac|the sacrifice of Isaac]]. In solo portraits a sword or knife may be used as his attribute, as in [[:commons:File:AbrahamMorlaiterJRS.JPG|this statue]] by Gian Maria Morlaiter or [[:commons:File:AbrahamMonacoJRS.jpg|this painting]] by Lorenzo Monaco. He always wears a gray or white beard.

As early as the beginning of the 3rd century, Christian art followed Christian [[Typology (theology)#Sacrifice of Isaac|typology]] in making the sacrifice of Isaac a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and its memorial in the sacrifice of the Mass. See for example [[:commons:File:AltarFuldaClunyJRS.jpg|this 11th-century Christian altar]] engraved with Abraham's and other sacrifices taken to prefigure that of Christ in the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.christianiconography.info/abraham.html |title=Abraham the Patriarch in Art{{snd}} Iconography and Literature | publisher=Christian Iconography{{snd}} a project of [[Georgia Regents University]]. |accessdate=2014-04-18}}</ref>

Some early Christian writers interpreted the three visitors as the [[triune God]]. Thus in Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, [[:commons:File:HospitalityAbrahamSMMaggioreJRS.jpg|a 5th-century mosaic]] portrays only the visitors against a gold ground and puts semitransparent copies of them in the "heavenly" space above the scene. In Eastern Orthodox art the visit is the chief means by which the Trinity is pictured ([[:commons:File:Russian - Hospitality of Abraham - Walters 371185.jpg|example]]). Some images do not include Abraham and Sarah, like Andrei Rublev's ''Trinity'', which shows only the three visitors as beardless youths at a table.<ref name=Boguslawski>{{cite web|last=Boguslawski|first=Alexander|title=The Holy Trinity|url=http://myweb.rollins.edu/aboguslawski/Ruspaint/trinity.html|publisher=Rollins.edu|accessdate=3 April 2014}}</ref>

===Literature===
''[[Fear and Trembling]]'' (original [[Danish language|Danish]] title: ''Frygt og Bæven'') is an influential philosophical work by [[Søren Kierkegaard]], published in 1843 under the pseudonym ''Johannes de silentio'' (''John the Silent''). Kierkegaard wanted to understand the anxiety that must have been present in Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son.{{sfn|Kierkegaard|1980|p=155-156}}

=== Music ===
In 1994, [[Steve Reich]] released an opera named ''[[The Cave (opera)|The Cave]]''. The title refers to [[The Cave of the Patriarchs]]. The narrative of the opera is based on the story of Abraham and his immediate family as it is recounted in the various religious texts, and as it is understood by individual people from different cultures and religious traditions.

[[Bob Dylan|Bob Dylan's]] "[[Highway 61 Revisited (song)|Highway 61 Revisited]]"<ref>[http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/highway-61-revisited "Highway 61 Revisited"] Retrieved 25 March 2011.</ref> is the title track for his 1965 album ''[[Highway 61 Revisited]]''. In 2004, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine ranked the song as number 364 in their [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|500 Greatest Songs of All Time]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4|accessdate=8 August 2008| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20080913125603/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4| archivedate= 13 September 2008}}</ref> The song has five stanzas. In each stanza, someone describes an unusual problem that is ultimately resolved on Highway 61. In Stanza 1, [[God in Abrahamic religions|God]] tells Abraham to "[[Binding of Isaac|kill me a son]]". God wants the killing done on Highway 61. Abram, the original name of the biblical Abraham, is also the name of Dylan's own father.

== See also ==
{{portal|Judaism|Christianity|Islam}}
* [[Abraham in Islam]]
* [[Abraham's Gate]] at [[Tel Dan]]
* [[Abraham in History and Tradition (book)|''Abraham in History and Tradition'' (book)]]
* [[Bosom of Abraham]]
* [[Gathering of Israel]]
* [[Genealogies of Genesis]]
* [[Jewish Kabbalah]]
* The ''[[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]]'' and ''[[Book of Abraham]]'' in [[Mormonism]].
* [[Table of prophets of Abrahamic religions]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist |group="Notes"}}

== References ==
{{reflist |3}}

== Bibliography ==

{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
: {{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Stephen J. |chapter=Abraham |editor1-last=Mills |editor1-first=Watson E. |editor2-last=Bullard |editor2-first=Roger A. |title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible |year=1990 |publisher=Mercer University Press |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q=Abraham+%22founding+father%22&f=false |isbn=978-0-86554-373-7 |page=5 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Barr|first=James|authorlink=James Barr (biblical scholar)|title=Bible and Interpretation: The Collected Essays of James Barr|url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=xpg1xWbaycUC&pg=PP1&dq=Bible+and+Interpretation:+The+Collected+Essays+of+James+Barr&hl=en&sa=X&ei=U7s6Uq6rN8KWkwWVtIHYBQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Bible%20and%20Interpretation%3A%20The%20Collected%20Essays%20of%20James%20Barr&f=false|accessdate=|year=2013|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1= Barr |first1= James |chapter= Chronology |title= The Oxford Companion to the Bible |editor1-last= Metzger |editor1-first= Bruce |editor2-last= Coogan |editor2-first= Michael D. |publisher= Oxford University Press |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Y2KGVuym5OUC&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q=biblical%20chronology%20164%20BCE&f=false |year= 1993 |ref= harv }}
: {{cite book |last1= Carr |first1= David M. |last2= Conway |first2= Colleen M. |title= An Introduction to the Bible: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts |chapter= Introduction to the Pentateuch |publisher= John Wiley & Sons |url= http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=dJerjvlxCHsC#v=onepage&q&f=false |year= 2010 |ref= harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Coogan|first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Coogan|title=The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction|url= http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4OOrWwceuXcC&pg=PA23#v=onepage&q=%22James%20Ussher%22%20chronology%20abraham&f=false|accessdate=|year=2008|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=|isbn=978-0-19-530505-0|page=|ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Davies |first=Philip R. |title=Memories of Ancient Israel: An Introduction to Biblical History - Ancient and Modern |url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=M1rS4Kce_PMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Memories+of+Ancient+Israel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4-86Uv6sDs2aiAf_9AE&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Memories%20of%20Ancient%20Israel&f=false |year=2008 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |location= |isbn=|page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Dever |first=William G. |authorlink=William G. Dever |title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and when Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q=%22respectable%20archaeologists%22&f=false |accessdate= |year=2002 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |location= |isbn=978-0-8028-2126-3 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last= Enns |first= Peter |title= The Evolution of Adam |year= 2012 |publisher= Baker Books |isbn= |url= http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=BNxeoqoTg-YC#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Exum |first=Jo Cheryl |authorlink= |title=Retellings: The Bible in Literature, Music, Art and Film |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=4bTVrpXSXe8C&pg=PA135#v=onepage&q=Biblical%20Art%20Abraham&f=false |accessdate= |year=2007 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |location= |isbn=90-04-16572-X |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |last2=Silberman |first2=Neil Asher |authorlink1=Israel Finkelstein |authorlink2=Neil Asher Silberman |title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Sacred Texts |year=2002 |publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]] |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC#v=onepage&q=Biblical%20Archaeology%20Abraham&f=false |isbn=0-7432-2338-1 |pages= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Hatcher |first1=W.S. |last2=Martin |first2=J.D. |title=The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion |year=1998 |publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust |url= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |authorlink= |title=Remembering Abraham : Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=IMsweVhMbaoC&pg=PA33#v=onepage&q=Abraham%20father%20of%20Arabs&f=false |accessdate= |year=2005 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location= |isbn=0-19-803959-X |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Andrew E. |last2=Walton |first2=John H. |title=A Survey of the Old Testament |year=2010 |publisher=Zondervan |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=WC80zxPIgyQC&pg=PA2024#v=snippet&q=Abraham+inheritance&f=false |isbn=978-0-310-59066-8 |pages=2024–2030 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Holweck |first1=Frederick George |title=A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints |year=1924 |publisher=B. Herder Book Co |url= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Hubbard |first1=David Allan |last2=Sanford La Sor |last3=Bush |first2=Frederic William|authorlink= |title=Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament |year=1996 |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]] |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=6wSWpZmmlAoC#v=onepage&q&f=false |isbn=0-8028-3788-3 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1= Hughes |first1= Jeremy |title= Secrets of the Times |publisher= Continuum |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=vPg2cvQLwHAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Secrets+of+the+Times:+Myth+and+History+in+Biblical+Chronology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_qk6UrqtMujwiAecvIB4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Secrets%20of%20the%20Times%3A%20Myth%20and%20History%20in%20Biblical%20Chronology&f=false |year= 1990 |ref= harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Kierkegaard |first1=Søren |authorlink1=Søren Kierkegaard |title=The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Orienting Deliberation on the Dogmatic Issue of Hereditary Sin |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=MzMiPwAACAAJ |accessdate= |year=1980 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location= |isbn=0-691-02011-6 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Levenson |first=Jon Douglas |title=Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam |year=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=EUO2Mhd-drcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Inheriting+Abraham&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tFo5UuLCLszFkwW53oCIDQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Inheriting%20Abraham&f=false |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book|last=Ma'ani |first=Baharieh Rouhani |year=2008 |title=Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=0-85398-533-2|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=rVdhPgAACAAJ |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{Cite journal |last= May |first= Dann J |title= The Bahá'í Principle of Religious Unity and the Challenge of Radical Pluralism |date= December 1993 |page= 102 |publisher= University of North Texas, Denton, Texas |url= http://iii.library.unt.edu/record=b1785599~S12|contribution= Web Published |contribution-url= http://bahai-library.com/may_principle_religious_unity}}
: {{cite book |last1=McCarter |first1=P. Kyle |authorlink= |chapter=Abraham |editor1-last=Freedman |editor1-first=Noel David |editor2-last=Myers |editor2-first=Allen C. |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |year=2000 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q=Abraham+Isaac+Ishmael&f=false |isbn=978-90-5356-503-2 |pages=8–10 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=McNutt |first=Paula M. |authorlink= |title=Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=hd28MdGNyTYC&pg=PA41#v=onepage&q=Abraham+patriarchal+%22known+history%22&f=false |accessdate= |year=1999 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |location= |isbn=978-0-664-22265-9 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Mills |first=Watson E. |authorlink= |title=Mercer Commentary on the Bible, Volume 1; Volume 8 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=ym5rt115YtwC&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q=Biblical%20linguistics%20Abraham%20name%20meaning&f=false |year=1998 |publisher=[[Mercer University Press]] |location= |isbn=0-86554-506-5 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Megan Bishop |last2=Kelle |first2=Brad E. |authorlink= |title=Biblical History and Israel's Past |year=2011 |publisher=Eerdmans |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=Qjkz_8EMoaUC&pg=PA19#v=snippet&q=Thompson+%22Van+Seters%22&f=false |isbn=978-0-8028-6260-0 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Peters |first=Francis Edwards |authorlink=Francis Edwards Peters |title=Islam, a Guide for Jews and Christians |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=HYJ2c9E9IM8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Islam,+a+Guide+for+Jews+and+Christians&hl=en&sa=X&ei=x-06UoHbLsSKiQeJm4D4BQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA |accessdate= |year=2003 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |page=9 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Peters |first=Francis Edwards |authorlink=Francis Edwards Peters |title=The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=OaVf79Ui0i4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate= |year=2010 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |location= |isbn=1-4008-2129-0 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1=Pitard |first1=Wayne T. |chapter=Before Israel |editor1-last=Coogan |editor1-first=Michael D. |title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C&pg=PA27#v=snippet&q=oral+tradition&f=false |isbn=978-0-19-513937-2 |page=27 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last1= Shea |first1= William H. |chapter= Chronology of the Old Testament |title= Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |editor1-last= Freedman |editor1-first= David Noel |editor2-last= Myers |editor2-first= Allen C. |publisher=Eerdmans |url= http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA248#v=onepage&q=biblical%20chronology%20date%20abraham&f=false |year= 2000 |ref= harv}}
: {{cite book|last= Ska|first= Jean Louis|title= Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch|chapter= |year= 2006|publisher= Eisenbrauns|isbn= |url= http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=7cdy67ZvzdkC#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv }}
: {{cite book |last1=Ska |first1=Jean Louis |title=The Exegesis of the Pentateuch: Exegetical Studies and Basic Questions |year=2009 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=7g4yqsv0S0cC&pg=PA260#v=snippet&q=exegetes+exaggerated+mainstream&f=false |isbn=978-3-16-149905-0 |pages=30–31,260 |ref=harv}}
: {{Cite book |last=Taherzadeh |first=Adib |authorlink=Adib Taherzadeh |year=1984 |title=The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3: 'Akka, The Early Years 1868–77 |publisher=George Ronald |place=Oxford, UK |chapter=The Death of the Purest Branch |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=3VhTAAAAYAAJ |isbn=0-85398-144-2 |page= |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Thomas L. |title=The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham |publisher=[[Trinity Press International]] |authorlink=Thomas L. Thompson |location=Valley Forge, Pa |year=2002 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=lwrzapZYqFAC&pg=PA23#v=snippet&q=%22Father%20of%20a%20Multitude%22&f=false |isbn=1-56338-389-6 |pages=23–24, 36 |ref=harv}}
: {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Marvin R. |authorlink= |title=Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=RPyAG2cduiAC#v=onepage&q=Father%20Abraham&f=false |accessdate= |year=1989 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |location=Massachusetts |isbn=0-8028-0423-3 |page= |ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Abraham}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{EBD poster|wstitle=Abraham}}
* [[s:1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Abraham|Abraham]] from the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' at [[Wikisource]].
* [http://www.chabad.org/112356/ "Abraham"] at chabad.org.
* [http://www.azamra.org/Earth/mount-03.html Abraham smashes the idols] (accessed 24 March 2011).
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2890 "Journey and Life of the Patriarch Abraham"], a map dating back to 1590.

{{Adam to David}}
{{Prophets of the Tanakh}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Abraham
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Abram
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
| DATE OF BIRTH = Uncertain (around 2000 BCE or earlier)
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Mesopotamia]]
| DATE OF DEATH = Uncertain
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Canaan]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham}}
[[Category:Abraham| ]]
[[Category:Biblical patriarchs]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis]]
[[Category:Burials in Hebron]]
[[Category:Fertile Crescent]]
[[Category:Founders of religions]]
[[Category:Christian saints from the Old Testament]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:Prophets of Islam]]

Jinn

2014-06-27T17:19:37Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614578365 by 74.69.211.159 (talk)

{{otheruses}}
{{Redirect10|Genie|Jinni|Djinn}}
{{Redirect|Djinni|the creature from Dungeons & Dragons|Djinni (Dungeons & Dragons)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2010}}
[[File:Imam_Ali_and_the_Jinn.jpg|thumb|Imam Ali Conquers Jinn Unknown artist Ahsan-ol-Kobar 1568 Golestan Palace.]]

'''Jinn''' or '''djinn''' (singular: '''jinnī''', '''djinni''', or '''genie'''; {{lang-ar|الجن}} ''{{transl|ar|ALA|al-jinn}}'', singular {{lang|ar|الجني}} ''{{transl|ar|ALA|al-jinnī}}'') are [[supernatural]] creatures in [[Islamic mythology]] as well as pre-Islamic [[Arabian mythology]]. They are mentioned frequently in the [[Quran]] (the 72nd [[sura]] is titled ''[[Al-Jinn|Sūrat al-Jinn]]'') and other Islamic texts and inhabit [[Djinnestan|an unseen world]] in [[Multiverse (religion)#Islam|dimensions]] beyond the visible [[universe]] of humans. The Quran says that the ''jinn'' are made of a smokeless and "scorching fire",<ref>Qur’ān 15:27</ref> but are also physical in nature, being able to interfere physically with people and objects and likewise be acted upon. The ''jinn'', humans and [[Islamic view of angels|angels]] make up the three [[Sapience|sapient]] creations of [[God in Islam|God]]. Like human beings, the ''jinn'' can be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have [[free will]] like humans and unlike angels.<ref>El-Zein, Amira. [http://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&pg=PA116-IA117&lpg=PA116-IA117&dq=Jinn:+Medieval+Islamic+Civilization+-+An+Encyclopaedia&source=bl&ots=TSnTkHUY_j&sig=mXTd96-4uH5A5dpRvcBvgDGjUS4&hl=en&ei=HScES6WOBMLDlAek9IHtAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Jinn%3A%20Medieval%20Islamic%20Civilization%20-%20An%20Encyclopaedia&f=false "Jinn"], 420-421, in [[Josef W. Meri|Meri, Joseph W.]], ''Medieval Islamic Civilization - An Encyclopedia''.</ref> The [[Devil (Islam)|shaytan]] ''jinn'' are the analogue of [[demon]]s in Christian tradition, but the ''jinn'' are not angels and the Quran draws a clear distinction between the two creations. The Quran states in [[sura|surat]] ''[[Al-Kahf]] (The Cave)'', [[Ayah]] 50,<ref>[http://quran.com/18/50 Surat Al-Kahf (18:50) – The Holy Qur'an – القرآن الكريم]</ref> that [[Devil (Islam)|Iblis]] (Satan) is one of the ''jinn''.

==Etymology and definitions==
''Jinn'' is a noun of the [[collective number]] in Arabic literally meaning "hidden from sight", and it derives from the [[Semitic root|Arabic root]] ''{{transl|ar|ALA|j-n-n}}'' (pronounced: jann/ junn جَنّ / جُنّ) meaning "to hide" or "be hidden". Other words derived from this root are ''{{transl|ar|ALA|majnūn}}'' 'mad' (literally, 'one whose intellect is hidden'), ''{{transl|ar|ALA|junūn}}'' 'madness', and ''{{transl|ar|ALA|janīn}}'' 'embryo, fetus' ('hidden inside the womb').<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic]] |last=Wehr |first=Hans |authorlink=Hans Wehr |year=1994 |edition=4 |publisher=Spoken Language Services |location=Urbana, Illinois |isbn=978-0-87950-003-0 |page=164}}</ref>

The word ''genie'' in English is derived from Latin ''[[genius (mythology)|genius]]'', meant a sort of tutelary or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at their birth. English borrowed the French descendant of this word, ''génie''; its earliest written attestation in English, in 1655, is a plural spelled "genyes". The French translators of ''[[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights]]'' used ''génie'' as a translation of ''jinnī'' because it was similar to the Arabic word in sound and in meaning. This use was also adopted in English and has since become dominant.{{Citation needed|date=December 2011}}

In [[Arabic]], the word ''{{transl|ar|ALA|jinn}}'' is in the [[collective number]], translated in English as plural (e.g., "several genies"); ''{{transl|ar|ALA|jinnī}}'' is in the [[singulative number]], used to refer to one individual, which is translated by the singular in English (e.g., "one genie"). Therefore, the word ''jinn'' in [[English language|English]] writing is treated as a plural.

==In the pre-Islamic era==
[[File:1719 Tales 60.jpg|thumb|right|Hungarian stamp representing a jinni from the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]''.]]

Inscriptions found in Northwestern Arabia seem to indicate the worship of jinn, or at least their tributary status, hundreds of years before Islam. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi'el near [[Palmyra]] pays tribute to the "''jinnaye''", the "good and rewarding gods".<ref>Hoyland, R. G., Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam.</ref>

==In Islam==
In [[Islamic theology]] jinn are said to be creatures with [[Predestination in Islam|free will]], made from smokeless fire by [[God in Islam|Allah]] as humans were made of clay, among other things.<ref>{{Quran-usc|55|14|end=15|style=nosup}}</ref> According to the [[Quran]], jinn have free will, and ''[[Devil (Islam)|{{transl|ar|ALA|Iblīs}}]]'' abused this freedom in front of Allah by refusing to bow to [[Adam in Islam|Adam]] when Allah ordered angels and jinn to do so. For disobeying Allah, Iblīs was expelled from Paradise and called "''[[Devil (Islam)|{{transl|ar|ALA|Shayṭān}}]]''" (Satan). Jinn are frequently mentioned in the [[Quran]]: [[Sura]]h 72 (named ''[[Al-Jinn|Sūrat al-Jinn]]'') is named after the jinn, and has a passage about them. Another surah (''[[Al-Nas|Sūrat al-Nās]]'') mentions jinn in the last verse.<ref>{{Quran-usc|116|4|end=4|style=nosup}}</ref> The Qurʾan also mentions that [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] was sent as a [[prophets of Islam|prophet]] to both "humanity and the jinn", and that prophets and [[Apostle (Islam)|messengers]] were sent to both communities.<ref>{{Quran-usc|51|56|end=56|style=nosup}}</ref><ref>Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-Ṭabarī, ''Tuḥfat al-gharā’ib'', I, p. 68; Abū al-Futūḥ Rāzī, ''Tafsīr-e rawḥ al-jenān va rūḥ al-janān'', pp. 193, 341</ref>

Similar to humans, jinn have free will allowing them to do as they choose (such as follow any religion). They are usually invisible to humans, but humans do appear clearly to jinn, as they can possess them. Jinn have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air, in their own communities. Like humans, jinn will also be judged on the [[Day of Judgment]] and will be sent to [[Jannah|Paradise]] or [[Jahannam|Hell]] according to their deeds.<ref>''Tafsīr''; ''Bakhsh az tafsīr-e kohan'', p. 181; Loeffler, p. 46</ref>

===Classifications and characteristics===
The social organization of the jinn community resembles that of humans; e.g., they have kings, courts of law, weddings, and mourning rituals.<ref>Ṭūsī, p. 484; Fozūnī, p. 527</ref> A few traditions (hadith), divide jinn into three classes: those who have wings and fly in the air, those who resemble snakes and dogs, and those who travel about ceaselessly.<ref>Fozūnī, p. 526</ref> Other reports claim that [[Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud|‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd]] (d. 652), who was accompanying Prophet Muhammad when the jinn came to hear his recitation of the Quran, described them as creatures of different forms; some resembling vultures and snakes, others tall men in white garb.<ref>Fozūnī, pp. 525–526</ref> They may even appear as dragons, [[onagers]], or a number of other animals.<ref>Kolaynī, I, p. 396; Solṭān-Moḥammad, p. 62</ref> In addition to their animal forms, the jinn occasionally assume human form to mislead and destroy their human victims.<ref>Mīhandūst, p. 44</ref> Certain [[hadiths]] have also claimed that the jinn may subsist on bones, which will grow flesh again as soon as they touch them, and that their animals may live on dung, which will revert to grain or grass for the use of the jinn flocks.<ref>Abu’l-Fotūḥ, XVII, pp. 280–281</ref>

[[Ibn Taymiyyah]] believed the jinn were generally "ignorant, untruthful, oppressive and treacherous",<ref name="taym">[[Ibn Taymiyyah]], ''al-Furqān bayna awliyā’ al-Raḥmān wa-awliyā’ al-Shayṭān'' ("Essay on the Jinn"), translated by Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips</ref> thus representing the very strict interpretations adhered by the [[Salafi]] schools of thought. Ibn Taymiyyah believes that the jinn account for much of the "magic" perceived by humans, cooperating with magicians to lift items in the air unseen, delivering hidden truths to [[fortune teller]]s, and mimicking the voices of deceased humans during [[seance]]s.<ref name="taym"/>

In Sūrat [[Ar-Rahman|al-Raḥmān]], verse 33, God reminds jinn as well as mankind that they would possess the ability to pass beyond the furthest reaches of space only by His authority, followed by the question: "Then which of the favors of your Lord do you deny?" In Sūrat [[Al-Jinn]], verses 8–10, Allah narrates concerning the jinn how they touched or "sought the limits" of the sky and found it full of stern guards and shooting stars, as a warning to man. It goes on further to say how the jinn used to take stations in the skies to listen to divine decrees passed down through the ranks of the angels,{{fact|date=April 2014}} but those who attempt to listen now (during and after the revelation of the Qurʾan) shall find fiery sentinels awaiting them.

===Qarīn===
A related belief is that every person is assigned one's own special jinni, also called a ''[[qareen|qarīn]]'', and if the ''qarin'' is evil it could whisper to people's souls and tell them to submit to evil desires.<ref>{{Quran-usc|72|1|end=2|style=nosup}}</ref><ref>{{Quran-usc|15|18|end=18|style=nosup}}</ref><ref>''[[Sahih Muslim]]'', No. 2714</ref> The notion of a ''qarin'' is not universally accepted among all Muslims, but it is generally accepted that [[Devil (Islam)|{{transl|ar|ALA|Shayṭān}}]] whispers in human minds, and he is assigned to each human being.

In a hadith recorded by [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj]], the [[Sahabah|companion]] [[Abdullah, son of Masud]] reported: 'The Prophet [[Muhammad]] said: 'There is not one of you who does not have a jinnī appointed to be his constant companion (''[[Qareen|qarīn]]'').' They said, 'And you too, O Messenger of Allah?' He said, 'Me too, but Allah has helped me and he has submitted, so that he only helps me to do good.' '{{cn|date=March 2014}}

===In Muslim cultures===
[[File:ManuscriptAbbasid.jpg|thumb|right|A manuscript of the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'']]

The stories of the jinn can be found in various [[List of countries by Muslim population|Muslim cultures]] around the world. In [[Sindh]] the concept of the Jinni was introduced during the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid Era]] and has become a common part of the local folklore which also includes stories of both male jinn called "''jinn''" and female jinn called "''jiniri''". Folk stories of female jinn include stories such as the ''Jejhal Jiniri''.

Other acclaimed stories of the jinn can be found in the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'' story of the ''Fisherman and the Jinni'';<ref name="classiclit.about.com">[http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-jinni.htm The fisherman and the Jinni] at About.com Classic Literature</ref> more than three different types of jinn are described in the story of ''Ma‘ruf the Cobbler'';<ref>[http://www.scribd.com/doc/53819003/47/Maruf-the-Cobbler Idries Shah - Tales of the Dervishes] at Scribd</ref><ref>[http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Vol_10/tale169.htm MA’ARUF THE COBBLER AND HIS WIFE]</ref> a mighty jinni helps young [[Aladdin]] in the story of ''Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp'';<ref>[http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-alladin.htm The Arabian Nights - ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP] at About.com Classic Literature</ref> as Ḥasan Badr al-Dīn weeps over the grave of his father until sleep overcomes him, and he is awoken by a large group of sympathetic jinn in the ''Tale of ‘Alī Nūr al-Dīn and his son Badr ad-Dīn Ḥasan''.<ref>[http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/arabian/bl-arabian-nuraldin.htm The Arabian Nights - TALE OF NUR AL-DIN ALI AND HIS SON BADR AL-DIN HASAN] at About.com Classic Literature</ref>

During the [[Rwandan genocide]], both [[Hutu]]s and [[Tutsi]] avoided searching in local [[Rwanda]]n [[Muslim]] neighborhoods and widely believed myths that local [[Muslim]]s and [[Mosque]]s were protected by the power of Islamic magic and the efficacious jinn.{{cn|date=February 2014}} In [[Cyangugu]], arsonists ran away instead of destroying the mosque because they believed jinn were guarding the mosque and feared their wrath.<ref name = "Kubai">{{cite journal
| last = Kubai
| first = Anne
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Walking a Tightrope: Christians and Muslims in Post-Genocide Rwanda
| journal = Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
| volume = 18
| issue = 2
| pages = 219–235
| publisher = Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group
| location =
| date = April 2007
| doi = 10.1080/09596410701214076
| id =
| accessdate = }}</ref>
The modern city of Deoband (Uttar Pradesh, India) is named on similar grounds. 'Deo' from Hindi, is a synonym of Jinn, while 'Band' means closed, but can be translated as captured in Hindi.{{cn|date=February 2014}} The legend says that there was once a menacing jinni, and it was an elderly man who put a stop to him, by capturing him into a bottle and sealing him away forever. Another version describes that there were two, not one jinni. The bottle/s are said to be sealed away in the dungeon of a mosque situated on a hill in the city itself, which has not been opened ever since. Additionally, the premier Islamic body of Darul-Uloom, Deoband is said to have a vibrant community of civilized jinn in its midst.{{fact|date=December 2013}}

===Solomon and the Jinn===
{{main|Solomon in Islam}}

According to traditions, the jinn stood behind the learned humans in Solomon's court, who in turn, sat behind the prophets. The jinn remained in the service of Solomon, who had placed them in bondage, and had ordered them to perform a number of tasks.

"And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts,- of jinn and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks." (Quran 27:17)

The Qurʾan relates that Solomon died while he was leaning on his staff. As he remained upright, propped on his staff, the jinn thought he was still alive and supervising them, so they continued to work. They realized the truth only when Allah sent a creature to crawl out of the ground and gnaw at Solomon's staff until his body collapsed. The Qurʾan then comments that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment of being enslaved.

"Then, when We decreed (Solomon's) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the jinn saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating penalty (of their task)." (Qurʾan 34:14)

[[Ibn al-Nadim]], in his ''Kitāb al-Fihrist'', describes a book that lists seventy Jinn lead by Fuqtus, named "‘Mrd, Kywan, Shimr‘al, Firuz, Mhaqal, Zaynab, Syduk, Jndrb, Siyyar, Zanbur, al-Da’hs, Kawkab, Hamran, Dahir, Qarun, Shidad, Sa‘sa‘ah, Baktan, Harthamah, Takallum, Furuq, Hurmiz, Hamhamah, ‘Ayzar, Mazahim, Murrah, Fatrah, al-Haym, Arhbh, Khyth‘, Khyfth, Rayah, Zuhal, Zawba‘ah, Mhtukara, Hayshab, Tq‘ytan, Wqas, Qdmnh, Mufarrish, Ayra’il, Nizar, Shftil, Dywyd, Ankara, Khatufah, Tnkyush, Misalqar, Qadim, Ashja‘, Nawdar, Tythamah, ‘Usar, Thu‘ban, Naman, Nmudrky, Tyabur, Sahitun, ‘Udhafir, Mirdas, Shytub, Za‘rush, Sakhr, al-‘Aramram, Khashram, Shadhan, al-Harith, al-Hurth, ‘Udhrah (‘Adhirah)", and "Faqruf."<ref name="Dodge">Bayard Dodge, ed. and trans. ''The Fihrist of al-Nadim: A Tenth-Century Survey of Muslim Culture.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1970. pp. 727-8.</ref><ref name="Lebling">Robert Lebling. ''Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar.'' I.B. Taurus, 2010. p.38</ref> This list also includes several Jinn appointed over each day of the week, named (in order): Danhash, Shakhba, Marbaya, ‘Abara, Mismar, Namudarki, and Bakhtash.<ref name="Dodge" /><ref name="Lebling" /> [[Bayard Dodge]], who translated al-Fihrist into English, notes that most of these names appear in the [[Testament of Solomon]].<ref name="Dodge" />

A collection of late fourteenth- or early fifteenth-century magico-medical manuscripts from [[Ocaña, Spain]] describes a different set of Jinn (termed "Tayaliq") again under Fuqtus (here named "Fayqayțūš"), blaming them for various ailments.<ref>Celia del Moral. ''Magia y Superstitión en los Manuscritos de Ocaña (Toledo). Siglos XIV-XV.'' Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, Part Two; A. Fodor, ed. Budapest, 10-17 September 2000. pp.109-121</ref><ref>Joaquina Albarracin Navarro & Juan Martinez Ruiz. ''Medicina, Farmacopea y Magia en el "Misceláneo de Salomón"''. Universidad de Granada, 1987. p.38 et passim</ref> The jinn listed include  M.h.m.s., Mūn.s, N.qīq, M.y.d, Y.d.b.h., 'a.q.l., al-Gūl,<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.134-139</ref> Māŷ.z, Rū'ā, 'amdayāni, L.țūš, al-Dwlāt, Aluwf, D.n.h.š, N.zhūš (son of the king D.n.h.š'), al-Dābā (AKA al-Wāh.na), M.s.rf, Zwb.g.h., H.ŷā, 'w.ya,<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.140-149</ref> 'abaqardāti Ālāsqām, al-Z.b.d.h., al-Qūt, al-Sy.syān, Qalnamāta, F'aŷayān, Ș'aya, al-Rwāh, al-Q.r.șa, Rūnīmah, al-Janāmin,<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.150-159</ref> Hšhš, Lhyf, Samhal, Biqasmayni, Ŷ.n.d', Țlyābān, S.f.r., H.mūdī, N.f.s., Hūrtā, al-Rāhiy'a, al-D.rbān, al-Jațāf Majrūf, al-W.swās,<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.160-169</ref> 'Umm Mildām, al-Zūa, al-N.bāh, al-Mūl', al-W.swās (the greater), al-J.nas al-Șgār, al-H.m.qā, H.s.n, al-Māsūr, Bulum, Šājiyā, B.rdūn, Bazid al M.ŷusīn, M.'rūz, M.līla al-Nāq.da,<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.170-179</ref> Mrwyā, al-Fāliy, al-Wāțq, al-As'ārī al-Yahūdī, L.w.q., al-M.rīj, 'āmir abū al-Šayșfān (father of al-Ŷabālī), Alhlya Alzāhira, Q.d.sā, Ŝ.r.hī, M.g.š.g.s., and 'a.rā.<ref>Navarro, Ruiz, p.180-187</ref>

==In other cultures==
[[File:LLW Aladdin genie.jpg|thumb|right|Aladdin and the genie in [[Legoland Windsor Resort|Legoland Windsor]].]]

In [[Guanches|Guanche]] mythology from [[Tenerife]] in the [[Canary Islands]], there existed the belief in beings that are similar to genies{{Synthesis-inline|date=February 2011}}, such as the ''[[maxios]]'' or ''dioses paredros'' ('attendant gods', domestic and nature spirits) and ''[[tibicena]]s'' (evil genies), as well as the demon [[Guayota]] (aboriginal god of evil) that, like the Arabic ''[[Devil (Islam)|{{transl|ar|ALA|Iblīs}}]]'', is sometimes identified with a genie.<ref>[http://www.eldia.es/2009-08-23/CRITERIOS/3-Religion-guanche.htm Guanche Religion]</ref>

===In the Bible===
The word or concept of jinn as such does not occur in the original Hebrew text of the Bible, but the Arabic word ''{{transl|ar|ALA|jinn}}'' is often used in several old Arabic translations. In Isaiah 6, the ''[[seraphim]]'' (lit. "burning/fiery ones") appear to the prophet [[Isaiah]], with their six wings being used to cover, or ''hide'', their body, face and feet.

In several verses in those [[Bible translations by language|Arabic]] translations, the words ''jinn'' ({{lang|ar|جن}}), ''jann'' ({{lang|ar|الجان}} ''{{transl|ar|ALA|al-jānn}}''), majnoon ({{lang|ar|مجنون}} ''{{transl|ar|ALA|Majnūn}}''), and ''{{transl|ar|ALA|Iblīs}}'' ({{lang|ar|إبلیس}}) are mentioned as translations of "familiar spirit" or אוב (J''ob'') for ''jann'' and "the devil" or {{lang|el|δαιμόνιον}} (''[[Daemon (classical mythology)|daimónion]]'') for ''{{transl|ar|ALA|Iblīs}}''.

Several passages from the [[New Testament]] refer to Jesus casting out evil spirits (or demons) from those that were demon-possessed. According to Islamic tradition, these evil spirits are strikingly similar to the jinn creatures mentioned in the [[Qur'an]] and [[Hadith]] literature. Among the similarities of these creatures is their ability to take possession of human beings.

In [[Cornelius Van Allen Van Dyck|Van Dyck]]'s Arabic translation of the Bible, these words are mentioned in [[Leviticus]] 19:31, Lev 20:6, [[1 Samuel]] 28:3, 1 Sa 28:9, 1 Sa 28:7, [[1 Chronicles]] 10:13, [[Gospel of Matthew]] 4:1, Mat 12:22, [[Gospel of Luke]] 4:5, Luk 8:12, [[Gospel of John]] 8:44 and other verses{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} as well. Also, in the [[apocrapha|apocryphal]] book [[Testament of Solomon]], Solomon describes particular [[demon]]s whom he enslaved to help build the [[Solomon's Temple|temple]], the questions he put to them about their deeds and how they could be thwarted, and their answers, which provide a kind of self-help manual against demonic activity.

==In popular culture==
{{main|Genie in popular culture}}

* ''[[The Caliph's House]]'' and ''[[In Arabian Nights]]'' by [[Tahir Shah]], describes his family's experiences in moving from London to a supposedly jinn-inhabited home in [[Morocco]].
* ''The Golem and the Jinni'' <ref>[http://www.helenewecker.com/the-golem-and-the-jinni-by-helene-wecker/synopsis-of-the-novel-the-golem-and-the-jinni/ The Golem and the Jinni]</ref> is Helene Wecker's 2013 historical fiction/fantasy novel about a woman made of clay (golem) and a jinni who meet under curious circumstances in 1899 New York City.
* The X-Files: Season 7, Episode 21, "Je Souhaite" (original title) Two brothers have a less than helpful genie who grants their wishes with disastrous consequences. Mulder comes into possession of the same genie, and his wishes garner similar results.
* In a subplot in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s novel, ''[[American Gods]]'', a salesman discontented with his life has a sexual encounter with a jinni (specifically, an ‘[[ifrit]]) who is working as a taxi driver in New York.
*In Summoned by Rainy Kaye, Dimitri is a jinni who has to fulfill wishes even though he has no supernatural powers.
* In the ''[[Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "[[What Is and What Should Never Be (Supernatural)|What Is and What Should Never Be]]", the protagonist, [[Dean Winchester]], is attacked by a jinni and it grants him his wish. They also make an appearance later in the season 6 episode "Exile on Main St".
* In the popular online MMORPG ''[[AdventureQuest Worlds]]'', the Middle Eastern-themed zone the Sandsea Desert features a Djinni Chaos Lord named Tibicenas, as well as a Djinni realm which the player can explore.
* In ''[[Clash of the Titans (2010 film)|Clash of the Titans]]'' the Djinn are ancient desert sorcerers who extended their longevity by replacing damaged body parts with "charwood and black magic", also rendering them immune to certain other forms of magic.
* "Two Djinn" is a song by [[Bob Weir]] and [[Gerrit Graham]] which was released on [[Ratdog]]'s 2000 album ''[[Evening Moods]]''.
* In ''[[Wishmaster (film)|Wishmaster]]'' an evil Djinn is released from a museum exhibit.
* ''[[I Dream of Jeannie]]'' is a 1960s television show starring [[Larry Hagman]] & [[Barbara Eden]] as a beautiful but incorrigible genie rescued by an Air Force pilot, Major Anthony Nelson (Hagman) who constantly gets him into trouble with her magic.
* In the video game series ''[[Golden Sun (series)|Golden Sun]]'' players use four types of Djinn representing the four traditional elements Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind to battle monsters.
* In the video game ''[[Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch]]'', the secondary antagonist, Shadar, is also known as 'The Dark Djinni' while there is also the benevolent Cauldron bound Genie named Al-Khemi that helps the player craft new items after beating him in battle.
* In P.B. Kerr's series, "Children of the Lamp", the main protagonists and antagonists of the series are djinn.
* In the video game, ''[[Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception]]'', Nathan Drake searches the legendary city of Ubar, which according to legend was doomed thousands of years ago by King Solomon when he imprisoned evil Djinn within a brass vessel and cast it into the heart of the city.
* In the ''[[The Magician's Nephew]]'' by [[C.S. Lewis]], the witch [[Jadis]] is described as "half Jinni and half giantess".
* [[Disney]]'s [[1992 in film|1992]] movie ''[[Aladdin (1992 film)|Aladdin]]'' depicts the genie ([[voice]]d by [[Robin Williams]]) as an indomitable wisecracker who often references contemporary pop culture.
* In the manga/anime series ''[[Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic]]'' djinn are magical creatures of near limitless power who reside in structures known as "dungeons". Whoever conquers a dungeon will become the djinns' master.

==See also==
{{Div col|cols=2}}
* [[Arabian mythology]]
* [[Daevas]]
* [[Djinnestan]]
* [[Genius loci]]
* [[Genius (mythology)]]
* [[Ghoul]] (Evil jinn who dwell within graveyards)
* [[Grine]]
* [[Houri]]
* [[Ifrit]] (a class of infernal jinn)
* [[Marid]] (Giant or rebellious jinn)
* [[Nasnas]]
* [[Peri]]
* [[Qareen]]
* [[Rig-e Jenn]]
* [[Winged genie]]
* [[Yazata]]
* [[Demon|Shayṭān]] (Troops of Shayṭān headed by [[Devil (Islam)|Iblis]])
* [[Qutrub]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* Al-Ashqar, Dr. Umar Sulaiman (1998). ''The World of the Jinn and Devils''. Boulder, CO: Al-Basheer Company for Publications and Translations.
* Barnhart, Robert K. ''The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology''. 1995.
* "Genie”. ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. Second edition, 1989.
* Abu al-Futūḥ Rāzī, ''Tafsīr-e rawḥ al-jenān va rūḥ al-janān'' IX-XVII (pub. so far), Tehran, 1988.
* Moḥammad Ayyūb Ṭabarī, ''Tuḥfat al-gharā’ib'', ed. J. Matīnī, Tehran, 1971.
* [[Antti Aarne|A. Aarne]] and [[Stith Thompson|S. Thompson]], ''The Types of the Folktale'', 2nd rev. ed., Folklore Fellows Communications 184, Helsinki, 1973.
* Abu’l-Moayyad Balkhī, ''Ajā’eb al-donyā'', ed. L. P. Smynova, Moscow, 1993.
* A. Christensen, ''Essai sur la Demonologie iranienne'', Det. Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Historisk-filologiske Meddelelser, 1941.
* R. Dozy, ''Supplément aux Dictionnaires arabes'', 3rd ed., Leyden, 1967.
* H. El-Shamy, ''Folk Traditions of the Arab World: A Guide to Motif Classification'', 2 vols., Bloomington, 1995.
* Abū Bakr Moṭahhar Jamālī Yazdī, ''Farrokh-nāma'', ed. Ī. Afshār, Tehran, 1967.
* Abū Jaʿfar Moḥammad Kolaynī, ''Ketāb al-kāfī'', ed. A. Ghaffārī, 8 vols., Tehran, 1988.
* Edward William Lane, [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume2/00000098.pdf ''An Arabic-English Lexicon''], Beirut, 1968.
* L. Loeffler, ''Islam in Practice: Religious Beliefs in a Persian Village'', New York, 1988.
* U. Marzolph, ''Typologie des persischen Volksmärchens'', Beirut, 1984. Massé, Croyances.
* M. Mīhandūst, ''Padīdahā-ye wahmī-e dīrsāl dar janūb-e Khorāsān'', Honar o mordom, 1976, pp. 44–51.
* T. Nöldeke "Arabs (Ancient)", in J. Hastings, ed., ''[[Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics]]'' I, Edinburgh, 1913, pp. 659–73.
* S. Thompson, ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'', rev. ed., 6 vols., Bloomington, 1955.
* S. Thompson and W. Roberts, ''Types of Indic Oral Tales'', Folklore Fellows Communications 180, Helsinki, 1960.
* Solṭān-Moḥammad ibn Tāj al-Dīn Ḥasan Esterābādī, ''Toḥfat al-majāles'', Tehran.
* Moḥammad b. Maḥmūd Ṭūsī, ''Ajāyeb al-makhlūqāt va gharā’eb al-mawjūdāt'', ed. M. Sotūda, Tehran, 1966.

==Further reading==
* Crapanzano, V. (1973) ''The Hamadsha: a study in Moroccan ethnopsychiatry''. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press.
* Drijvers, H. J. W. (1976) ''The Religion of Palmyra''. Leiden, Brill.
* El-Zein, Amira (2009) ''Islam, Arabs, and the intelligent world of the Jinn''. Contemporary Issues in the Middle East. Syracuse, NY, Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3200-9.
* El-Zein, Amira (2006) "Jinn". In: J. F. Meri ed. ''Medieval Islamic civilization – an encyclopedia''. New York and Abingdon, Routledge, pp. 420–421.
* Goodman, L.E. (1978) ''The case of the animals versus man before the king of the Jinn: A tenth–century ecological fable of the pure brethren of Basra''. Library of Classical Arabic Literature, vol. 3. Boston, Twayne.
* Maarouf, M. (2007) ''Jinn eviction as a discourse of power: a multidisciplinary approach to Moroccan magical beliefs and practices''. Leiden, Brill.
* Zbinden, E. (1953) ''Die Djinn des Islam und der altorientalische Geisterglaube''. Bern, Haupt.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|genie}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Jinn}}
* [http://www.balashon.com/2007/02/genie.html Etymology of ''genie'']
* [http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=75 Visions of the Jinn – a Muslim scholar’s experience with Jinn]
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/072.qmt.html Sūrat al-Jinn from the Qur’ān]
* [http://lasjan.page.tl/Jinn.htm Jinn (جن)]

{{Fairies}}
{{Qur'anic people}}

[[Category:Jinn| ]]
[[Category:Arabian mythology]]
[[Category:Arabian legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Deities, spirits, and mythic beings]]
[[Category:Egyptian folklore]]
[[Category:Fairies]]
[[Category:Iranian folklore]]
[[Category:Islamic legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Malaysian mythology]]
[[Category:Pakistani folklore]]
[[Category:Quranic figures]]
[[Category:Supernatural legends]]
[[Category:Turkish folklore]]

Abraham

2014-06-27T17:08:51Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614460454 by 103.23.134.254 (talk)Citation needed

Mark the Evangelist

2014-06-27T16:59:26Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614509375 by 203.87.152.57 (talk)

{{Redirect|Saint Mark}}
{{Infobox saint
|name= Mark the Evangelist
|birth_date= 1st century AD
|death_date= 26 April 68 A.D.
|image= Jose leonardo-san marcos.jpg
|imagesize= 200px
|caption=
|birth_place= [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], [[Pentapolis (North Africa)|Pentapolis of North Africa]], according to Coptic tradition<ref name=cocn>{{cite web | last= | first= | title=St. Mark The Apostle, Evangelist | publisher=Coptic Orthodox Church Network| date=| url= http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/synexarion/mark.html| accessdate = 21 November 2012}}</ref>
|titles= Evangelist, Martyr
|feast_day= April 25
|venerated_in= [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], [[Anglican Communion]], [[Lutheranism]]
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes= [[Lion]] in the [[desert]]; [[bishop]] on a [[throne]] decorated with lions; man helping [[Venice|Venetian]] sailors; man holding a book with "pax tibi Marce" written on it; man holding a palm and book; man with a book or scroll accompanied by a winged lion; man with a halter around his neck; man writing or holding his gospel; rescuing Christian slaves from [[Saracens]].
|patronage= [[Barristers]], [[Venice]], [[Egypt]], [[Mainar]] and others; see others in.
|major_shrine=[[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo|Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]] ([[Cairo]], [[Egypt]]) [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral]] ([[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]]) [[Basilica di San Marco]] ([[Venice]], Italy)
|suppressed_date=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}
'''Mark the Evangelist''' ({{lang-la|Mārcus}}; {{lang-el|Μᾶρκος}}; {{lang-cop|Μαρκοϲ}}; {{lang-he|מרקוס}}) is the traditional author of the [[Gospel of Mark]]. One of the [[Seventy Disciples]], Mark founded the [[Church of Alexandria]], one of the original [[Pentarchy|three main]] [[episcopal see]]s of [[Christianity]].

According to [[William L. Lane|William Lane]] (1974), an "unbroken tradition" identifies Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=William L.|author-link=William L. Lane|chapter=The Author of the Gospel |chapterurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=nIjPDDlweUgC&pg=PA21 |title=The Gospel According to Mark |series=[[New International Commentary on the New Testament]] |year=1974 |publisher=Eerdmans |location=Grand Rapids |pages=21–3 |isbn=978-0-8028-2502-5}}</ref> and John Mark as the cousin of [[Barnabas]].<ref>Mark: Images of an Apostolic Interpreter p55 C. Clifton Black – 2001 –"... infrequent occurrence in the Septuagint (Num 36:11; Tob 7:2) to its presence in Josephus (JW 1.662; Ant 1.290, 15.250) and Philo (On the Embassy to Gaius 67), anepsios consistently carries the connotation of "cousin," though ..."</ref> However, [[Hippolytus of Rome]] in ''On the Seventy Apostles'' distinguishes Mark the Evangelist (2 Tim 4:11), John Mark (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37), and [[Mark the cousin of Barnabas]] (Col 4:10; Phlm 1:24).<ref>{{cite book |author=Hippolytus |authorlink=Hippolytus of Rome |chapter=The same Hippolytus on the Seventy Apostles |chapterurl=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf05.iii.v.iii.html |title=[[Ante-Nicene Fathers]]}}</ref> According to Hippolytus, they all belonged to the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by [[Jesus]] to saturate [[Judea]] with the [[gospel]] ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 10:1ff.). However, when Jesus explained that his flesh was "real food" and his blood was "real drink", many [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] left him (John 6:44–6:66), presumably including Mark. He was later restored to faith by the [[apostle Peter]]; he then became Peter’s interpreter, wrote the Gospel of Mark, founded the [[Christianity in Africa|church of Africa]], and became the [[bishop of Alexandria]].

According to [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] (''Eccl. Hist.'' 2.9.1–4), [[Herod Agrippa I]] in his first year of reign over the whole Judea (AD 41) killed [[James, son of Zebedee]] and arrested Peter, planning to kill him after the [[Passover]]. Peter was saved miraculously by [[angel]]s, and escaped out of the realm of Herod (Acts 12:1–19). Peter went to [[Antioch]], then through [[Asia Minor]] (visiting the churches in [[Pontus]], [[Galatia]], [[Cappadocia]], [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], and [[Bithynia]], as mentioned in 1 Pet 1:1), and arrived in [[Rome]] in the second year of [[Emperor Claudius]] (AD 42; Eusebius, Eccl, Hist. 2.14.6). Somewhere on the way, Peter picked up Mark and took him as travel companion and interpreter. Mark the Evangelist wrote down the [[sermon]]s of Peter, thus composing the Gospel according to Mark (''Eccl. Hist.'' 15–16), before he left for Alexandria in the third year of Claudius (43).<ref>{{cite book |first=Jack |last=Finegan |title=Handbook of Biblical Chronology |location=Peabody, MA |publisher=Hendrickson |year=1998 |page=374 |isbn=978-1-56563-143-4}}</ref>

In AD 49, about 19 years after the [[Ascension of Jesus]], Mark traveled to [[Alexandria]] [cf. c. 49 [cf. Acts 15:36–41] and founded the Church of Alexandria - today, both the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria]] claim to be successors to this original community.<ref name="georgetown1">{{cite web |url= http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/egypt |title=Egypt |work= |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |date= |accessdate=2011-12-14}} See drop-down essay on "Islamic Conquest and the Ottoman Empire"</ref> Aspects of the Coptic liturgy can be traced back to Mark himself.{{cn|date=April 2014}} He became the first [[bishop]] of Alexandria and he is honored as the founder of Christianity in [[Africa]].<ref name=OSVESp401>{{cite book
|last1=Bunson |first1=Matthew |last2=Bunson |first2=Margaret |last3=Bunson |first3=Stephen |title=Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints |publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division |year=1998 |place=Huntington, Indiana |page=401 |isbn=0-87973-588-0}}</ref>

According to Eusebius (''Eccl. Hist.'' 2.24.1), Mark was succeeded by [[Annianus]] as the bishop of Alexandria in the eighth year of [[Nero]] (62/63), probably, but not definitely, due to his coming death. Later Coptic tradition says that he was martyred in 68.<ref name=cocn/><ref name=macrory>{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09672c.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Mark |accessdate=1 March 2013 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2015:36-40&version=NASB Acts 15:36–40]</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2timothy%204:11&version=NASB 2 Timothy 4:11]</ref><ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=philemon%201:24&version=NASB Philemon 1:24]</ref>

His [[feast day]] is celebrated on April 25, and his [[Saint symbolism|symbol]] is the winged [[Lion of Saint Mark|lion]].<ref name=EECp720>{{Citation
|last=Senior
|first=Donald P.
|year=1998
|edition = 2nd
|contribution=Mark
|editor1-last=Ferguson
|editor1-first=Everett
|title=Encyclopedia of Early Christianity
|place=New York and London
|publisher=Garland Publishing, Inc.
|page=720
|isbn= 0-8153-3319-6
}}</ref>

==Biblical and traditional information==
[[Image:Trapezunt gospel.jpg|thumb|upright|Illumination of St. Mark in the 11th century [[Trebizond Gospel]] ([[Russian State Museum]], [[Saint Petersburg]]).]]
[[File:St. Mark - Sacred Heart Church, Puducherry.jpg|thumb|350px|Base of a pillar at the Sacred Heart Church, [[Puducherry]], India]]
Evidence for Mark the Evangelist's authorship of the Gospel that bears his name originates with [[Papias of Hierapolis|Papias]].<ref name="Papias01">[[Papias of Hierapolis|Papias]], ''Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord'', VI. Newadvent.org[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0125.htm]</ref><ref name=NJBCp596>{{Citation
|last=Harrington
|first=Daniel J.
|year=1990
|contribution=The Gospel According to Mark
|editor1-last=Brown
|editor1-first=Raymond E.
|editor1-link=Raymond_E._Brown
|editor2-last=Fitzmyer
|editor2-first=Joseph A.
|editor2-link=Joseph_A._Fitzmyer
|editor3-last=Murphy
|editor3-first=Roland E.
|title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary
|place=Englewood Cliffs, NJ
|publisher=Prentice Hall
|page=596
|isbn=0-13-614934-0
}}</ref> Scholars of the [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] are "almost certain" that Papias refers to [[John Mark]].<ref>[[D. A. Carson]], [[Douglas J. Moo]] and [[Leon Morris]], ''An Introduction to the New Testament'' (Apollos, 1992), 93.</ref> However, Catholic scholars have argued that identifying Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]] and [[Mark the Cousin of Barnabas]] has led to the downgrading of the character of [[Barnabas]] from truly a "Son of Comfort" to one who favored his blood relative over principles.<ref name=NBMarkp55-56>{{citation
| last = University of Navarre
| authorlink = University of Navarre
| title = The Navarre Bible: Saint Mark's Gospel
| publisher = Four Courts Press
| year = 1992
| edition = 2nd
| place= Dublin
| pages = 55–56
| isbn = 1-85182-092-2}}</ref>

Identifying Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]] also led to identifying him as the man who carried water to [[Cenacle|the house where]] the [[Last Supper]] took place (Mark 14:13),<ref>{{citation
| last = University of Navarre
| authorlink = University of Navarre
| title = The Navarre Bible: Saint Mark’s Gospel
| publisher = Four Court’s Press
| year = 1992
| edition = 2nd
| place= Dublin
| page = 172
| isbn = 1-85182-092-2}}</ref> or as the [[naked fugitive|young man who ran away naked]] when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51–52).<ref>{{citation
| last = University of Navarre
| authorlink = University of Navarre
| title = The Navarre Bible: Saint Mark’s Gospel
| publisher = Four Court’s Press
| year = 1992
| edition = 2nd
| place= Dublin
| page = 179
| isbn = 1-85182-092-2}}</ref>
[[Image:Folio 19v - The Martyrdom of Saint Mark.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The [[martyrdom]] of Saint Mark. ''[[Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry]]'' ([[Musée Condé]], [[Chantilly, Oise|Chantilly]]).]]

The [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]] accords with identifying Mark the Evangelist with [[John Mark]], as well as that he was one of the Seventy Disciples sent out by Christ (Luke 10:1), as [[Hippolytus of Rome|Hippolytus]] confirmed.<ref name=Shen01/> Coptic tradition also holds that Mark the Evangelist hosted the disciples in his house after Jesus' death, that the resurrected Jesus Christ came to Mark's house (John 20), and that the [[Holy Spirit]] descended on the disciples at [[Pentecost]] in the same house.<ref name=Shen01/> Furthermore, Mark is also believed to have been among the servants at the [[Marriage at Cana]] who poured out the water that Jesus turned to wine (John 2:1–11).<ref name=Shen01>[[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria|H.H. Pope Shenouda III]], ''The Beholder of God Mark the Evangelist Saint and Martyr'', Chapter One. [http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/ Tasbeha.org]</ref>

According to the Coptic tradition, Saint Mark was born in [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], a city in the [[Pentapolis (North Africa)|Pentapolis of North Africa]] (now [[Libya]]). This tradition adds that Mark returned to Pentapolis later in life, after being sent by Saint Paul to [[Colossae]] ([[Colossians]] 4:10; [[Epistle to Philemon|Philemon]] 24. Some, however, think these actually refer to [[Mark the Cousin of Barnabas]]), and serving with him in Rome (2 Tim 4:11); from Pentapolis he made his way to [[Alexandria]].<ref name=SUSCopt>{{cite web
|publisher = Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
|url = http://www.suscopts.org/diocese/about/
|title = About the Diocese}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url = http://www.suscopts.org/coptic-orthodox/church/saint-mark/
|title=Saint Mark
|accessdate = 2009-05-14}}</ref> When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their [[Hellenistic|traditional]] gods.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} In AD 68 they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.<ref name=Shen07>[[Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria|H.H. Pope Shenouda III]]. ''The Beholder of God Mark the Evangelist Saint and Martyr'', Chapter Seven. [http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Stmark/ Tasbeha.org]</ref>

==Relics of St. Mark==
[[Image:Stmark.jpg|thumb|upright|St. Mark by [[Donatello]] ([[Orsanmichele]], [[Florence]]).]]

In 828, [[relics]] believed to be the body of St. Mark were stolen from [[Alexandria]] by Venetian merchants and taken to [[Venice]].<ref name=sanmarco/> A [[mosaic]] in [[St Mark's Basilica]] depicts sailors covering the relics with a layer of [[pork]] and cabbage leaves. Since [[Muslim]]s are not permitted to touch pork, this was done to prevent the guards from inspecting the ship's cargo too closely.<ref>{{cite web | last= | first= | title=St. Marks Basilica| publisher=Avventure Bellissime – Italy Tours| date=| url= http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-st_marks_basilica.htm | accessdate = 21 November 2012}}</ref> “History records no more shameless example of body snatching...” as John Julius Norwich put it. The possession of a truly important relic could have serious political consequences. When the body of St Mark came to Venice, the previous patron saint of the city, St Theodore, was demoted. The Doge of the day began to build a splendid church to contain the relics next to his palace, the original San Marco. With an evangelist on its territory, Venice acquired a status almost equal to that of Rome itself.<ref name=gayford>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/8565805/Treasures-of-Heaven-Saints-Relics-and-Devotion-in-Medieval-Europe-British-Museum.html Gayford, Martin, "Treasures of Heaven, Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe, British Museum",''The Telegraph'', June 11, 2011]</ref>

In 1063, during the construction of a [[St Mark's Basilica|new basilica in Venice]], St. Mark's relics could not be found. However, according to tradition, in 1094 the saint himself revealed the location of his remains by extending an arm from a pillar.<ref>{{Citation
|title=Venice and Its Story
|first=Thomas
|last=Okey
|location=London
|publisher=J. M. Dent & Co.
|year=1904}}</ref> The newfound remains were placed in a sarcophagus in the basilica.<ref name=sanmarco>{{cite web|url=http://www.basilicasanmarco.it/WAI/eng/storia_societa/sanmarco/interne/sanmarco_ritrovamento.bsm |title=Section dedicated to the recovery of St. Mark's body |publisher=Basilicasanmarco.it |date= |accessdate=2010-02-17}}</ref>

Copts believe that the head of St. Mark remains in a church named after him in Alexandria, and parts of his relics are in [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo]]. The rest of his relics are in the San Marco Cathedral in Venice, Italy.<ref name=cocn/> Every year, on the 30th day of the month of [[Paopi]], the [[Coptic Orthodox]] Church celebrates the commemoration of the consecration of the church of St. Mark, and the appearance of the head of the saint in the city of Alexandria. This takes place inside [[Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)|St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria]], where the saint's head is preserved.

In June 1968, [[Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria]] sent an official delegation to Rome to receive a relic of St. Mark from [[Pope Paul VI]]. The delegation consisted of ten [[metropolitan bishop|metropolitan]]s and bishops, seven of whom were Coptic and three Ethiopian, and three prominent Coptic lay leaders.

The relic was said to be a small piece of bone that had been given to the Roman pope by [[Giovanni Urbani|Giovanni Cardinal Urbani]], Patriarch of Venice. Pope Paul, in an address to the delegation, said that the rest of the relics of the saint remained in Venice.

The delegation received the relic on June 22, 1968. The next day, the delegation celebrated a pontifical liturgy in the Church of [[Athanasius|Saint Athanasius]] the Apostolic in Rome. The metropolitans, bishops, and priests of the delegation all served in the liturgy. Members of the Roman papal delegation, Copts who lived in Rome, newspaper and news agency reporters, and many foreign dignitaries attended the liturgy.

In a 2011 episode of the [[National Geographic Channel]] television series ''[[Mystery Files]],'' historian Andrew Chugg suggests that Alexander the Great's body was stolen from Alexandria, Egypt by Venetian merchants who believed it to be that of St. Mark the Evangelist. They smuggled the remains to Venice, which were then venerated as St. Mark the Evangelist in the [[St_Mark's_Basilica|Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco]].<ref>http://www.metacafe.com/watch/cb-1LsVpeVIO9Qp/mystery_files_the_disappearance_of_alexanders_tomb/</ref><ref>http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/mystery-files-alexander-the-great-wednesday-june-29-20110624-1gicv.html</ref><ref>http://natgeotv.com/uk/mystery-files/about</ref>

==See also==
*[[Baucalis]]
*[[Feast of Saint Mark]]
*[[Gospel of John]]
*[[Gospel of Luke]]
*[[Gospel of Mark]]
*[[Gospel of Matthew]]
*[[John the Evangelist]]
*[[Luke the Evangelist]]
*[[Matthew the Evangelist]]

==References==
;Specific
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Saint Mark}}
* [http://www.catholic-saints.net/saints/st-mark.php The Life, Miracles and Martyrdom of St. Mark the Evangelist of Jesus Christ]
* [http://hbswete.co.uk/art13_a.html H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in the New Testament']
* [http://hbswete.co.uk/art13_b.html H.B. Swete, 'St. Mark in Early Tradition']
* [http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/synexarion/mark.html St. Mark the Apostle, Evangelist, and Preacher of the Christian Faith in Africa]
* {{Cite AmCyc|Mark, Saint|author=[[Alexander Jacob Schem|A. J. Schem]]}}
* [http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100019 Apostle Mark the Evangelist of the Seventy] Orthodox [[icon]] and [[synaxarion]]
* [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/20850 santiebeati]
* [http://saints.sqpn.com/catholic-encyclopedia-saint-mark/ saints.sqpn ]

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|Coptic}}
{{s-new|creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria|Pope of Alexandria]]|years=43–68}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Anianus of Alexandria|Anianus]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{New Testament people}}
{{Patriarchs of Alexandria}}
{{Catholic saints}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Evangelist, Mark The
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = founder of the [[Church of Alexandria]], one of the original four main sees of [[Christianity]]
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]] city , [[Pentapolis (North Africa)|Pentapolis of North Africa]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark The Evangelist}}
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:68 deaths]]
[[Category:1st-century bishops]]
[[Category:1st-century Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman saints]]
[[Category:Ante-Nicene Christian martyrs]]
[[Category:Burials at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)]]
[[Category:Christian missionaries in Africa]]
[[Category:Coptic Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:Coptic Orthodox saints]]
[[Category:Early Jewish Christians]]
[[Category:Gospel of Mark]]
[[Category:Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Alexandria]]
[[Category:Libyan Roman Catholic saints]]
[[Category:New Testament people]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:Popes of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Saints of the Golden Legend]]
[[Category:Seventy disciples]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]

The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden

2014-06-27T02:37:07Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614583507 by 76.71.179.111 (talk)

{{italic title}}
{{redirect|Lost Books of the Bible||Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible}}
'''''The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden''''' (1906) is a collection of 12th-century and 13th-century Latin translations of some [[Old Testament Pseudepigrapha]] and [[New Testament Apocrypha]] which were assembled in the 1920s, and then republished with the current title in 1996.

==History of the translations==
Rutherford Hayes Platt, in the preface to his 1963 reprint of ''The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden'' states:
:"First issued in 1926, this is the most popular collection of apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature ever published."
The translations were first published, under this title, by an unknown editor in ''The Lost Books of the Bible'' Cleveland 1926, but the translations had previously been published many times. The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden is also published by A&B publishers group, with a black and white cover, and with negro people as protagonists. This edition has an introduction to The Lost Books of the Bible by Dr. Frank Cane and is prefaced by R.H.P., Jr.(New York, January 1, 1926.) Also, at the front page of The Lost Book of the Bible, Dr. Talmage gives a commentary on this work.

The book is, essentially, a combined reprint of earlier works. The first half, ''Lost Books of the Bible'', is an unimproved reprint of an book published by [[William Hone]] in 1820, titled ''The Apocryphal New Testament'', itself a reprint of a translation of the [[Apostolic Fathers]] done in 1693 by [[William Wake]], who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a smattering of medieval embellishments on the New Testament, from a book published in 1736 by Jeremiah Jones (1693-1724). It must be conceded that, in the three centuries since these were originally published, a great deal more is known about the [[Apostolic Fathers]] (including a good deal of the original text that was not available in 1693) and New Testament apocrypha.

The second half of the book, ''The Forgotten Books of Eden'', includes a translation originally published in 1882 of the "First and Second Books of Adam and Eve", translated first from ancient Ethiopic to German by Ernest Trumpp and then into English by Soloman Cesar Malan, and a number of items of Old Testament pseudepigrapha, such as reprinted in the second volume of R.H. Charles's ''Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament'' (Oxford, 1913).

For more modern translations see the standard modern editions:
* J. H. Charlesworth, ed. [[Old Testament Pseudepigrapha]] 2 Vols.
* W. Schneemelcher, ed. [[New Testament Apocrypha]] 2 Vols.
* [[M. R. James]], ''The Apocryphal New Testament'' (Oxford, 1924)
* ''The [[Apostolic Fathers]]'' (several different translations in the 20th and 21st centuries)

==Reprint editions==
* ''The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden'' (A & B Book Dist Inc, March 1994, ISBN 1-881316-63-7)
* ''The Lost Books of the Bible'' (Testament, 1998, ISBN 0-517-27795-6)
* ''The Forgotten Books of Eden'' (Alpha House, 1927, ISBN 0-517-30886-X, ISBN 1-56459-636-2, ISBN 0-529-03385-2).

==Contents of ''The Lost Books of the Bible''==
{♦ = found in ''The [[Apostolic Fathers]]''}
* The [[Gospel of James|Protevangelion]]
* The [[Arabic Infancy Gospel|Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ]]
* The [[Infancy Gospel of Thomas]]
* The Epistles of Jesus Christ and [[Abgarus]] King of Edessa
* The Gospel of Nicodemus ([[Acts of Pilate]])
* The [[Apostles' Creed]] (throughout history)
* The [[Epistle to the Laodiceans|Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans]]
* The [[Epistle to Seneca the Younger|Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, with Seneca's to Paul]]
* The [[Acts of Paul and Thecla]]
*♦ The [[Epistles of Clement]] (The First and Second Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians)
*♦ The [[Epistle of Barnabas]]
*♦ The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians
*♦ The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians
*♦ [[The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians]]
*♦ The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans
*♦ The Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
*♦ [[The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrneans]]
*♦ [[The Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp]]
*♦ [[The Shepherd of Hermas]] (Visions, Commands, and Similitudes)
* Letter of Herod To Pilate the Governor
* Letter of Pilate to Herod
* The Lost [[Gospel of Peter]]
*♦ [[The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians]]

==Contents of ''The Forgotten Books of Eden''==
* The [[Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan]] (The First and Second Book of Adam and Eve)
* [[Second Book of Enoch|The Secrets of Enoch]] (also known as the Slavonic Enoch or Second Enoch)
* The [[Psalms of Solomon]]
* The [[Odes of Solomon]]
* The [[Letter of Aristeas]]
* [[4 Maccabees|The Fourth Book of Maccabees]]
* [[The Story of Ahikar]]
* [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]]

==References==
*Edgar J. Goodspeed, ''Modern Apocrypha'' (Boston, Beacon Press, 1956), chapt. 15.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden}}
[[Category:1926 books]]
[[Category:Books about Christianity]]
[[Category:Apocrypha]]

Septuagint

2014-06-26T16:53:42Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614517510 by 173.218.17.141 (talk)

{{For|the type of moth|Septuaginta (moth)}}
{{Redirect|LXX|the number in Roman numerals|70 (number)}}
{{see also|Septuagint (disambiguation)}}

[[File:Codex vaticanus.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of [[uncial]] text from [[1 Esdras]] in the ''[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]]'' c. 325–350 CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and [[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint|English translation]].]]

The '''Septuagint''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|p|t|juː|ə|ˌ|dʒ|ɪ|n|t}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|p|t|uː|ə|ˌ|dʒ|ɪ|n|t}}, {{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|ɛ|p|ˈ|t|uː|ə|dʒ|ɪ|n|t}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|p|tʃ|uː|ə|ˌ|dʒ|ɪ|n|t}}, from the Latin word ''septuaginta'' (meaning seventy), is a translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]] and [[Deuterocanonical books|some related texts]] into [[Koine Greek]]. The title and its Roman numeral acronym '''LXX''' refer to the legendary seventy Jewish scholars who completed the translation as early as the late 2nd century BCE. As the primary Greek translation of the [[Old Testament]], it is also called the '''Greek Old Testament''' (Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα). This translation is quoted in the [[New Testament]],<ref>"The quotations from the Old Testament found in the New are in the main taken from the Septuagint; and even where the citation is indirect the influence of this version is clearly seen."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> particularly in the [[Pauline epistles]],<ref name=paul-septuagint>"His quotations from Scripture, which are all taken, directly or from memory, from the Greek version, betray no familiarity with the original Hebrew text (..) Nor is there any indication in Paul's writings or arguments that he had received the rabbinical training ascribed to him by Christian writers (..)"{{cite web|title=Paul, the Apostle of the Heathen|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11952-paul-of-tarsus|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> and also by the [[Apostolic Fathers]] and later [[Church Fathers#Greek Fathers|Greek Church Fathers]].

The [[Letter of Aristeas|traditional story]] is that [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy II]] sponsored the translation for use by the many [[History of the Jews in Egypt#Ptolemaic and Roman|Alexandrian Jews]] who were not fluent in Hebrew but fluent in Koine Greek,<ref>"[T]he Egyptian papyri, which are abundant for this particular period, ... have in a measure reinstated Aristeas (about 200 B.C.) in the opinion of scholars. Upon his "Letter to Philocrates" the tradition as to the origin of the Septuagint rests. It is now believed that even though he may have been mistaken in some points, his facts in general are worthy of credence (Abrahams, in "Jew. Quart. Rev." xiv. 321). According to Aristeas, the Pentateuch was translated at the time of Philadelphus, the second Ptolemy (285–247 B.C.), which translation was encouraged by the king and welcomed by the Jews of Alexandria. Grätz ("Gesch. der Juden", 3d ed., iii. 615) stands alone in assigning it to the reign of Philometor (181–146 B.C.). Whatever share the king may have had in the work, it evidently satisfied a pressing need felt by the Jewish community, among whom a knowledge of Hebrew was rapidly waning before the demands of every-day life."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=29 October 2012}}</ref> which was the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of [[Alexandria, Egypt]] and the [[Eastern Mediterranean]] at the time.<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7535-hellenism Jewish Encyclopedia: Hellenism: Range of Hellenic Influence]: "Except in Egypt, Hellenic influence was nowhere stronger than on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Greek cities arose there in continuation, or in place, of the older Semitic foundations, and gradually changed the aspect of the country."</ref>

The Septuagint should not be confused with the seven or more other Greek versions of the [[Old Testament]], most of which did not survive except as fragments (some parts of these being known from [[Origen]]'s [[Hexapla]], a comparison of six translations in adjacent columns, now almost wholly lost). Of these, the most important are those by [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]], [[Symmachus the Ebionite|Symmachus]], and [[Theodotion]].

==Name==
{{Bible related}}

The Septuagint derives its name from the [[Latin]] ''versio septuaginta interpretum'', "translation of the seventy interpreters", Greek: ''ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα'', ''hē metáphrasis tōn hebdomḗkonta'', "translation of the seventy".<ref name="Jobes and Silva"/> However, it was not until the time of [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430 CE) that the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures came to be called by the Latin term ''Septuaginta''.<ref>Sundberg, in McDonald & Sanders, eds., ''The Canon Debate'', p.72. See Augustine, ''The City of God'', 18.42, where Augustine says that "this name ["Septuaginta"] has now become traditional", indicating that this was a recent event. But Augustine offers no clue as to which of the possible antecedents led to this development.</ref> The Roman numeral LXX (seventy) is commonly used as an abbreviation, as are <math> \mathfrak{G} </math><ref>''[[Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia]]'', for instance.</ref> or '''G'''.

==Composition==

===Legend===
These titles refer to a [[Legend|legendary story]], according to which seventy or seventy-two Jewish scholars were asked (Talmud text implies the scholars were forced) by the Greek King of Egypt [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] to translate the [[Torah]] from [[Biblical Hebrew]] into Greek, for inclusion in the [[Library of Alexandria]].<ref name="Dines">Jennifer M. Dines, ''The Septuagint,'' Michael A. Knibb, Ed., London: T&T Clark, 2004.</ref>

This legend is first found in the [[pseudepigraphic]] [[Letter of Aristeas]] to his brother Philocrates,<ref>{{cite web | last = Davila | first = J | title = Aristeas to Philocrates | work = Summary of lecture by Davila, February 11, 1999 | publisher = University of St. Andrews, School of Divinity | year = 2008 | url = http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/otp/abstracts/aristeas/ | accessdate = June 19, 2011}}</ref> and is repeated, with embellishments, by [[Philo of Alexandria]], [[Josephus]]<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Flavius Josephus]] |coauthors= |title=[[Antiquities of the Jews]] |year= |publisher= |quote= | url= |isbn= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=[[William Whiston]] |coauthors= |title=The Complete Works of Josephus |year=1998|publisher=[[T. Nelson Publishers]] |quote= | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_4YBAAAACAAJ&dq |isbn= 0-7852-1426-7 }}</ref>
and by various later sources, including [[St. Augustine]].<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''The City of God'' 18.42.</ref> A version of the legend is found in the Tractate [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]] of the [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]]:

{{quote|King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one's room and said: "Write for me the [[Torah]] of [[Moses|Moshe]], your teacher". God put it in the heart of each one to translate identically as all the others did.<ref>[[Megillah (Talmud)|Tractate Megillah]], pages 9a-9b. The Talmud identifies fifteen specific unusual translations made by the scholars, but only two of these translations are found in the extant LXX.</ref>}}

Philo of Alexandria, who relied extensively on the Septuagint,<ref>"(..) Philo bases his citations from the Bible on the Septuagint version, though he has no scruple about modifying them or citing them with much freedom. Josephus follows this translation closely."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> says that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

===History===
The date of the 3rd century BCE, given in the legend, is confirmed (for the Torah translation) by a number of factors, including the Greek being representative of early Koine, citations beginning as early as the 2nd century BCE, and early manuscripts datable to the 2nd century.<ref>J.A.L. Lee, A Lexical Study of the Septuagint Version of the Pentateuch (Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 14. Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1983; Reprint SBL, 2006)</ref>

After the Torah, other books were translated over the next two to three centuries. It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised.<ref>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint]</ref> The quality and style of the different translators also varied considerably from book to book, from the [[literal translation|literal]] to [[paraphrase|paraphrasing]] to interpretative.

The translation process of the Septuagint can be broken down into several distinct stages, during which the social milieu of the translators shifted from [[Hellenistic Judaism]] to [[Early Christianity]]. The translation began in the 3rd century BCE and was completed by 132 BCE,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)], Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p.363</ref><ref>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p.111</ref><ref name="ndq" /> initially in [[Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria|Alexandria]], but in time elsewhere as well.<ref name="Jobes and Silva">{{cite book |author=[[Karen H. Jobes]] and [[Moises Silva]] |coauthors= |title=Invitation to the Septuagint |year=2001 |publisher=[[Paternoster Press]] |quote= | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ&q |isbn=1-84227-061-3 }}</ref>

The Septuagint is the basis for the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]], [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian [[Old Testament]].<ref name="Würthwein">Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament,'' trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref>

===Language===
Some sections of the Septuagint may show [[Semitic#Languages|Semiticism]]s, or idioms and phrases based on Semitic languages like [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Aramaic]].<ref name="Swete"/> Other books, such as [[book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], show Greek influence more strongly.<ref name="Dines"/> [[Jewish Koine Greek]] exists primarily as a category of literature, or cultural category, but apart from some distinctive religious vocabulary is not so distinct from other varieties of [[Koine Greek]] as to be counted a separate dialect.

The Septuagint is also useful for elucidating pre-Masoretic [[Classical Hebrew|Hebrew]]: many proper nouns are spelled out with Greek vowels in the LXX, while contemporary Hebrew texts lacked vowel pointing.<ref>Hoffman, [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/ITB Book Review], 2004.</ref> One must, however, evaluate such evidence with caution since it is extremely unlikely that all ancient Hebrew sounds had precise Greek equivalents.<ref>Paul Joüon, SJ, ''A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew,'' trans. and revised by T. Muraoka, vol. I, Rome: Editrice Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 2000.</ref>

===Disputes over canonicity===
As the work of translation progressed, the [[Biblical canon|canon]] of the Greek Bible expanded. The Torah ([[Pentateuch]] in Greek) always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon, but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the Jewish [[Nevi'im]], had various [[hagiographa|hagiographical]] works incorporated into it.

In addition some newer books were included in the Septuagint: those called ''[[anagignoskomena]]'' in Greek, because they are not included in the [[Development of the Hebrew Bible canon|Jewish canon]]. Among these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and the [[Ben Sira|Wisdom of Ben Sira]]. Also, the Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the [[Masoretic Text|Masoretic]] canon.<ref>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics,'' "[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html&date=2009-10-25+07:45:33 Books of the Septuagint]", (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> Some of these "apocryphal" books (e.g. the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], and the [[2 Maccabees|second book of Maccabees]]) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek.

It is not known when the [[Ketuvim]] ("writings") or final part of the [[Tanakh|three part Masoretic Canon]] was established, although some sort of selective processes must have been employed because the Septuagint did not include other well-known Jewish documents such as [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] or [[Book of Jubilees|Jubilees]] or other writings that are not part of the Jewish canon. (These are now classified as [[Pseudepigrapha]].)

Since [[Late Antiquity]], [[Council of Jamnia#Developments attributed to Jamnia|once attributed to a Council of Jamnia]], mainstream [[rabbinic Judaism]] rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts. Several reasons have been given for this. First, some mistranslations were claimed. Second, the Hebrew source texts used for the Septuagint differed from the [[Masoretic]] tradition of Hebrew texts, which was chosen as canonical by the Jewish rabbis.<ref>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah." {{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>
Third, the rabbis wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.<ref name="ndq">"[...] die griechische Bibelübersetzung, die einem innerjüdischen Bedürfnis entsprang [...] [von den] Rabbinern zuerst gerühmt (..) Später jedoch, als manche ungenaue Übertragung des hebräischen Textes in der Septuaginta und Übersetzungsfehler die Grundlage für hellenistische Irrlehren abgaben, lehnte man die Septuaginta ab." Verband der Deutschen Juden (Hrsg.), neu hrsg. von Walter Homolka, Walter Jacob, Tovia Ben Chorin: Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen; München, Knesebeck, 1999, Bd.3, S. 43ff</ref><ref>"Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the [[Masoretic]]) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] [...] In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible [...] It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>
Finally, the rabbis claimed for the Hebrew language a divine authority, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek—even though these languages were the lingua franca of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given the same holy language status as Hebrew).<ref>Mishnah Sotah (7:2–4 and 8:1), among many others, discusses the sacredness of Hebrew, as opposed to Aramaic or Greek. This is comparable to the authority claimed for the original Arabic Koran according to Islamic teaching. As a result of this teaching, translations of the [[Torah]] into Koine Greek by early Jewish [[Rabbi]]s have survived as rare fragments only.</ref>

In time the LXX became synonymous with the "Greek Old Testament", i.e. a Christian canon of writings which incorporated all the books of the Hebrew canon, along with additional texts. The [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches include most of the books that are in the Septuagint in their canons; however, [[Protestant]] churches usually do not. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish [[Biblical canon|canon]] and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called "[[Biblical Apocrypha|Apocrypha]]" (originally meaning "hidden" but became synonymous with "of questionable authenticity"). The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of the Bible, the basis for the [[Revised Standard Version]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ |title=NETS: Electronic Edition |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |date=2011-02-11 |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>

===Final form===
: ''See also [[Septuagint#Table of books|Table of books]] below.''

All the books of western [[Biblical canon|canons]] of the [[Old Testament]] are found in the Septuagint, although the order does not always coincide with the Western ordering of the books. The Septuagint order for the Old Testament is evident in the earliest Christian Bibles (4th century).<ref name="Dines"/>

Some books that are set apart in the Masoretic text are grouped together. For example the [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are in the LXX one book in four parts called Βασιλειῶν ("Of Reigns"). In LXX, the [[Books of Chronicles]] supplement Reigns and it is called Paraleipoménon (Παραλειπομένων—things left out). The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.<ref name="Dines"/>

Some scripture of ancient origin are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Judith]], [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], [[Letter of Jeremiah]] (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), additions to [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] and [[Bel and the Dragon]]), additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[1 Maccabees]], [[2 Maccabees]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]], including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].

The canonical acceptance of these books varies among different Christian traditions, and there are canonical books not derived from the Septuagint. For more information regarding these books, see the articles [[Biblical apocrypha]], [[Biblical canon]], [[Books of the Bible]], and [[Deuterocanonical books]].

====Incorporations from Theodotion====
In most ancient copies of the Bible which contain the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the [[Book of Daniel]] is not the original Septuagint version, but instead is a copy of [[Theodotion]]'s translation from the Hebrew, which more closely resembles the Masoretic text. The Septuagint version was discarded in favour of Theodotion's version in the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE. In Greek-speaking areas, this happened near the end of the 2nd century, and in Latin-speaking areas (at least in North Africa), it occurred in the middle of the 3rd century. History does not record the reason for this, and St. [[Jerome]] reports, in the preface to the [[Vulgate]] version of Daniel, ''This thing 'just' happened.''<ref name="EncBibTV">{{EncyclopaediaBiblica|article=TEXT AND VERSIONS|section=Text and Versions}}</ref> One of two Old Greek texts of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing the original form of the book.<ref name="Dines"/>

The canonical [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] is known in the Septuagint as "Esdras B", and 1 Esdras is "Esdras A". 1 Esdras is a very similar text to the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, and the two are widely thought by scholars to be derived from the same original text. It has been proposed, and is thought highly likely by scholars, that "Esdras B"—the canonical Ezra-Nehemiah—is Theodotion's version of this material, and "Esdras A" is the version which was previously in the Septuagint on its own.<ref name="EncBibTV"/>

==Use==

===Jewish use===
{{see also|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}

Pre-Christian Jews, [[Philo]] and [[Josephus]] considered the Septuagint on equal standing with the Hebrew text.<ref>J.M. Dines, The Septuagint (2005)</ref><ref>Alexander Zvielli, Jerusalem Post, June 2009, pp. 37</ref> Manuscripts of the Septuagint have been found among the [[Qumran Scrolls]] in the Dead Sea, and were thought to have been in use among Jews at the time.

Starting approximately in the 2nd century CE, several factors led most Jews to abandon use of the LXX. The earliest [[gentile]] Christians of necessity used the LXX, as it was at the time the only Greek version of the Bible, and most, if not all, of these early non-[[Jewish Christians]] could not read Hebrew. The association of the LXX with a rival religion may have rendered it suspect in the eyes of the newer generation of Jews and Jewish scholars.<ref name="Würthwein"/> Instead, Jews used Hebrew/Aramaic [[Targum]] manuscripts later compiled by the [[Masoretes]]; and authoritative Aramaic translations, such as those of [[Targum Onkelos|Onkelos]] and [[Targum Jonathan|Rabbi Yonathan ben Uziel]].<ref>Greek-speaking Judaism (see also [[Hellenistic Judaism]]), survived, however, on a smaller scale into the medieval period. Cf. Natalio Fernández Marcos, ''The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek Bible,'' Leiden: Brill, 2000.</ref>

What was perhaps most significant for the LXX, as distinct from other Greek versions, was that the LXX began to lose Jewish sanction after differences between it and contemporary Hebrew scriptures were discovered (see above). Even [[Hellenistic Judaism|Greek-speaking Jews]] tended less to the LXX, preferring other Jewish versions in Greek, such as that of the 2nd-century [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]] translation, which seemed to be more concordant with contemporary Hebrew texts.<ref name="Würthwein"/> While Jews have not used the LXX in worship or religious study since the 2nd century CE, recent scholarship has brought renewed interest in it in the field of Judaic Studies.

===Christian use===
{{see also|Development of the Old Testament canon}}
The [[Early Christian]] Church used the Greek texts<ref name=lxxshift>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah (..) Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the [[Masoretic]]) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] (..) In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible (..) It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> since Greek was a [[lingua franca]] of the Roman Empire at the time, and the language of the Greco-Roman Church ([[Aramaic]] was the language of [[Syriac Christianity]], which used the [[Targums]]).

The relationship between the apostolic use of the [[Old Testament]], for example, the Septuagint and the now lost Hebrew texts (though to some degree and in some form carried on in Masoretic tradition) is complicated. The Septuagint seems to have been a major source for the [[Apostles]], but it is not the only one. St. Jerome offered, for example, Matt 2:15 and 2:23, John 19:37, John 7:38, 1 Cor. 2:9.<ref name="Jerome">St. Jerome, ''Apology Book II''.</ref> as examples not found in the Septuagint, but in Hebrew texts. (Matt 2:23 is not present in current Masoretic tradition either, though according to St. Jerome it was in Isaiah 11:1.) The New Testament writers, when citing the Jewish scriptures, or when quoting Jesus doing so, freely used the Greek translation, implying that Jesus, his Apostles and their followers considered it reliable.<ref name=paul-septuagint /><ref name="Swete">H. B. Swete, ''An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek,'' revised by R.R. Ottley, 1914; reprint, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1989.</ref><ref name=usageNT>"The quotations from the Old Testament found in the New are in the main taken from the Septuagint; and even where the citation is indirect the influence of this version is clearly seen (..)"{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>

In the [[Early Christian Church]], the presumption that the Septuagint was translated by Jews before the era of Christ, and that the Septuagint at certain places gives itself more to a [[christological]] interpretation than 2nd-century Hebrew texts was taken as evidence that "Jews" had changed the Hebrew text in a way that made them less christological. For example, [[Irenaeus]] concerning [[Isaiah 7:14]]: The Septuagint clearly writes of a ''virgin'' (Greek ''παρθένος'') that shall conceive.<ref name="Paulkovich">{{Citation|title=No Meek Messiah|author= Paulkovich, Michael| year=2012|publisher=Spillix Publishing|ISBN=0988216116| page=24}}</ref> While the Hebrew text was, according to Irenaeus, at that time interpreted by [[Theodotion]] and [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]] (both [[proselyte]]s of the Jewish faith) as a ''young woman'' that shall conceive. According to Irenaeus, the [[Ebionites]] used this to claim that Joseph was the (biological) father of Jesus. From Irenaeus' point of view that was pure heresy, facilitated by (late) anti-Christian alterations of the scripture in Hebrew, as evident by the older, pre-Christian, Septuagint.<ref name="Irenaeus">Irenaeus, ''Against Herecies Book III''.</ref>

When [[Jerome]] undertook the revision of the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]] translations of the Septuagint, he checked the Septuagint against the Hebrew texts that were then available. He broke with church tradition and translated most of the [[Old Testament]] of his [[Vulgate]] from Hebrew rather than Greek. His choice was severely criticized by [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], his contemporary; a flood of still less moderate criticism came from those who regarded Jerome as a forger. While on the one hand he argued for the superiority of the Hebrew texts in correcting the Septuagint on both philological and theological grounds, on the other, in the context of accusations of heresy against him, Jerome would acknowledge the Septuagint texts as well.<ref name="Rebenich2013p58">Rebenich, S., ''Jerome'' (Routledge, 2013), p. 58. ISBN 9781134638444</ref> With the passage of time, acceptance of Jerome's version gradually increased until it displaced the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin translations]] of the Septuagint.<ref name="Würthwein"/>

The [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox Church]] still prefers to use the LXX as the basis for translating the Old Testament into other languages. The Eastern Orthodox also use LXX untranslated where Greek is the liturgical language, e.g. in the [[Orthodox Church of Constantinople]], the [[Church of Greece]] and the [[Cypriot Orthodox Church]]. Critical translations of the [[Old Testament]], while using the Masoretic Text as their basis, consult the Septuagint as well as other versions in an attempt to reconstruct the meaning of the Hebrew text whenever the latter is unclear, undeniably corrupt, or ambiguous.<ref name="Würthwein"/> For example, the [[Jerusalem Bible]] Foreword says, "... only when this (the Masoretic Text) presents insuperable difficulties have emendations or other versions, such as the ... LXX, been used."<ref name="JB">Jerusalem Bible Readers Edition, 1990: London, citing the Standard Edition of 1985</ref> The Translator's Preface to the [[New International Version]] says: "The translators also consulted the more important early versions (including) the Septuagint ... Readings from these versions were occasionally followed where the [[Masoretic Text|MT]] seemed doubtful ..."<ref name="NIV">"Life Application Bible" (NIV), 1988: Tyndale House Publishers, using "Holy Bible" text, copyright International Bible Society 1973</ref>

==Textual history==

===Table of books===
{| class="toccolours" cellspacing="0px" style="width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox Old Testament <ref name="Jobes and Silva"/><ref name="McLay">Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research ISBN 0-8028-6091-5.''—The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref><ref>The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Orthodoxy.</ref>
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}} || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}} || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}} || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}} || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}} || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ}} || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}} || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ<ref>{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεῖα}} (Basileia). </ref>}} || I Reigns || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}} || II Reigns || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}} || III Reigns || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}} || IV Reigns || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}} || I Paralipomenon<ref>That is, ''Things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.</ref> || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}} || II Paralipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra-Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}<ref>also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.</ref> || Tobit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}} || [[I Maccabees|I Makkabees]] || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}} || [[II Maccabees|II Makkabees]] || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}} || [[III Maccabees|III Makkabees]] || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}} || Psalms || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}} || [[Psalm 151]] || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανασσῆ}} || [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}} || Proverbs || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}} || Ecclesiastes || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}} || [[Shir Hashirim|Song of Songs]] || Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλoμῶντος}} || Wisdom of Solomon || Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}} || [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach]] || Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Psalms of Solomon]] || Psalms of Solomon<ref>Not in Orthodox Canon, but originally included in the LXX. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/</ref>
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δώδεκα}} || The Twelve || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}} || I. Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}} || II. Ämōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}} || III. Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}} || IV. Ioel || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὀβδιού Εʹ}}<ref>Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias", which opens the book.</ref> || V. Obdias || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}} || VI. Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}} || VII. Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}} || VIII. Ambakum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}} || IX. Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}} || X. Ängaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}} || XI. Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μαλαχίας ΙΒʹ}} || XII. Messenger || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}} || Hesaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}} || Baruch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}} || Lamentations || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολή Ιερεμίου}} || [[Epistle of Jeremiah]] || Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}} || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}} || [[IV Maccabees|IV Makkabees]] || 4 Maccabees<ref>Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon</ref>
|}

===Textual analysis===
[[File:TextsOT.PNG|thumb|200px|left|The inter-relationship between various significant ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament (some identified by their siglum). LXX here denotes the original septuagint.]]

Modern scholarship holds that the LXX was written during the 3rd through 1st centuries BCE. But nearly all attempts at dating specific books, with the exception of the [[Pentateuch]] (early- to mid-3rd century BCE), are tentative and without consensus.<ref name="Dines"/>

Later Jewish revisions and [[recension]]s of the Greek against the Hebrew are well attested, the most famous of which include ''the Three:'' [[Aquila of Sinope|Aquila]] (128 CE), [[Symmachus the Ebionite|Symmachus]], and [[Theodotion]]. These three, to varying degrees, are more literal renderings of their contemporary Hebrew scriptures as compared to the [[Old Greek]]. Modern scholars consider one or more of the 'three' to be totally new Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible.<ref>Compare Dines, who is certain only of Symmachus being a truly new version, with Würthwein, who considers only Theodotion to be a revision, and even then possibly of an earlier non-LXX version.</ref>

Around 235 CE, [[Origen]], a Christian scholar in [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]], completed the [[Hexapla]], a comprehensive comparison of the ancient versions and Hebrew text side-by-side in six columns, with diacritical markings (a.k.a. "editor's marks", "critical signs" or "Aristarchian signs"). Much of this work was lost, but several compilations of the fragments are available. In the first column was the contemporary Hebrew, in the second a Greek transliteration of it, then the newer Greek versions each in their own columns. Origen also kept a column for the Old Greek (the Septuagint) and next to it was a critical apparatus combining readings from all the Greek versions with diacritical marks indicating to which version each line (Gr. στίχος) belonged.<ref>Jerome, [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf101.vii.1.LXXII.html From Jerome, Letter LXXI] (404 CE), NPNF1-01. ''The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustin, with a Sketch of his Life and Work,'' Phillip Schaff, Ed.</ref> Perhaps the voluminous Hexapla was never copied in its entirety, but Origen's combined text ("the fifth column") was copied frequently, eventually without the editing marks, and the older uncombined text of the LXX was neglected. Thus this combined text became the first major Christian recension of the LXX, often called the ''Hexaplar recension''. In the century following Origen, two other major recensions were identified by [[Jerome]], who attributed these to [[Lucian of Antioch|Lucian]] and [[Hesychius of Jerusalem|Hesychius]].<ref name="Dines"/>

====Manuscripts====

{{main|Septuagint manuscripts}}
The oldest manuscripts of the LXX include 2nd century BCE fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Rahlfs nos. 801, 819, and 957), and 1st century BCE fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Minor Prophets ([[Alfred Rahlfs]] nos. 802, 803, 805, 848, 942, and 943). Relatively complete manuscripts of the LXX postdate the Hexaplar rescension and include the [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]] from the 4th century CE and the [[Codex Alexandrinus]] of the 5th century. These are indeed the oldest surviving nearly complete manuscripts of the Old Testament in any language; the oldest extant complete Hebrew texts date some 600 years later, from the first half of the 10th century.<ref name="Würthwein"/><ref>Due to the practice of burying Torah scrolls invalidated for use by age, commonly after 300–400 years.</ref> The 4th century [[Codex Sinaiticus]] also partially survives, still containing many texts of the Old Testament.<ref>Würthwein, op. cit., pp. 73 & 198.</ref> While there are differences between these three codices, scholarly consensus today holds that one LXX—that is, the original pre-Christian translation—underlies all three. The various Jewish and later Christian revisions and recensions are largely responsible for the divergence of the codices.<ref name="Dines"/>

====Differences with the Latin Vulgate and the Masoretic text====
The sources of the many differences between the Septuagint, the [[Latin Vulgate]] and the [[Masoretic text]] have long been discussed by scholars. Following the [[Renaissance]], a common opinion among some humanists was that the LXX translators bungled the translation from the Hebrew and that the LXX became more corrupt with time. The most widely accepted view today is that the original Septuagint provided a reasonably accurate record of an early Hebrew textual variant that differed from the ancestor of the Masoretic text as well as those of the [[Latin Vulgate]], where both of the latter seem to have a more similar textual heritage. This view is supported by comparisons with Biblical texts found at the [[Essene]] settlement at [[Qumran]] (the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]]).{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

These issues notwithstanding, the text of the LXX is generally close to that of the Masoretes and Vulgate. For example, Genesis 4:1–6 is identical in both the LXX, Vulgate and the Masoretic Text. Likewise, Genesis 4:8 to the end of the chapter is the same. There is only one noticeable difference in that chapter, at 4:7, to wit:

{| cellspacing="5" cellpadding="10"
|-
| <center>'''Genesis 4:7, LXX and English Translation ([[New English Translation of the Septuagint|NETS]])'''</center>||<center>'''Genesis 4:7, Masoretic and English Translation from MT ([[Judaica Press]])'''</center>||<center>'''Genesis 4:7, Latin Vulgate and English Translation (Douay-Rheims)'''</center>
|-
| οὐκ ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ. If you offer correctly but do not divide correctly, have you not sinned? Be still; his recourse is to you, and you will rule over him.||{{Hebrew|הֲלוֹא אִם תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ וְאַתָּה תִּמְשָׁל בּוֹ:}} Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it.||nonne si bene egeris recipies sin autem male statim in foribus peccatum aderit sed sub te erit appetitus eius et tu dominaberis illius If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
|}

This instance illustrates the complexity of assessing differences between the LXX and the Masoretic Text as well as the Vulgate. Despite the striking divergence of meaning here between the Septuagint and later texts, nearly identical consonantal Hebrew source texts can be reconstructed. The readily apparent semantic differences result from alternative strategies for interpreting the difficult verse and relate to differences in vowelization and punctuation of the consonantal text.

The differences between the LXX and the MT thus fall into four categories.<ref>See, Jinbachian, ''Some Semantically Significant Differences Between the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint'', [http://210.107.99.8/appendage/labhwp/Jinbachian.doc].</ref>

:# ''Different Hebrew sources for the MT and the LXX''. Evidence of this can be found throughout the Old Testament. Most obvious are major differences in Jeremiah and Job, where the LXX is much shorter and chapters appear in different order than in the MT, and Esther where almost one third of the verses in the LXX text have no parallel in the MT. A more subtle example may be found in Isaiah 36.11; the meaning ultimately remains the same, but the choice of words evidences a different text. The MT reads ''"...al tedaber yehudit be-'ozne ha`am al ha-homa"'' [speak not the Judean language in the ears of (or—which can be heard by) the people on the wall]. The same verse in the LXX reads according to the translation of Brenton "and speak not to us in the Jewish tongue: and wherefore speakest thou in the ears of the men on the wall." The MT reads "people" where the LXX reads "men". This difference is very minor and does not affect the meaning of the verse. Scholars at one time had used discrepancies such as this to claim that the LXX was a poor translation of the Hebrew original. With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, variant Hebrew texts of the Bible were found. In fact this verse is found in Qumran (1QIsa''a'') where the Hebrew word "haanashim" (the men) is found in place of "haam" (the people). This discovery, and others like it, showed that even seemingly minor differences of translation could be the result of variant Hebrew source texts.
:# ''Differences in interpretation'' stemming from the same Hebrew text. A good example is Genesis 4.7, shown above.
:# ''Differences as a result of idiomatic translation issues'' (i.e. a Hebrew idiom may not easily translate into Greek, thus some difference is intentionally or unintentionally imparted). For example, in Psalm 47:10 the MT reads "The shields of the earth belong to God". The LXX reads "To God are the mighty ones of the earth." The metaphor "shields" would not have made much sense to a Greek speaker; thus the words "mighty ones" are substituted in order to retain the original meaning.
:# ''Transmission changes in Hebrew or Greek'' (Diverging revisionary/recensional changes and copyist errors)

====Dead Sea Scrolls====
The Biblical manuscripts found in [[Qumran]], commonly known as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (DSS), have prompted comparisons of the various texts associated with the Hebrew Bible, including the Septuagint.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/searching-for-better-text.asp |title=Searching for the Better Text – Biblical Archaeology Society |publisher=Bib-arch.org |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref> Peter Flint,<ref>[http://twu.ca/research/academic/faculty-research/chairs-and-professorships/canada-research-chairs/peter-flint/curriculum-vitae-dr-peter-flint.html Dr. Peter Flint. Curriculum Vitae. Trinity Western University. Langley, BC, Canada.] Accessed March 26, 2011</ref> cites Emanuel Tov, the chief editor of the scrolls,<ref name = "Elderen" >[http://sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=356 Edwin Yamauchi, '''"Bastiaan Van Elderen, 1924– 2004"''', SBL Forum] Accessed March 26, 2011.</ref> who identifies five broad variation categories of DSS texts:<ref name = "Tov">Tov, E. 2001. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd ed.) Assen/Maastricht: Van Gocum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press. As cited in [http://books.google.ca/books?id=RBSO35k25_YC&dq=%22dead+sea+scrolls+and+the+septuagint%22,+%22peter+flint%22&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s Flint, Peter W. 2002. The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls as presented in Bible and computer: the Stellenbosch AIBI-6 Conference: proceedings of the Association internationale Bible et informatique, "From alpha to byte", University of Stellenbosch, 17–21 July, 2000 Association internationale Bible et informatique. Conference, Johann Cook (ed.) Leiden/Boston BRILL, 2002]</ref>

:# Proto-Masoretic: This consists of a stable text and numerous and distinctive agreements with the Masoretic Text. About 60% of the Biblical scrolls fall into this category (e.g. 1QIsa-b)
:# Pre-Septuagint: These are the manuscripts which have distinctive affinities with the Greek Bible. These number only about 5% of the Biblical scrolls, for example, 4QDeut-q, 4QSam-a, and 4QJer-b, 4QJer-d. In addition to these manuscripts, several others share distinctive individual readings with the Septuagint, although they do not fall in this category.
:# The Qumran "Living Bible": These are the manuscripts which, according to Tov, were copied in accordance with the "Qumran practice" (i.e. with distinctive long [[orthography]] and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], frequent errors and corrections, and a free approach to the text. Such scrolls comprise about 20% of the Biblical corpus, including the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a):
:# Pre-Samaritan: These are DSS manuscripts which reflect the textual form found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, although the Samaritan Bible itself is later and contains information not found in these earlier scrolls, (e.g. God's holy mountain at Shechem rather than Jerusalem). The Qumran witnesses—which are characterized by orthographic corrections and harmonizations with parallel texts elsewhere in the Pentateuch—comprise about 5% of the Biblical scrolls. (e.g. 4QpaleoExod-m)
:# Non-Aligned: This is a category which shows no consistent alignment with any of the other four text-types. These number approximately 10% of the Biblical scrolls, and include 4QDeut-b, 4QDeut-c, 4QDeut-h, 4QIsa-c, and 4QDan-a.<ref name = "Tov"/><ref>Laurence Shiffman, ''Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls'', p. 172</ref><ref>Note that these percentages are disputed. Other scholars credit the Proto-Masoretic texts with only 40%, and posit larger contributions from Qumran-style and non-aligned texts. The Canon Debate, McDonald & Sanders editors, 2002, chapter 6: Questions of Canon through the Dead Sea Scrolls by James C. VanderKam, page 94, citing private communication with Emanuel Tov on biblical manuscripts: Qumran scribe type c.25%, proto-Masoretic Text c. 40%, pre-Samaritan texts c.5%, texts close to the Hebrew model for the Septuagint c.5% and nonaligned c.25%.</ref>

The textual sources present a variety of readings. For example, Bastiaan Van Elderen <ref name = "Elderen" /> compares three variations of Deuteronomy 32:43, the [[Song of Moses]].{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

{| cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
|-
| <center>'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Masoretic'''</center>||<center>'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Qumran'''</center>||<center>'''Deuteronomy 32.43, Septuagint'''</center>
|-
|
:'''1 Shout for joy, O nations, with his people'''
:'''2 For he will avenge the blood of his servants
:'''3 And will render vengeance to his adversaries
:'''4 And will purge his land, his people.
||
:'''1 Shout for joy, O heavens, with him'''
:'''2 And worship him, all you divine ones'''
:'''3 For he will avenge the blood of his sons
:'''4 And he will render vengeance to his adversaries
:'''5 And he will recompense the ones hating him
:'''6 And he purges the land of his people.
||
:'''1 Shout for joy, O heavens, with him'''
:'''2 And let all the sons of God worship him'''
:'''3 Shout for joy, O nations, with his people'''
:'''4 And let all the angels of God be strong in him'''
:'''5 Because he avenges the blood of his sons
:'''6 And he will avenge and recompense justice to his enemies
:'''7 And he will recompense the ones hating
:'''8 And the Lord will cleanse the land of his people. 
|}

The Dead Sea Scrolls, with their 5% connection to the Septuagint, provide significant information for scholars studying the Greek text of the Hebrew Bible.

===Printed editions===
The texts of all printed editions are derived from the three recensions mentioned above, that of Origen, Lucian, or Hesychius.

* The ''[[editio princeps]]'' is the [[Complutensian Polyglot]]. It was based on manuscripts that are now lost, but seems to transmit quite early readings.<ref>Joseph Ziegler, "Der griechische Dodekepropheton-Text der Complutenser Polyglotte", ''Biblica'' 25:297–310, cited in Würthwein.</ref>
* The Aldine edition (begun by [[Aldus Manutius]]) appeared at Venice in 1518. The text is closer to Codex Vaticanus than the Complutensian. The editor says he collated ancient manuscripts but does not specify them. It has been reprinted several times.
* The most important edition is the [http://books.google.ro/books?id=UMBIAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=ro&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Roman or Sixtine Septuagint], which uses Codex Vaticanus as the base texts and various other later manuscripts for the lacunae in the uncial manuscript. It was published in 1587 under the direction of Cardinal [[Antonio Carafa]], with the help of a group of Roman scholars (Cardinal [[Gugliemo Sirleto]], [[Antonio Agelli]] and [[Petrus Morinus]]), by the authority of Sixtus V, to assist the revisers who were preparing the Latin Vulgate edition ordered by the Council of Trent. It has become the textus receptus of the Greek Old Testament and has had many new editions, such as that of [[Robert Holmes (priest)|Robert Holmes]] and [[James Parsons (clergyman)|James Parsons]] (Oxford, 1798–1827), the seven editions of [[Constantin von Tischendorf]], which appeared at Leipzig between 1850 and 1887, the last two, published after the death of the author and revised by Nestle, the four editions of [[Henry Barclay Swete]] (Cambridge, 1887–95, 1901, 1909), etc. A detailed description of this edition has been made by H. B. Swete in his ''An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek'' (1900), pp. 174–182.
* Grabe's edition was published at Oxford, from 1707 to 1720, and reproduced, but imperfectly, the [[Codex Alexandrinus]] of London. For partial editions, see [[Fulcran Vigouroux]], ''Dictionnaire de la Bible'', 1643 sqq.
* [[Alfred Rahlfs]], a longtime Septuagint researcher at Göttingen, began a manual edition of the Septuagint in 1917 or 1918. The completed ''Septuaginta'' was published in 1935. It relies mainly on Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus, and presents a critical apparatus with variants from these and several other sources.<ref>Rahlfs, A. (Ed.). (1935/1979). ''Septuaginta.'' Stuttgart: [[Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft]].</ref>
* The Göttingen Septuagint ''(Vetus Testamentum Graecum: Auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum)'' is a major critical version, comprising multiple volumes published from 1931 to 2009 and not yet complete (the largest missing parts are the history books Joshua through Chronicles except Ruth, and the Solomonic books Proverbs through Song of Songs). Its two critical apparatuses present variant Septuagint readings and variants from other Greek versions.<ref>[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/editions.html IOSCS: Critical Editions of Septuagint/Old Greek Texts]</ref>
* In 2006, a revision of Alfred Rahlfs's ''Septuaginta'' was published by the German Bible Society. This ''editio altera'' includes over a thousand changes to the text and apparatus.<ref>[http://www.scholarly-bibles.com/en/search.html?product_show=96 German Bible Society]</ref>
* [[Apostolic Bible Polyglot]] contains a Septuagint text derived mainly from the agreement of any two of the [[Complutensian Polyglot]], the Sixtine, and the Aldine texts.<ref>[http://www.apostolicbible.com/intro.pdf Introduction to the Apostolic Bible]</ref>

===English translations===

The Septuagint has been translated a few times into English, the first one (though excluding the Apocrypha) being that of [[Thomson's Translation|Charles Thomson in 1808]]; his translation was later revised and enlarged by C. A. Muses in 1954.

[[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint|The translation of Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton]], published in 1851, is a long-time standard. For most of the time since its publication it has been the only one readily available, and has continually been in print. It is based primarily upon the [[Codex Vaticanus]] and contains the Greek and English texts in parallel columns. There also is a revision of the Brenton Septuagint available through Stauros Ministries, called ''The Apostles' Bible'', released in January 2008. [http://www.majoritytext.com]

The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) has produced ''[[New English Translation of the Septuagint|A New English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included Under that Title]]'' (NETS), an academic translation based on standard critical editions of the Greek texts. It was published by [[Oxford University Press]] in October 2007.

The [[Apostolic Bible Polyglot]], published in 2003, includes the Greek books of the Hebrew canon along with the Greek New Testament, all numerically coded to the AB-Strong numbering system, and set in monotonic orthography. Included in the printed edition is a concordance and index.

The [[Orthodox Study Bible]] was released in early 2008 with a new translation of the Septuagint based on the Alfred Rahlfs edition of the Greek text. To this base they brought two additional major sources. First the Brenton translation of the Septuagint from 1851. Second, Thomas Nelson Publishers granted use of the [[New King James Version]] text in the places where the translation of the LXX would match that of the Hebrew Masoretic text. This edition includes the New Testament as well, which also uses the New King James Version. It also includes extensive commentary from an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] perspective.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://orthodoxstudybible.com |title=Conciliar Press |publisher=Orthodox Study Bible |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>

The [[Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible]] (EOB) is an extensive revision and correction of Brenton’s translation which was primarily based on [[Codex Vaticanus]]. Its language and syntax have been modernized and simplified. It also includes extensive introductory material and footnotes featuring significant inter-LXX and LXX/MT variants. Father Nicholas King a Jesuit priest who lectures in New Testament Studies at Oxford University has completed a four
volume translation of the Septuagint, begun in 2012, and this is available from Kevin Mayhew
Publishers. It has a very useful mini commentary on each book which gives a flavour of what it is to be hoped is the start of accessible reasonably priced individual commentaries for the general reader. It is titled, The Old Testament. However, the most comprehensive English edition is that of Gary F. Zeolla entitled: Analytical Literal Translation of The Old Testament (Septuagint). Four volumes have already been published, and the fifth and final volume on the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books is expected to be published by LuLu
Publishers in 2015. It is a word for word literal translation, rather than a dynamic equivalence, or sectarian translation. Like the NETS it has every 'Septuagintal' Book, rather than slavishly following the Hebrew canon as a template, which makes for completeness. An advantage for the beginner in using Zeolla's edition is that he can compare with the original Greek or any English translation of the Hebrew OT to see the variations between the two versions.

==Promotion==

The International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies ([http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs IOSCS]), a nonprofit, learned society formed to promote international research in and study of the Septuagint and related texts,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/ |title=IOSCS |publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu |date= |accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref> has established February 8 annually as International Septuagint Day, a day to promote the discipline on campuses and in communities.
The Organization is also publishing the "Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies" ([http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ioscs/journal/ JSCS]).

==See also==
{{Portal|Bible}}

* [[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint]]
* [[Alfred Rahlfs]]—editor of a commonly distributed critical edition of LXX.
* ''[[La Bible d'Alexandrie]]''
* [[Documentary hypothesis]]—discusses the theoretical recensional history of the [[Torah]]/[[Pentateuch]] in Hebrew.
* [[Tanakh at Qumran]]—some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are witnesses to the LXX text.
* [[Septuagint manuscripts]]
* [[Vulgate]]
* [[Book of Job in Byzantine illuminated manuscripts]]
* [[Hellenistic Judaism]]

; Manuscripts of Septuagint
* [[Cotton Genesis]]
* [[Codex Marchalianus]]
* [[Papyrus Rylands 458]] – the oldest manuscript
* [[Papyrus Fouad 266]] – the second oldest manuscript

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* Bons, Eberhard, and Jan Joosten, eds. ''Septuagint Vocabulary: Pre-History, Usage, Reception'' (Society of Biblical Literature; 2011) 211 pages; studies of the language used
* Kantor, Mattis, ''The Jewish time line encyclopedia: A yearby-year history from Creation to the present'', Jason Aronson Inc., London, 1992
* [[Alfred Rahlfs]], [http://www.archive.org/stream/mitteilungendess00akaduoft#page/n9/mode/2up ''Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments, für das Septuaginta-Unternehmen''], Göttingen 1914.
* Makrakis, Apostolos, ''Proofs of the Authenticity of the Septuagint'', trans. by D. Cummings, Chicago, Ill.: Hellenic Christian Educational Society, 1947. ''N.B''.: Published and printed with its own pagination, whether as issued separately or as included together with 2 other works of A. Makrakis in a single volume published by the same film in 1950, wherein the translator's name is identified on the common t.p. to that volume.
* W. Emery Barnes, [http://www.archive.org/stream/journaltheologi00unkngoog#page/n208/mode/2up ''On the Influence of Septuagint on the Peshitta''], JTS 1901, pp. 186–197.
* Andreas Juckel, [http://syrcom.cua.edu/hugoye/vol8no2/HV8N2Juckel.html ''Septuaginta and Peshitta Jacob of Edessa quoting the Old Testament in Ms BL Add 17134''] JOURNAL OF SYRIAC STUDIES
* Martin Hengel, [http://books.google.ca/books?id=LUmGZ0NiweAC&pg=PR5&hl=pl&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Septuagint As Christian Scripture''], Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004.
* Rajak, Tessa, ''Translation and survival: the Greek Bible of the ancient Jewish Diaspora'' (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
* Bart D. Ehrman. ''The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings''; 608 pages, Oxford University Press (July, 2011); ISBN 978-0-19-975753-4
*Hyam Maccoby. ''The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity''; 238 pages, Barnes & Noble Books (1998); ISBN 978-0-7607-0787-6

==External links==

===General===
{{Wikisourcelang|el|Παλαιά Διαθήκη|The complete Greek text of the modern Septuagint}}
{{Wikisource|1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Septuagint|1911 Britannica entry}}
* [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint Online] – Comprehensive site with scholarly discussion and links to texts and translations
* [http://www.twu.ca/sites/septuagint/ The Septuagint Institute]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1035&letter=B#3077 ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906): Bible Translations]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13722a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1913): Septuagint Version]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15367a.htm#sept ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1913): Versions of the Bible]
* [http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/searching-for-better-text.asp Searching for the Better Text: How errors crept into the Bible and what can be done to correct them (Biblical Archaeology Review)]
* [http://biblical-studies.ca/lxx/lxx.html Codex: Resources and Links Relating to the Septuagint]
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/earlylxx/earlypaplist.html Extensive chronological and canonical list of Early Papyri and Manuscripts of the Septuagint]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Septuagint}}

{{IPAc-en|}}===Texts and translations=== The Old Testament, by Nicholas King, in four volumes. kevin Mayhew Publishers. Analytical Translation of The Old Testament(Septuagint), by Gary F. Zeolla, 4volumes with fifth and final volume on the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books to be published in 2015 by LuLu Publishers. A complete work with literal word for word translation.
* [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/Texts.htm Septuagint/Old Greek Texts and Translations] LXX finder, listing dozens of editions, both print and digital, in various languages and formats. A good place to start.
* [http://www.septuagint.org/LXX/ Septuagint and New Testament] – Despite its name, this site does ''not'' in fact provide the LXX, rather a shortened version which eliminates all the LXX books later called "deuterocanonical". The Greek NT is presented in full. Both Greek texts, the (incomplete) LXX and the NT, have [[parsing]] and [[concordance (publishing)|concordance]].
* [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/septuagint/default.asp Elpenor's Bilingual (Greek / English) Septuagint Old Testament] Greek text (full polytonic unicode version) and English translation side by side. Greek text as used by the Orthodox Churches.
* [http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/grie/sept/sept.htm Titus Text Collection: Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes] (advanced research tool)
* [http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/bible/bible.asp?contents=old_testament/contents.asp&main=OldTes Septuagint published by the Church of Greece]
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/gopher/text/religion/biblical/lxxmorph/ Plain text of the whole LXX]
* [http://apostolicbible.com Greek-English interlinear of OT & NT]. [[Monotonic orthography]].
* [http://www.katapi.org.uk Bible Resource Pages] – contains Septuagint texts (with diacritics) side-by-side with English translations
* [http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~hancock/sept.zip The Septuagint in Greek] as an [[MS Word]] document (requires [http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~hancock/vudown.htm Vusillus Old Face] ({{wayback|http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~hancock/vudown.htm}}). Introduction and book abbreviations in Latin.)
* [http://www.tricountyi.net/~randerse/Danog.htm The Book of Daniel from an Old Greek LXX]{{Dead link|date=March 2011}} (no diacritics, needs special font)
* [http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/ Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton's translation]
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ The New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS), electronic edition]
* [http://www.lxx.org Project to produce an Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) whose Old Testament is based entirely on the Septuagint.]{{Dead link|date=March 2011}}
* [http://www.orthodox-church.info/eob/ EOB: Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible: includes comprehensive introductory materials dealing with Septuagintal issues and an Old Testament which is an extensive revision of the Brenton with footnotes.]
* [http://christianmedia.us/LXXE/ The Septuagint LXX in English (Online text of the entire LXX English translation by Sir Lancelot Brenton)]
* [http://www.peterpapoutsis.com/ The Holy Orthodox Bible translated by Peter A. Papoutsis] from the Septuagint (LXX) and the Official Greek New Testament text of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
* [http://septuaginta.net Septuagint LXX] – The Septuaginta LXX is an on-going Septuagint project that aims to produce an online critical text of the Septuagint with a comprehensive critical apparatus, and English translation of the Septuagint, Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus.
* [http://www.ebible.org/eng-lxx2012/index.htm LXX2012: Septuagint in American English 2012] – The Septuagint with Apocrypha, translated from Greek to English by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton and published in 1885, with some language updates by Michael Paul Johnson in 2012 (American English)
* [http://www.ebible.org/eng-uk-lxx2012/ LXX2012: Septuagint in British/International English 2012] – The Septuagint with Apocrypha, translated from Greek to English by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton and published in 1885, with some language updates by Michael Paul Johnson in 2012 (British/International English)

===The LXX and the NT===
* [http://www.scripturecatholic.com/septuagint.html Septuagint references in NT] by John Salza
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=UakGAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage An Apology for the Septuagint] – by [[Edward William Grinfield]]

[[Category:Early versions of the Bible]]
[[Category:Septuagint]]
[[Category:Judaism-related controversies]]
[[Category:Christian biblical canon]]
[[Category:Hellenism and Christianity]]
[[Category:Bible versions and translations]]

Book of Amos

2014-06-26T15:22:30Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614516694 by 98.18.170.85 (talk)

{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|prophetic}}

The '''Book of Amos '''is a prophetic book of the [[Hebrew Bible]], one of the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]. [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]], an older contemporary of [[Hosea]] and [[Isaiah]],<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref> was active c. 750 BC during the reign of [[Jeroboam II]],<ref name="Harris"/> (786–746 BC) making the Book of Amos the first biblical prophetic book written. Amos lived in the kingdom of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] but preached in the northern kingdom of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]].<ref name="Harris"/> His major themes of [[social justice]], God's [[omnipotence]], and [[divine judgment]] became staples of prophecy.<ref name="Harris"/>

== Authorship ==

Amos was a [[prophet]] during the reign of Jeroboam ben Joash ([[Jeroboam II]]), ruler of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] from 793 BC to 753 BC, and the reign of [[Uzziah]], King of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], at a time when both kingdoms (Israel in the North and Judah in the South) were peaking in prosperity. He was a contemporary of the prophet [[Hosea]], but likely preceded him. Many of the earlier accounts of prophets found in the [[Tanakh]] are found within the context of other accounts of Israel's history. Amos, however, is the first prophet whose name also serves as the title of the corresponding biblical book in which his story is found. Amos also made it a point that before his calling he was a simple [[husbandman]] and that he was not a "professional" prophet of the prophetic guild.

== Date ==

Most scholars believe that [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] gave his message in the autumn of 750 BC or 749 BC.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} Leading up to this time, Assyrian armies battled against [[Damascus]] for a number of years, which greatly diminished Syria's threat to [[Israel]]. As a result of the fighting amongst its neighbors, Israel had the benefit of increasing its borders almost to those of the time of [[David (biblical king)|David]] and [[Solomon]].

It should also be noted that Amos preached about two years before a very large earthquake, and made reference to it twice in his book. [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]] ([[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] 14:5b) remembers this earthquake over 200 years later.

== Location ==

Some scholars believe that [[Amos (prophet)|Amos']] message was recorded after he delivered it to the Northern Kingdom, upon returning to his southern homeland of [[Tekoa, Gush Etzion|Tekoa]], a town eight kilometres south of [[Bethlehem]]. It is mentioned many times in the [[Tanakh]] ([[Joshua]] 15:39, [[2 Samuel]] 14:9 and 23:26, [[1 Chronicles]] 11:28). [[Rehoboam]] is reported to have fortified Tekoa along with other cities in [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] in [[2 Chronicles]] 11:5–6.

There are some differing opinions as to the location of the Tekoa Amos was presumably from. It is believed by most that Amos was a southern farmer who chose to deliver his prophetic message in the North. However, some believe that Amos was actually from a Tekoa in the North, near [[Galilee]]. They believe that it is more probable that Amos was from the North because it has conditions more suitable for the cultivation of sycamore figs than the Tekoa of the South. Sycamore figs grow at a low elevation, lower than the Tekoa of Judah, which is at a relatively high elevation of 850 metres (overlooking both [[Jerusalem]] and [[Bethlehem]]). Others have discredited the theory about the Galilean Tekoa, citing that the difference in elevation between the two locations is not significant. Scholars in support of the idea of Amos being from the North also say it makes more sense because of Amaziah's accusation of conspiracy found in chapter seven, verse 10. A conspirator, they argue, is more likely to be a national.

Two other opinions of where Amos' writings were recorded deserve mention. They are that 1) disciples of Amos followed him and recorded his message and 2) that someone in his audience in the North recorded his message.

== Purpose ==

The Book of Amos is set in a time when the people of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] have reached a low point in their devotion to [[Yahweh|the God of Israel]] – the people have become greedy and have stopped following and adhering to their values. The wealthy elite are becoming rich at the expense of others. Peasant farmers who once practiced subsistence farming are being forced to farm what is best for foreign trade, mostly wine and oil. (Amos 6:6){{Citation needed|reason=A reference is needed for the propagation of a growth of cash over subsistence crops, it is not a complaint intrinsic to the text of Amos|date=July 2011}}

God speaks to Amos, a farmer and herder, and tells him to go to [[Samaria]], the capital of the Northern kingdom. Through Amos, God tells the people that he is going to judge Israel for its sins, and it will be a foreign nation that will enact his judgment.

The people understand judgment as the coming of "the Day of the LORD." "The Day of the LORD" was widely celebrated and highly anticipated by the followers of God. However, Amos came to tell the people that "the Day of the LORD" was coming soon and that it meant divine judgment and justice for their own iniquity.

==="The Day of the {{smallcaps|Lord}}"===
Amos is the first prophet to use the term "the Day of the {{smallcaps|Lord}}".<ref>Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009). p260</ref> This phrase becomes important within future prophetic and apocalyptic literature. For the people of Israel "the day of the {{smallcaps|Lord}}" is the day when God will fight against his and their enemies, and it will be a day of victory for Israel. However, Amos and other prophets include Israel as an enemy of God, as Israel is guilty of injustice toward the innocent, poor, and young women.<ref>Coogan, M. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009). p258-259</ref>
To Amos "the day of the lord" will be a day of doom

== Themes ==

The book of Amos has three major sections plus an epilogue.<ref>Anderson, Francis I. & David Noel Freedman, ''Amos'' The Anchor Yale Bible, vol. 24A, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Pages xxv–xlii.</ref> Chapters one and two look at the nations surrounding [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and then Israel itself through an ethical lens. Chapters three to six are a collection of verses that look more specifically at Israel's transgressions. Chapters seven to nine include visions that Yahweh gave Amos as well as Amaziah's rebuke of the prophet. The last section of the book (7:1 to 9:8), commonly referred to as the Book of Visions, contains the only narrative section.
In the first two visions, [[Amos (prophet)|Amos]] is able to convince God not to act out the scenes of discipline presented to him. The ideas of discipline and justice, although not enacted here, correspond to the central message in what some refer to as the Book of Woes (5:1 to 6:14). This message can be seen most clearly in verse 24 of chapter five. The plagues in the preceding chapter, chapter four, were supposed to be seen as acts of discipline that turned Israel back to God. However, the people did not interpret the acts this way, and the discipline turned into judgment for the people's disobedience. In the second set of visions (7:7–9) there is no intercession by Amos, and God says that he "will never pass by them again." The plight of Israel has become hopeless. [[God]] will not hold back judgment because Israel refuses to listen to the prophets and even goes so far as to try to silence them (2:12, 3:8, 7:10–17).

The central idea{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} of the book of Amos is that God puts his people on the same level as the surrounding nations – God expects the same purity of them all. As it is with all nations that rise up against the kingdom of God, even Israel and Judah will not be exempt from the judgment of God because of their idolatry and unjust ways. The nation that represents YHWH must be made pure of anything or anyone that profanes the name of God. God's name must be exalted.

Other major ideas in the book of Amos include: [[social justice]] and concern for the disadvantaged; the idea that Israel's [[covenant (biblical)|covenant]] with God did not exempt them from accountability for sin; God is God of all nations; God is judge of all nations; God is God of moral righteousness; God made all people; God elected Israel and then liberated Israel so that He would be known throughout the world; election by God means that those elected are responsible to live according to the purposes clearly outlined to them in the covenant; if God destroys the unjust, a remnant will remain; and God is free to judge whether to redeem Israel.

== Activities highlighted ==
[[File:UPennE3074.JPG|thumb|right|250px|[[POxy 846]]: Amos 2 (LXX)]]

The Book of Amos contains several different key activities and genres which are used to expound upon its themes. The following are a few examples:<ref>Michael D. Coogan, ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament'' (New York: Oxford, 2009), 256.</ref>

*Oracles (or [[prophecy|prophecies]] against the [[Gentile]] nations which surrounded [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] during the time of its writing (1.3–2.6)
*Address to different groups in Israel
**Women of Samaria (4.1–3)
**Rich persons in Samaria & Jerusalem (6.1–7; 8.4–8)
*Visions pertaining to God's judgment on Israel
**Locusts (7.1–3)
**Fire (7.4–6)
**A plumb line (7.7–9)
**A basket of fruit (8.1–3)
**God beside the altar (9.1–4)
*A confrontation between Amos and his listeners at Bethel (7.10–17)

== Hymn of Amos ==

Scholars have long recognized Amos utilized an ancient hymn within his prophecy, verses of which are found at 4.13; 5.8–9; 8.8; 9.5–6.<ref>H.W. Wolff, Joel und Amos (Hermeneia; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977), p. 215.</ref> This hymn is best understood as praising YHWH for His judgment, demonstrated in His destructive power, rather than praise for creation.<ref>P. Carny, ‘Doxologies: A Scientic Myth’, Hebrew Studies 18 (1977), pp. 149–59 (157)</ref> Scholarship has also identified 'Sumerian City Lament' (SCL) motifs within Amos and particularly the hymn, offering the possibility that Amos used SCL as a literary template for his prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction.<ref>J. Radine, The Book of Amos in Emergent Judah (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010)</ref> The Amos hymn has also been discussed in terms of a 'covenant curse' which was used to warn Israel of the consequences of breaking the covenant, and in particular a 'Flood covenant-curse' motif, first identified by D.R. Hillers.<ref>D.R. Hillers, ‘Treaty-Curses and the Old Testament Prophets’ (unpublished PhD dissertation; Rome Pontical Biblical Institute, 1964</ref> Recent scholarship has shown Amos' hymn is an ancient narrative text, has identified a new verse at 7.4; and has compared the hymn to the Genesis Flood account, and Job 9:5–10.<ref>G. Cox, The ‘Hymn’ of Amos: An Ancient Flood Narrative. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Vol 38.1 (2013): pp. 81–108</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
* Bulkeley, Tim ''Amos: Hypertext Bible Commentary''. Auckland: Hypertext Bible, 2005. [http://hypertextbible.org/amos/amos/index.htm Amos: Hypertext Bible Commentary]
* Carroll R., M. Daniel ''Amos: The Prophet and His Oracles''. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Amos---Prophet-His-Oracles-Research/dp/0664224555/ excerpt and text search], focus on historiography
* Coote, Robert B. ''Amos Among the Prophets: Composition and Theology''. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981.
* Doorly, William J. ''Prophet of Justice: Understanding the Book of Amos''. New York: Paulist Press 1989.
* [[Easton's Bible Dictionary]], 1897.
* Hasel, Gerhard F. ''Understanding the Book of Amos: Basic Issues in Current Interpretations''. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991.
* Haynes, John H. ''Amos the Eighth Century Prophet: His Times and His Preaching''. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988.
* Keil, C.F. et al. ''Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes''. Grand Rapids: [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|William B. Eerdmans]], 1986.
* LaSor, William Sanford et al. ''Old Testament Survey: the Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament''. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1996.
* [[Bruce M. Metzger|Metzger, Bruce M.]], et al. ''The Oxford Companion to the Bible''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
* Möller, Karl. ''A Prophet in Debate: The Rhetoric of Persuasion in the Book of Amos''. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003.

== External links ==
{{wikisource|Amos}}
Online translations of ''Book of Amos'':

*[[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
**[http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?aid=15760 Amos (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at [[Chabad.org]]

*[[Christian]] translations:
**[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Amos+1&ver1=esv ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (English Standard Version)
**[[s:Bible, King James, Amos|''Amos'' at Wikisource]] (Authorised King James Version)
* [http://www.nicholaswhyte.info/Bible/amos.htm Nicholas Whyte on Amos]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01435a.htm/ New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, Amos]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[Minor prophet]]s|||}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Book of Joel|Joel]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after= [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amos}}
[[Category:Minor Prophets]]
[[Category:Year of work unknown]]

Book of Jeremiah

2014-06-26T04:23:37Z

Jerm729: Reverted to revision 608671957 by Tahc (talk): Removed unreliable information. (TW)

{{Tanakh OT|prophetic}}

The '''Book of Jeremiah''' ({{lang-he|ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ}}; abbreviated '''[[wikt:Jer.|Jer.]]''' or '''[[wikt:Jerem.|Jerem.]]''' in citations) is the second of the [[Latter Prophets]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]], and the second of the Prophets in the Christian [[Old Testament]].{{sfn|Sweeney|1998|p=81-82}} The superscription at chapter 1:1–3 identifies it as "the words of [[Jeremiah]] son of Hilkiah," and places the prophet historically from the reforms of king [[Josiah]] in 627 BC through the subjugation of Judah by the [[Neo-Babylonian empire|Babylonians]] in 605, the deportation of King Jehoiachin in 597, the destruction of the city in 587/586, and the assassination of the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah in 582.{{sfn|Sweeney|1998|p=81-82}} Of all the prophets, Jeremiah comes through most clearly as a person, ruminating to his scribe Baruch about his role as a servant of God with little good news for his audience.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2008|p=241}}

Jeremiah is written in a very complex and poetic Hebrew (apart from verse 10:12, curiously written in [[Biblical Aramaic]]). It has come down in two distinct though related versions, one in Hebrew, the other known from a Greek translation.{{sfn|Sweeney|1998|p=82}} Both versions are heavily edited and reflect the perspectives of later ages; both portray Jeremiah as a "second Moses" but in reverse, presiding over Israel's banishment from the Promised land.{{sfn|Sweeney|1998|p=86}} The book is a representation of the message and significance of the prophet substantially intended for the Jews in Babylonian exile: its purpose is to explain the disaster as God's response to Israel's pagan worship:{{sfn|Allen|1998|p=7,14}} the people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children: their infidelity and rebelliousness make judgement inevitable, although restoration and a new covenant are foreshadowed.{{sfn|Biddle|2009|p=1074}}

==Structure==
:''(Taken from [[Michael D. Coogan]]'s ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament''; other sources will give slightly different divisions)''

It is difficult to discern any structure in Jeremiah, probably because the book had such a long and complex composition history.{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2008|p=241}} It can be divided into roughly 6 sections:{{sfn|Coogan|2009|p=299}}
*Chapters 1–25 (The earliest and main core of Jeremiah's message)
*Chapters 26–29 (Biographic material and interaction with other prophets)
*Chapters 30–33 (God's promise of restoration including Jeremiah's "new covenant" which is [[New Covenant#Judaism|interpreted differently in Judaism]] versus [[New Covenant#Christianity|Christianity]])
*Chapters 34–45 (Mostly interaction with [[Zedekiah]] and the fall of Jerusalem)
*Chapters 46–51 (Divine punishment to the nations surrounding Israel)
*Chapter 52 (Appendix that retells [[2 Kings]] 24.18–25.30)

==Summary==
[[File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - Jeremia treurend over de verwoesting van Jeruzalem - Google Art Project.jpg|250px|right|thumbnail|[[Rembrandt van Rijn]], "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem", c. 1630]]

===Historical background===
The background to Jeremiah is briefly described in the superscription to the book: Jeremiah began his prophetic mission in the thirteenth year of king Josiah (about 627 BCE) and finished in the eleventh year of king Zedekiah (586), "when Jerusalem went into exile in the sixth month." During this period, Josiah reformed Judahite religion, Babylon destroyed Assyria, Egypt briefly imposed vassal status on Judah, Babylon defeated Egypt and made Judah a Babylonian vassal (605), Judah revolted but was subjugated again by Babylon (597), and Judah revolted once more. This revolt was the final one: Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple and exiled its king and many of the leading citizens in 586, ending Judah's existence as an independent or quasi-independent kingdom and inaugurating the [[Babylonian exile]].{{sfn|Brettler|2010|p=173}}

===Overview===
The book can be conveniently divided into biographical, prose and poetic strands, each of which can be summarised separately.
The biographical material is to be found in chapters 26–29, 32, and 34–44, and focuses on the events leading up to and surrounding the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 587; it provides precise dates for the prophet's activities beginning in 609 BCE. The non-biographical prose passages, such as the Temple sermon in chapter 7 and the covenant passage in 11:1–17, are scattered throughout the book; they show clear affinities with the [[Deuteronomist]]s, the school of writers and editors who shaped the series of history books from [[Book of Judges|Judges]] to [[Books of Kings|Kings]], and while it is unlikely they come directly from Jeremiah, they may well have their roots in traditions about what he said and did.
The poetic material found is found largely in chapters 1–25 and consists of oracles in which the prophet speaks as God's messenger. These passages, dealing with Israel's unfaithfulness to God, the call to repentance, and attacks on the religious and political establishment, are mostly undated and have no clear context, but it is widely accepted that they represent the teachings of Jeremiah and are the earliest stage of the book. Allied to them, and also probably a reflection of the authentic Jeremiah, are further poetic passages of a more personal nature, which have been called Jeremiah's confessions or spiritual diary. In these poems the prophet agonises over the apparent failure of his mission, is consumed by bitterness at those who oppose or ignore him, and accuses God of betraying him.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=345-346}}

==Composition==
===Overview===
Jeremiah exists in two versions, Greek (meaning a Greek translation of a text originally written in Hebrew) and Hebrew, with the Greek representing the earlier version.{{sfn|Allen|2008|p=7-8}} The longer text was apparently developed to replace the shorter; the shorter version ultimately became canonical in Greek Orthodox churches, while the longer was adopted in Judaism and in Western Christian churches.{{sfn|Allen|2008|p=7-8}}

It is generally agreed that the three types of material interspersed through the book – poetic, narrative, and biographical – come from different sources or circles.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=345}} Authentic oracles of Jeremiah are probably to be found in the poetic sections of chapters 1–25, but the book as a whole has been heavily edited and added to by followers (including perhaps the prophet's companion, the scribe Baruch) and later generations of Deuteronomists.{{sfn|Coogan|2009|p=300}} The date of the final versions of the book (Greek and Hebrew) can be suggested by the fact that the Greek shows concerns typical of the early Persian period, while the [[Masoretic]] (i.e., Hebrew) shows perspectives which, although known in the Persian period, did not reach their realisation until the 2nd century BCE.{{sfn|Sweeney|2010|p=94}}

===Texts and manuscripts===
Jeremiah exists in two versions, a Greek translation, called the Septuagint, dating from the last few centuries before Christ and found in the earliest Christian manuscripts, and the [[Masoretic]] Hebrew text of traditional Jewish bibles – the Greek version is shorter than the Hebrew by about one eighth, and arranges the material differently. Equivalents of both versions were found among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], so that is clear that the differences mark important stages in the transmission of the text.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=130}} Most scholars hold that the Hebrew text underlying the Septuagint version is older than the Masoretic text, and that the Masoretic evolved either from this or from a closely related version.{{sfn|Williamson|2009|p=168}}

===Literary development===
The Book of Jeremiah grew over a long period of time. The Greek stage, looking forward to the fall of Babylon and aligning in places with Second [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], had already seen major redaction (editing) in terms of overall structure, the superscriptions (sentences identifying following passages as the words of God or of Jeremiah), the assignment of historical settings, and arrangement of material, and may have been completed by the late Exilic period (last half of the 6th century BCE); the initial stages of the Masoretic Hebrew version may have been written not long afterwards, although chapter 33:14–26 points to a setting in post-exilic times.{{sfn|Allen|2008|p=11}}

===Jeremiah and Baruch===
According to its opening verses the book records the prophetic utterances of the priest [[Jeremiah]] son of Hilkiah, "to whom the word of [[YHWH]] came in the days of king Josiah" and after. Jeremiah lived during a turbulent period, the final years of the kingdom of Judah, from the death of king [[Josiah]] (609 BCE) and the loss of independence that followed, through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of much its population (587/586).{{sfn|Sweeney|2010|p=86}} The book depicts a remarkably introspective prophet, impetuous and often angered by the role into which he has been thrust, alternating efforts to warn the people with pleas to God for mercy, until he is ordered to "pray no more for this people." He engages in extensive [[performance art]], walking about in the streets with a yoke about his neck and engaging in other efforts to attract attention. He is taunted and retaliates, is thrown in jail as the result, and at one point is thrown into a pit to die.

===Jeremiah and the Deuteronomists===
The [[Deuteronomist]]s were a school or movement who edited the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings into a more or less unified history of Israel (the so-called Deuteronomistic History) during the Jewish exile in Babylon (6th century BCE).{{sfn|Knight|1995|p=65-66}} It is generally accepted that the Deuteronomists played an important role in the production of the book of Jeremiah; for example, there is clear Deuteronomistic language in chapter 25, in which the prophet looks back over twenty-three years of unheeded prophesy. From the Deuteronomistic perspective the prophetic role implied, more than anything else, concern with law and covenant after the manner of Moses. On this reading Jeremiah was the last of a long line of prophets sent to warn Israel of the consequences of infidelity to God; unlike the Deuteronomists, for whom the call for repentance was always central, Jeremiah seems at some point in his career to have decided that further intercession was pointless, and that Israel's fate was sealed.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=132, 135–136}}

==Themes==
===Covenant===
{{seealso|Covenant (biblical)}}
Much of Jeremiah's prophetic preaching is based on the theme of the covenant between God and Israel (God would protect the people in return for their exclusive worship of him): Jeremiah insists that the covenant is conditional, and can be broken by Israel's apostasy (worship of gods other than [[Yahweh]], the god of Israel). The people, says Jeremiah, are like an unfaithful wife and rebellious children: their infidelity and rebelliousness makes judgement inevitable. Interspersed with this are references to repentance and renewal, although it is unclear whether Jeremiah thought that repentance could ward off judgement or whether it would have to follow judgement. The theme of restoration is strongest in chapter 31:32, which looks to a future in which a new covenant made with Israel and Judah, one which will not be broken.{{sfn|Biddle|2009|p=1074}} This is the theme of the "new covenant" passage at chapter 31:31–34, drawing on Israel's past relationship with God through the covenant at Sinai to foresee a new future in which Israel will be obedient to God.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=347}}

===The “Confessions” of Jeremiah===
Scholars have identified several passages in Jeremiah that can be understood as “confessions;” they occur in the first section of the book (chapters 1–25) and are 11.18–12.6, 15.10–21, 17.14–18, 18.18–23, and 20.7–18. In these passages, Jeremiah expresses his discontent with the message he is to deliver, but also his steadfast commitment to the divine call despite the fact that he had not sought it out. Additionally, in several of these “confessions,” Jeremiah prays that the Lord will take revenge on his persecutors (for example, Jeremiah 12.3).{{sfn|Coogan|2009|p=303}}

Jeremiah’s “confessions” are a type of individual [[lament]]. Such laments are found elsewhere in the psalms and the [[book of Job]]. Like Job, Jeremiah curses the day of his birth (Jer. 20.14–18 and Job 3.3–10). Likewise, Jeremiah’s exclamation “For I hear the whispering of many: Terror is all around!” (Jer. 20.10) matches Psalm 31.13 exactly. However, Jeremiah’s laments are made unique by his insistence that he has been called by Yahweh to deliver his messages.{{sfn|Coogan|2009|p=303}} These laments “provide a unique look at the prophet's inner struggle with faith, persecution, and human suffering”.{{sfn|Perdue|2009|p=1021}}

===Prophetic gestures===
Prophetic gestures, also known as sign-acts or symbolic actions, was a form of communication in which a message was delivered by performing symbolic actions.{{sfn|Coogan|2009|p=303}} Not unique to the book of Jeremiah, these were often bizarre and violated the cultural norms of the time (e.g. Ezekiel 4:4–8). They served the purposes of both drawing audience and causing that audience to ask questions, giving a prophet the opportunity to explain the meaning of the behavior. The recorder of the events in the written text (i.e. the author of the text) had neither the same audience nor, potentially, the same intent that Jeremiah had in performing these prophetic gestures.{{sfn|Friebel|1999|p=13}}

The following is a list – not exhaustive – of noteworthy sign-acts found in Jeremiah:{{sfn|Friebel|1999|p=88-136}}
*'''Jeremiah 13:1–11''' The wearing, burial, and retrieval of a linen waistband.
*'''Jeremiah 16:1–9''' The shunning of the expected customs of marriage, mourning, and general celebration.
*'''Jeremiah 19:1–13''' the acquisition of a clay jug and the breaking of said jug in front of the religious leaders of Jerusalem.
*'''Jeremiah 27–28''' The wearing of an oxen yoke and its subsequent breaking by a fellow prophet, Hananiah.
*'''Jeremiah 35:1–19''' The offering of wine to the Rechabites, a tribe known for living in tents and refusing to drink wine. This was done in the Temple, which is an important part of the breaking of societal norms.

===Jeremiah as a new Moses===
The book's superscription claims that Jeremiah was active for forty years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah (627 BCE) to the fall of Jerusalem in 587. It is clear from the last chapters of the book, however, that he continued to speak in Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor of Judah, in 582. This suggests that the superscription is trying to make a theological point about Jeremiah by comparing him to [[Moses]] – where Moses spent forty years leading Israel from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, Jeremiah's forty years saw Israel exiled from the land and Jeremiah himself ultimately in exile in Egypt.{{sfn|Sweeney|2010|p=87-88}}

==Later interpretation and influence==
===Judaism===
The influence of Jeremiah during and after the Exile was considerable in some circles, and three additional books, [[Book of Baruch]], [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]], and the [[Letter of Jeremiah]], were attributed to him in [[Second Temple Judaism]] (Judaism in the period between the building of the Second Temple in about 515 BCE and its destruction in 70 CE); in the Greek [[Septuagint]] they stand between Jeremiah and the [[Book of Ezekiel]], but only Lamentations is included in modern Jewish or Protestant bibles (the Letter of Jeremiah appears in Catholic bibles as the sixth chapter of Baruch).{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=132-133}} Jeremiah is mentioned by name in [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]] and [[Book of Ezra]], both dating from the later [[Yehud medinata|Persian period]], and his prophesy that the [[Babylonian exile]] would last 70 years was taken up and reapplied by the author of the [[Book of Daniel]] in the 2nd century BCE.

===Christianity===
The understanding of the [[early Christians]] that [[Jesus]] represented a "[[new covenant]]" (see 1 Corinthians 11:25 and Hebrews 8:6–13) is based on Jeremiah 31:31–34, in which a future Israel will repent and give God the obedience he demands.{{sfn|Davidson|1993|p=347}} The Gospel's portrayal of Jesus as a persecuted prophet owes a great deal to the account of Jeremiah's sufferings in chapters 37–44, as well as to the "[[Songs of the Suffering Servant]]" in [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]].{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=134}}

==See also==
* [[Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist|colwidth=20em}}

==Bibliography==
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==External links==
*Original Hebrew text:
** [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1101.htm ירמיהו ''Yirmiyahu'' – Jeremiah] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]])
*Translations into English
**[[Judaism|Jewish]] translations:
***[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et1101.htm Jeremiah at Mechon-Mamre] (Jewish Publication Society translation)
*** [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15756 Yirmiyahu – Jeremiah (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
**[[Christian]] translations:
***[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Jeremiah+1 ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org]
*** [http://web.archive.org/web/20061011002610/http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/24_jeremiah.htm Jeremiah at The Great Books] (New Revised Standard Version) (via archive.org)
*Commentary
**Jewish Commentary
*** [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15756 Jeremiah (Judaica Press)] [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org
*** [[Abraham Joshua Heschel]], ''The Prophets''. HarperCollins Paperback, 1975. ISBN 0-06-131421-8
* (Jewish Encyclopedia) [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=225&letter=J&search=Jeremiah Book of Jeremiah article]
* {{Cite journal
| author = [[Farrell Till]]
| url = http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1990/4/4jerem90.html
| title = The Jeremiah Dilemma
| journal = The Skeptical Review
| issue = 4
| year = 1990
}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[Major prophet]]s|||}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2011}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeremiah, Book Of}}
[[Category:Nevi'im]]
[[Category:Year of work unknown]]
[[Category:Septuagint]]
[[Category:Jeremiah]]
[[Category:Book of Jeremiah]]

Book of Zechariah

2014-06-24T17:50:21Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 614251528 by 164.64.32.163 (talk)

{{Tanakh OT |Nevi'im}}

The '''Book of Zechariah''', attributed to the [[prophet]] [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]], is included in the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and is the [[penultimate]] book of the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible|Christian Bible]].

== Historical context ==

Zechariah’s ministry took place during the reign of [[Darius the Great]] ({{bibleverse||Zechariah|1:1|HE}}), and was contemporary with [[Haggai]] in a post-[[Babylonian captivity|exilic]] world after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|fall of Jerusalem]] in 587/6 BC.<ref>Carol L. Meyers and Eric M. Meyers, ''Haggai, Zechariah 1–8: The Anchor Bible''. Garden City, Doubleday and Company Inc., 1987. ISBN 978-0-385-14482-7. Page 183.</ref> [[Ezekiel]] and [[Jeremiah]] wrote prior to the fall of Jerusalem, while continuing to prophesy in the early exile period. Scholars believe Ezekiel, with his blending of ceremony and vision, heavily influenced the visionary works of Zechariah 1–8.<ref>Meyers, p. 30.</ref> Zechariah is specific about dating his writing (520–518 BC).

During the Exile many [[Jews]] were taken to [[Babylon]], where the prophets told them to make their homes ({{bibleverse||Jeremiah|29|HE}}), suggesting they would spend a long period of time there. Eventually freedom did come to many Israelites, when [[Cyrus the Great]] overtook the Babylonians in 539 BC. In 538 BC, the famous [[Cyrus in the Judeo-Christian tradition|Edict of Cyrus]] was released, and the first return took place under Sheshbazzar. After the death of Cyrus in 530 BC, [[Darius the Great|Darius]] consolidated power and took office in 522 BC. His system divided the different colonies of the empire into easily manageable districts overseen by governors. [[Zerubbabel]] comes into the story, appointed by Darius as governor over the district of [[Yehud Medinata]].

Under the reign of Darius, Zechariah also emerged, centering around the rebuilding of the Temple. Unlike the Babylonians, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] went to great lengths to keep “cordial relations” between vassal and lord. The rebuilding of the Temple was encouraged by the leaders of the empire in hopes that it would strengthen the authorities in local contexts. This policy was good politics on the part of the Persians, and the Jews viewed it as a blessing from God.<ref>Meyers, pp. 31–2.</ref>

== Prophet ==
{{main|Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)}}

[[Zechariah (given name)|His name]] means "[[Yahweh]] has remembered." Not much is known about Zechariah’s life other than what may be inferred from the book. It has been speculated that his ancestor [[Iddo (prophet)|Iddo]] was the head of a priestly family who returned with [[Zerubbabel]] ({{bibleverse||Nehemiah|12:4|HE}}), and that Zechariah may himself have been a [[priest]] as well as a [[prophet]]. This is supported by Zechariah's interest in the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple]] and the priesthood, and from Iddo's preaching in the [[Books of Chronicles]].

== Authorship ==

Some scholars accept the book as the writings of one individual. For example, George Livingstone Robinson's dissertation on chapters 9–14<ref>Published in ''The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures'', Vol. 12, No. 1/2 (Oct 1895 – Jan 1896), pp. 1–92.</ref> concluded that those chapters had their origin in the period between 518 and 516 BC and stand in close relation to chapters 1–8, having most probably been composed by Zechariah himself. However, most modern scholars believe the book of Zechariah was written by at least two different people.<ref>Coogan, M. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context''. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), p. 346.</ref>

Zechariah 1–8, sometimes referred to as First Zechariah, was written in the 6th century BC.<ref>Coogan, M. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context.'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), p. 346.</ref> Zechariah 9–14, often called Second Zechariah, contains within the text no datable references to specific events or individuals but most scholars give the text a date in the fifth century BCE.<ref>Coogan, M. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context''. (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), p. 355.</ref> Second Zechariah, in the opinion of some scholars, appears to make use of the books of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], and [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], the [[Deuteronomistic History]], and the themes from First Zechariah. This has led some to believe that the writer(s) or editor(s) of Second Zechariah may have been a disciple of the prophet Zechariah.<ref>Meyers, Eric. "Zechariah Introduction." ''The New Interpreter's Study Bible''. (Abingdon Press: Nashville, 2003), p. 1338.</ref> There are some scholars who go even further and divide Second Zechariah into Second Zechariah (9–11) and Third Zechariah (12–14) since each begins with a heading oracle.<ref>Coogan, M. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context.'' (Oxford University Press: Oxford 2009), p. 355.</ref>

== Composition ==
{{details|Babylonian captivity}}

The return from exile is the theological premise of the prophet's visions in chapters 1–6. Chapters 7–8 address the [[quality of life]] God wants his renewed people to enjoy, containing many encouraging promises to them. Chapters 9–14 comprise two "[[oracle]]s" of the future.
[[Image:Gustave Doré (1832-1883) - The Bible (1865) - Zechariah 6-5.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Zechariah's vision of the [[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]]({{bibleverse||Zechariah|6:1–8|HE}}), [[engraving]] by [[Gustave Doré]].]]

===Chapters 1 to 6===
The book begins with a preface ({{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|1:1–6|HE}}), which recalls the nation's history, for the purpose of presenting a solemn warning to the present generation. Then follows a series of eight visions ({{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|1:7–6:8|HE}}), succeeding one another in one night, which may be regarded as a symbolical history of Israel, intended to furnish consolation to the returned exiles and stir up hope in their minds. The symbolic action, the crowning of [[Joshua the High Priest|Joshua]] ({{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|6:9–15|HE}}), describes how the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of God's [[Messiah]].

===Chapters 7 and 8===
Chapters {{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|7|HE}} and {{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|8|HE}}, delivered two years later, are an answer to the question whether the days of mourning for the destruction of the city should be kept any longer, and an encouraging address to the people, assuring them of God's presence and blessing.

===Chapters 9 to 14===
This section consists of two "oracles" or "burdens":
*The first oracle (ch. {{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|9-11|HE}}) gives an outline of the course of God's providential dealings with his people down to the time of the coming of the Messiah.
*The second oracle (ch. {{bibleverse-nb||Zechariah|12–14|HE}}) points out the glories that await Israel in "the latter day", the final conflict and triumph of God's kingdom.

== Themes ==

The purpose of this book is not strictly historical but [[theological]] and [[pastoral]]. The main emphasis is that God is at work and plans to live again with His people in Jerusalem. He will save them from their enemies and cleanse them from sin.

Zechariah's concern for purity is apparent in the temple, priesthood and all areas of life as the prophecy gradually eliminates the influence of the governor in favour of the high priest, and the sanctuary becomes ever more clearly the centre of messianic fulfillment. The prominence of prophecy is quite apparent in Zechariah, but it is also true that Zechariah (along with Haggai) allows prophecy to yield to the priesthood; this is particularly apparent in comparing Zechariah to "Third Isaiah" (chapters 55–66 of the [[Book of Isaiah]]), whose author was active sometime after the first return from exile.

Most Christian commentators read the series of predictions in chapters 7 to 14 as [[Claimed Messianic prophecies of Jesus|Messianic prophecies]], either directly or indirectly.<ref>Petterson, A. R., ''Behold Your King: The Hope for the House of David in the Book of Zechariah'' (LHBOTS 513; London: T&T Clark, 2009).</ref> These chapters helped the writers of the [[Gospel]]s understand Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, which they quoted as they wrote of Jesus’ final days.<ref>For example, see allusion to Zechariah 9:9 in Matthew 21:5; also Zechariah 12:10 in John 19:37. These and other references between Zechariah and the [[New Testament]] are described in {{Citation
| last = Gill | first = John | author-link = John_Gill_(theologian) | title = Exposition of the Entire Bible: Introduction to Zechariah | url = http://www.freegrace.net/gill/Zechariah/Zechariah_1.htm | accessdate = 2008-12-27}}</ref> Much of the [[Book of Revelation]], which narrates the denouement of history, is also colored by images in Zechariah.

===Apocalyptic literature===
Chapters 9–14 of the Book of Zechariah are an early example of [[apocalyptic literature]]. Although not as fully developed as the apocalyptic [[Vision (spirituality)|vision]]s described in the [[Book of Daniel]], the "[[oracle]]s", as they are titled in Zechariah 9–14, contain apocalyptic elements. One theme these oracles contain is descriptions of the [[Day of the Lord]], when "the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle" (Zechariah 14:3). These chapters also contain "pessimism about the present, but optimism for the future based on the expectation of an ultimate divine victory and the subsequent transformation of the cosmos".<ref>Coogan, Michael D. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Pg. 353</ref>

The final word in Zechariah proclaims that on the Day of the Lord "There will be no Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day" (14:21), proclaiming the need for purity in the Temple, which would come when God judges at the end of time. The [[Revised Standard Version]] has this: "There will be no trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day." In the [[Masoretic Text]] it is: "and in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the Lord of hosts."

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* ''The Student Bible,'' NIV. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.
* D. Guthrie, (ed.) ''New Bible Commentary.'' New York: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970.
* [[Stephen G. Dempster]], ''Dominion And Dynasty: A Theology Of The Hebrew Bible.'' Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8308-2615-5
* Carroll Stuhlmueller, ''Haggai and Zechariah: Rebuilding With Hope.'' Edinburgh: The Handsel Press Ltd., 1988. ISBN 978-0-905312-75-0.
*{{eastons}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource|Zechariah}}
{{Commons category|Book of Zechariah}}
;Translations
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15768 Zechariah (Judaica Press)] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at [[Chabad.org]]
*[http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Zechariah+1 ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org] (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[Minor prophet]]s|||}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]] | rows = 2 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zechariah}}
[[Category:Minor Prophets]]

Bible

2014-06-24T15:52:54Z

Jerm729:

{{Hatnote|For other uses, see [[Bible (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}
[[File:Gutenberg Bible.jpg|340px|thumb|The [[Gutenberg Bible]], the first printed Bible]]
{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
{{Bible related}}

The '''Bible''' (from [[Koine Greek]] τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts sacred in [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]]. There is no single "Bible" and many Bibles with varying contents exist.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|pages= 7–8}}</ref> The term Bible is shared between Judaism and Christianity, although the contents of each of their collections of canonical texts is not the same. Different religious groups include different books within their [[Biblical canon]]s, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate [[Books of the Bible#Intertestamental books|additional material]] into canonical books.

The [[Hebrew Bible]], or ''[[Tanakh]]'', contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the ''[[Torah]]'' ("teaching" or "law"), the ''[[Nevi'im]]'' ("prophets"), and the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' ("writings"). Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] canon to the eighty-one books of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] canon. The first part of [[Christian Bible]]s is the [[Old Testament]], which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] churches also hold certain [[deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical books and passages]] to be part of the [[development of the Old Testament canon|Old Testament canon]]. The second part is the [[New Testament]], containing twenty-seven books: the four [[Canonical gospels]], [[Acts of the Apostles]], twenty-one [[Epistle#New Testament epistles|Epistles]] or letters, and the [[Book of Revelation]].

By the 2nd century [[Common Era|BCE]] Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" ({{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}}, ''tà biblía tà ágia'') or "the Holy Scriptures" ({{lang|grc|η Αγία Γραφή}}, ''e Agía Graphḗ''). An early 4th-century [[Septuagint]] translation of the Hebrew Bible is found in the [[Codex Vaticanus]]. Dating from the 8th century, the [[Codex Amiatinus]] is the earliest surviving [[manuscript]] of the complete Vulgate Bible. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century [[Common Era|CE]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=M1rS4Kce_PMC&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Memories of ancient Israel|first=Philip R.|last=Davies|page=7|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-664-23288-7}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref> The Bible was [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|divided into chapters]] in the 13th century by [[Stephen Langton]] and into verses in the 16th century by French printer [[Robert Estienne]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Where did the chapter and verse numbers of the Bible originate?|url=http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/where-did-the-chapter-and-verse-numbers-of-the-bible-originate|publisher=CA}}</ref> and is now usually [[Citation|cited]] by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-1/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction/| title =Best selling book of non-fiction}}</ref> has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,<ref>{{cite news|title=The battle of the books|url=http://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317&CFID=3289446&CFTOKEN=a87381115ea0752-5130AD65-B27C-BB00-012B3B9A581DD567 | work=The Economist | date=22 December 2007}}</ref><ref name=RussellAsh>{{cite book|author=Ash, Russell|title=Top 10 of Everything 2002|year=2001|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|isbn=0-7894-8043-3}}</ref> and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The [[Gutenberg Bible]] was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.

==Etymology==
[[File:Family-bible.jpg|thumb|upright|An American family Bible dating to 1859.]]
The English word ''[[:wikt:Bible|Bible]]'' is from the Latin ''biblia'', from the same word in [[Medieval Latin]] and [[Late Latin]] and ultimately from [[Koine Greek]] {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία}} ''ta biblia'' "the books" (singular {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} ''biblion'').<ref name="etymonline-bible">{{OEtymD|bible}}</ref>

[[Medieval Latin]] ''biblia'' is short for ''biblia sacra'' "holy book", while ''biblia'' in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. ''bibliorum''). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (''biblia,'' gen. ''bibliae'') in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Newadvent.org|year=1907|accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref>
Latin ''biblia sacra'' "holy books" translates Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}} ''ta biblia ta hagia'', "the holy books".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2319917 Biblion, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A'' Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus].</ref>

The word {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} itself had the literal meaning of "paper" or "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "[[book]]".
It is the diminutive of {{lang|grc|βύβλος}} ''bublos'', "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n sea port [[Byblos]] (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.
The Greek ''ta biblia'' (lit. "little papyrus books")<ref name="Stagg">Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology.'' Nashville: Broadman, 1962. ISBN 0-8054-1613-7.</ref> was "an expression [[Hellenistic Jews]] used to describe their sacred books (the [[Septuagint]]).<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton] on PBS's site [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians].</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com etymology of the word "Bible"].</ref> Christian use of the term can be traced to c. 223 CE.<ref name="etymonline-bible" /> The biblical scholar [[F.F. Bruce]] notes that [[Chrysostom]] appears to be the first writer (in his ''Homilies on Matthew'', delivered between 386 and 388) to use the Greek phrase ''ta biblia'' ("the books") to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bruce|first=Frederick|authorlink=F. F. Bruce|title=The Canon of Scripture|publisher=IVP Academic|location=Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.|year=1988|page=214|isbn=083081258X}}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg|thumb|left||The Kennicott Bible, by [[Benjamin Kennicott]], with illustration, Jonah being swallowed by the fish, 1476]]
Professor John K. Riches (writing for [[Oxford University Press]]) explained that "the biblical texts themselves are the result of a creative dialogue between ancient traditions and different communities through the ages",<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 83}}</ref> and "the biblical texts were produced over a period in which the living conditions of the writers – political, cultural, economic, and ecological – varied enormously".<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 9}}</ref>

Timothy H. Lim, a professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the University of Edinburgh, states that the Old Testament "was not written by one man, nor did it drop down from heaven as assumed by [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalists]]. It is not a magical book, but a collection of authoritative texts of apparently divine origin that went through a human process of writing and editing."<ref>{{cite book |title= The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Lim|first= Timothy H.|year= 2005|publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford|isbn= |page= 41}}</ref> During the solidification of the Hebrew canon (c. 3rd century BCE), the Bible began to be translated into Greek, now referred to as the [[Septuagint]].<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 37}}</ref>

In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from oral traditions (similar to the Hebrew Bible) in a period after Jesus's death, <blockquote>Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, but the results have not been too encouraging. The period of transmission is short: less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Mark's Gospel. This means that there was little time for oral traditions to assume fixed form.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37">{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|pages= 23, 37}}</ref></blockquote>

The Bible was later translated into Latin and other languages. John Riches states that, <blockquote>The translation of the Bible into Latin marks the beginning of a parting of the ways between Western Latin-speaking Christianity and Eastern Christianity, which spoke Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and other languages. The Bibles of the Eastern Churches vary considerably: the Ethiopic Orthodox canon includes 81 books and contains many apocalyptic texts, such as were found at Qumran and subsequently excluded from the Jewish canon. As a general rule, one can say that the Orthodox Churches generally follow the Septuagint in including more books in their Old Testaments than are in the Jewish canon.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37"/></blockquote>

==Hebrew Bible==
{{Main|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
[[File:2nd century Hebrew decalogue.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Nash Papyrus]] (2nd century BCE) contains a portion of a pre-Masoretic Text, specifically the [[Ten Commandments]] and the [[Shema Yisrael]] prayer.]]
The [[Masoretic Text]] is the authoritative [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] text of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their [[niqqud|vocalization]] and [[cantillation|accentuation]].

The oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE,<ref>A 7th-century fragment containing the Song of the Sea (Exodus 13:19-16:1) is one of the few surviving texts from the "silent era" of Hebrew biblical texts between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the [[Aleppo Codex]]. See [http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708654713&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull "Rare scroll fragment to be unveiled," Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2007].</ref> and the [[Aleppo Codex]] (once the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic Text, but now missing its [[Torah]] section) dates from the 10th century.

[[Tanakh]] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Hebrew|תנ"ך}}) reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures, [[Torah]] ("Teaching"), [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings").

===Torah===
{{Main|Torah}}
{{See also|Oral Torah}}
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of [[Moses]]" or the [[Pentateuch]], meaning "five scroll-cases".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=CakJchHfN1QC&pg=PA647&lpg=PA647&dq=Pentateuch+from+Greek+meaning+%22five+scroll-cases&source=bl&ots=iUzv6_UPBw&sig=itoLPZH_dUSbPWww1gnM1PJfk3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BmZoUNa6IZS08ATC1oGIBw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Pentateuch%20from%20Greek%20meaning%20%22five%20scroll-cases&f=false] The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas by [[Willis Barnstone]] - W. W. Norton & Company - page 647</ref> The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts.

The Torah consists of the following five books:
* [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ''Bereshith'' (בראשית)
* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)
* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)
* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)
* [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]], ''Devarim'' (דברים)

The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's [[Biblical covenant|covenant]] with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Biblical patriarchs]] [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel]]) and Jacob's children, the "[[Children of Israel]]", especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in [[Ancient Egypt]] to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]] and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Seymour+Rossel%22&source=bl&ots=H0fv2a4pWG&sig=NQIme41Zh-HHQP6XRxIoeYletNE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZddoUKjaLY-o8QT2zYCgDg&ved=0CDYQuwUwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false] The Torah: Portion by Portion By [[Seymour Rossel]] - Torah Aura Productions, 2007, p. 355</ref>

The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate among traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).<ref>[[Mordecai Kaplan]] 1934 ''Judaism as a Civilization'' MacMillan Press</ref><ref>[[Elliot N. Dorff]] 1979 ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=diqTpD-UbW0C&lpg=PA98&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q&f=false Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants]{{dead link|date=January 2012}}''. United Synagogue. p. 98–99 (114–115 in 1978 edition)</ref><ref>[[Milton Steinberg]] 1947 ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iBu5Tpc4DtcC&lpg=PA27&pg=PA27&dq=isbn%3A0156106981#v=onepage&q&f=false Basic Judaism]{{dead link|date=January 2012}}'' Harcourt Brace, p. 27–28 ISBN 0-15-610698-1</ref><ref>Gilbert Rosenthal 1973 ''Four paths to One God'' Bloch Publishing pp. 116–128, 180–192, 238–242</ref> These commandments provide the basis for [[Halakha|Jewish religious law]]. Tradition states that there are [[613 commandments]] (''taryag mitzvot'').

===Nevi'im===
{{Main|Nevi'im}}
{{Books of Nevi'im}}
''Nevi'im'' ({{lang-he|נְבִיאִים ''Nəḇî'îm''}}, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the ''Torah'' and ''Ketuvim''. It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ({{lang|he|''Nevi'im Rishonim'' נביאים ראשונים}}, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ({{lang|he|''Nevi'im Aharonim'' נביאים אחרונים}}, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]).

The Nevi'im tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, [[ancient Israel and Judah]], focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the {{LORD}} God"<ref>{{bibleref2|1Kings.18:24;1Kings.18:37–39|9}}</ref> and believers in foreign gods,<ref>George Savran "I and II Kings" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Each king is judged either good or bad in black-and-white terms, according to whether or not he "did right" or "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. This evaluation is not reflective of the well-being of the nation, of the king's success or failure in war, or of the moral climate of the times, but rather the state of cultic worship during his reign. Those kings who shun idolatry and enact religious reforms are singled out for praise, and those who encourage pagan practices are denounced." 146</ref><ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "Israel In Canaan" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The fight against Baal was initiated by the prophets" 54</ref> and the criticism of unethical and unjust behavior of Israelite elites and rulers;<ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "The Age of Prophecy" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The immediate occasion of the rise of the new prophecy was the political and social ruin caused by the wars with Israel's northerly neighbor, Aram, which continued for more than a century. They raged intensely during the reign of Ahab, and did not end until the time of Jeroboam II (784–744). While the nation as a whole was impoverished, a few – apparently of the royal officialdom – grew wealthy as a result of the national calamity. Many of the people were compelled to sell their houses and lands, with the result that a sharp social cleavage arose: on the one hand a mass of propertyless indigents, on the other a small circle of the rich. A series of disasters struck the nation – drought, famine, plagues, death and captivity (Amos 4: 6–11), but the greatest disaster of all was the social disintegration due to the cleavage between the poor masses and the wealthy, dissolute upper class. The decay affected both Judah and Israel ... High minded men were appalled at this development. Was this the people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt, to whom He had given the land and a law of justice and right? it seemed as if the land was about to be inherited by the rich, who would squander its substance in drunken revelry. it was this dissolution that brought the prophetic denunciations to white heat." 57-58</ref><ref>[[Abraham Joshua Heschel]] 1955 ''The Prophets'' Harper and Row: "What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who runs from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? .... Indeed, the sorts of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice – cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us an injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." 3–4</ref><ref>Joel Rosenberg "I and II Samuel" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Samuel is thus a work of national self-criticism. It recognizes that Israel would not have survived, either politically or culturally, without the steadying presence of a dynastic royal house. But it makes both that house and its subjects answerable to firm standards of prophetic justice — not those of cult prophets or professional ecstatics, but of morally upright prophetic leaders in the tradition of Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and others ..." 141</ref> in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

====Former Prophets====
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the [[Promised Land]], and end with the release from imprisonment of the last [[king of Judah]]. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the [[Book of Joshua]]),
* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the [[Book of Judges]]),
* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the books of 1st and 2nd [[Samuel]])
* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile (1st and 2nd Kings)

=====Joshua=====
The [[Book of Joshua]] (''Yehoshua'' יהושע) contains a history of the [[Israelites]] from the death of [[Moses]] to that of [[Joshua]]. After Moses' death, Joshua, by virtue of his previous appointment as Moses' successor, receives from God the command to cross the [[Jordan River]].

The book consists of three parts:
* the history of the conquest of the land (1–12).
* allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the [[Levites]] (13–22), and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes.
* the farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death (23, 24).

=====Judges=====
The [[Book of Judges]] (''Shoftim'' שופטים) consists of three distinct parts:
* the introduction (1:1–3:10 and 3:12) giving a summary of the book of Joshua
* the main text (3:11–16:31), discussing the five Great Judges, [[Abimelech]], and providing glosses for a few minor Judges
* appendices (17:1–21:25), giving two stories set in the time of the Judges, but not discussing the Judges themselves.

=====Samuel=====
The [[Books of Samuel]] (''Shmu'el'' שמואל) consists of five parts:
* the period of [[God]]'s rejection of [[Eli (Biblical priest)|Eli]], [[Samuel (biblical figure)|Samuel's]] birth, and subsequent judgment (1 Samuel 1:1–7:17)
* the life of [[Saul]] prior to meeting [[David]] (1 Samuel 8:1–15:35)
* Saul's interaction with David (1 Samuel 16:1–2 Samuel 1:27)
* David's reign and the rebellions he suffers (2 Samuel 2:1–20:22)
* an appendix of material concerning David in no particular order, and out of sequence with the rest of the text (2 Samuel 22:1–24:25)

A conclusion of sorts appears at [[1 Kings]] 1-2, concerning [[Solomon]] enacting a final revenge on those who did what David perceived as wrongdoing, and having a similar narrative style. While the subject matter in the Book(s) of Samuel is also covered by the narrative in [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]], it is noticeable that the section (2 Sam. 11:2-12:29) containing an account of the matter of [[Bathsheba]] is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chr. 20.

=====Kings=====
The [[Books of Kings]] (''Melakhim'' מלכים) contains accounts of the kings of the ancient [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]], and the [[annal]]s of the Jewish commonwealth from the accession of Solomon until the subjugation of the kingdom by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] and the [[Babylonians]].

====Latter Prophets====
The Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the "major" prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets, collected into a single book.

=====Isaiah=====
The 66 chapters of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] (''Yeshayahu'' [ישעיהו]) consist primarily of prophecies of the judgments awaiting nations that are persecuting Judah. These nations include [[Babylon]], [[Assyria]], [[Philistia]], [[Moab]], [[Syria]], [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] (the northern kingdom), [[Ethiopia]], [[Egypt]], [[Arabia]], and [[Phoenicia]]. The prophecies concerning them can be summarized as saying that [[Jehovah]] is the God of the whole earth, and that nations which think of themselves as secure in their own power might well be conquered by other nations, at God's command.

Chapter 6 describes Isaiah's call to be a prophet of God. Chapters 35–39 provide material about King [[Hezekiah]]. Chapters 24–34, while too complex to characterize easily, are primarily concerned with prophecies of a [[messiah]], the Lord's "chosen one", a person anointed or given power by God, and of the messiah's kingdom, where justice and righteousness will reign. This section is seen by Jews as describing a king, a descendant of their great king, David, who will make Judah a great kingdom and [[Jerusalem]] a truly holy city.

The prophecy continues with what can be characterized as a "book of comfort"<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=VeOwyTae71cC&pg=PA328&lpg=PA328&dq=the+book+of+comfort+isaiah&source=bl&ots=VOmO772O7q&sig=0bohL7s3-xxgidnD16IThNl0vKo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8eZqUPWpM-WC2wXH4oEg&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=the%20book%20of%20comfort%20isaiah&f=false] ''Ancient Israelite And Early Jewish Literature'', [[Theodoor Christiaan Vriezen]] and [[A. S. Van Der Woude]] - Brill, 2005, p. 328</ref> which begins in chapter 40 and completes the writing. In the first eight chapters of this book of comfort, Isaiah prophesies the deliverance of the [[Jew]]s from the hands of the Babylonians and restoration of Israel as a unified nation in the land promised to them by God. Isaiah reaffirms that the Jews are indeed the [[chosen people]] of God in chapter 44 and that Jehovah is the only God for the Jews as he will show his power over the gods of Babylon in due time in chapter 46. In chapter 45:1 the Persian ruler [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] is named as the [[messiah]] who will overthrow the Babylonians and allow the return of Israel to their original land. The remaining chapters of the book contain prophecies of the future glory of [[Zion]] under the rule of a righteous servant (52 and 54). Chapter 53 contains a poetic prophecy about this servant which is generally considered by [[Christians]] to refer to [[Jesus]], although Jews generally interpret it as a reference to God's people. Although there is still the mention of judgment of false worshippers and idolaters (65 & 66), the book ends with a message of hope of a righteous ruler who extends salvation to his righteous subjects living in the Lord's kingdom on earth.

=====Jeremiah=====
The [[Book of Jeremiah]] (''Yirmiyahu'' [ירמיהו]) can be divided into twenty-three subsections, and its contents organized into five sub-sections:
* the introduction, ch. 1
* scorn for the sins of Israel, consisting of seven sections, (1.) ch. 2; (2.) ch. 3–6; (3.) ch. 7–10; (4.) ch. 11–13; (5.) ch. 14–17:18; (6.) ch. 17:19–ch. 20; (7.) ch. 21–24
* a general review of all nations, foreseeing their destruction, in two sections, (1.) ch. 46–49; (2.) ch. 25; with an historical appendix of three sections, (1.) ch. 26; (2.) ch. 27; (3.) ch. 28, 29
* two sections picturing the hopes of better times, (1.) ch. 30, 31; (2.) ch. 32, 33; to which is added an historical appendix in three sections, (1.) ch. 34:1–7; (2.) ch. 34:8–22; (3.) ch. 35
# the conclusion, in two sections, (1.) ch. 36; (2.) ch. 45.

In Egypt, after an interval, [[Jeremiah]] is supposed to have added three sections, viz., ch. 37–39; 40–43; and 44. The principal messianic prophecies are found in 23:1–8; 31:31–40; and 33:14–26.

Jeremiah's prophecies are noted for the frequent repetitions found in them of the same words, phrases, and imagery. They cover the period of about 30 years. They are not in chronological order.

=====Ezekiel=====
The [[Book of Ezekiel]] (''Yehezq'el'' [יחזקאל]) contains three distinct sections.
* the Judgment on Israel – Ezekiel makes a series of denunciations against his fellow Judeans ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%203:22-24;&version=49; 3:22–24]), warning them of the certain destruction of Jerusalem, in opposition to the words of the false prophets ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204:1-3;&version=49; 4:1–3]). The symbolic acts, by which the extremities to which Jerusalem would be reduced are described in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204-5;&version=49; Chapters 4 and 5], show his intimate acquaintance with the levitical legislation. (See, for example, [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2022:30;&version=49; 22:30]; [[Deuteronomy]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut%2014:21;&version=49; 14:21]; [[Leviticus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%205:2;&version=49; 5:2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%207:18,24;&version=49; 7:18, 24]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2017:15;&version=49; 17:15]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2019:7;&version=49; 19:7]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2022:8;&version=49; 22:8])
* prophecies against various neighboring nations, the [[Ammon]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2025:1-7;&version=49; Ezek. 25:1–7]), the [[Moab]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%208-11;&version=49; 25:8–11]), the [[Edom]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2012-14;&version=49; 25:12–14]), the [[Philistines]] ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2015-17;&version=49; 25:15–17]), [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]] and [[Sidon]] ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2026-28;&version=49; 26–28]), and against [[Egypt]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2029-32;&version=49; 29–32])
* prophecies delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]: the triumphs of Israel and of the kingdom of God on earth ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2033-39;&version=49; Ezek. 33–39] ); [[Messianic Age|Messianic times]], and the establishment and prosperity of the [[kingdom of God]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2040;48;&version=49; 40–48]).

=====Twelve Minor Prophets=====
The Twelve, ''Trei Asar'' (תרי עשר), also called the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]
* [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], ''Hoshea'' (הושע)
* [[Book of Joel|Joel]], ''Yoel'' (יואל)
* [[Book of Amos|Amos]], ''Amos'' (עמוס)
* [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], ''Ovadyah'' (עבדיה)
* [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]], ''Yonah'' (יונה)
* [[Book of Micah|Micah]], ''Mikhah'' (מיכה)
* [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], ''Nahum'' (נחום)
* [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק)
* [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]], ''Tsefanya'' (צפניה)
* [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], ''Khagay'' (חגי)
* [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], ''Zekharyah'' (זכריה)
* [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי)

===Ketuvim===
{{Main|Ketuvim}}
{{Books of Ketuvim}}
''Ketuvim'' or ''Kəṯûḇîm'' (in {{lang-hbo|כְּתוּבִים}} "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the [[Ruach HaKodesh]] (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of [[prophecy]].<ref>[[Jacob Neusner|Neusner, Jacob]], The Talmud Law, Theology, Narrative: A Sourcebook. University Press of America, 2005</ref>

====The poetic books====
In [[Masoretic]] manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stitches in the verses, which are a function of their [[Biblical poetry|poetry]]. Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "[[truth]]").

These three books are also the only ones in Tanakh with a special system of [[cantillation]] notes that are designed to emphasize parallel stichs within verses. However, the beginning and end of the book of Job are in the normal prose system.

====The five scrolls (''Hamesh Megillot'')====
The five relatively short books of [[Song of Songs]], [[Book of Ruth]], the [[Book of Lamentations]], [[Ecclesiastes]] and [[Book of Esther]] are collectively known as the ''Hamesh Megillot'' ([[Five Megillot]]). These are the latest books collected and designated as "authoritative" in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the 2nd century CE.<ref>Coogan, Michael D. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context''. Oxford University Press. 2009; p. 5</ref>

====Other books====
Besides the three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] and Chronicles. Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics:
* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).
* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.
* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in Tanakh with significant portions in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].

====Order of the books====
[[File:Bishops Bible Elizabeth I 1569.jpg|thumb||Coloured title page from the Bishops' Bible quarto edition of 1569, the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth sits in the centre on her throne. The words on the four columns read justice, mercy, fortitude and prudence, attributing these traits to the queen. Text at the bottom reads "god save the queene".]]
The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most printed editions. It also divides them into three subgroups based on the distinctiveness of ''Sifrei Emet'' and ''Hamesh Megillot''.

The Three Poetic Books (''Sifrei Emet'')
* ''Tehillim'' ([[Psalms]]) תְהִלִּים
* ''Mishlei'' ([[Book of Proverbs]]) מִשְלֵי
* ''Iyyôbh'' ([[Book of Job]]) אִיּוֹב
The [[Five Megillot]] (''Hamesh Megillot'')
* ''Shīr Hashshīrīm'' ([[Song of Songs]]) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשׁשִׁירִים ([[Passover]])
* ''Rūth'' ([[Book of Ruth]]) רוּת ([[Shābhû‘ôth]])
* ''Eikhah'' ([[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]) איכה ([[Ninth of Av]]) [Also called ''Kinnot'' in Hebrew.]
* ''Qōheleth'' ([[Ecclesiastes]]) קהלת ([[Sukkôth]])
* ''Estēr'' ([[Book of Esther]]) אֶסְתֵר ([[Pûrîm]])
Other books
* ''Dānî’ēl'' ([[Book of Daniel]]) דָּנִיֵּאל
* ''‘Ezrā'' ([[Book of Ezra]]-[[Book of Nehemiah]]) עזרא
* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' ([[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]) דברי הימים

The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] ([[Bava Batra]] 14b-15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=9NUejG2IGPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false] The Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 7 of 9: Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate) translated by Michael L. Rodkinson, first published 1918 - published 2008 by Forgotten Books, p. 53</ref>

In Tiberian [[Masoretic]] codices, including the [[Aleppo Codex]] and the [[Leningrad Codex]], and often in old Spanish manuscripts as well, the order is Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel, Ezra.<ref>[http://www.beitemet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:ketuvim&catid=39:about-the-bible&Itemid=57&fontstyle=f-smaller] Ketuvim כְּתוּבִים 30 July 2008</ref>

====Canonization====
The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as [[biblical canon]]. While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the 5th century BCE and the [[Former Prophets|Former]] and [[Latter Prophets]] were canonized by the 2nd century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the 2nd century of the [[Common Era]].<ref>[[Michael Coogan|Coogan, Michael]]. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context. Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 5</ref>

Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets. As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title.<ref>Henshaw, T. ''The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon''. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963, pp. 16–17</ref> References in the four [[Gospels]] as well as other books of [[the New Testament]] that many of these texts were both commonly known and counted as having some degree of religious authority early in the 1st century CE.

Many scholars believe that the limits of the Ketuvim as canonized scripture were determined by the [[Council of Jamnia]] c. 90 CE. ''[[Against Apion]]'', the writing of [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]] in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable..."<ref>Lightfoot, Neil R. ''How We Got the Bible'', 3rd edition, rev. and expanded. Baker Book House Company. 2003, pp. 154–155.</ref> For a long time following this date the divine inspiration of Esther, [[the Song of Songs]], and [[Ecclesiastes]] was often under scrutiny.<ref>Henshaw, T. ''The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon''. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963, p. 17</ref>

===Original languages===
The Tanakh was mainly written in [[biblical Hebrew]], with some portions ({{Bibleref2|Ezra|4:8–6:18}} and {{Bibleref2-nb|Ezra|7:12–26}}, {{Bibleref2|Jeremiah|10:11}}, {{Bibleref2|Daniel|2:4–7:28}}) in [[biblical Aramaic]], a sister language which became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the Semitic world.<ref name="Driver">Sir Godfrey Driver. "Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible." Web: 30 November 2009</ref>

== Septuagint ==
{{main|Septuagint}}
{{Principal religious texts}}

The Septuagint, or LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew scriptures and some related texts into [[Koine Greek]], begun in the late 3rd century BCE and completed by 132 BCE,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)], Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p. 363</ref><ref>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p.111</ref><ref name="ndq" /> initially in [[Alexandria]], but in time elsewhere as well.<ref name="Jobes and Silva">{{cite book|author=[[Karen H. Jobes]] and [[Moises Silva]]|title=Invitation to the Septuagint|year=2001|publisher=[[Paternoster Press]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ&q|isbn=1-84227-061-3}}</ref> It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised.<ref>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint]</ref>

As the work of translation progressed the canon of the Greek Bible expanded. The Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the ''Nevi'im'', had various [[hagiographa|hagiographical]] works incorporated into it. In addition, some newer books were included in the Septuagint, among these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and the [[Ben Sira|Wisdom of Ben Sira]]. The Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the Jewish canon.<ref>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics,'' "[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html&date=2009-10-25+07:45:33 Books of the Septuagint]," (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> Some of these [[apocrypha]]l books (e.g. the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], and the [[2 Maccabees|second book of Maccabees]]) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Since [[Late Antiquity]], once attributed to a hypothetical late 1st-century [[Council of Jamnia#Developments attributed to Jamnia|Council of Jamnia]], mainstream [[Rabbinic Judaism]] rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts. Several reasons have been given for this. First, some mistranslations were claimed. Second, the Hebrew source texts used for the Septuagint differed from the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew texts, which was chosen as canonical by the Jewish rabbis.<ref>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah." {{cite web|title=Bible Translations - The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> Third, the rabbis wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.<ref name="ndq">"[...] die griechische Bibelübersetzung, die einem innerjüdischen Bedürfnis entsprang [...] [von den] Rabbinen zuerst gerühmt (..) Später jedoch, als manche ungenaue Übertragung des hebräischen Textes in der Septuaginta und Übersetzungsfehler die Grundlage für hellenistische Irrlehren abgaben, lehte man die Septuaginta ab." Verband der Deutschen Juden (Hrsg.), neu hrsg. von Walter Homolka, Walter Jacob, Tovia Ben Chorin: Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen; München, Knesebeck, 1999, Bd.3, S. 43ff</ref><ref>"Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the Masoretic) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] [...] In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible [...] It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations - The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>
Finally, the rabbis claimed for the Hebrew language a divine authority, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek - even though these languages were the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given the same holy language status as Hebrew).<ref>Mishnah Sotah (7:2–4 and 8:1), among many others, discusses the sacredness of Hebrew, as opposed to Aramaic or Greek. This is comparable to the authority claimed for the original Arabic Koran according to Islamic teaching. As a result of this teaching, translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by early Jewish [[Rabbi]]s have survived as rare fragments only.</ref>

The Septuagint is the basis for the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]], [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian [[Old Testament]].<ref name="Würthwein">Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament,'' trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref> The [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while [[Protestant]] churches usually do not. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called [[Biblical apocrypha]]. The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of the Bible, the basis for the [[Revised Standard Version]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/|title=NETS: Electronic Edition|publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu|date=2011-02-11|accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>

===Incorporations from Theodotion===
In most ancient copies of the Bible which contain the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the [[Book of Daniel]] is not the original Septuagint version, but instead is a copy of [[Theodotion]]'s translation from the Hebrew, which more closely resembles the Masoretic Text.{{cn|date=June 2014}} The Septuagint version was discarded in favour of Theodotion's version in the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE. In Greek-speaking areas, this happened near the end of the 2nd century, and in Latin-speaking areas (at least in North Africa), it occurred in the middle of the 3rd century. History does not record the reason for this, and St. [[Jerome]] reports, in the preface to the [[Vulgate]] version of Daniel, "This thing 'just' happened."<ref name="EncBibTV">{{EncyclopaediaBiblica|article=TEXT AND VERSIONS|section=Text and Versions}}</ref> One of two Old Greek texts of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing the original form of the book.<ref name="Dines">Jennifer M. Dines, ''The Septuagint,'' Michael A. Knibb, Ed., London: T&T Clark, 2004.</ref>

The canonical [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] is known in the Septuagint as "Esdras B", and 1 Esdras is "Esdras A". 1 Esdras is a very similar text to the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, and the two are widely thought by scholars to be derived from the same original text. It has been proposed, and is thought highly likely by scholars, that "Esdras B" – the canonical Ezra-Nehemiah – is Theodotion's version of this material, and "Esdras A" is the version which was previously in the Septuagint on its own.<ref name="EncBibTV"/>

===Final form===
Some texts are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Judith]], [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], [[Letter of Jeremiah]] (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), [[additions to Daniel]] ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] and [[Bel and the Dragon]]), additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[1 Maccabees]], [[2 Maccabees]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]], including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].

Some books that are set apart in the Masoretic Text are grouped together. For example the [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are in the LXX one book in four parts called Βασιλειῶν ("Of Reigns"). In LXX, the [[Books of Chronicles]] supplement Reigns and it is called ''Paralipomenon'' (Παραλειπομένων—things left out). The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.<ref name="Dines"/>

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="0px" style="width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox Old Testament <ref name="Jobes and Silva"/><ref name="McLay">Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research ISBN 0-8028-6091-5.'' — The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref><ref>The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Orthodoxy.</ref>
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}} || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}} || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}} || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}} || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}} || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ}} || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}} || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ<ref>{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεῖα}} (Basileia). </ref>}} || I Reigns || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}} || II Reigns || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}} || III Reigns || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}} || IV Reigns || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}} || I Paralipomenon<ref>That is, ''Things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.</ref> || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}} || II Paralipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras;
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra-Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}<ref>also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.</ref> || Tobit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}} || [[I Maccabees|I Makkabees]] || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}} || [[II Maccabees|II Makkabees]] || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}} || [[III Maccabees|III Makkabees]] || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}} || Psalms || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}} || [[Psalm 151]] || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανάσση}} || [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}} || Proverbs || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}} || Ecclesiastes || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}} || [[Shir Hashirim|Song of Songs]] || Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλoμῶντος}} || Wisdom of Solomon || Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}} || [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach]] || Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Psalms of Solomon]] || Psalms of Solomon<ref>Not in Orthodox Canon, but originally included in the LXX. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/</ref>
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δώδεκα}} || The Twelve || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}} || I. Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}} || II. Ämōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}} || III. Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}} || IV. Ioel || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὀβδίου Εʹ}}<ref>Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias," which opens the book.</ref> || V. Obdias || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}} || VI. Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}} || VII. Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}} || VIII. Ambakum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}} || IX. Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}} || X. Ängaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}} || XI. Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἄγγελος ΙΒʹ}} || XII. Messenger || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}} || Hesaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}} || Baruch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}} || Lamentations || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολή Ιερεμίου}} || [[Epistle of Jeremiah]] || Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}} || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}} || [[IV Maccabees|IV Makkabees]] || 4 Maccabees<ref>Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon</ref>
|}

==Christian Bibles==
{{Main|Christian biblical canons|List of English Bible translations}}
[[File:Lutherbibel.jpg|thumb|right|The Bible translated into German by [[Martin Luther]]]]
[[File:Gutenberg Bible scan.jpg |thumb|A page from the [[Gutenberg Bible]] ]]
A Christian Bible is a set of books that a [[Christian denomination]] regards as [[Biblical inspiration|divinely inspired]] and thus constituting [[Religious text|scripture]]. Although the [[Early Christianity|Early Church]] primarily used the Septuagint or the [[Targum]]s among [[Aramaic]] speakers, the [[Apostle (Christian)|apostles]] did not leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the canon of the New Testament [[Development of the New Testament canon|developed over time]]. Groups within Christianity include differing books as part of their sacred writings, most prominent among which are the biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.

Significant versions of the English Christian Bible include the [[Douay-Rheims Bible]], the [[Authorized King James Version]], the [[English Revised Version]], the [[American Standard Version]], the [[Revised Standard Version]], the [[New American Standard Version]], the [[New King James Version]], the [[New International Version]], and the [[English Standard Version]].

===Old Testament===
{{Main|Old Testament}}
The books which make up the Christian Old Testament differ between the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches, with the Protestant movement accepting only those books contained in the Hebrew Bible, while Catholics and Orthodox have wider canons. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic [[Peshitta]], and the English King James Version.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

====Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books====

In [[Eastern Christianity]], translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the 10th-century Masoretic Text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into [[Western world|Western]] languages.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Some modern Western translations since the [[Wycliffe's Bible|14th century]] make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic Text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts, e.g., those discovered among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].<ref>[http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls] - ''biblicalarchaeology.org''. Retrieved 26 December 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/sine-data,_Absens,_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_%5BTexts_And_Translations%5D,_EN.pdf |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |format=PDF |accessdate=2013-06-06}}</ref>

A number of books which are part of the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Peshitta]] or Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible (i.e., among the protocanonical books) are often referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e., deutero) canon, that canon as fixed definitively by the [[Council of Trent]] 1545–1563.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html Council of Trent: ''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'' "Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures"], from the Council's fourth session, of 4 April 1546: Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, The Fourth Session, ''Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year 1546'', English translation by James Waterworth (London 1848).</ref><ref>The Council of Trent confirmed the identical list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the [[Synod of Hippo]] (Synod of 393), [[Councils of Carthage]] (The Council of Carthage, 28 August 397), and [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel), Session 11, 4 February 1442] —[Bull of union with the Copts] ''seventh paragraph down''.</ref> It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one) and 27 for the New.<ref>''Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition'', '''n. 120'''. —''Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition'', Latin text copyright © 1994, 1997 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Citta del Vaticano. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' for the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica'' copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. United States Catholic Conference, 3211 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194 ISBN 1-57455-109-4.</ref>

Most Protestants term these books as apocrypha. Modern [[Protestantism|Protestant]] traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles included them in Apocrypha sections until the 1820s. However, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament.

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes:<ref>[[Canon of Trent#List|Canon of Trent: List of the Canonical Scriptures]].
{{quote|But if anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately [[contemn]] the traditions aforesaid; let him be [[anathema]].|''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'', Council of Trent, 8 April 1546}}</ref>
* [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
* [[Book of Judith|Judith]]
* [[1 Maccabees]]
* [[2 Maccabees]]
* [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom]]
* [[Wisdom of Sirach|Sirach]] (or Ecclesiasticus)
* [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
* [[The Letter of Jeremiah]] ([[Baruch]] Chapter 6)
* [[Additions to Esther|Greek Additions to Esther]] (Book of Esther, chapters 10:4 – 12:6)
* [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]] ''verses 1–68'' (Book of Daniel, chapter 3, verses 24–90)
* [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 13)
* [[Bel and the Dragon]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 14)

In addition to those, the [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church]]es recognize the following: {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[1 Esdras]]
* [[Prayer of Manasseh]]
* [[Psalm 151]]

Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches include:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[2 Esdras]] i.e., Latin Esdras in the Russian and Georgian Bibles

There is also [[4 Maccabees]] which is only accepted as canonical in the [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Church]], but was included by [[St. Jerome]] in an appendix to the [[Vulgate]], and is an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox tradition]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Psalms 152–155|Psalms 151–155]]
* The [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]]
* [[2 Baruch#The Letter of Baruch|The Letter of Baruch]]

The [[Ethiopian Biblical canon]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Jubilees]]
* [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]]
* [[Meqabyan|1–3 Meqabyan]]
and some other books.

The [[Anglican Church]] uses some of the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocryphal books]] liturgically. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], which were in the Vulgate appendix. {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==== Pseudepigraphal texts ====

{{Main|Pseudepigrapha}}

The term Pseudepigrapha commonly describes numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is misrepresented. The "Old Testament" Pseudepigraphal works include the following:<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref>

* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[4 Maccabees]]
* [[Assumption of Moses]]
* Ethiopic [[Book of Enoch]] (1 Enoch)
* Slavonic [[Second Book of Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (2 Enoch)
* [[Book of Jubilees]]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Baruch]] (3 Baruch)
* [[Letter of Aristeas]] (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek)
* [[Life of Adam and Eve]]
* [[Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah]]
* [[Psalms of Solomon]]
* [[Sibylline Oracles]]
* [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch]] (2 Baruch)
* [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]]

===== Book of Enoch =====

Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch (such as [[1 Enoch]], [[Second Book of Enoch|2 Enoch]], surviving only in [[Old Church Slavonic|Old Slavonic]], and [[3 Enoch]], surviving in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], c. 5th to 6th century CE). These are ancient [[Jewish]] religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet [[Enoch (Biblical figure)|Enoch]], the great-grandfather of the patriarch [[Noah]]. They are not part of the [[biblical canon]] used by [[Jews]], apart from [[Beta Israel]]. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance. It has been observed that part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the [[Epistle of Jude]] (part of the New Testament) but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.<ref>[http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm The Book of Enoch] - The Reluctant Messenger. Retrieved 14 June 2014.</ref> However, the Enoch books are treated as canonical by the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].

The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century BC.<ref>Fahlbusch E., Bromiley G.W. ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P–Sh'' page 411, ISBN 0-8028-2416-1 (2004)</ref>

===== Denominational views of Pseudepigrapha =====

There arose in some Protestant biblical scholarship an extended use of the term ''pseudepigrapha'' for works that appeared as though they ought to be part of the biblical canon, because of the authorship ascribed to them, but which stood outside both the [[biblical canon]]s recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the particular set of books that Roman Catholics called ''deuterocanonical'' and to which Protestants had generally applied the term Apocryphal. Accordingly, the term ''pseudepigraphical'', as now used often among both Protestants and Roman Catholics (allegedly for the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to discuss questions of pseudepigraphical authorship of canonical books dispassionately with a lay audience. To confuse the matter even more, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept books as canonical that Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations consider pseudepigraphical or at best of much less authority. There exist also churches that reject some of the books that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true of some [[Jewish denominations|Jewish sects]]. Many works that are "apocryphal" are otherwise considered genuine.

====Role of Old Testament in Christian theology====
{{further|Sola scriptura|Christian theology}}
The Old Testament has always been central to the life of the Christian church. Bible scholar [[N.T. Wright]] says "Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures."<ref>Wright, N.T. [http://books.google.com/books?id=id2_m0j804YC&lpg=PP1&dq=isbn%3A0060872616&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q=profoundly%20shaped&f=false ''The Last Word:'', page 3] HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-087261-6 / 9780060872618</ref> He adds that the earliest Christians also searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the ancient Israelites' scriptures as having reached a climactic fulfillment in Jesus himself, generating the "new covenant" prophesied by Jeremiah.<ref name="Wright">Wright, N.T. ''The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God—Getting Beyond the Bible Wars.'' HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-087261-6 / 9780060872618</ref>

===New Testament===
{{Main|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The New Testament is a collection of 27 books<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=m2Lz7iwklhAC&pg=PA439&lpg=PA439&dq=The+New+Testament+is+a+collection+of+27+books&source=bl&ots=Vip6fgXsM0&sig=OqAJAg42gVbZtqk3dJPznkT8imI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dmNWUK_cGo-m8gSr34GQCg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20is%20a%20collection%20of%2027%20books&f=false] What the Bible is All About Visual Edition by Henrietta C. Mears - Gospel Light Publications, Feb 5, 2007 - page 438-439</ref> of 4 different [[genres]] of Christian literature ([[Gospels]], one account of the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Epistles]] and an [[Apocalyptic literature|Apocalypse]]). [[Jesus]] is its central figure. The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=The+New+Testament+presupposes+the+inspiration+of+the+Old+Testament&source=bl&ots=97gNck-NWl&sig=rzLPlPu0s8vFu2uNyFxd0BYppng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oWRWUISzCISg8gSo0IH4Bw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20presupposes%20the%20inspiration%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament&f=false] ''Inspiration and Inerrancy: A History and a Defense'',Henry Preserved Smith - R. Clarke, 1893, p. 343</ref> (2 Timothy 3:16). Nearly all Christians recognize the New Testament as canonical scripture. These books can be grouped into:

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
[[Gospel|The Gospels]]
* [[Synoptic Gospels]]
** [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel According to Matthew]]
** [[Gospel of Mark|Gospel According to Mark]]
** [[Gospel of Luke|Gospel According to Luke]]
* [[Gospel of John|Gospel According to John]]

[[Acts of the Apostles (genre)|Narrative literature]], account and history of the Apostolic age
* [[Acts of the Apostles]]

[[Pauline Epistles]]
* [[Epistle to the Romans]]
* [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Epistle to the Galatians]]
* [[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
* [[Epistle to the Philippians]]
* [[Epistle to the Colossians]]
* [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
{{Col-break}}

[[Pastoral epistles]]
* [[First Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Epistle to Titus]]
* [[Epistle to Philemon]]
* [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]

[[General epistles]], also called catholic epistles
* [[Epistle of James]]
* [[First Epistle of Peter]]
* [[Second Epistle of Peter]]
* [[First Epistle of John]]
* [[Second Epistle of John]]
* [[Third Epistle of John]]
* [[Epistle of Jude]]

[[Apocalyptic literature]], also called Prophetical
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], or the Apocalypse
{{Col-end}}

The New Testament books are ordered differently in the Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant tradition, the Slavonic tradition, the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Syriac]] tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.

====Original language====
{{see also|Language of the New Testament}}
The mainstream consensus is that the New Testament was written in a form of [[Koine Greek]],<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p52 "The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the Greek of daily conversation. The fact that from the first all the New Testament writings were written in Greek is conclusively demonstrated by their citations from the Old Testament ..."</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p9 "How came the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to be gathered together and made authoritative Christian scripture? 1. All the New Testament books were originally written in Greek. On the face of it this may surprise us."</ref> which was the [[lingua franca|common language]] of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]<ref>Wenham The elements of New Testament Greek -p xxv Jeremy Duff, John William Wenham - 2005 "This is the language of the New Testament. By the time of Jesus the Romans had become the dominant military and political force, but the Greek language remained the 'common language' of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, and Greek ..."</ref><ref>Daniel B. Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament 1997</ref><ref>Henry St. John Thackeray Grammar of New Testament Greek ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, 1911 "By far the most predominant element in the language of the New Testament is the Greek of common speech which was disseminated in the East by the Macedonian conquest, in the form which it had gradually assumed under the wider development ..."</ref><ref>David E. Aune The Blackwell companion to the New Testament 2009 p61 CHAPTER 4 New Testament Greek Christophe Rico "In this short overview of the Greek language of the New Testament we will focus on those topics that are of greatest importance for the average reader, that is, those with important ..."</ref> from the [[Conquests of Alexander the Great]] (335–323 BC) until the evolution of [[Byzantine Greek]] (c. 600).

====Historic editions====
[[File:Devil codex Gigas.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Codex Gigas]]'' from the 13th century, held at the [[Swedish Royal Library|Royal Library]] in [[Sweden]].]]
{{See also|Biblical manuscript|Textual criticism}}

The original [[autograph]]s, that is, the original Greek writings and [[Biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Ze16lRIzIzcC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=The+autographs,+the+Greek+manuscripts+written+by+the+original+authors,+have+not+survived&source=bl&ots=zsb8T0Wp78&sig=sKzOavYaAcLmApZwhmiHxSxLrlw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jG5WUILfDIPI9gTx44CABw&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=The%20autographs%2C%20the%20Greek%20manuscripts%20written%20by%20the%20original%20authors%2C%20have%20not%20survived&f=false] Manuscripts and the Text of the New Testament: An Introduction for English Readers by Keith Elliott, Ian Moir - Continuum International Publishing Group, Nov 20, 2000, p. 9</ref> But historically ''copies'' exist of those original autographs, transmitted and preserved in a number of [[Bible manuscript#New Testament manuscripts|manuscript traditions]]. When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they sometimes wrote notes on the margins of the page (''[[Glosses to the Bible#Glosses as marginal notes|marginal glosses]]'') to correct their text—especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line—and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=cxN1wn_fO5YC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=When+ancient+scribes+copied+earlier+books,+they+wrote+notes+on+the+margins+of+the+page+(marginal+glosses)+to+correct+their+text%E2%80%94especially+if+a+scribe+accidentally+omitted+a+word+or+line%E2%80%94and+to+comment+about+the+text&source=bl&ots=1-pyD8FDbY&sig=Qxx7t7IqIsAJL9VgY1sKQY1BL_A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k21WUIX4AoXo8QTzq4Fg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=When%20ancient%20scribes%20copied%20earlier%20books%2C%20they%20wrote%20notes%20on%20the%20margins%20of%20the%20page%20(marginal%20glosses)%20to%20correct%20their%20text%E2%80%94especially%20if%20a%20scribe%20accidentally%20omitted%20a%20word%20or%20line%E2%80%94and%20to%20comment%20about%20the%20text&f=false] God-Trail of Evidence: The Quest for the Truth By Dwo - iUniverse, Jul 12, 2011, p. 152. ISBN 978-1-4502-9429-4 {sc}</ref>

The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the [[Alexandrian text-type]] (generally minimalist), the [[Byzantine text-type]] (generally maximalist), and the [[Western text-type]] (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.

===Development of the Christian canons===
{{Main|Development of the Old Testament canon|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of [[synod]]s produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46(51),54, or 57 book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in AD 393. Also ''c''. 400, [[Jerome]] produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time. A definitive list did not come from an [[Ecumenical Council]] until the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–63).<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon of the New Testament]: "The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council."</ref>

During the [[Protestant Reformation]], certain reformers proposed different canonical lists to those currently in use. Though not without debate, see [[Antilegomena]], the list of New Testament books would come to remain the same; however, the Old Testament texts present in the Septuagint but not included in the Jewish canon fell out of favor. In time they would come to be removed from most Protestant canons. Hence, in a Catholic context, these texts are referred to as deuterocanonical books, whereas in a Protestant context they are referred to as the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]], which means "hidden", the label applied to all texts excluded from the biblical canon but which were in the Septuagint. It should also be noted that Catholics and Protestants both describe certain other books, such as the [[Acts of Peter]], as [[New Testament apocrypha|apocryphal]]. {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

Thus, the Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon—the number of books (though not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division—while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books (51 books with some books combined into 46 books) as the canonical Old Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Churches recognise 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 in addition to the Catholic canon. Some include 2 Esdras. The Anglican Church also recognises a longer canon. The term "Hebrew Scriptures" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books, while Catholics and Orthodox include additional texts that have not survived in Hebrew. Both Catholics and Protestants (as well as Greek Orthodox) have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=gxEONS0FFlsC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=Both+Catholics+and+Protestants+have+the+same+27-book+New+Testament+Canon&source=bl&ots=t_K6gKrJKM&sig=4VIpxeGItb4s5eAyqcVZM5YzYUU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RvBtUIWiK6PY2gX0j4DIAQ&ved=0CFsQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Both%20Catholics%20and%20Protestants%20have%20the%20same%2027-book%20New%20Testament%20Canon&f=false] ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'', Frank K. Flinn, Infobase Publishing, Jan 1, 2007, p. 103</ref>

The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in {{Bibleref2|2Tim|3:16|9|2 Timothy 3:16}}, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God".<ref name="Stagg" />

====Ethiopian Orthodox canon====
{{Main|Ethiopian Biblical canon}}
The Canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.<ref name="Ethiopian">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html|title=The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|publisher=Ethiopianorthodox.org|accessdate=2010-11-19|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20101105112040/http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html| archivedate=5 November 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the [[Septuagint]] accepted by other Orthodox Christians, in addition to [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]] which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge'ez but are quoted in the New Testament,{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} also Greek Ezra [[1 Esdras|First]] and the [[Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra|Apocalypse of Ezra]], 3 books of [[Meqabyan]], and [[Psalm 151]] at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==Divine inspiration==
{{main|Biblical inspiration|Biblical literalism|Biblical infallibility|Biblical inerrancy}}
The Second Epistle to Timothy says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". ({{bibleref2|2 Timothy|3:16|KJV}})<ref>{{cite book|last=Grudem|first=Wayne|title=Systematic Theology|year=1994|publisher=Inter-Varsity Press|location=Leicester, England|pages=49–50}}</ref> Some Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that God, through the [[Holy Spirit]], intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} For many Christians the Bible is also [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]], and is incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters. A related, but distinguishable belief is that the Bible is the [[biblical inerrancy|inerrant word of God]], without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans. Within these broad beliefs there are many schools of hermeneutics. "Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture."<ref name="Wright" /> [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist Christians]] are associated with the doctrine of biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader.<ref>"Beyond Biblical Literalism and Inerrancy: Conservative Protestants and the Hermeneutic Interpretation of Scripture", John Bartkowski, ''Sociology of Religion'', 57, 1996.</ref>

Belief in sacred texts is attested to in Jewish antiquity,<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''De vita Moysis'' 3.23.</ref><ref name="Josephus">Josephus, ''Contra Apion'' 1.8.</ref> and this belief can also be seen in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings.<ref name="Original Source">{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50 |title=Basis for belief of Inspiration Biblegateway |publisher=Biblegateway.com |accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref> In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix wrote: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record."<ref>Norman L. Geisler, William E. Nix. ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Publishers, 1986, p.86. ISBN 0-8024-2916-5</ref> Most evangelical biblical scholars<ref>For example, see Leroy Zuck, Roy B. Zuck. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Chariot Victor Pub, 1991,p.68. ISBN 0-89693-819-0</ref><ref>Roy B. Zuck, Donald Campbell. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Victor, 2002. ISBN 0-7814-3877-2</ref><ref>Norman L. Geisler. ''Inerrancy.'' Zondervan, 1980, p.294. ISBN 0-310-39281-0</ref> associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 [[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]] which asserted that inspiration applied only to the [[autograph]]ic text of Scripture.<ref>{{cite journal|author=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy|title=The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy|publisher=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy|year=1978|url=http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A&D.pdf|format=PDF}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref> Among adherents of Biblical literalism, a minority, such as the [[King-James-Only Movement]], extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular translation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ruckmanism.org/advancedrevelation|accessdate=27 February 2014|title =Ruckman's belief in advanced revelations in the KJV}}</ref>

==Versions and translations==
{{Further|Bible translations|List of Bible translations by language}}
[[File:Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg|thumb|A Bible handwritten in [[Latin]], on display in [[Malmesbury Abbey]], [[Wiltshire, England]]. This Bible was transcribed in [[Belgium]] in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.]]
The original texts of the Tanakh were mainly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and the [[Targum Onkelos]], an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as Aleppo Codex. Even in this version there are words which are traditionally read differently from written, because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The primary biblical text for early Christians was the Septuagint. In addition, they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament.

The earliest Latin translation was the [[Old Latin]] text, or ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible.

[[Pope Damasus I]] assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the [[Council of Rome]] in AD 382. He commissioned Saint [[Jerome]] to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate Bible]] and in 1546 at the [[Council of Trent]] was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the [[Latin Church]].

Since the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[Bible translations]] for many languages have been made. The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organisations such as [[Wycliffe Bible Translators]], [[New Tribes Mission]] and [[Bible society|Bible societies]].

{|class="wikitable"
|+Bible translations, worldwide (as of 2011)<ref>Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. (WBT) Translation Statistics. 2011: [http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx Wycliffe Bible Translators] (updated 17 April 2012)</ref>
! Number !! Statistic
|-
| 6,800 || Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
|-
| 1,500 || Number of translations into new languages currently in progress
|-
| 1,223 || Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament
|-
| 471 || Number of languages with a translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon)
|}

==Views==
John Riches, professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow, provides the following view of the diverse historical influences of the Bible:

<blockquote>It has inspired some of the great monuments of human thought, literature, and art; it has equally fuelled some of the worst excesses of human savagery, self-interest, and narrow-mindedness. It has inspired men and women to acts of great service and courage, to fight for liberation and human development; and it has provided the ideological fuel for societies which have enslaved their fellow human beings and reduced them to abject poverty. ... It has, perhaps above all, provided a source of religious and moral norms which have enabled communities to hold together, to care for, and to protect one another; yet precisely this strong sense of belonging has in turn fuelled ethnic, racial, and international tension and conflict.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 134}}</ref></blockquote>

===Other religions===
{{main|Islamic view of the Christian Bible}}
In [[Islam]], the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding [[revelation]] from [[God in Islam|God]]; but revelation which had been corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: ''[[tahrif]]''); which necessitated the giving of the [[Qur'an]] to the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]], [[Muhammad]], to correct this deviation.

Members of other religions may also seek inspiration from the Bible. For example Rastafaris view the Bible as essential to their religion<ref>Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica - Page 171, Charles Price - 2009</ref> and Unitarian Universalists view it as "one of many important religious texts".<ref>Unitarian Universalism - Page 42, Zondervan Publishing, 2009</ref>

===Biblical studies===
{{Main|Biblical studies|Biblical criticism}}
[[Biblical criticism]] refers to the investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as [[criticism of the Bible]], which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, or observations that the Bible may have [[translation]] errors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|title=Expondo Os Erros Da Sociedade Bíblica Internacional|publisher=Baptistlink.com|year=2000|accessdate=2012-01-13}}</ref>

===Higher criticism===
{{Main|Higher criticism|Lower criticism}}
In the 17th century [[Thomas Hobbes]] collected the current evidence to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] published a unified critical analysis, arguing that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was "clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses . . ."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=xtq2ZyKf-YQC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=clearer+than+the+sun+at+noon+that+the+Pentateuch+was+not+written+by+Moses&source=bl&ots=20Bz7dfslQ&sig=rsPuYGb80r-lWjCFAtW0U8q7LaY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7W9WUJu7DIrW9QT5vYGgBA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=clearer%20than%20the%20sun%20at%20noon%20that%20the%20Pentateuch%20was%20not%20written%20by%20Moses&f=false] ''In the Beginning: Hijacking of the Religion of God'', Volume 1 by Sami M. El-Soudani, Nabawia J. El-Soudani - Xlibris Corporation, January 1, 2009, p. 65</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=gvrcHyusPbMC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=clearer+than+the+sun+at+noon+that+the+Pentateuch+was+not+written+by+Moses&source=bl&ots=tIddvOc2Nv&sig=lHzsQ_BeqBPGxjK2Z0g94THacK0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o3BWUMr3IInc9ATGx4HoBw&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=clearer%20than%20the%20sun%20at%20noon%20that%20the%20Pentateuch%20was%20not%20written%20by%20Moses&f=false] ''Ten More Amazing Discoveries By George Potter'', Cedar Fort, October 1, 2005, p. 121</ref> Despite determined opposition from Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, the views of Hobbes and Spinoza gained increasing acceptance amongst scholars.

==Archaeological and historical research==
{{Main|Biblical archaeology school|The Bible and history}}
Biblical archaeology is the [[archaeology]] that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures (or "New Testament"). It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes [[biblical maximalism]] which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or [[Hebrew Bible]] is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered the opposite of [[Biblical Minimalism|biblical minimalism]] which considers the Bible a purely [[post-exilic]] (5th century BCE and later) composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman era]]s, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE [[Babylonian captivity]] have a basis in history.

The historicity of the biblical account of the [[history of ancient Israel and Judah]] of the 10th to 7th centuries BCE is disputed in scholarship. The biblical account of the 8th to 7th centuries BCE is widely, but not universally, accepted as historical, while the verdict on the earliest period of the [[United Monarchy]] (10th century BCE) and the [[historicity of David]] is unclear. Archaeological evidence providing information on this period, such as the [[Tel Dan Stele]], can potentially be decisive. The biblical account of events of the [[Exodus from Egypt]] in the [[Torah]], and the migration to the [[Promised Land]] and the period of [[Biblical judges|Judges]] are not considered historical in scholarship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|authorlink=Israel Finkelstein|title=The Bible Unearthed|author2=Neil Silberman}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dever|first=William|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=[[Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?]]}}</ref> Regarding the [[New Testament]], the setting being the [[Roman Empire]] in the 1st century CE, the historical context is well established. There has been some debate on the [[historicity of Jesus]], but the mainstream opinion is that Jesus was one of several known historical itinerant preachers in 1st-century [[Roman Judea]], teaching in the context of the religious upheavals and sectarianism of [[Second Temple Judaism]].{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

==Criticism==
{{Main|Criticism of the Bible}}
In modern times, the view that the Bible should be accepted as historically accurate and as a reliable guide to morality has been questioned by many mainstream academics in the field of biblical criticism. Most Christian groups claim that the Bible is inspired by God, and some oppose interpretations of the Bible that are not traditional or "plain reading". Some groups within the most conservative Protestant circles believe that the [[Authorized King James Version]] is the only accurate English translation of the Bible, and accept it as infallible. They are generally referred to as "[[King James Only]]". Many within [[Christian fundamentalism]] – as well as much of [[Orthodox Judaism]]—strongly support the idea that the Bible is a historically accurate record of actual events and a primary source of moral guidance.

In addition to concerns about morality, inerrancy, or historicity, there remain some questions of which books should be included in the Bible (see [[Biblical canon|canon of scripture]]). Jews discount the [[New Testament]], most Christians deny the legitimacy of the [[New Testament apocrypha]], and a view sometimes referred to as [[Jesusism]] does not affirm the scriptural authority of any biblical text other than the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels.

==Bibles==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption=Bibles>
File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg|Old Bible from a Greek monastery
File:Imperial Bible.jpg| Imperial Bible, or [[Vienna Coronation Gospels]] from Wien (Austria), c 1500.
File:Kennicott Bible.jpg |The Kennicott Bible, 1476
File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg|A [[Baroque]] Bible
File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg |The bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his oath of office during his first inauguration in 1861
File:Bible and Key Divination.jpg|A miniature Bible
File:19th century Victorian living room, Auckland - 0843.jpg|19th century Victorian Bible
File:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg |Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at Bizzell Memorial Library
</gallery>
==Illustrations==
Most old Bibles were illuminated, they were [[manuscript]]s in which the [[Writing|text]] is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated [[initial]]s, borders ([[marginalia]]) and [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature illustrations]].
Up to the twelfth century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a [[Commission (art)|commission]] from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the [[monks]] who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a [[scriptorium]], where “separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk.”<ref name="autogenerated1962">Putnam A.M., Geo. Haven. Books and Their Makers During The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Print.</ref>
By the fourteenth century, the [[cloisters]] of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.<ref>De Hamel, 45</ref>
Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators.<ref>De Hamel, 57</ref> These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. <ref>De Hamel, 65</ref>

The manuscript was “sent to the [[rubricator]], who added (in red or other colors) the titles, [[headlines]], the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator.”<ref name="autogenerated1962"/> In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would “undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe’s agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation.”<ref>De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. p. 60.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption="Bible illustrations">
File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg|Bilble from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angels
File:Bible of St Louis detail.jpg |Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th century
File:Bible moralisée - Vienne Cod.1179 -frontispice.jpg| Bible moralisée : Christ the architect of the Universe.
File:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg| Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, [[Abner]] (in the center in green) sends [[Michal]] back to David.

File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG|Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible (France, ca. 1250)
File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg|Colored version of the Whore of Babylon illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the Bible.
File:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg |An Armenian Bible, [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated]] by Malnazar, Armenian) illuminator.

File:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Bible|Judaism|Christianity|Islam}}
* [[Biblical software]]
* [[Code of Hammurabi]]
* [[List of major biblical figures]]
* [[Religious text]]
* [[Scriptorium]]
* [[Theodicy and the Bible]]

==Endnotes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References and further reading==
{{Sister project links|voy=Christianity}}










{{Wikiversity|Biblical Studies (NT)}}
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Bernhard Anderson|Anderson, Bernhard W.]] ''Understanding the Old Testament''. ISBN 0-13-948399-3.
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''Asimov's Guide to the Bible''. New York, NY: Avenel Books, 1981. ISBN 0-517-34582-X.
* Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi Brettler and Michael Fishbane. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/0195297512/ ''The Jewish Study Bible'']. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-529751-2.
* Bible, Authorized Version. ''The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, with the Apocrypha, King James Version'', ed. by David Norton. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ''N.B''.: This is a critically reconstructed text of the Authorized "King James" Bible with its entire contents (including all of its ''marginalia'', fore-matter, the Apocrypha, etc.), as close to the original translators' intentions and wording as possible at the time of this edition, with spelling modernized according to current Commonwealth usage. ISBN 978-0-521-84386-7
* {{cite journal|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|authorlink=Israel Finkelstein|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|authorlink2=Neil Asher Silberman|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|location=New York|year=2001|isbn=0-7432-2338-1|url=http://books.google.com/?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&pg=PA57&dq=Finkelstein+Bible+Unearthed+Exodus+unoccupied#v=onepage&q=unoccupied&f=false}}
* {{cite journal| last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|title=Review: "The Bible Unearthed": A Rejoinder|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=327|date=August 2002|pages=63–73|jstor=1357859}}
* {{cite journal|last=Herzog|first=Ze'ev|authorlink=Ze'ev Herzog|title=Deconstructing the walls of Jericho|publisher=[[Ha'aretz]]|date=29 October 1999|url=http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dever| first=William G.|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=Losing Faith: Who Did and Who Didn't, How Scholarship Affects Scholars|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|date=March–April 2007|volume=33|issue=2|page=54|url=http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf}}
* Dever, William G. ''[[Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?]]'' Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003. ISBN 0-8028-0975-8.
* [[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why'' New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0.
* Geisler, Norman (editor). ''Inerrancy''. Sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Zondervan Publishing House, 1980, ISBN 0-310-39281-0.
* Head, Tom. ''The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible''. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7897-3419-2
* Hoffman, Joel M. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/ITB/ ''In the Beginning'']. New York University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8147-3690-4
* Hotchkiss, Gregory K. ''The Middle Way: Reflections on Scripture and Tradition'', in series, ''Reformed Episcopal Pamphlets'', no. 3. Media, Penn.: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1985. 27 p. ''N.B''.: Place of publication also given as Philadelphia, Penn.; the approach to the issue is from an evangelical Anglican (Reformed Episcopal Church) orientation. Without ISBN
* Lienhard, Joseph T. ''The Bible, The Church, and Authority''. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995.
* [[Harold Lindsell|Lindsell, Harold]]. ''The Battle for the Bible''. Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. ISBN 0-310-27681-0
* Masalha, Nur, ''The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel''. London, Zed Books, 2007.
* McDonald, Lee M. and Sanders, James A., eds. ''The Canon Debate''. Hendrickson Publishers (1 January 2002). 662p. ISBN 1-56563-517-5 ISBN 978-1565635173
* Miller, John W. ''The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History'' Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8091-3522-1.
* Riches, John. ''The Bible: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-285343-0
* Roper, J.C., ''Bp''., '''''et al.'''''. ''The Bible''. Toronto: Musson Book Co., 1924. ''In series'', "The Layman's Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada", vol. 4. ''N.B''.: Series statement given here in the more extended form of it on the book's front cover.
* [[Siku (comics)|Siku]]. ''The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation''. Galilee Trade (15 January 2008). 224p. ISBN 0-385-52431-5 ISBN 978-0385524315
* Taylor, Hawley O. "Mathematics and Prophecy." ''Modern Science and Christian Faith''. Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1948, pp. 175–83.
* ''Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia'', [[wikt:sv#English|s.vv.]] "Book of Ezekiel," p. 580 and "prophecy," p. 1410. Chicago: Moody Bible Press, 1986.
{{Refend}}

{{Books of the Bible}}
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Daniel (biblical figure)

2014-06-22T15:40:46Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 613949173 by 194.168.147.250 (talk)

{{about|the religious figure called Daniel|the book in the Hebrew Bible|Book of Daniel|other uses}}
{{redirect|Danyal|places in Iran|Danyal, Iran (disambiguation){{!}}Danyal, Iran}}
{{Infobox saint
|name = Daniel
|birth_date = 7th Century BC
|death_date = 6th Century BC
|feast_day = July 21: Roman Catholicism December 17: Greek Orthodoxy
|venerated_in = [[Judaism]] [[Christianity]] [[Islam]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism|first= B. M. |last=Wheeler |chapter=Daniel |ref=harv|quote=Daniel is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an but there are accounts of his prophethood in later Muslim literature...}}</ref>
|image = Daniellion.jpg
|imagesize = 300px
|caption = ''Daniel's Answer to the King'' by [[Briton Rivière]]
|death_place = [[Babylon]] (?)
|titles = Prophet
|beatified_date=
|beatified_place=
|beatified_by=
|canonized_date=
|canonized_place=
|canonized_by=
|attributes = Often depicted in the den of the lions
|patronage=
|major_shrine = ''[[Tomb of Daniel]]'', [[Susa]], [[Iran]]
|suppressed_date=
|issues=
|prayer=
|prayer_attrib=
}}

'''Daniel''' ({{Hebrew Name|דָּנִיֵּאל|Daniyyel|Dāniyyêl|[[Arabic]]: دانيال}}, Hebrew "God is my Judge") is the [[protagonist]] in the ''[[Book of Daniel]]'' of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. In the narrative, Daniel was one of several children taken into [[Babylonian captivity]] where they were educated in [[Chaldea]]n thought. However, he never converted to [[Neo-Babylon]]ian ways. Through instruction from "the God of Heaven" (Dan.2:18), he interpreted dreams and visions of kings, thus becoming a prominent figure in the court of Babylon. He also had [[apocalypse|apocalyptic visions]] concerning the ''[[Four monarchies]]''. Some of the most famous events in Daniel's life are: [[Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]], [[The writing on the wall]] and [[Daniel in the lions' den]].

==Hebrew Bible==
{{Daniel chapters}}
===In the book of Daniel===
[[File:Daniel refuse kingsfood.jpg|thumb|left|Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration]]
====Induction into Babylon====

In the third year of the reign of [[Jehoiakim]] (606 BC), Daniel and his friends [[Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah]] were among the young Jewish nobility carried off to [[Babylon]]. The four were chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained as advisers to the Babylonian court ({{Bibleref|Daniel|1|}}). Daniel was given the name ''Belteshazzar'', i.e. ''prince of Bel'' or ''Bel protect the king'', not to be confused with the neo-Babylonian king Belshazzar. [[Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah]] were given the Babylonian names [[Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]] respectively.<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009">Coogan, Michael. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.</ref>

====Nebuchadnezzar====

{{Main|Daniel 2}}

In the narrative of Daniel Chapter 2, it was the second year of the reign of [[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] and the king was distressed by his dreams,[v.1] so he summoned his interpreters.[v.2] However, they were unable to relay or interpret the dreams.[v.10-11] The king was furious and demanded the execution of all the wise men in Babylon.[v.12] When Daniel learned of the king's order, he asked the ''captain of the guard'', [[Arioch]], to let him see the king.[v.13-16] Daniel prayed for God's mercy to receive a revelation from the king's dream.[v.15-18] God then revealed the mystery to Daniel in a vision that same night.[v.19] Daniel praised God with a [[doxology]].[v.20-23] After meeting with Arioch again, Daniel was granted access to the king,[v.24-30] and relayed the description of the dream,[v.31-36] followed by its interpretation.[v.37-45] With Daniel's successful interpretation of the dream, the king expressed homage,[v.46] followed by his own doxology that affirmed that Daniel's ''God is God of gods'' for revealing this ''mystery'' of his dream.[v.47] Daniel was then promoted to chief governor over the whole province of Babylon.[v.48] At Daniel's request, his companions were also promoted, so that they remained at the king's court.[v.49]<ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=John J.|title=Daniel : with an introduction to apocalyptic literature|year=1984|publisher=W.B. Eerdmans|location=Grand Rapids, Mich.|isbn=0-8028-0020-3|edition=Reprinted.|pages=47–49}}</ref>

====Nebuchadnezzar's madness====

Nebuchadnezzar recounted his dream of a huge tree that was suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel was summoned and interpreted the dream. The tree was Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years, lost his mind and became like a wild beast. All of this came to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men"[4:25] and his sanity and kingdom were restored to him.

====Belshazzar====

{{Main|The writing on the wall}}
{{see also|Belshazzar#Belshazzar in literature}}

In Daniel's later years, king [[Belshazzar]] held a great feast for all his nobles. In a drunken state, the king called for the sacred vessels captured from the Jerusalem temple and profanely drank from them. Suddenly, the fingers of a man's hand appeared before the king and wrote on the wall of the palace.[5:1–5] When none of his wise men were able to interpret the message, Daniel was called in at the suggestion of the queen.[5:10–15] After reprimanding the king for his impiety, Daniel interpreted the words [[handwriting on the wall|"MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN"]][5:25] to mean that Belshazzar was about to lose his kingdom to the Medes and the Persians. For successfully reading the cryptic handwriting, Daniel was rewarded with a purple robe and proclaimed that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.[5:17–29] "¶ In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. {{small|31}} And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." ({{bibleref2|Dan.|5:1-31|9|Daniel 5:1–31}})

[[File:Daniel-In-The-Den-Of-Lions FrancoisVerdier.jpg|thumb|Daniel in the Lion's den protected by an angel by [[François Verdier]]]]

====Darius the Mede====

{{Main|Daniel in the lions' den}}
After the Persian conquest of Babylon, Daniel was the first of three presidents over parts of the kingdom during the reign of [[Darius the Mede]].[6:1–2] When the king decided to set Daniel over the whole kingdom, the other officials plotted his downfall. Unable to uncover any corruption, they used Daniel's religious devotion to try to defeat him. The officials tricked the king into issuing an irrevocable decree that "whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions."[6:3–7] When Daniel continued to pray three times a day toward Jerusalem, he was thrown into a lions den, much to the distress of Darius.[6:8–17] After an angel shut the lions' mouths, Daniel was delivered, and Daniel's accusers, with their wives and children, were thrown into the den and they were devoured. ({{bibleref2|Dan.|6:1-24|9|Daniel 6:18–24}})

====Visions and dreams====

{{further2|[[Daniel 7]], [[Daniel 8]], [[Daniel 11]], [[Prophecy of seventy weeks]]}}

{{religious text primary|section|date=June 2013}}

Daniel's ministry as a prophet began late in life. Whereas his early exploits were a matter of common knowledge within his community, these same events, with his pious reputation, served as the basis for his prophetic ministry. The recognition for his prophetic message was that of other prophets like [[Isaiah]], [[Jeremiah]] and [[Ezekiel]] whose backgrounds were the basis for their revelations.
[[File:Merian's Daniel 7 engraving.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Engraving of Daniel's vision in chapter 7 by [[Matthäus Merian]], 1630.]]
From Chapter 7 to the end of the book of Daniel, an [[apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic]] vision is being described, supposedly from the perspective of Daniel.<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009"/> This marks a change in the narrative from Daniel interpreting to messengers of God interpreting for Daniel. Daniel dreamed of four beasts that came out of the sea: a lion with eagle's wings, a bear with three tusks, a leopard with four wings and four heads, and a beast with iron teeth, ten horns and one little horn and human eyes.({{Bibleref|Daniel|7:4-8|JPS}}) These beasts are all present at a convening of the divine counsel. Presiding over the counsel is the Ancient of Days, which may, in fact, be the Israelite God.<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009"/> The Ancient One proceeds to put to death the beast with the one little horn. ({{Bibleref|Daniel|7:9-11|JPS}}) Daniel also describes the fates of the other beasts saying that while their dominion was taken away, their lives were prolonged. ({{Bibleref|Daniel|7:12|JPS}}) This introduction leads into a series of dreams and visions where these events are expressed in greater detail.

Scholars argue that each of these beasts represent an emperor or kingdom that ruled over the Israelites. The vast majority of scholars{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} accept the first as Babylon, the second as Media/Persia, the third as Greece and the fourth as Rome. The feet and toes represent the modern age which will be destroyed at the return of Christ when Christ is set up as head. A small group believes the first being [[Babylonian Empire|Babylon]], then [[Median Empire|Media]], then [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]], and finally the [[Greeks]]. The horns of the last beast may be symbolic of the rulers that replaced [[Alexander the Great]] upon his death, culminating with the little horn, or [[Antiochus IV]].<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009"/> There are additional details in the text that allude to Antiochus IV, including some form of desecration to the temple ({{Bibleref|Daniel|11:31|JPS}}) and persecution ({{Bibleref|Daniel|11:23|JPS}}).<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009"/> The final message of the second half of Daniel is that God will deliver the people from oppression, the latest of which is Antiochus IV.<ref name="Coogan, Michael 2009"/>

====Daniel's final days====
The time and circumstances of Daniel's death have not been recorded. However, tradition maintains that Daniel was still alive in the third year of Cyrus according to the [[Tanakh]] ({{Bibleref|Daniel|10:1|JPS}}). He would have been almost 101 years old at that point, having been brought to [[Babylon]] when he was in his teens, more than 80 years previously. Rabbinic sources indicate that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15a based on Book of Esther 4, 5). Some say he was killed by Haman, the prime minister of Ahasuerus (Targum Sheini on Esther, 4, 11). Many{{Who|date=February 2010}} posit that he possibly died at [[Susa]] in [[Iran]]. Tradition holds that his tomb is located in Susa at a site known as '''Shush-e Daniyal'''. Other locations have been claimed as the site of his burial, including [[Daniel's Tomb]] in Kirkuk, Iraq, as well as Babylon, Egypt, Tarsus and, notably, [[Samarkand]], which claims a tomb of Daniel (see "The Ruins of Afrasiab" in the [[Samarkand]] article), with some traditions suggesting that his remains were removed, perhaps by [[Tamerlane]], from Susa to Samarkand (see, for instance, Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela,<ref>http://isfsp.org/sages/ben5.html</ref> section 153).

===In the book of Ezekiel===
{{Main|Danel}}
The prophet [[Ezekiel]], with whom Daniel was a contemporary, describes Daniel as a "pattern of righteousness" in the [[Book of Ezekiel]] 14:14, 20 and "wisdom" (28:3).<ref name="eas">{{cite EBD|wstitle=Daniel}}</ref> In the Hebrew sections of the Book of Daniel the name is spelled ''Dânîê’l'' whereas in the Book of Ezekiel that name is spelled ''Dânîyê’l''.

A number of scholars have proposed that Ezekiel is referring to another Daniel, possibly the "Danel" ("Judgment of God") known from Caananite [[Ugaritic]] literature (such as the [[Anat|Epic of Aqhat and Anat]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Day|first=J|title=The Daniel of Ugarit and Ezekiel and the Hero of the Book of Daniel|journal=Vetus Testamentum|year=1980|volume=30|issue=2}}</ref> However Danel is never called "wise" or "righteous"; since Danel was a worshipper of Baal and other pagan gods, it would be unusual if he was considered a paradigm of Jewish righteousness by Ezekiel.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dressler|first=H. H. P.|title=Reading and Interpreting the Aqhat Text: A Rejoiner to Drs J. Day and B.Margalit|journal=Vetus Testamentum|year=1984|volume=34|issue=1}}</ref> In contrast, the hero of the Book of Daniel is both wise and righteous.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gaston|first=Thomas|title=Historical Issues in the Book of Daniel|year=2009|publisher=Taanathshiloh|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-9561540-0-2|pages=10–19}}</ref>

==Deuterocanon==

===Bel and the Dragon===
In the [[Deuterocanonical]] portion of Daniel known as [[Bel and the Dragon]], the prophet [[Habakkuk]] is supernaturally transported by an angel to take a meal to Daniel while he is in the lions' den. In response, Daniel prays, "Thou hast remembered me, O God; neither hast thou forsaken them that seek Thee and love Thee".<ref>{{cite book|title="Saying Grace" Historically Considered and Numerous Forms of Grace:Taken from Ancient and Modern Sources; With Appendices|last=Dixon|first=Henry Lancelot|year=1903|publisher=James Parker and Co.|location=Oxford and London|url=http://books.google.com/?id=CVsNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=daniel+prays+%22thou+hast+remembered+me+o+god+neither+hast+thou+forsaken+them+that+seek+thee+and+love+thee%22|page=11}}</ref>

==Views of Daniel==
[[File:Daniel in the Lion's Den c1615 Peter Paul Rubens.jpg|thumb|300px||Daniel in the Lion's Den, c 1615 by [[Pieter Paul Rubens]]]]
===Judaism===
{{Main|Daniel in rabbinic literature}}

According to Rabbinical tradition, Daniel was of royal descent; and his fate, together with that of his three friends, [[Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah]], was foretold by the prophet [[Isaiah]] to King [[Hezekiah]] in these words, "and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon".{{Bibleverse||Isaiah|39:7|HE}}<ref>([[Talmud]] tractate [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]] 93b; [[Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer]] lii)</ref><ref name=JE>{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=31&letter=D |title=DANIEL |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |date= |accessdate=2012-06-30}}</ref>

According to this view, Daniel and his friends were [[eunuchs]], and were consequently able to prove the groundlessness of charges of immorality brought against them, which had almost caused their death at the hands of the king.<ref name=JE />

===Christianity===

The prophet is commemorated in the [[Coptic Church]] on the 23rd day of the Coptic month of [[Baramhat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.copticchurch.net/classes/synex.php?sa=1&month=7&day=23&btn=View |title=The Departure of the great prophet Daniel |publisher=Copticchurch.net |date= |accessdate=2012-06-30}}</ref>

On the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar|liturgical calendar]], the feast days celebrating St. Daniel the Prophet together with the [[Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego|Three Young Men]], falls on [[December 17 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|December 17]] (during the [[Nativity Fast]]), on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers<ref>Sergei Bulgakov, ''Manual for Church Servers'', 2nd ed. (Kharkov, 1900) pp. 453-5. December 11–17: Sunday of the Holy Forefathers Translation: Archpriest Eugene D. Tarris</ref> (the Sunday which falls between 11 and 17 December), and on the Sunday before Nativity.<ref>Bulgakov, ''''Manual for Church Servers'''', pp. 461-2. December 18–24: Sunday before the Nativity of Christ of the Holy Fathers</ref> Daniel's prophesy regarding the stone which smashed the idol ({{Bibleverse||Daniel|2:34-35|HE}}) is often used in Orthodox hymns as a metaphor for the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]]: the "stone cut out" being symbolic of the [[Logos]] (Christ), and the fact that it was cut "without hands" being symbolic of the [[Virgin birth of Jesus|virgin birth]]. Thus the hymns will refer to the [[Theotokos]] (Virgin Mary) as the "uncut mountain"

Daniel is commemorated as a prophet in the [[Calendar of Saints (Lutheran)|Calendar of Saints]] of the [[Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod]] together with the Three Young Men ([[Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego]]), on December 17.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chi.lcms.org/history/tih1217.htm |title=Today in History - December 17 |publisher=Chi.lcms.org |date= |accessdate=2012-06-30}}</ref>

The [[Roman Catholic Church]] commemorates St. Daniel in the [[Roman Martyrology]] on July 21.<ref>{{cite book
| url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04620a.htm
| title=Catholic Encyclopedia on CD-ROM
| publisher=New Advent
| chapter=Daniel
| author=Francis E. Gigot
| year=1889
}}</ref> However, his commemoration at Mass occurs only on local calendars of particular dioceses, sometimes on July 21 and sometimes on another day. For example, the [[archdiocese of Gorizia]] celebrates the feast of St. Daniel, prophet and confessor, on September 11. The reading of the Mass is taken from the Book of Daniel, chapter 14; the Gradual from Psalm 91; the Alleluia verse from the Epistle of James 1; and the Gospel from Matthew 24.<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4872-daniel-tomb-of Jewish Encyclopedia]</ref>

===Islam===
{{Main|Islamic view of Daniel}}

[[Muslim]]s traditionally consider '''Daniyal''' ([[Arabic]]: دانيال, ''Danyal'') as an [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]], alongside the other [[major prophet]]s of the [[Old Testament]]. Although Daniel is not mentioned in the [[Qur'an]], there are accounts of Daniel's life which feature in later Muslim literature. Daniel is listed as a [[prophet]] in all major versions of ''[[Stories of the Prophets]]''.<ref>See, for example, [[Ibn Kathir]]'s ''[[Stories of the Prophets (Ibn Kathir)|Stories of the Prophets]]'': "The Story of Daniel"</ref> When the [[Muslim]]s conquered [[Alexandria]] in AD 641, a [[mosque]] was immediately built dedicated to Daniel.<ref>''Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism'', B. M. Wheeler, ''Daniel''</ref>

[[Muslim]] [[exegesis]], including [[Tabari]]'s ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'' narrates that Daniel was carried off to [[Babylon]] after [[Nebuchadnezzar]]'s attack on [[Jerusalem]]. It goes on to state that there he was thrown into the den of the lions, but was later rescued. In one such account, Daniel is aided by [[Jeremiah]], who comes to [[Babylon]] to help Daniel in the lions' den.<ref>''Stories of the Prophets'', ''The Story of Daniel'', Part 1. Food in the Lions Den</ref> In the [[apocryphal]] [[Bel and the Dragon]], however, there is a very similar tale which states that the [[Hebrew]] [[prophet]] [[Habbakuk]] was miraculously transported to the den of the lions, to give a meal to Daniel.

All sources [[Islamic Golden Age|classical]] and [[modern history|modern]], describe Daniel as a saintly and spiritual man. [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]], in his Qur'anic commentary says:
{{Quote|Daniel was a righteous man of princely lineage and lived about 620-538 B.C. He was carried off to Babylon in 605 B.C by Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian, but was still living when Assyria was overthrown by the Medes and Persians. In spite of the "captivity" of the Jews, Daniel enjoyed the highest offices of state at Babylon, but he was ever true to Jerusalem. His enemies (under the Persian monarch) got a penal law passed against any one who "asked a petition of any god or man for 30 days" except the Persian King. But Daniel continued true to Jerusalem. "His windows being open in his chambers towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime."|[[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]]|''[[The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary]]''<ref>[[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]]|''[[The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary]]'', '''Note.'''150</ref>}} (The year change to 620 B.C., From Text THESE SOUGHT A COUNTRY, A History of Israel in Old Testament Times; Road to Judgement, page 331-333, By Robert L. Cate, Broadman Press - 1985 (ISBN: 0-8054-1232-8) Note: Daniel was approximately 15/16 when taken into captivity in 605 B.C., resulting in a date of birth approximately 620/619 B.C.

===Baha'i===
Daniel is considered a [[Manifestation of God#Minor prophets|minor prophet]] in the teachings of the [[Baha'i Faith]].<ref>May, Dann J (December 1993). The Bahá'í Principle of Religious Unity and the Challenge of Radical Pluralism. University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. p. 102.</ref> Some Baha'i converts introduced the principle of [[reincarnation]], specifically that of Daniel and John.<ref>From Iran East and West - Volume 2 - Page 127 and 106, Juan R. I. Cole, Moojan Momen - 1984</ref>

==Six tombs of Daniel==
[[File:Tomb of Daniel 1.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Daniel at [[Susa]], [[Iran]].]]
[[File:The tomb of protagonist Daniel in Samarkand.JPG|thumb|The tomb of protagonist Daniel in Samarkand]]
{{Main|Tomb of Daniel}}
There are six different locations claiming to be the site of the tomb of the biblical figure Daniel: [[Babylon]], [[Kirkuk]] and [[Muqdadiyah]] in [[Iraq]], [[Susa]] and [[Malamir, Iran|Malamir]] in [[Iran]], and [[Samarkand]] in [[Uzbekistan]]. Tomb of Daniel at [[Susa]] is most agreed tomb .<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4872-daniel-tomb-of Jewish Encyclopedia]</ref>
–
==See also==
{{Portal|Saints}}
* [[Apocalypse of Daniel]]
* [[Arioch]], Captain of the guard
* [[Belshazzar]], possible last King of ''Neo-Babylon''
* [[Book of Daniel]]
* [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus the Persian]], King of [[Achaemenid Empire]]
* [[Darius the Mede]]
* [[Ezekiel]], Daniel's ''narrative'' contemporary
* [[Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah]], Daniel's ''narrative'' companions
* [[Theophory in the Bible|List of names referring to El]]
* [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], King of [[Neo-Babylon]]
* [[Persian Jews]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{WikisourceEBD1897|Daniel}}
* {{cite journal
| url=http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/ch/ch7_01.htm
| journal=Biblical Chronology
| title=Daniel: Historical & Chronological Comments (II)
| year=1995
| volume=7
| issue=1
| author=James B. Jordan
| format= – [http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3ADaniel%3A+Historical+%26+Chronological+Comments+%28II%29&as_publication=Biblical+Chronology&as_ylo=1995&as_yhi=1995&btnG=Search Scholar search]
}} {{Dead link|date=March 2009}}
* {{cite book
| url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04620a.htm
| title=Catholic Encyclopedia on CD-ROM
| publisher=New Advent
| chapter=Daniel
| author=Francis E. Gigot
| year=1889
}}
* {{cite book
| title=Historical Issues in the Book of Daniel
| publisher=Taanathshiloh
| author=T. E. Gaston
| year=2009
}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=NIV&passage=daniel Book of Daniel (Biblical Passage)]
* [http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_daniel.html ''Daniel'' by Rob Bradshaw] Detailed dictionary-style article.
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Bible/Danieltoc.html ''Daniel'' in the TaNaKh] Detailed authorized Jewish translation of the original
* [http://bible.org/article/who-ezekiels-daniel Who is Ezekiel's Daniel? : The Ugaritic Danel]
* [http://www.islambasics.com/view.php?bkID=85&chapter=24 Stories of the Prophets - Prophet Daniel : Muslims Discover Daniel Remains "in the treasure house of Al-Harmazan"]

{{Prophets of the Tanakh|no}}{{Catholic saints}}

{{Persondata 
| NAME = Daniel
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = Approximate 620/619 B.C.
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH = [[Babylon]] (?)
}}
[[Category:Daniel| ]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible people]]
[[Category:Angelic visionaries]]
[[Category:Jewish writers]]
[[Category:Iranian Jews]]
[[Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar]]
[[Category:Prophets in Christianity]]
[[Category:Prophets of Islam]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Book of Daniel]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Old Testament Apocrypha people]]

Septuagint

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Jerm729: Undid revision 613806770 by CAheart314 (talk)

Bible

2014-06-19T02:15:11Z

Jerm729: removed WP:WEASEL sentence

{{Hatnote|For other uses, see [[Bible (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2012}}
[[File:Gutenberg Bible.jpg|340px|thumb|The [[Gutenberg Bible]], the first printed Bible]]
{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}
{{Bible related}}

The '''Bible''' (from [[Koine Greek]] τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a [[Biblical canon|canonical]] collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]], but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their [[Biblical canon]]s, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate [[Books of the Bible#Intertestamental books|additional material]] into canonical books.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|pages= 7–8}}</ref>

The [[Hebrew Bible]], or ''[[Tanakh]]'', contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the ''[[Torah]]'' ("teaching" or "law"), the ''[[Nevi'im]]'' ("prophets"), and the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] canon to the eighty-one books of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] canon. The first part of [[Christian Bible]]s is the [[Old Testament]], which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The [[Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] churches also hold certain [[deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical books and passages]] to be part of the [[development of the Old Testament canon|Old Testament canon]]. The second part is the [[New Testament]], containing twenty-seven books: the four [[Canonical gospels]], [[Acts of the Apostles]], twenty-one [[Epistle#New Testament epistles|Epistles]] or letters, and the [[Book of Revelation]].

By the 2nd century [[Common Era|BCE]] Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" ({{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}}, ''tà biblía tà ágia'') or "the Holy Scriptures" ({{lang|grc|η Αγία Γραφή}}, ''e Agía Graphḗ''). The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century [[Common Era|CE]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com/?id=M1rS4Kce_PMC&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Memories of ancient Israel|first=Philip R.|last=Davies|page=7|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-664-23288-7}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref> but an early 4th-century [[Septuagint]] translation is found in the [[Codex Vaticanus]]. The Bible was [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|divided into chapters]] in the 13th century by [[Stephen Langton]] and into verses in the 16th century by French printer [[Robert Estienne]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Where did the chapter and verse numbers of the Bible originate?|url=http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/where-did-the-chapter-and-verse-numbers-of-the-bible-originate|publisher=CA}}</ref> and is now usually [[Citation|cited]] by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-1/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction/| title =Best selling book of non-fiction}}</ref> has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,<ref>{{cite news|title=The battle of the books|url=http://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317&CFID=3289446&CFTOKEN=a87381115ea0752-5130AD65-B27C-BB00-012B3B9A581DD567 | work=The Economist | date=22 December 2007}}</ref><ref name=RussellAsh>{{cite book|author=Ash, Russell|title=Top 10 of Everything 2002|year=2001|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|isbn=0-7894-8043-3}}</ref> and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The [[Gutenberg Bible]] was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.

==Etymology==
[[File:Family-bible.jpg|thumb|upright|An American family Bible dating to 1859.]]
The English word ''[[:wikt:Bible|Bible]]'' is from the Latin ''biblia'', from the same word in [[Medieval Latin]] and [[Late Latin]] and ultimately from [[Koine Greek]] {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία}} ''ta biblia'' "the books" (singular {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} ''biblion'').<ref name="etymonline-bible">{{OEtymD|bible}}</ref>

[[Medieval Latin]] ''biblia'' is short for ''biblia sacra'' "holy book", while ''biblia'' in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. ''bibliorum''). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (''biblia,'' gen. ''bibliae'') in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Newadvent.org|year=1907|accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref>
Latin ''biblia sacra'' "holy books" translates Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}} ''ta biblia ta hagia'', "the holy books".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2319917 Biblion, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A'' Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus].</ref>

The word {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} itself had the literal meaning of "paper" or "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "[[book]]".
It is the diminutive of {{lang|grc|βύβλος}} ''bublos'', "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n sea port [[Byblos]] (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.
The Greek ''ta biblia'' (lit. "little papyrus books")<ref name="Stagg">Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology.'' Nashville: Broadman, 1962. ISBN 0-8054-1613-7.</ref> was "an expression [[Hellenistic Jews]] used to describe their sacred books (the [[Septuagint]]).<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton] on PBS's site [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians].</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com etymology of the word "Bible"].</ref> Christian use of the term can be traced to c. 223 CE.<ref name="etymonline-bible" /> The biblical scholar [[F.F. Bruce]] notes that [[Chrysostom]] appears to be the first writer (in his ''Homilies on Matthew'', delivered between 386 and 388) to use the Greek phrase ''ta biblia'' ("the books") to describe both the Old and New Testaments together.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bruce|first=Frederick|authorlink=F. F. Bruce|title=The Canon of Scripture|publisher=IVP Academic|location=Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.|year=1988|page=214|isbn=083081258X}}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg|thumb|left||The Kennicott Bible, by [[Benjamin Kennicott]], with illustration, Jonah being swallowed by the fish, 1476]]
Professor John K. Riches (writing for [[Oxford University Press]]) explained that "the biblical texts themselves are the result of a creative dialogue between ancient traditions and different communities through the ages",<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 83}}</ref> and "the biblical texts were produced over a period in which the living conditions of the writers – political, cultural, economic, and ecological – varied enormously".<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 9}}</ref>

Timothy H. Lim, a professor of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism at the University of Edinburgh, states that the Old Testament "was not written by one man, nor did it drop down from heaven as assumed by [[Fundamentalism|fundamentalists]]. It is not a magical book, but a collection of authoritative texts of apparently divine origin that went through a human process of writing and editing."<ref>{{cite book |title= The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Lim|first= Timothy H.|year= 2005|publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford|isbn= |page= 41}}</ref> During the solidification of the Hebrew canon (c. 3rd century BCE), the Bible began to be translated into Greek, now referred to as the [[Septuagint]].<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 37}}</ref>

In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from oral traditions (similar to the Hebrew Bible) in a period after Jesus's death, <blockquote>Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, but the results have not been too encouraging. The period of transmission is short: less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Mark's Gospel. This means that there was little time for oral traditions to assume fixed form.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37">{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|pages= 23, 37}}</ref></blockquote>

The Bible was later translated into Latin and other languages. John Riches states that, <blockquote>The translation of the Bible into Latin marks the beginning of a parting of the ways between Western Latin-speaking Christianity and Eastern Christianity, which spoke Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, and other languages. The Bibles of the Eastern Churches vary considerably: the Ethiopic Orthodox canon includes 81 books and contains many apocalyptic texts, such as were found at Qumran and subsequently excluded from the Jewish canon. As a general rule, one can say that the Orthodox Churches generally follow the Septuagint in including more books in their Old Testaments than are in the Jewish canon.<ref name="Riches 2000 23, 37"/></blockquote>

==Hebrew Bible==
{{Main|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
[[File:2nd century Hebrew decalogue.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Nash Papyrus]] (2nd century BCE) contains a portion of a pre-Masoretic Text, specifically the [[Ten Commandments]] and the [[Shema Yisrael]] prayer.]]
The [[Masoretic Text]] is the authoritative [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] text of the [[Hebrew Bible]]. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their [[niqqud|vocalization]] and [[cantillation|accentuation]].

The oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE,<ref>A 7th-century fragment containing the Song of the Sea (Exodus 13:19-16:1) is one of the few surviving texts from the "silent era" of Hebrew biblical texts between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the [[Aleppo Codex]]. See [http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708654713&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull "Rare scroll fragment to be unveiled," Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2007].</ref> and the [[Aleppo Codex]] (once the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic Text, but now missing its [[Torah]] section) dates from the 10th century.

[[Tanakh]] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Hebrew|תנ"ך}}) reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures, [[Torah]] ("Teaching"), [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings").

===Torah===
{{Main|Torah}}
{{See also|Oral Torah}}
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of [[Moses]]" or the [[Pentateuch]], meaning "five scroll-cases".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=CakJchHfN1QC&pg=PA647&lpg=PA647&dq=Pentateuch+from+Greek+meaning+%22five+scroll-cases&source=bl&ots=iUzv6_UPBw&sig=itoLPZH_dUSbPWww1gnM1PJfk3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BmZoUNa6IZS08ATC1oGIBw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Pentateuch%20from%20Greek%20meaning%20%22five%20scroll-cases&f=false] The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas by [[Willis Barnstone]] - W. W. Norton & Company - page 647</ref> The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts.

The Torah consists of the following five books:
* [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ''Bereshith'' (בראשית)
* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)
* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)
* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)
* [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]], ''Devarim'' (דברים)

The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's [[Biblical covenant|covenant]] with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Biblical patriarchs]] [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel]]) and Jacob's children, the "[[Children of Israel]]", especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in [[Ancient Egypt]] to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]] and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Seymour+Rossel%22&source=bl&ots=H0fv2a4pWG&sig=NQIme41Zh-HHQP6XRxIoeYletNE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZddoUKjaLY-o8QT2zYCgDg&ved=0CDYQuwUwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false] The Torah: Portion by Portion By [[Seymour Rossel]] - Torah Aura Productions, 2007, p. 355</ref>

The Torah contains the commandments of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate among traditional scholars as to whether these were all written down at one time, or over a period of time during the 40 years of the wanderings in the desert, while several modern Jewish movements reject the idea of a literal revelation, and critical scholars believe that many of these laws developed later in Jewish history).<ref>[[Mordecai Kaplan]] 1934 ''Judaism as a Civilization'' MacMillan Press</ref><ref>[[Elliot N. Dorff]] 1979 ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=diqTpD-UbW0C&lpg=PA98&pg=PA98#v=onepage&q&f=false Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants]{{dead link|date=January 2012}}''. United Synagogue. p. 98–99 (114–115 in 1978 edition)</ref><ref>[[Milton Steinberg]] 1947 ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iBu5Tpc4DtcC&lpg=PA27&pg=PA27&dq=isbn%3A0156106981#v=onepage&q&f=false Basic Judaism]{{dead link|date=January 2012}}'' Harcourt Brace, p. 27–28 ISBN 0-15-610698-1</ref><ref>Gilbert Rosenthal 1973 ''Four paths to One God'' Bloch Publishing pp. 116–128, 180–192, 238–242</ref> These commandments provide the basis for [[Halakha|Jewish religious law]]. Tradition states that there are [[613 commandments]] (''taryag mitzvot'').

===Nevi'im===
{{Main|Nevi'im}}
{{Books of Nevi'im}}
''Nevi'im'' ({{lang-he|נְבִיאִים ''Nəḇî'îm''}}, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the ''Torah'' and ''Ketuvim''. It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ({{lang|he|''Nevi'im Rishonim'' נביאים ראשונים}}, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ({{lang|he|''Nevi'im Aharonim'' נביאים אחרונים}}, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]).

The Nevi'im tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, [[ancient Israel and Judah]], focusing on conflicts between the Israelites and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the {{LORD}} God"<ref>{{bibleref2|1Kings.18:24;1Kings.18:37–39|9}}</ref> and believers in foreign gods,<ref>George Savran "I and II Kings" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Each king is judged either good or bad in black-and-white terms, according to whether or not he "did right" or "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. This evaluation is not reflective of the well-being of the nation, of the king's success or failure in war, or of the moral climate of the times, but rather the state of cultic worship during his reign. Those kings who shun idolatry and enact religious reforms are singled out for praise, and those who encourage pagan practices are denounced." 146</ref><ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "Israel In Canaan" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The fight against Baal was initiated by the prophets" 54</ref> and the criticism of unethical and unjust behavior of Israelite elites and rulers;<ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "The Age of Prophecy" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The immediate occasion of the rise of the new prophecy was the political and social ruin caused by the wars with Israel's northerly neighbor, Aram, which continued for more than a century. They raged intensely during the reign of Ahab, and did not end until the time of Jeroboam II (784–744). While the nation as a whole was impoverished, a few – apparently of the royal officialdom – grew wealthy as a result of the national calamity. Many of the people were compelled to sell their houses and lands, with the result that a sharp social cleavage arose: on the one hand a mass of propertyless indigents, on the other a small circle of the rich. A series of disasters struck the nation – drought, famine, plagues, death and captivity (Amos 4: 6–11), but the greatest disaster of all was the social disintegration due to the cleavage between the poor masses and the wealthy, dissolute upper class. The decay affected both Judah and Israel ... High minded men were appalled at this development. Was this the people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt, to whom He had given the land and a law of justice and right? it seemed as if the land was about to be inherited by the rich, who would squander its substance in drunken revelry. it was this dissolution that brought the prophetic denunciations to white heat." 57-58</ref><ref>[[Abraham Joshua Heschel]] 1955 ''The Prophets'' Harper and Row: "What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who runs from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? .... Indeed, the sorts of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice – cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us an injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." 3–4</ref><ref>Joel Rosenberg "I and II Samuel" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Samuel is thus a work of national self-criticism. It recognizes that Israel would not have survived, either politically or culturally, without the steadying presence of a dynastic royal house. But it makes both that house and its subjects answerable to firm standards of prophetic justice — not those of cult prophets or professional ecstatics, but of morally upright prophetic leaders in the tradition of Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and others ..." 141</ref> in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

====Former Prophets====
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the [[Promised Land]], and end with the release from imprisonment of the last [[king of Judah]]. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the [[Book of Joshua]]),
* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the [[Book of Judges]]),
* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the books of 1st and 2nd [[Samuel]])
* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile (1st and 2nd Kings)

=====Joshua=====
The [[Book of Joshua]] (''Yehoshua'' יהושע) contains a history of the [[Israelites]] from the death of [[Moses]] to that of [[Joshua]]. After Moses' death, Joshua, by virtue of his previous appointment as Moses' successor, receives from God the command to cross the [[Jordan River]].

The book consists of three parts:
* the history of the conquest of the land (1–12).
* allotment of the land to the different tribes, with the appointment of cities of refuge, the provision for the [[Levites]] (13–22), and the dismissal of the eastern tribes to their homes.
* the farewell addresses of Joshua, with an account of his death (23, 24).

=====Judges=====
The [[Book of Judges]] (''Shoftim'' שופטים) consists of three distinct parts:
* the introduction (1:1–3:10 and 3:12) giving a summary of the book of Joshua
* the main text (3:11–16:31), discussing the five Great Judges, [[Abimelech]], and providing glosses for a few minor Judges
* appendices (17:1–21:25), giving two stories set in the time of the Judges, but not discussing the Judges themselves.

=====Samuel=====
The [[Books of Samuel]] (''Shmu'el'' שמואל) consists of five parts:
* the period of [[God]]'s rejection of [[Eli (Biblical priest)|Eli]], [[Samuel (biblical figure)|Samuel's]] birth, and subsequent judgment (1 Samuel 1:1–7:17)
* the life of [[Saul]] prior to meeting [[David]] (1 Samuel 8:1–15:35)
* Saul's interaction with David (1 Samuel 16:1–2 Samuel 1:27)
* David's reign and the rebellions he suffers (2 Samuel 2:1–20:22)
* an appendix of material concerning David in no particular order, and out of sequence with the rest of the text (2 Samuel 22:1–24:25)

A conclusion of sorts appears at [[1 Kings]] 1-2, concerning [[Solomon]] enacting a final revenge on those who did what David perceived as wrongdoing, and having a similar narrative style. While the subject matter in the Book(s) of Samuel is also covered by the narrative in [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]], it is noticeable that the section (2 Sam. 11:2-12:29) containing an account of the matter of [[Bathsheba]] is omitted in the corresponding passage in 1 Chr. 20.

=====Kings=====
The [[Books of Kings]] (''Melakhim'' מלכים) contains accounts of the kings of the ancient [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]], and the [[annal]]s of the Jewish commonwealth from the accession of Solomon until the subjugation of the kingdom by [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] and the [[Babylonians]].

====Latter Prophets====
The Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the "major" prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets, collected into a single book.

=====Isaiah=====
The 66 chapters of [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] (''Yeshayahu'' [ישעיהו]) consist primarily of prophecies of the judgments awaiting nations that are persecuting Judah. These nations include [[Babylon]], [[Assyria]], [[Philistia]], [[Moab]], [[Syria]], [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] (the northern kingdom), [[Ethiopia]], [[Egypt]], [[Arabia]], and [[Phoenicia]]. The prophecies concerning them can be summarized as saying that [[Jehovah]] is the God of the whole earth, and that nations which think of themselves as secure in their own power might well be conquered by other nations, at God's command.

Chapter 6 describes Isaiah's call to be a prophet of God. Chapters 35–39 provide material about King [[Hezekiah]]. Chapters 24–34, while too complex to characterize easily, are primarily concerned with prophecies of a [[messiah]], the Lord's "chosen one", a person anointed or given power by God, and of the messiah's kingdom, where justice and righteousness will reign. This section is seen by Jews as describing a king, a descendant of their great king, David, who will make Judah a great kingdom and [[Jerusalem]] a truly holy city.

The prophecy continues with what can be characterized as a "book of comfort"<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=VeOwyTae71cC&pg=PA328&lpg=PA328&dq=the+book+of+comfort+isaiah&source=bl&ots=VOmO772O7q&sig=0bohL7s3-xxgidnD16IThNl0vKo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8eZqUPWpM-WC2wXH4oEg&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=the%20book%20of%20comfort%20isaiah&f=false] ''Ancient Israelite And Early Jewish Literature'', [[Theodoor Christiaan Vriezen]] and [[A. S. Van Der Woude]] - Brill, 2005, p. 328</ref> which begins in chapter 40 and completes the writing. In the first eight chapters of this book of comfort, Isaiah prophesies the deliverance of the [[Jew]]s from the hands of the Babylonians and restoration of Israel as a unified nation in the land promised to them by God. Isaiah reaffirms that the Jews are indeed the [[chosen people]] of God in chapter 44 and that Jehovah is the only God for the Jews as he will show his power over the gods of Babylon in due time in chapter 46. In chapter 45:1 the Persian ruler [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] is named as the [[messiah]] who will overthrow the Babylonians and allow the return of Israel to their original land. The remaining chapters of the book contain prophecies of the future glory of [[Zion]] under the rule of a righteous servant (52 and 54). Chapter 53 contains a poetic prophecy about this servant which is generally considered by [[Christians]] to refer to [[Jesus]], although Jews generally interpret it as a reference to God's people. Although there is still the mention of judgment of false worshippers and idolaters (65 & 66), the book ends with a message of hope of a righteous ruler who extends salvation to his righteous subjects living in the Lord's kingdom on earth.

=====Jeremiah=====
The [[Book of Jeremiah]] (''Yirmiyahu'' [ירמיהו]) can be divided into twenty-three subsections, and its contents organized into five sub-sections:
* the introduction, ch. 1
* scorn for the sins of Israel, consisting of seven sections, (1.) ch. 2; (2.) ch. 3–6; (3.) ch. 7–10; (4.) ch. 11–13; (5.) ch. 14–17:18; (6.) ch. 17:19–ch. 20; (7.) ch. 21–24
* a general review of all nations, foreseeing their destruction, in two sections, (1.) ch. 46–49; (2.) ch. 25; with an historical appendix of three sections, (1.) ch. 26; (2.) ch. 27; (3.) ch. 28, 29
* two sections picturing the hopes of better times, (1.) ch. 30, 31; (2.) ch. 32, 33; to which is added an historical appendix in three sections, (1.) ch. 34:1–7; (2.) ch. 34:8–22; (3.) ch. 35
# the conclusion, in two sections, (1.) ch. 36; (2.) ch. 45.

In Egypt, after an interval, [[Jeremiah]] is supposed to have added three sections, viz., ch. 37–39; 40–43; and 44. The principal messianic prophecies are found in 23:1–8; 31:31–40; and 33:14–26.

Jeremiah's prophecies are noted for the frequent repetitions found in them of the same words, phrases, and imagery. They cover the period of about 30 years. They are not in chronological order.

=====Ezekiel=====
The [[Book of Ezekiel]] (''Yehezq'el'' [יחזקאל]) contains three distinct sections.
* the Judgment on Israel – Ezekiel makes a series of denunciations against his fellow Judeans ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%203:22-24;&version=49; 3:22–24]), warning them of the certain destruction of Jerusalem, in opposition to the words of the false prophets ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204:1-3;&version=49; 4:1–3]). The symbolic acts, by which the extremities to which Jerusalem would be reduced are described in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ezekiel%204-5;&version=49; Chapters 4 and 5], show his intimate acquaintance with the levitical legislation. (See, for example, [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2022:30;&version=49; 22:30]; [[Deuteronomy]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deut%2014:21;&version=49; 14:21]; [[Leviticus]] [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%205:2;&version=49; 5:2]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%207:18,24;&version=49; 7:18, 24]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2017:15;&version=49; 17:15]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2019:7;&version=49; 19:7]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lev%2022:8;&version=49; 22:8])
* prophecies against various neighboring nations, the [[Ammon]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2025:1-7;&version=49; Ezek. 25:1–7]), the [[Moab]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%208-11;&version=49; 25:8–11]), the [[Edom]]ites ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2012-14;&version=49; 25:12–14]), the [[Philistines]] ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2015-17;&version=49; 25:15–17]), [[Tyre (Lebanon)|Tyre]] and [[Sidon]] ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2026-28;&version=49; 26–28]), and against [[Egypt]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2029-32;&version=49; 29–32])
* prophecies delivered after the destruction of Jerusalem by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]: the triumphs of Israel and of the kingdom of God on earth ( [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2033-39;&version=49; Ezek. 33–39] ); [[Messianic Age|Messianic times]], and the establishment and prosperity of the [[kingdom of God]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2040;48;&version=49; 40–48]).

=====Twelve Minor Prophets=====
The Twelve, ''Trei Asar'' (תרי עשר), also called the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]
* [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], ''Hoshea'' (הושע)
* [[Book of Joel|Joel]], ''Yoel'' (יואל)
* [[Book of Amos|Amos]], ''Amos'' (עמוס)
* [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], ''Ovadyah'' (עבדיה)
* [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]], ''Yonah'' (יונה)
* [[Book of Micah|Micah]], ''Mikhah'' (מיכה)
* [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], ''Nahum'' (נחום)
* [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק)
* [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]], ''Tsefanya'' (צפניה)
* [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], ''Khagay'' (חגי)
* [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], ''Zekharyah'' (זכריה)
* [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי)

===Ketuvim===
{{Main|Ketuvim}}
{{Books of Ketuvim}}
''Ketuvim'' or ''Kəṯûḇîm'' (in {{lang-hbo|כְּתוּבִים}} "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the [[Ruach HaKodesh]] (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of [[prophecy]].<ref>[[Jacob Neusner|Neusner, Jacob]], The Talmud Law, Theology, Narrative: A Sourcebook. University Press of America, 2005</ref>

====The poetic books====
In [[Masoretic]] manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stitches in the verses, which are a function of their [[Biblical poetry|poetry]]. Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "[[truth]]").

These three books are also the only ones in Tanakh with a special system of [[cantillation]] notes that are designed to emphasize parallel stichs within verses. However, the beginning and end of the book of Job are in the normal prose system.

====The five scrolls (''Hamesh Megillot'')====
The five relatively short books of [[Song of Songs]], [[Book of Ruth]], the [[Book of Lamentations]], [[Ecclesiastes]] and [[Book of Esther]] are collectively known as the ''Hamesh Megillot'' ([[Five Megillot]]). These are the latest books collected and designated as "authoritative" in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the 2nd century CE.<ref>Coogan, Michael D. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context''. Oxford University Press. 2009; p. 5</ref>

====Other books====
Besides the three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] and Chronicles. Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics:
* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).
* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.
* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in Tanakh with significant portions in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].

====Order of the books====
[[File:Bishops Bible Elizabeth I 1569.jpg|thumb||Coloured title page from the Bishops' Bible quarto edition of 1569, the British Museum. Queen Elizabeth sits in the centre on her throne. The words on the four columns read justice, mercy, fortitude and prudence, attributing these traits to the queen. Text at the bottom reads "god save the queene".]]
The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most printed editions. It also divides them into three subgroups based on the distinctiveness of ''Sifrei Emet'' and ''Hamesh Megillot''.

The Three Poetic Books (''Sifrei Emet'')
* ''Tehillim'' ([[Psalms]]) תְהִלִּים
* ''Mishlei'' ([[Book of Proverbs]]) מִשְלֵי
* ''Iyyôbh'' ([[Book of Job]]) אִיּוֹב
The [[Five Megillot]] (''Hamesh Megillot'')
* ''Shīr Hashshīrīm'' ([[Song of Songs]]) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשׁשִׁירִים ([[Passover]])
* ''Rūth'' ([[Book of Ruth]]) רוּת ([[Shābhû‘ôth]])
* ''Eikhah'' ([[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]) איכה ([[Ninth of Av]]) [Also called ''Kinnot'' in Hebrew.]
* ''Qōheleth'' ([[Ecclesiastes]]) קהלת ([[Sukkôth]])
* ''Estēr'' ([[Book of Esther]]) אֶסְתֵר ([[Pûrîm]])
Other books
* ''Dānî’ēl'' ([[Book of Daniel]]) דָּנִיֵּאל
* ''‘Ezrā'' ([[Book of Ezra]]-[[Book of Nehemiah]]) עזרא
* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' ([[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]) דברי הימים

The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] ([[Bava Batra]] 14b-15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=9NUejG2IGPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false] The Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 7 of 9: Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate) translated by Michael L. Rodkinson, first published 1918 - published 2008 by Forgotten Books, p. 53</ref>

In Tiberian [[Masoretic]] codices, including the [[Aleppo Codex]] and the [[Leningrad Codex]], and often in old Spanish manuscripts as well, the order is Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel, Ezra.<ref>[http://www.beitemet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:ketuvim&catid=39:about-the-bible&Itemid=57&fontstyle=f-smaller] Ketuvim כְּתוּבִים 30 July 2008</ref>

====Canonization====
The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as [[biblical canon]]. While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the 5th century BCE and the [[Former Prophets|Former]] and [[Latter Prophets]] were canonized by the 2nd century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the 2nd century of the [[Common Era]].<ref>[[Michael Coogan|Coogan, Michael]]. A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in Its Context. Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 5</ref>

Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets. As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title.<ref>Henshaw, T. ''The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon''. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963, pp. 16–17</ref> References in the four [[Gospels]] as well as other books of [[the New Testament]] that many of these texts were both commonly known and counted as having some degree of religious authority early in the 1st century CE.

Many scholars believe that the limits of the Ketuvim as canonized scripture were determined by the [[Council of Jamnia]] c. 90 CE. ''[[Against Apion]]'', the writing of [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]] in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable..."<ref>Lightfoot, Neil R. ''How We Got the Bible'', 3rd edition, rev. and expanded. Baker Book House Company. 2003, pp. 154–155.</ref> For a long time following this date the divine inspiration of Esther, [[the Song of Songs]], and [[Ecclesiastes]] was often under scrutiny.<ref>Henshaw, T. ''The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon''. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1963, p. 17</ref>

===Original languages===
The Tanakh was mainly written in [[biblical Hebrew]], with some portions ({{Bibleref2|Ezra|4:8–6:18}} and {{Bibleref2-nb|Ezra|7:12–26}}, {{Bibleref2|Jeremiah|10:11}}, {{Bibleref2|Daniel|2:4–7:28}}) in [[biblical Aramaic]], a sister language which became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the Semitic world.<ref name="Driver">Sir Godfrey Driver. "Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible." Web: 30 November 2009</ref>

==Septuagint==
{{main|Septuagint}}
{{Scriptures}}
The Septuagint, or LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew scriptures and some related texts into [[Koine Greek]], begun in the late 3rd century BCE and completed by 132 BCE,<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)], Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p. 363</ref><ref>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p.111</ref><ref name="ndq" /> initially in [[Alexandria]], but in time elsewhere as well.<ref name="Jobes and Silva">{{cite book|author=[[Karen H. Jobes]] and [[Moises Silva]]|title=Invitation to the Septuagint|year=2001|publisher=[[Paternoster Press]]|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ&q|isbn=1-84227-061-3}}</ref> It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised.<ref>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint]</ref>

As the work of translation progressed the canon of the Greek Bible expanded. The Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the ''Nevi'im'', had various [[hagiographa|hagiographical]] works incorporated into it. In addition, some newer books were included in the Septuagint, among these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and the [[Ben Sira|Wisdom of Ben Sira]]. The Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the Jewish canon.<ref>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics,'' "[http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html&date=2009-10-25+07:45:33 Books of the Septuagint]," (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> Some of these [[apocrypha]]l books (e.g. the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], and the [[2 Maccabees|second book of Maccabees]]) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Since [[Late Antiquity]], once attributed to a hypothetical late 1st-century [[Council of Jamnia#Developments attributed to Jamnia|Council of Jamnia]], mainstream [[Rabbinic Judaism]] rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts. Several reasons have been given for this. First, some mistranslations were claimed. Second, the Hebrew source texts used for the Septuagint differed from the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew texts, which was chosen as canonical by the Jewish rabbis.<ref>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah." {{cite web|title=Bible Translations - The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref> Third, the rabbis wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.<ref name="ndq">"[...] die griechische Bibelübersetzung, die einem innerjüdischen Bedürfnis entsprang [...] [von den] Rabbinen zuerst gerühmt (..) Später jedoch, als manche ungenaue Übertragung des hebräischen Textes in der Septuaginta und Übersetzungsfehler die Grundlage für hellenistische Irrlehren abgaben, lehte man die Septuaginta ab." Verband der Deutschen Juden (Hrsg.), neu hrsg. von Walter Homolka, Walter Jacob, Tovia Ben Chorin: Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen; München, Knesebeck, 1999, Bd.3, S. 43ff</ref><ref>"Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the Masoretic) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] [...] In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible [...] It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations - The Septuagint|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|accessdate=10 February 2012}}</ref>
Finally, the rabbis claimed for the Hebrew language a divine authority, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek - even though these languages were the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given the same holy language status as Hebrew).<ref>Mishnah Sotah (7:2–4 and 8:1), among many others, discusses the sacredness of Hebrew, as opposed to Aramaic or Greek. This is comparable to the authority claimed for the original Arabic Koran according to Islamic teaching. As a result of this teaching, translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by early Jewish [[Rabbi]]s have survived as rare fragments only.</ref>

The Septuagint is the basis for the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]], [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian [[Old Testament]].<ref name="Würthwein">Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament,'' trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref> The [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while [[Protestant]] churches usually do not. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called [[Biblical apocrypha]]. The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of the Bible, the basis for the [[Revised Standard Version]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/|title=NETS: Electronic Edition|publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu|date=2011-02-11|accessdate=2012-08-13}}</ref>

===Incorporations from Theodotion===
In most ancient copies of the Bible which contain the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the [[Book of Daniel]] is not the original Septuagint version, but instead is a copy of [[Theodotion]]'s translation from the Hebrew, which more closely resembles the Masoretic text. The Septuagint version was discarded in favour of Theodotion's version in the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE. In Greek-speaking areas, this happened near the end of the 2nd century, and in Latin-speaking areas (at least in North Africa), it occurred in the middle of the 3rd century. History does not record the reason for this, and St. [[Jerome]] reports, in the preface to the [[Vulgate]] version of Daniel, "This thing 'just' happened."<ref name="EncBibTV">{{EncyclopaediaBiblica|article=TEXT AND VERSIONS|section=Text and Versions}}</ref> One of two Old Greek texts of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing the original form of the book.<ref name="Dines">Jennifer M. Dines, ''The Septuagint,'' Michael A. Knibb, Ed., London: T&T Clark, 2004.</ref>

The canonical [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] is known in the Septuagint as "Esdras B", and 1 Esdras is "Esdras A". 1 Esdras is a very similar text to the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, and the two are widely thought by scholars to be derived from the same original text. It has been proposed, and is thought highly likely by scholars, that "Esdras B" – the canonical Ezra-Nehemiah – is Theodotion's version of this material, and "Esdras A" is the version which was previously in the Septuagint on its own.<ref name="EncBibTV"/>

===Final form===
Some texts are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Judith]], [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], [[Letter of Jeremiah]] (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), [[additions to Daniel]] ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] and [[Bel and the Dragon]]), additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[1 Maccabees]], [[2 Maccabees]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]], including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].

Some books that are set apart in the Masoretic text are grouped together. For example the [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are in the LXX one book in four parts called Βασιλειῶν ("Of Reigns"). In LXX, the [[Books of Chronicles]] supplement Reigns and it is called ''Paralipomenon'' (Παραλειπομένων—things left out). The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.<ref name="Dines"/>

{|class="toccolours" cellspacing="0px" style="width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox Old Testament <ref name="Jobes and Silva"/><ref name="McLay">Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research ISBN 0-8028-6091-5.'' — The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref><ref>The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Orthodoxy.</ref>
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}} || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}} || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}} || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}} || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}} || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ}} || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}} || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ<ref>{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεῖα}} (Basileia). </ref>}} || I Reigns || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}} || II Reigns || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}} || III Reigns || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}} || IV Reigns || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}} || I Paralipomenon<ref>That is, ''Things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.</ref> || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}} || II Paralipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras;
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra-Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}<ref>also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.</ref> || Tobit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}} || [[I Maccabees|I Makkabees]] || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}} || [[II Maccabees|II Makkabees]] || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}} || [[III Maccabees|III Makkabees]] || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}} || Psalms || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}} || [[Psalm 151]] || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανάσση}} || [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}} || Proverbs || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}} || Ecclesiastes || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}} || [[Shir Hashirim|Song of Songs]] || Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλoμῶντος}} || Wisdom of Solomon || Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}} || [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach]] || Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Psalms of Solomon]] || Psalms of Solomon<ref>Not in Orthodox Canon, but originally included in the LXX. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/</ref>
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δώδεκα}} || The Twelve || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}} || I. Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}} || II. Ämōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}} || III. Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}} || IV. Ioel || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὀβδίου Εʹ}}<ref>Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias," which opens the book.</ref> || V. Obdias || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}} || VI. Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}} || VII. Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}} || VIII. Ambakum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}} || IX. Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}} || X. Ängaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}} || XI. Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἄγγελος ΙΒʹ}} || XII. Messenger || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}} || Hesaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}} || Baruch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}} || Lamentations || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολή Ιερεμίου}} || [[Epistle of Jeremiah]] || Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}} || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}} || [[IV Maccabees|IV Makkabees]] || 4 Maccabees<ref>Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon</ref>
|}

==Christian Bibles==
{{Main|Christian biblical canons|List of English Bible translations}}
[[File:Lutherbibel.jpg|thumb|right|The Bible translated into German by [[Martin Luther]]]]
[[File:Gutenberg Bible scan.jpg |thumb|A page from the [[Gutenberg Bible]] ]]
A Christian Bible is a set of books that a [[Christian denomination]] regards as [[Biblical inspiration|divinely inspired]] and thus constituting [[Religious text|scripture]]. Although the [[Early Christianity|Early Church]] primarily used the Septuagint or the [[Targum]]s among [[Aramaic]] speakers, the [[Apostle (Christian)|apostles]] did not leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the canon of the New Testament [[Development of the New Testament canon|developed over time]]. Groups within Christianity include differing books as part of their sacred writings, most prominent among which are the biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.

Significant versions of the English Christian Bible include the [[Douay-Rheims Bible]], the [[Authorized King James Version]], the [[English Revised Version]], the [[American Standard Version]], the [[Revised Standard Version]], the [[New American Standard Version]], the [[New King James Version]], the [[New International Version]], and the [[English Standard Version]].

===Old Testament===
{{Main|Old Testament}}
The books which make up the Christian Old Testament differ between the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches, with the Protestant movement accepting only those books contained in the Hebrew Bible, while Catholics and Orthodox have wider canons. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint, the Aramaic [[Peshitta]], and the English King James Version.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

====Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books====

In [[Eastern Christianity]], translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the 10th-century Masoretic Text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into [[Western world|Western]] languages.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Some modern Western translations since the [[Wycliffe's Bible|14th century]] make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic Text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts, e.g., those discovered among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].<ref>[http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls] - ''biblicalarchaeology.org''. Retrieved 26 December 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/sine-data,_Absens,_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_%5BTexts_And_Translations%5D,_EN.pdf |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |format=PDF |accessdate=2013-06-06}}</ref>

A number of books which are part of the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Peshitta]] or Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible (i.e., among the protocanonical books) are often referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e., deutero) canon, that canon as fixed definitively by the [[Council of Trent]] 1545–1563.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html Council of Trent: ''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'' "Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures"], from the Council's fourth session, of 4 April 1546: Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, The Fourth Session, ''Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year 1546'', English translation by James Waterworth (London 1848).</ref><ref>The Council of Trent confirmed the identical list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the [[Synod of Hippo]] (Synod of 393), [[Councils of Carthage]] (The Council of Carthage, 28 August 397), and [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel), Session 11, 4 February 1442] —[Bull of union with the Copts] ''seventh paragraph down''.</ref> It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one) and 27 for the New.<ref>''Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition'', '''n. 120'''. —''Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition'', Latin text copyright © 1994, 1997 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Citta del Vaticano. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' for the United States of America copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. English translation of the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica'' copyright © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.—Libreria Editrice Vaticana. United States Catholic Conference, 3211 Fourth Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194 ISBN 1-57455-109-4.</ref>

Most Protestants term these books as apocrypha. Modern [[Protestantism|Protestant]] traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles included them in Apocrypha sections until the 1820s. However, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament.

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes:<ref>[[Canon of Trent#List|Canon of Trent: List of the Canonical Scriptures]].
{{quote|But if anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately [[contemn]] the traditions aforesaid; let him be [[anathema]].|''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'', Council of Trent, 8 April 1546}}</ref>
* [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
* [[Book of Judith|Judith]]
* [[1 Maccabees]]
* [[2 Maccabees]]
* [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom]]
* [[Wisdom of Sirach|Sirach]] (or Ecclesiasticus)
* [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
* [[The Letter of Jeremiah]] ([[Baruch]] Chapter 6)
* [[Additions to Esther|Greek Additions to Esther]] (Book of Esther, chapters 10:4 – 12:6)
* [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]] ''verses 1–68'' (Book of Daniel, chapter 3, verses 24–90)
* [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 13)
* [[Bel and the Dragon]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 14)

In addition to those, the [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church]]es recognize the following: {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[1 Esdras]]
* [[Prayer of Manasseh]]
* [[Psalm 151]]

Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches include:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[2 Esdras]] i.e., Latin Esdras in the Russian and Georgian Bibles

There is also [[4 Maccabees]] which is only accepted as canonical in the [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Church]], but was included by [[St. Jerome]] in an appendix to the [[Vulgate]], and is an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox tradition]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Psalms 152–155|Psalms 151–155]]
* The [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]]
* [[2 Baruch#The Letter of Baruch|The Letter of Baruch]]

The [[Ethiopian Biblical canon]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Jubilees]]
* [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]]
* [[Meqabyan|1–3 Meqabyan]]
and some other books.

The [[Anglican Church]] uses some of the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocryphal books]] liturgically. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], which were in the Vulgate appendix. {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==== Pseudepigraphal texts ====

{{Main|Pseudepigrapha}}

The term Pseudepigrapha commonly describes numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is misrepresented. The "Old Testament" Pseudepigraphal works include the following:<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref>

* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[4 Maccabees]]
* [[Assumption of Moses]]
* Ethiopic [[Book of Enoch]] (1 Enoch)
* Slavonic [[Second Book of Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (2 Enoch)
* [[Book of Jubilees]]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Baruch]] (3 Baruch)
* [[Letter of Aristeas]] (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek)
* [[Life of Adam and Eve]]
* [[Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah]]
* [[Psalms of Solomon]]
* [[Sibylline Oracles]]
* [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch]] (2 Baruch)
* [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]]

===== Book of Enoch =====

Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch (such as [[1 Enoch]], [[Second Book of Enoch|2 Enoch]], surviving only in [[Old Church Slavonic|Old Slavonic]], and [[3 Enoch]], surviving in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], c. 5th to 6th century CE). These are ancient [[Jewish]] religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet [[Enoch (Biblical figure)|Enoch]], the great-grandfather of the patriarch [[Noah]]. They are not part of the [[biblical canon]] used by [[Jews]], apart from [[Beta Israel]]. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance. It has been observed that part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the [[Epistle of Jude]] (part of the New Testament) but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.<ref>[http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm The Book of Enoch] - The Reluctant Messenger. Retrieved 14 June 2014.</ref> However, the Enoch books are treated as canonical by the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].

The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300 BC, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century BC.<ref>Fahlbusch E., Bromiley G.W. ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P–Sh'' page 411, ISBN 0-8028-2416-1 (2004)</ref>

===== Denominational views of Pseudepigrapha =====

There arose in some Protestant biblical scholarship an extended use of the term ''pseudepigrapha'' for works that appeared as though they ought to be part of the biblical canon, because of the authorship ascribed to them, but which stood outside both the [[biblical canon]]s recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the particular set of books that Roman Catholics called ''deuterocanonical'' and to which Protestants had generally applied the term Apocryphal. Accordingly, the term ''pseudepigraphical'', as now used often among both Protestants and Roman Catholics (allegedly for the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to discuss questions of pseudepigraphical authorship of canonical books dispassionately with a lay audience. To confuse the matter even more, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept books as canonical that Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations consider pseudepigraphical or at best of much less authority. There exist also churches that reject some of the books that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true of some [[Jewish denominations|Jewish sects]]. Many works that are "apocryphal" are otherwise considered genuine.

====Role of Old Testament in Christian theology====
{{further|Sola scriptura|Christian theology}}
The Old Testament has always been central to the life of the Christian church. Bible scholar [[N.T. Wright]] says "Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures."<ref>Wright, N.T. [http://books.google.com/books?id=id2_m0j804YC&lpg=PP1&dq=isbn%3A0060872616&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q=profoundly%20shaped&f=false ''The Last Word:'', page 3] HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-087261-6 / 9780060872618</ref> He adds that the earliest Christians also searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the ancient Israelites' scriptures as having reached a climactic fulfillment in Jesus himself, generating the "new covenant" prophesied by Jeremiah.<ref name="Wright">Wright, N.T. ''The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God—Getting Beyond the Bible Wars.'' HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 0-06-087261-6 / 9780060872618</ref>

===New Testament===
{{Main|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The New Testament is a collection of 27 books<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=m2Lz7iwklhAC&pg=PA439&lpg=PA439&dq=The+New+Testament+is+a+collection+of+27+books&source=bl&ots=Vip6fgXsM0&sig=OqAJAg42gVbZtqk3dJPznkT8imI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dmNWUK_cGo-m8gSr34GQCg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20is%20a%20collection%20of%2027%20books&f=false] What the Bible is All About Visual Edition by Henrietta C. Mears - Gospel Light Publications, Feb 5, 2007 - page 438-439</ref> of 4 different [[genres]] of Christian literature ([[Gospels]], one account of the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Epistles]] and an [[Apocalyptic literature|Apocalypse]]). [[Jesus]] is its central figure. The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=O5BHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=The+New+Testament+presupposes+the+inspiration+of+the+Old+Testament&source=bl&ots=97gNck-NWl&sig=rzLPlPu0s8vFu2uNyFxd0BYppng&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oWRWUISzCISg8gSo0IH4Bw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20presupposes%20the%20inspiration%20of%20the%20Old%20Testament&f=false] ''Inspiration and Inerrancy: A History and a Defense'',Henry Preserved Smith - R. Clarke, 1893, p. 343</ref> (2 Timothy 3:16). Nearly all Christians recognize the New Testament as canonical scripture. These books can be grouped into:

{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
[[Gospel|The Gospels]]
* [[Synoptic Gospels]]
** [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel According to Matthew]]
** [[Gospel of Mark|Gospel According to Mark]]
** [[Gospel of Luke|Gospel According to Luke]]
* [[Gospel of John|Gospel According to John]]

[[Acts of the Apostles (genre)|Narrative literature]], account and history of the Apostolic age
* [[Acts of the Apostles]]

[[Pauline Epistles]]
* [[Epistle to the Romans]]
* [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Epistle to the Galatians]]
* [[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
* [[Epistle to the Philippians]]
* [[Epistle to the Colossians]]
* [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
{{Col-break}}

[[Pastoral epistles]]
* [[First Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Epistle to Titus]]
* [[Epistle to Philemon]]
* [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]

[[General epistles]], also called catholic epistles
* [[Epistle of James]]
* [[First Epistle of Peter]]
* [[Second Epistle of Peter]]
* [[First Epistle of John]]
* [[Second Epistle of John]]
* [[Third Epistle of John]]
* [[Epistle of Jude]]

[[Apocalyptic literature]], also called Prophetical
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], or the Apocalypse
{{Col-end}}

The New Testament books are ordered differently in the Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant tradition, the Slavonic tradition, the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Syriac]] tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.

====Original language====
{{see also|Language of the New Testament}}
The mainstream consensus is that the New Testament was written in a form of [[Koine Greek]],<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p52 "The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the Greek of daily conversation. The fact that from the first all the New Testament writings were written in Greek is conclusively demonstrated by their citations from the Old Testament ..."</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p9 "How came the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to be gathered together and made authoritative Christian scripture? 1. All the New Testament books were originally written in Greek. On the face of it this may surprise us."</ref> which was the [[lingua franca|common language]] of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]<ref>Wenham The elements of New Testament Greek -p xxv Jeremy Duff, John William Wenham - 2005 "This is the language of the New Testament. By the time of Jesus the Romans had become the dominant military and political force, but the Greek language remained the 'common language' of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, and Greek ..."</ref><ref>Daniel B. Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament 1997</ref><ref>Henry St. John Thackeray Grammar of New Testament Greek ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, 1911 "By far the most predominant element in the language of the New Testament is the Greek of common speech which was disseminated in the East by the Macedonian conquest, in the form which it had gradually assumed under the wider development ..."</ref><ref>David E. Aune The Blackwell companion to the New Testament 2009 p61 CHAPTER 4 New Testament Greek Christophe Rico "In this short overview of the Greek language of the New Testament we will focus on those topics that are of greatest importance for the average reader, that is, those with important ..."</ref> from the [[Conquests of Alexander the Great]] (335–323 BC) until the evolution of [[Byzantine Greek]] (c. 600).

====Historic editions====
[[File:Devil codex Gigas.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Codex Gigas]]'' from the 13th century, held at the [[Swedish Royal Library|Royal Library]] in [[Sweden]].]]
{{See also|Biblical manuscript|Textual criticism}}

The original [[autograph]]s, that is, the original Greek writings and [[Biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=Ze16lRIzIzcC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=The+autographs,+the+Greek+manuscripts+written+by+the+original+authors,+have+not+survived&source=bl&ots=zsb8T0Wp78&sig=sKzOavYaAcLmApZwhmiHxSxLrlw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jG5WUILfDIPI9gTx44CABw&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=The%20autographs%2C%20the%20Greek%20manuscripts%20written%20by%20the%20original%20authors%2C%20have%20not%20survived&f=false] Manuscripts and the Text of the New Testament: An Introduction for English Readers by Keith Elliott, Ian Moir - Continuum International Publishing Group, Nov 20, 2000, p. 9</ref> But historically ''copies'' exist of those original autographs, transmitted and preserved in a number of [[Bible manuscript#New Testament manuscripts|manuscript traditions]]. When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they sometimes wrote notes on the margins of the page (''[[Glosses to the Bible#Glosses as marginal notes|marginal glosses]]'') to correct their text—especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line—and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=cxN1wn_fO5YC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=When+ancient+scribes+copied+earlier+books,+they+wrote+notes+on+the+margins+of+the+page+(marginal+glosses)+to+correct+their+text%E2%80%94especially+if+a+scribe+accidentally+omitted+a+word+or+line%E2%80%94and+to+comment+about+the+text&source=bl&ots=1-pyD8FDbY&sig=Qxx7t7IqIsAJL9VgY1sKQY1BL_A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=k21WUIX4AoXo8QTzq4Fg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=When%20ancient%20scribes%20copied%20earlier%20books%2C%20they%20wrote%20notes%20on%20the%20margins%20of%20the%20page%20(marginal%20glosses)%20to%20correct%20their%20text%E2%80%94especially%20if%20a%20scribe%20accidentally%20omitted%20a%20word%20or%20line%E2%80%94and%20to%20comment%20about%20the%20text&f=false] God-Trail of Evidence: The Quest for the Truth By Dwo - iUniverse, Jul 12, 2011, p. 152. ISBN 978-1-4502-9429-4 {sc}</ref>

The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the [[Alexandrian text-type]] (generally minimalist), the [[Byzantine text-type]] (generally maximalist), and the [[Western text-type]] (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.

===Development of the Christian canons===
{{Main|Development of the Old Testament canon|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of [[synod]]s produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46(51),54, or 57 book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in AD 393. Also ''c''. 400, [[Jerome]] produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time. A definitive list did not come from an [[Ecumenical Council]] until the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–63).<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon of the New Testament]: "The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council."</ref>

During the [[Protestant Reformation]], certain reformers proposed different canonical lists to those currently in use. Though not without debate, see [[Antilegomena]], the list of New Testament books would come to remain the same; however, the Old Testament texts present in the Septuagint but not included in the Jewish canon fell out of favor. In time they would come to be removed from most Protestant canons. Hence, in a Catholic context, these texts are referred to as deuterocanonical books, whereas in a Protestant context they are referred to as the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]], which means "hidden", the label applied to all texts excluded from the biblical canon but which were in the Septuagint. It should also be noted that Catholics and Protestants both describe certain other books, such as the [[Acts of Peter]], as [[New Testament apocrypha|apocryphal]]. {{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

Thus, the Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon—the number of books (though not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division—while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books (51 books with some books combined into 46 books) as the canonical Old Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Churches recognise 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 in addition to the Catholic canon. Some include 2 Esdras. The Anglican Church also recognises a longer canon. The term "Hebrew Scriptures" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books, while Catholics and Orthodox include additional texts that have not survived in Hebrew. Both Catholics and Protestants (as well as Greek Orthodox) have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=gxEONS0FFlsC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=Both+Catholics+and+Protestants+have+the+same+27-book+New+Testament+Canon&source=bl&ots=t_K6gKrJKM&sig=4VIpxeGItb4s5eAyqcVZM5YzYUU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RvBtUIWiK6PY2gX0j4DIAQ&ved=0CFsQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Both%20Catholics%20and%20Protestants%20have%20the%20same%2027-book%20New%20Testament%20Canon&f=false] ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'', Frank K. Flinn, Infobase Publishing, Jan 1, 2007, p. 103</ref>

The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in {{Bibleref2|2Tim|3:16|9|2 Timothy 3:16}}, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God".<ref name="Stagg" />

====Ethiopian Orthodox canon====
{{Main|Ethiopian Biblical canon}}
The Canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.<ref name="Ethiopian">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html|title=The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|publisher=Ethiopianorthodox.org|accessdate=2010-11-19|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20101105112040/http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html| archivedate=5 November 2010 |deadurl=no}}</ref> The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the [[Septuagint]] accepted by other Orthodox Christians, in addition to [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]] which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge'ez but are quoted in the New Testament,{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} also Greek Ezra [[1 Esdras|First]] and the [[Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra|Apocalypse of Ezra]], 3 books of [[Meqabyan]], and [[Psalm 151]] at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

==Divine inspiration==
{{main|Biblical inspiration|Biblical literalism|Biblical infallibility|Biblical inerrancy}}
The Second Epistle to Timothy says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". ({{bibleref2|2 Timothy|3:16|KJV}})<ref>{{cite book|last=Grudem|first=Wayne|title=Systematic Theology|year=1994|publisher=Inter-Varsity Press|location=Leicester, England|pages=49–50}}</ref> Some Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that God, through the [[Holy Spirit]], intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} For many Christians the Bible is also [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]], and is incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters. A related, but distinguishable belief is that the Bible is the [[biblical inerrancy|inerrant word of God]], without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans. Within these broad beliefs there are many schools of hermeneutics. "Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture."<ref name="Wright" /> [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist Christians]] are associated with the doctrine of biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader.<ref>"Beyond Biblical Literalism and Inerrancy: Conservative Protestants and the Hermeneutic Interpretation of Scripture", John Bartkowski, ''Sociology of Religion'', 57, 1996.</ref>

Belief in sacred texts is attested to in Jewish antiquity,<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''De vita Moysis'' 3.23.</ref><ref name="Josephus">Josephus, ''Contra Apion'' 1.8.</ref> and this belief can also be seen in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings.<ref name="Original Source">{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50 |title=Basis for belief of Inspiration Biblegateway |publisher=Biblegateway.com |accessdate=2010-04-23}}</ref> In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix wrote: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record."<ref>Norman L. Geisler, William E. Nix. ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Publishers, 1986, p.86. ISBN 0-8024-2916-5</ref> Most evangelical biblical scholars<ref>For example, see Leroy Zuck, Roy B. Zuck. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Chariot Victor Pub, 1991,p.68. ISBN 0-89693-819-0</ref><ref>Roy B. Zuck, Donald Campbell. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Victor, 2002. ISBN 0-7814-3877-2</ref><ref>Norman L. Geisler. ''Inerrancy.'' Zondervan, 1980, p.294. ISBN 0-310-39281-0</ref> associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 [[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]] which asserted that inspiration applied only to the [[autograph]]ic text of Scripture.<ref>{{cite journal|author=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy|title=The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy|publisher=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy|year=1978|url=http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A&D.pdf|format=PDF}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref> Among adherents of Biblical literalism, a minority, such as the [[King-James-Only Movement]], extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular translation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ruckmanism.org/advancedrevelation|accessdate=27 February 2014|title =Ruckman's belief in advanced revelations in the KJV}}</ref>

==Versions and translations==
{{Further|Bible translations|List of Bible translations by language}}
[[File:Bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg|thumb|A Bible handwritten in [[Latin]], on display in [[Malmesbury Abbey]], [[Wiltshire, England]]. This Bible was transcribed in [[Belgium]] in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.]]
The original texts of the Tanakh were mainly in Hebrew, with some portions in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and the [[Targum Onkelos]], an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as Aleppo Codex. Even in this version there are words which are traditionally read differently from written, because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

The primary biblical text for early Christians was the Septuagint. In addition, they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament.

The earliest Latin translation was the [[Old Latin]] text, or ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible.

[[Pope Damasus I]] assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the [[Council of Rome]] in AD 382. He commissioned Saint [[Jerome]] to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate Bible]] and in 1546 at the [[Council of Trent]] was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the [[Latin Church]].

Since the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[Bible translations]] for many languages have been made. The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organisations such as [[Wycliffe Bible Translators]], [[New Tribes Mission]] and [[Bible society|Bible societies]].

{|class="wikitable"
|+Bible translations, worldwide (as of 2011)<ref>Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. (WBT) Translation Statistics. 2011: [http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx Wycliffe Bible Translators] (updated 17 April 2012)</ref>
! Number !! Statistic
|-
| 6,800 || Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
|-
| 1,500 || Number of translations into new languages currently in progress
|-
| 1,223 || Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament
|-
| 471 || Number of languages with a translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon)
|}

==Views==
[[John Riches (Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow)|John Riches]] provides the following analysis of the Bible:

<blockquote>It has inspired some of the great monuments of human thought, literature, and art; it has equally fuelled some of the worst excesses of human savagery, self-interest, and narrow-mindedness. It has inspired men and women to acts of great service and courage, to fight for liberation and human development; and it has provided the ideological fuel for societies which have enslaved their fellow human beings and reduced them to abject poverty. ... It has, perhaps above all, provided a source of religious and moral norms which have enabled communities to hold together, to care for, and to protect one another; yet precisely this strong sense of belonging has in turn fuelled ethnic, racial, and international tension and conflict.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|edition= |last= Riches|first= John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1|page= 134}}</ref></blockquote>

===Other religions===
{{main|Islamic view of the Christian Bible}}
In [[Islam]], the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding [[revelation]] from [[God in Islam|God]]; but revelation which had been corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: ''[[tahrif]]''); which necessitated the giving of the [[Qur'an]] to the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]], [[Muhammad]], to correct this deviation.

Members of other religions may also seek inspiration from the Bible. For example Rastafaris view the Bible as essential to their religion<ref>Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica - Page 171, Charles Price - 2009</ref> and Unitarian Universalists view it as "one of many important religious texts".<ref>Unitarian Universalism - Page 42, Zondervan Publishing, 2009</ref>

===Biblical studies===
{{Main|Biblical studies|Biblical criticism}}
[[Biblical criticism]] refers to the investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as [[criticism of the Bible]], which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, or observations that the Bible may have [[translation]] errors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|title=Expondo Os Erros Da Sociedade Bíblica Internacional|publisher=Baptistlink.com|year=2000|accessdate=2012-01-13}}</ref>

===Higher criticism===
{{Main|Higher criticism|Lower criticism}}
In the 17th century [[Thomas Hobbes]] collected the current evidence to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] published a unified critical analysis, arguing that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was "clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses . . ."<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=xtq2ZyKf-YQC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=clearer+than+the+sun+at+noon+that+the+Pentateuch+was+not+written+by+Moses&source=bl&ots=20Bz7dfslQ&sig=rsPuYGb80r-lWjCFAtW0U8q7LaY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7W9WUJu7DIrW9QT5vYGgBA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=clearer%20than%20the%20sun%20at%20noon%20that%20the%20Pentateuch%20was%20not%20written%20by%20Moses&f=false] ''In the Beginning: Hijacking of the Religion of God'', Volume 1 by Sami M. El-Soudani, Nabawia J. El-Soudani - Xlibris Corporation, January 1, 2009, p. 65</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=gvrcHyusPbMC&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=clearer+than+the+sun+at+noon+that+the+Pentateuch+was+not+written+by+Moses&source=bl&ots=tIddvOc2Nv&sig=lHzsQ_BeqBPGxjK2Z0g94THacK0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o3BWUMr3IInc9ATGx4HoBw&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=clearer%20than%20the%20sun%20at%20noon%20that%20the%20Pentateuch%20was%20not%20written%20by%20Moses&f=false] ''Ten More Amazing Discoveries By George Potter'', Cedar Fort, October 1, 2005, p. 121</ref> Despite determined opposition from Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, the views of Hobbes and Spinoza gained increasing acceptance amongst scholars.

==Archaeological and historical research==
{{Main|Biblical archaeology school|The Bible and history}}
Biblical archaeology is the [[archaeology]] that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures (or "New Testament"). It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes [[biblical maximalism]] which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or [[Hebrew Bible]] is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered the opposite of [[Biblical Minimalism|biblical minimalism]] which considers the Bible a purely [[post-exilic]] (5th century BCE and later) composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman era]]s, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE [[Babylonian captivity]] have a basis in history.

The historicity of the biblical account of the [[history of ancient Israel and Judah]] of the 10th to 7th centuries BCE is disputed in scholarship. The biblical account of the 8th to 7th centuries BCE is widely, but not universally, accepted as historical, while the verdict on the earliest period of the [[United Monarchy]] (10th century BCE) and the [[historicity of David]] is unclear. Archaeological evidence providing information on this period, such as the [[Tel Dan Stele]], can potentially be decisive. The biblical account of events of the [[Exodus from Egypt]] in the [[Torah]], and the migration to the [[Promised Land]] and the period of [[Biblical judges|Judges]] are not considered historical in scholarship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|authorlink=Israel Finkelstein|title=The Bible Unearthed|author2=Neil Silberman}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dever|first=William|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=[[Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?]]}}</ref> Regarding the [[New Testament]], the setting being the [[Roman Empire]] in the 1st century CE, the historical context is well established. There has been some debate on the [[historicity of Jesus]], but the mainstream opinion is that Jesus was one of several known historical itinerant preachers in 1st-century [[Roman Judea]], teaching in the context of the religious upheavals and sectarianism of [[Second Temple Judaism]].{{citation needed|date=February 2012}}

==Criticism==
{{Main|Criticism of the Bible}}
In modern times, the view that the Bible should be accepted as historically accurate and as a reliable guide to morality has been questioned by many mainstream academics in the field of biblical criticism. Most Christian groups claim that the Bible is inspired by God, and some oppose interpretations of the Bible that are not traditional or "plain reading". Some groups within the most conservative Protestant circles believe that the [[Authorized King James Version]] is the only accurate English translation of the Bible, and accept it as infallible. They are generally referred to as "[[King James Only]]". Many within [[Christian fundamentalism]] – as well as much of [[Orthodox Judaism]]—strongly support the idea that the Bible is a historically accurate record of actual events and a primary source of moral guidance.

In addition to concerns about morality, inerrancy, or historicity, there remain some questions of which books should be included in the Bible (see [[Biblical canon|canon of scripture]]). Jews discount the [[New Testament]], most Christians deny the legitimacy of the [[New Testament apocrypha]], and a view sometimes referred to as [[Jesusism]] does not affirm the scriptural authority of any biblical text other than the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels.

==Bibles==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption=Bibles>
File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg|Old Bible from a Greek monastery
File:Imperial Bible.jpg| Imperial Bible, or [[Vienna Coronation Gospels]] from Wien (Austria), c 1500.
File:Kennicott Bible.jpg |The Kennicott Bible, 1476
File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg|A [[Baroque]] Bible
File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg |The bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his oath of office during his first inauguration in 1861
File:Bible and Key Divination.jpg|A miniature Bible
File:19th century Victorian living room, Auckland - 0843.jpg|19th century Victorian Bible
File:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg |Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at Bizzell Memorial Library
</gallery>
==Illustrations==
Most old Bibles were illuminated, they were [[manuscript]]s in which the [[Writing|text]] is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated [[initial]]s, borders ([[marginalia]]) and [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature illustrations]].
Up to the twelfth century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a [[Commission (art)|commission]] from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the [[monks]] who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a [[scriptorium]], where “separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk.”<ref name="autogenerated1962">Putnam A.M., Geo. Haven. Books and Their Makers During The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Print.</ref>
By the fourteenth century, the [[cloisters]] of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.<ref>De Hamel, 45</ref>
Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators.<ref>De Hamel, 57</ref> These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. <ref>De Hamel, 65</ref>

The manuscript was “sent to the [[rubricator]], who added (in red or other colors) the titles, [[headlines]], the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator.”<ref name="autogenerated1962"/> In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would “undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe’s agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation.”<ref>De Hamel, Christopher. Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations. Buffalo: University of Toronto, 1992. p. 60.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="5" caption="Bible illustrations">
File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg|Bilble from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angels
File:Bible of St Louis detail.jpg |Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th century
File:Bible moralisée - Vienne Cod.1179 -frontispice.jpg| Bible moralisée : Christ the architect of the Universe.
File:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg| Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, [[Abner]] (in the center in green) sends [[Michal]] back to David.

File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG|Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible (France, ca. 1250)
File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg|Colored version of the Whore of Babylon illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the Bible.
File:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg |An Armenian Bible, [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated]] by Malnazar, Armenian) illuminator.

File:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Bible|Judaism|Christianity|Islam}}
* [[Biblical software]]
* [[Code of Hammurabi]]
* [[List of major biblical figures]]
* [[Religious text]]
* [[Scriptorium]]

==Endnotes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References and further reading==
{{Sister project links|voy=Christianity}}










{{Wikiversity|Biblical Studies (NT)}}
{{Refbegin}}
* [[Bernhard Anderson|Anderson, Bernhard W.]] ''Understanding the Old Testament''. ISBN 0-13-948399-3.
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''Asimov's Guide to the Bible''. New York, NY: Avenel Books, 1981. ISBN 0-517-34582-X.
* Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi Brettler and Michael Fishbane. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/0195297512/ ''The Jewish Study Bible'']. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-529751-2.
* Bible, Authorized Version. ''The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, with the Apocrypha, King James Version'', ed. by David Norton. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ''N.B''.: This is a critically reconstructed text of the Authorized "King James" Bible with its entire contents (including all of its ''marginalia'', fore-matter, the Apocrypha, etc.), as close to the original translators' intentions and wording as possible at the time of this edition, with spelling modernized according to current Commonwealth usage. ISBN 978-0-521-84386-7
* {{cite journal|last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|authorlink=Israel Finkelstein|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|authorlink2=Neil Asher Silberman|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|location=New York|year=2001|isbn=0-7432-2338-1|url=http://books.google.com/?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&pg=PA57&dq=Finkelstein+Bible+Unearthed+Exodus+unoccupied#v=onepage&q=unoccupied&f=false}}
* {{cite journal| last=Finkelstein|first=Israel|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|title=Review: "The Bible Unearthed": A Rejoinder|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=327|date=August 2002|pages=63–73|jstor=1357859}}
* {{cite journal|last=Herzog|first=Ze'ev|authorlink=Ze'ev Herzog|title=Deconstructing the walls of Jericho|publisher=[[Ha'aretz]]|date=29 October 1999|url=http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34}}{{dead link|date=January 2012}}
* {{cite journal|last=Dever| first=William G.|authorlink=William G. Dever|title=Losing Faith: Who Did and Who Didn't, How Scholarship Affects Scholars|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|date=March–April 2007|volume=33|issue=2|page=54|url=http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf}}
* Dever, William G. ''[[Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?]]'' Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003. ISBN 0-8028-0975-8.
* [[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why'' New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0.
* Geisler, Norman (editor). ''Inerrancy''. Sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Zondervan Publishing House, 1980, ISBN 0-310-39281-0.
* Head, Tom. ''The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible''. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7897-3419-2
* Hoffman, Joel M. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/ITB/ ''In the Beginning'']. New York University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8147-3690-4
* Hotchkiss, Gregory K. ''The Middle Way: Reflections on Scripture and Tradition'', in series, ''Reformed Episcopal Pamphlets'', no. 3. Media, Penn.: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1985. 27 p. ''N.B''.: Place of publication also given as Philadelphia, Penn.; the approach to the issue is from an evangelical Anglican (Reformed Episcopal Church) orientation. Without ISBN
* Lienhard, Joseph T. ''The Bible, The Church, and Authority''. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995.
* [[Harold Lindsell|Lindsell, Harold]]. ''The Battle for the Bible''. Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. ISBN 0-310-27681-0
* Masalha, Nur, ''The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel''. London, Zed Books, 2007.
* McDonald, Lee M. and Sanders, James A., eds. ''The Canon Debate''. Hendrickson Publishers (1 January 2002). 662p. ISBN 1-56563-517-5 ISBN 978-1565635173
* Miller, John W. ''The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History'' Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8091-3522-1.
* Riches, John. ''The Bible: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-285343-0
* Roper, J.C., ''Bp''., '''''et al.'''''. ''The Bible''. Toronto: Musson Book Co., 1924. ''In series'', "The Layman's Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada", vol. 4. ''N.B''.: Series statement given here in the more extended form of it on the book's front cover.
* [[Siku (comics)|Siku]]. ''The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation''. Galilee Trade (15 January 2008). 224p. ISBN 0-385-52431-5 ISBN 978-0385524315
* Taylor, Hawley O. "Mathematics and Prophecy." ''Modern Science and Christian Faith''. Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1948, pp. 175–83.
* ''Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia'', [[wikt:sv#English|s.vv.]] "Book of Ezekiel," p. 580 and "prophecy," p. 1410. Chicago: Moody Bible Press, 1986.
{{Refend}}

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Talk:Bible

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
{{quotation|A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like ''"A bible"'' makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is ''"Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired"'' which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] and [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::First off, the section you have a problem with is in the original as well. Since global numbers are impossible to get, we appear to be stuck with the vague fact, but it needs rewriting. As a matter of fact, "bible" is used in the English language in two ways, in lower-cased type. 1) to refer to the sacred writings of any religion, as in "the Pali canon is the Hindu bible", 2) to refer to any authoritative book even in non-religious contexts, as in "Le Guide Culinaire is the bible of French cookery". Capitalized, it usually referred to just the Christian Bible, but now it also refers to the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh. The new lead was a bit unwieldy, but reality is considerably more unwieldy.
::My writing POV here is neutral, and what I mean by that is academic, historical, and comparative. In that context the "Bible" is not a book, it is a canon of books. There is no grouping of texts that is universally agreed to be the canonical Bible across all notable religious groups, which include the diversity reflected in the paragraphs. It is not our job to decide which of those groups are right, or whether or not they are arguing over fiction or history.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 15:44, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
:::You have a point there. I didn't know the original had the same context so sorry about the violations. The introduction needs some work such as removing [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]] texts etc. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]16:38, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::::I'd like it shorter (1 paragraph lead, move majority to body), or at least more logically organized, but my start on that was reverted, so here we are.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 17:18, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::''"A bible"'' is still wrong because the article is called Bible, and the article is talking about ''"the Bible"'' specifically. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]18:15, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::::::As previously discussed, there are conflicting definitions, and the article ''may'' be titled "bible". All article pages have capitalized first letters. A naive reader will have some confusion because of the differing . Now, it might be worth starting up an etymology section or just a disambiguation for the lower cased sense, but we still have two different religions which refer to their scriptures as "the Bible" and these are related, but significantly different volumes. So when any believer refers to "the" Bible, the outside observer has to respond "which one?" the same way "the nation" or "Korea" can be ambiguous. I'm open to other ways of writing it, but I'm not convinced the old text captures the very real linguistic ambiguity.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 18:33, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Bible

2014-06-18T18:15:38Z

Jerm729: /* Reverting recent changes to wp:Lead section */ r

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
{{quotation|A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like ''"A bible"'' makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is ''"Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired"'' which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] and [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::First off, the section you have a problem with is in the original as well. Since global numbers are impossible to get, we appear to be stuck with the vague fact, but it needs rewriting. As a matter of fact, "bible" is used in the English language in two ways, in lower-cased type. 1) to refer to the sacred writings of any religion, as in "the Pali canon is the Hindu bible", 2) to refer to any authoritative book even in non-religious contexts, as in "Le Guide Culinaire is the bible of French cookery". Capitalized, it usually referred to just the Christian Bible, but now it also refers to the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh. The new lead was a bit unwieldy, but reality is considerably more unwieldy.
::My writing POV here is neutral, and what I mean by that is academic, historical, and comparative. In that context the "Bible" is not a book, it is a canon of books. There is no grouping of texts that is universally agreed to be the canonical Bible across all notable religious groups, which include the diversity reflected in the paragraphs. It is not our job to decide which of those groups are right, or whether or not they are arguing over fiction or history.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 15:44, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
:::You have a point there. I didn't know the original had the same context so sorry about the violations. The introduction needs some work such as removing [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]] texts etc. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]16:38, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::::I'd like it shorter (1 paragraph lead, move majority to body), or at least more logically organized, but my start on that was reverted, so here we are.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 17:18, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::''"A bible"'' is still wrong because the article is called Bible, and the article is talking about ''"the Bible"'' specifically. -- [User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]18:15, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Daniel (biblical figure)

2014-06-18T18:12:07Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 613454232 by MagicatthemovieS (talk)Unsure of this edit

Talk:Bible

2014-06-18T16:38:57Z

Jerm729: /* Reverting recent changes to wp:Lead section */ Agreed and srry about that

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like ''"A bible"'' makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is ''"Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired"'' which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] and [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
::First off, the section you have a problem with is in the original as well. Since global numbers are impossible to get, we appear to be stuck with the vague fact, but it needs rewriting. As a matter of fact, "bible" is used in the English language in two ways, in lower-cased type. 1) to refer to the sacred writings of any religion, as in "the Pali canon is the Hindu bible", 2) to refer to any authoritative book even in non-religious contexts, as in "Le Guide Culinaire is the bible of French cookery". Capitalized, it usually referred to just the Christian Bible, but now it also refers to the Hebrew Bible/Tanakh. The new lead was a bit unwieldy, but reality is considerably more unwieldy.
::My writing POV here is neutral, and what I mean by that is academic, historical, and comparative. In that context the "Bible" is not a book, it is a canon of books. There is no grouping of texts that is universally agreed to be the canonical Bible across all notable religious groups, which include the diversity reflected in the paragraphs. It is not our job to decide which of those groups are right, or whether or not they are arguing over fiction or history.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 15:44, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
:::You have a point there. I didn't know the original had the same context so sorry about the violations. The introduction needs some work such as removing [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]] texts etc. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]16:38, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Books of Kings

2014-06-18T13:46:47Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 613418051 by Sceadwefax (talk)

{{other uses|Book of Kings (disambiguation){{!}}Book of Kings}}
{{Tanakh OT|Nevi'im|historical}}
The two '''Books of Kings''' ({{lang-he|''Sepher M'lakhim'', ספר מלכים}} – the two books were originally one<ref>Fretheim, p.1</ref>) present the biblical view of [[history of ancient Israel and Judah]] from the death of [[David]] to the release of his successor [[Jehoiachin]] from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years (c.960–560 BCE).<ref name="Sweeney">Sweeney, p.[http://books.google.com/books?id=d4jn8uj49RIC&pg=PA1#v=snippet&q=960&f=false 1]</ref> It concludes a series of books running from [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]] through [[Book of Judges|Judges]] and [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]], which make up the section of the [[Hebrew Bible]] called the [[Former Prophets]]; this series is also often referred to as the [[Deuteronomistic history]], a body of writing which scholars believe was written to provide a theological explanation for the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|destruction of the Jewish kingdom]] by Babylon in 586 BCE and a foundation for a return from exile.<ref name="Sweeney" />

== Contents ==
[[File:Saabaghiberti.jpg|thumb|250px|Solomon greeting the Queen of Sheba – gate of [[Florence Baptistry]]]]

[[David]] dies and [[Solomon]] comes to the throne. At the beginning of his reign he assumes God's promises to David and brings splendour to Israel and peace and prosperity to his people.<ref>Fretheim, p.19</ref> The centrepiece of Solomon's reign is the building of the [[Temple of Solomon|First Temple]]: the claim that this took place 480 years after [[the Exodus]] from Egypt marks it as a key event in Israel's history.<ref>Fretheim, p.40</ref> At the end, however, he follows other gods and oppresses Israel.<ref>Fretheim, p.20</ref>

As a consequence of Solomon's failure to stamp out the worship of gods other than [[Yahweh]], the kingdom of David is split in two in the reign of his own son [[Rehoboam]], who becomes the first to reign over the [[kingdom of Judah]].<ref>Sweeney, p.161</ref> The kings who follow Rehoboam in Jerusalem continue the royal line of David (i.e., they inherit the promise to David); in the north, however, dynasties follow each other in rapid succession, and the kings are uniformly bad (meaning that they fail to follow Yahweh alone). At length God brings the [[Assyria]]ns to destroy the northern kingdom, leaving Judah as the sole custodian of the promise.

[[Hezekiah]], the 14th king of Judah, "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" and institutes a far reaching religious reform, centralising sacrifice at the temple at Jerusalem and destroying the images of other gods. Yahweh saves Jerusalem and the kingdom from an invasion by Assyria. But [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]], the next king, reverses the reforms, and God announces that he will destroy Jerusalem because of this apostasy by the king. Mannasah's righteous grandson [[Josiah]] reinstitutes the reforms of Hezekiah, but it is too late: God, speaking through the prophetess [[Huldah]], affirms that Jerusalem is to be destroyed.

God brings the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonians]] against Jerusalem; Yahweh deserts his people, Jerusalem is razed and the Temple destroyed, and the priests, prophets and royal court are led into captivity. (The final verses record how Jehoiachin, the last king, is set free and given honour by the king of Babylon).

==Composition==
[[File:Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn - Jeremia treurend over de verwoesting van Jeruzalem - Google Art Project.jpg|250px|right|thumbnail|[[Rembrandt]], "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem", c. 1630]]

===Textual history===
In the original [[Hebrew Bible]] (the Bible used by Jews) First and Second Kings were a single book, as were First and Second [[Book of Samuel|Samuel]]. When this was translated into Greek in the last few centuries BCE, Kings was joined with Samuel in a four-part work called the Book of Kingdoms. The [[Greek Orthodox]] branch of Christianity continues to use the Greek translation (the [[Septuagint]]), but when a Latin translation (called the [[Vulgate]]) was made for the Western church, Kingdoms was first retitled the Book of Kings, parts One to Four, and eventually both Kings and Samuel were separated into two books each.<ref>Tomes, p.246</ref>

===The Deuteronomistic history===
According to Jewish tradition the author of Kings was [[Jeremiah]], whose life overlapped the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.<ref>Spieckermann, p.337</ref> The most common view today accepts [[Martin Noth]]'s thesis that Kings concludes a unified series of books which reflect the language and theology of the [[Book of Deuteronomy]], and which biblical scholars therefore call the [[Deuteronomistic history]].<ref>Perdue, xxvii</ref> Noth argued that the History was the work of a single individual living in the 6th century, but scholars today tend to treat it as made up of at least two layers,<ref>Wilson, p.85</ref> a first edition from the time of [[Josiah]] (late 7th century), promoting Josiah's religious reforms and the need for repentance, and (2) a second and final edition from the mid 6th century.<ref name="Fretheim">Fretheim, p.7</ref> Further levels of editing have also been proposed, including: a late 8th century edition pointing to [[Hezekiah]] of Judah as the model for kingship; an earlier 8th century version with a similar message but identifying [[Jehu]] of Israel as the ideal king; and an even earlier version promoting the House of David as the key to national well-being.<ref>Sweeney, p.4</ref>

===Sources===
The editors/authors of the Deuteronomistic history cite a number of sources, including (for example) a "[[Acts of Solomon|Book of the Acts of Solomon]]" and, frequently, the "[[Chronicles of the Kings of Judah|Annals of the Kings of Judah]]" and a separate book, "[[Chronicles of the Kings of Israel]]". The "Deuteronomic" perspective (that of the book of Deuteronomy) is particularly evident in prayers and speeches spoken by key figures at major transition points: Solomon's speech at the dedication of the Temple is a key example.<ref name="Fretheim" /> The sources have been heavily edited to meet the Deuteronomistic agenda,<ref>Van Seters, p.307</ref> but in the broadest sense they appear to have been:
*1 Kings 1–2: The end of the "[[court history of David]]" (also called the Succession Narrative), which also constitutes most of 2 Samuel 9–20.
*For the rest of Solomon's reign the text names its source as "the book of the acts of Solomon", but other sources were employed, and much was added by the redactor.
*Israel and Judah: The two "chronicles" of Israel and Judah provided the chronological framework, but few details apart from the succession of monarchs and the account of how the [[Temple of Solomon]] was progressively stripped as true religion declined. A third source, or set of sources, were cycles of stories about various prophets ([[Elijah]] and [[Elisha]], [[Isaiah]], [[Ahijah the Shilonite|Ahijah]] and [[Micaiah]]), plus a few smaller miscellaneous traditions. The conclusion of the book (2 Kings 25:18–21, 27–30) was probably based on personal knowledge.
*A few sections were editorial additions not based on sources. These include various predictions of the downfall of the northern kingdom, the equivalent prediction of the downfall of Judah following the reign of [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]], the extension of [[Josiah]]'s reforms in accordance with the laws of [[Deuteronomy]], and the revision of the narrative from [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] concerning Judah's last days.<ref>McKenzie, pp.281–284</ref>

==Themes and genre==
[[Image:Genealogy of the kings of Israel and Judah.svg|300px|thumb|right|The kings of Israel and Judah]]

According to Richard Nelson, Kings is "history-like," but it mixes legends, folktales, miracle stories and "fictional constructions" in with the annals, and its primary explanation for all that happens is God's offended sense of what is right; it is therefore more fruitful to read it as theological literature in the form of history.<ref name="Nelson, pp.1-2">Nelson, pp.[http://books.google.com/books?id=RCgUvQOIvD0C&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=%22fictional%20constructions%22&f=false 1–2]</ref> The theological bias is seen in the way it judges each king of Israel on the basis of whether he recognises the authority of the temple in Jerusalem (none do, and therefore all are "evil"), and each king of Judah on the basis of whether he destroys the "high places" (rivals to the Temple in Jerusalem); it gives only passing mention to important and successful kings like [[Omri (King of Israel)|Omri]] and [[Jeroboam II]] and totally ignores one of the most significant events in ancient Israel's history, the [[battle of Qarqar]].<ref>Sutherland, p.489</ref>

The major themes of Kings are God's promise, the recurrent apostasy of the kings, and the judgement this brings on Israel:<ref>Fretheim, pp.10–14</ref>
*Promise: In return for Israel's promise to worship Yahweh alone, Yahweh makes promises to David and to Israel – to David, the promise that his line will rule Israel forever, to Israel, the promise of the land they will possess.
*Apostasy: the great tragedy of Israel's history, meaning the destruction of the kingdom and the Temple, is due to the failure of the people, but more especially the kings, to worship Yahweh alone (Yahweh being the god of Israel).
*Judgement: Apostasy leads to judgement. Judgement is not punishment, but simply the natural (or rather, God-ordained) consequence of Israel's failure to worship Yahweh alone.

Another and related theme is that of prophecy. The main point of the prophetic stories is that God's prophecies are always fulfilled, so that any not yet fulfilled will be so in the future. The implication, the release of Jehoiachin and his restoration to a place of honour in Babylon in the closing scenes of the book, is that the promise of an eternal Davidic dynasty is still in effect, and that the Davidic line will be restored.<ref>Sutherland, p.490</ref>

==Textual features==
[[File:Tissot The Flight of the Prisoners.jpg|thumb|250px|[[James Tissot]], ''The Flight of the Prisoners'' – the fall of Jerusalem, 586 BCE.]]

===Chronology===
The standard Hebrew text of Kings presents an impossible chronology.<ref>Sweeney, p.43</ref> To take just a single example, [[Omri (King of Israel)|Omri]]'s accession to the throne of Israel in the 31st year of [[Asa of Judah|Asa]] of Judah (1 Kings 16:23) cannot follow the death of his predecessor [[Zimri (king)|Zimri]] in the 27th year of Asa (1 Kings 16:15).<ref>Sweeney, pp.43–44</ref> The Greek text corrects the impossibilities but does not seem to represent an earlier version.<ref>Nelson, p.44</ref> A large number of scholars have claimed to solve the difficulties, but the results differ, sometimes widely, and none have achieved consensus status.<ref>Moore & Kelle, pp.269–271</ref>

===Kings and 2 Chronicles===
2 Chronicles covers much the same time-period as Kings, but it ignores the northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|kingdom of Israel]] almost completely, David is given a major role in planning the Temple, Hezekiah is given a much more far-reaching program of reform, and Manasseh is given an opportunity to repent of his sins, apparently to account for his long reign.<ref name="Sutherland">Sutherland, p.247</ref> It is usually assumed that the author of Chronicles used Kings as a source and re-wrote history as he would have liked it to have been.<ref name="Sutherland" />

==See also==
* [[The Bible and history]]
* [[History of ancient Israel and Judah]]
* [[Kingdom of Judah]]
* [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Bibliography==
===Commentaries on Kings ===
*{{Cite book|last=Fretheim|first=Terence E|title=First and Second Kings|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1997|url=http://books.google.com/?id=7ODLAo9QouEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Terence+E.+Fretheim+First+and+Second+Kings#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9780664255657}}

*{{Cite book|last=Nelson|first=Richard Donald|title=First and Second Kings|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=1987|url=http://books.google.com/?id=RCgUvQOIvD0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Nelson+First+and+Second+Kings|isbn=9780664220846}}

*{{Cite book|last=Sweeney|first=Marvin|title=I&II Kings: A Commentary|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|year=2007|url=http://books.google.com/?id=d4jn8uj49RIC&pg=PA172&dq=Sweeney+I%26II+Kings#v=onepage&q&f=false|isbn=9780664220846}}

===General===
*{{Cite book|last=Knight|first=Douglas A|chapter=Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomists|url=http://books.google.com/?id=SNLN1nEEys0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Old+Testament+Interpretation+Mays+Peterson+Richards#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=James Luther Mays, David L. Petersen and Kent Harold Richards|title=Old Testament Interpretation|publisher=T&T Clark|year=1995|isbn=9780567292896}}

*{{Cite book|last=Knight|first=Douglas A|chapter=Sources|url=http://books.google.com/?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&dq=Mercer+Bible+Dictionary&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard|title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=1991|isbn=9780865543737}}

*{{Cite book|last1=Leuchter|first1=Mark|last2=Adam|first2=Klaus-Peter|chapter=Introduction|url=http://books.google.com/?id=8i3f3nZTm0YC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=Soundings+in+Kings#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=Mark Leuchter, Klaus-Peter Adam, Karl-Peter Adam|title=Soundings in Kings: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship|publisher=Fortress Press|year=2010|isbn=9781451412635}}

*{{Cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Megan Bishop|last2=Kelle|first2=Brad E|title=Biblical History and Israel's Past: The Changing Study of the Bible and History|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Qjkz_8EMoaUC&pg=PA270&dq=problems+chronology+kings+israel+judah#v=onepage&q=problems%20chronology%20kings%20israel%20judah&f=false|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2011|isbn=9780802862600}}

*{{Cite book|last=McKenzie|first=Steven L|chapter=The Books of Kings|url=http://books.google.com/?id=3gnxJjuqld0C&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=The+history+of+Israel%27s+traditions:+the+heritage+of+Martin+Noth#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=Steven L. McKenzie, Matt Patrick Graham|title=The history of Israel's traditions: the heritage of Martin Noth|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|year=1994|isbn=9780567230355}}

*{{Cite book|last=Perdue|first=Leo G|chapter=Preface: The Hebrew Bible in Current Research|url=http://books.google.com/?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=Preface&f=false|editor=Leo G. Perdue|title=The Blackwell companion to the Hebrew Bible|publisher=Blackwell|year=2001|isbn=9780631210719}}

*{{Cite book|last=Spieckerman|first=Hermann|chapter=The Deuteronomistic History|url=http://books.google.com/?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=The%20Deuteronomistic%20History%20Hermann%20Spieckermann&f=false|editor=Leo G. Perdue|title=The Blackwell companion to the Hebrew Bible|publisher=Blackwell|year=2001|isbn=9780631210719}}

*{{Cite book|last=Sutherland|first=Ray|chapter=Kings, Books of, First and Second|url=http://books.google.com/?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&dq=Mercer+Bible+Dictionary&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard|title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible|publisher=Mercer University Press|year=1991|isbn=9780865543737}}

*{{Cite book|last=Tomes|first=Roger|chapter=1 and 2 Kings|url=http://books.google.com/?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=Eerdmans+commentary+on+the+Bible+1+and+2+kings+Roger+Tomes#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=James D. G. Dunn, John William Rogerson|title=Eerdmans commentary on the Bible|publisher=Eerdmans|year=2003|isbn=9780802837110}}

*{{Cite book|last=Van Seters|first=John|title=In search of history: historiography in the ancient world and the origins of biblical history|publisher=Eisenbrauns|year=1997|url=http://books.google.com/?id=0-skPdXtewwC&pg=PA406&lpg=PA406&dq=Van+Seters+In+Search+of+History#v=onepage&q=Samuel&f=false|isbn=9781575060132}}

*{{Cite book|last=Walton|first=John H|chapter=The Deuteronomistic History|url=http://books.google.com/?id=FxFZxCIc8OoC&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=Introduction+to+the+historical+books#v=onepage&q&f=false|editor=Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton|title=A Survey of the Old Testament|publisher=Zondervan|year=2009|isbn=9780310229032}}

*{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Robert R|chapter=The Former Prophets: Reading the Books of Kings|url=http://books.google.com/?id=SNLN1nEEys0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Old+Testament+Interpretation+Mays+Peterson+Richards#v=snippet&q=Kings%2C%20books%20of&f=false|editor=James Luther Mays, David L. Petersen, Kent Harold Richards|title=Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present and Future: Essays in honor of Gene M. Tucker|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=1995|isbn=9780567292896}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource|1 Kings}}
{{Wikisource|2 Kings}}
{{Wikisourcelang|he|קטגוריה:ספר מלכים}}

;Original text
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a01.htm מלכים א ''Melachim Aleph'' – Kings A] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] – English at Mechon-Mamre.org)
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b01.htm מלכים ב ''Melachim Bet'' – Kings B] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] – English at Mechon-Mamre.org)

;[[Judaism|Jewish]] translations
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et09a01.htm 1 Kings at Mechon-Mamre] (Jewish Publication Society 1917 translation)
* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et09b01.htm 2 Kings at Mechon-Mamre] (Jewish Publication Society 1917 translation)

;[[Christianity|Christian]] translations
* [http://kings-first-king-james-bible.publicliterature.org/ King James Bible Online] – Kings I chapter-indexed English translation.
* [http://publicliterature.org/kings-second-king-james-bible/ King James Bible Online] -Kings II chapter-indexed English translation.
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+1%3A1&version=NIV 1 Kings]
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%201&version=NIV 2 Kings]

;Other links
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318629/books-of-Kings "books of Kings."] Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=226&letter=K&search=Kings Books of Kings article] (Jewish Encyclopedia)
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=First and Second Books of Kings}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Third and Fourth Books of Kings}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou | [[Nevi'im|History books]]|||}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] | rows = 2}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Books of Chronicles|1–2 Chronicles]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings, Books Of}}
[[Category:Nevi'im]]
[[Category:1st-millennium BC books]]
[[Category:Books of Kings]]
[[Category:King lists]]

Talk:Bible

2014-06-18T05:41:57Z

Jerm729: /* Reverting recent changes to wp:Lead section */ italics

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like ''"A bible"'' makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is ''"Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired"'' which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] and [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Bible

2014-06-18T05:28:01Z

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like "A bible" makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is "Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired" which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] and [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Bible

2014-06-18T05:21:05Z

Jerm729: /* Reverting recent changes to wp:Lead section */ r

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== Divine inspiration section: "the Bible" vs "their Bible" ==

This section says "Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God", given that Christians do not share a common biblical canon for the old testament the use of the singular "the" is incorrect (it implicitly assumes there is only one such Bible). Even changing it to "their Bible" would still be odd, perhaps "their denomination's Bible"? [[Special:Contributions/86.26.236.107|86.26.236.107]] ([[User talk:86.26.236.107|talk]]) 16:52, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

My proposal to use the Westminster confession of Faith as a secondary source to verify this point was rejected by an editor. Are there any other creeds that can be added as an acceptable resource to fill the citation needed void? Possible choices are: the Nicene Creed and the London Baptist confession of faith. We can also use a combination of creeds to represent a larger cross-section of Bible believers. Since this article is part of the English Wikipedia, I propose that we only consider supporting English-speaking Christians when choosing citations. None of the 66 books of the Bible can be used as a citations since they are all primary sources.
[[User:Edwardjones2320|Edwardjones2320]] ([[User talk:Edwardjones2320|talk]]) 13:38, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

== Not all Christians believe their particular Bible is the inspired work of God ==

:All the statements that suggest all Christians believe their Bible is the inspired work of God are wrong. See [[Biblical inspiration]]. [[User:Dougweller|Dougweller]] ([[User talk:Dougweller|talk]]) 17:25, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
::I see the quote there "A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally". Do you have any statistics that suggest what percentage of people who identify as Christians reject the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God (quite apart from questions of literalness)? [[User:StAnselm|St]][[Special:Contributions/StAnselm|Anselm]] ([[User talk:StAnselm|talk]]) 20:49, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] would not consider the Bible the 'Word of God' but would consider it inspired by God. The Church also does not, as a matter of dogma, take the Bible literally. The Orthodox Church has nearly always interpreted the Old Testament, metaphorically through [[typology]] and the New Testament, literally. — Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/97.127.77.100|97.127.77.100]] ([[User talk:97.127.77.100|talk]]) 17:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC) 
:Where is your source for this? Wikipedia thrives on verifiability. Without a source, that is just your opinion and not considered valid for WP purposes. --[[User:Jgstokes|Jgstokes]] ([[User talk:Jgstokes|talk]]) 22:35, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

== Jesus of Nazareth ==
:(request transferred from [[Portal talk:Contents/People and self]]) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 21:05, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

{{edit semi-protected||answered=yes}}

Change this line from : Jesus is its central figure. Plz, change this to Jesus of Nazareth is its central figure. There a lot of people named Jesus we want to make sure it is the one from the Bible. Put here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible just under New Testament

[[Special:Contributions/68.230.32.148|68.230.32.148]] ([[User talk:68.230.32.148|talk]]) 21:30, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

:This seems rather unnecessary, as the name is wikilinked directly to [[Jesus]] so there is no risk of ambiguity. Anyone else have an opinion? -- [[User:LWG|LWG]] [[User_talk:LWG|talk]] 22:31, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

::I agree. (I just transferred it here without closing so that editors who have worked on this article could have a say.) --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 23:50, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

:::[[File:Red information icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' we need to close this, and there doesn't seem to be any consensus to change. Most people would understand "Jesus" to refer to J of N unless some other qualifier is present, especially in the context of an article about the Bible. --[[User:Stfg|Stfg]] ([[User talk:Stfg|talk]]) 14:29, 10 December 2013 (UTC)
::::Late to this, but it might be instructive for the future. There is some controversy over whether Jesus was a fictional character. Within peice of literature "the Bible", there is a section concerned with a character, "Jesus". "Jesus of Nazareth" is a specific person understood by most historians to have existed. There is argument about whether or not Jesus of the bible and that historical figure are usefully conflated. The most neutral, and equally accurate, and only slightly less precise result for this article is to refer to "Jesus", unadorned.--[[User:Tznkai|Tznkai]] ([[User talk:Tznkai|talk]]) 20:15, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

== Construction ==

I started a section on "Development". It might be better called something else, but it seems needed. It will have to be written carefully to not focus too much on one particular religion (Judaism or Christianity), but a general overview of how the Old and the New Testaments were constructed would seem to be a useful part of an article on the Bible. I don't have time now to expand the section. Other editors can, or I will probably eventually get to it. [[User:Airborne84|Airborne84]] ([[User talk:Airborne84|talk]]) 10:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

== Need section on dating of composition ==

It is very difficult to find information in this article, or in the connected article [[Historicity of the Bible]], concerning the dates of composition or redaction of the different parts of the Bible. Surely an article of this level of detail should provide that information![[User:Wwallacee|Wwallacee]] ([[User talk:Wwallacee|talk]]) 12:28, 14 March 2014 (UTC)

:See [[Biblical criticism]]. The dating of various parts of the Bible, and of the final editing of individual Bible books, especially the Pentateuch (the Books of Moses), the Prophets and the NT gospels, is a scientific field of its own with widely differing asessments and theories on just about any issue. And many confessional scholars who believe in divine inspiration of the word plainly reject the idea that these books were ever really edited or put together from earlier source writings. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 16:44, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
::Most scholars date the composition of the Old Testament between the 8th century BC and the 2nd century BC, and the composition of the NT between 50 and 130. This should be said somewhere in the article. [[User:ChercheTrouve|ChercheTrouve]] ([[User talk:ChercheTrouve|talk]]) 08:14, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

:::True, especially if we're talking of the ''final editing'' of entire books - and in any case, few academically respected Biblical scholars and exegetes after WW2 would have contested that much the larger part of the OT, even a major share of the Pentateuch, is later than 750 BC. There's a sizable (and outspoken) bunch of post-seventies scholars who claim that very little of any part of the OT as we know it was written or composed before 600, not even as oral traditional sources.

:::The trouble is, if we add a section with general and fairly sweeping statements about when the OT (its books in general) was written, then it could soon become an invitation to edit warring. You'll get on the one hand people who want to add in that the scholars they trust consider most Biblical books as close to the actual events as they can have it (adding citations and quotes from those scholars and no one else), and on the other hand people who have read outspoken recent scholars and who will want the article to say that "it is now recognized by the consensus of science that nearly all of the Old Testament was composed sometime between the 6th and the 2nd century BC by people with little or no knowledge of actual pre-exile Judaic history". That kind of late-dating was certainly not accepted a couple of decades ago and it's still quite controversial.

:::The vogue of overall downdating of much of the actual writing and editing of the OT until after the Babylonian Exile (van Seters, Lemche and others), or even after 400 BC, is a recent phenomenon and exegetics as a scientific field is populated by scholars who often tend to be guided as much by (or more by) ideological presuppositions and by methods and theory tools that are in fashion within human sciences and archeology in general as by the scientific data they're working on, by looking at those data themselves and putting them in context (and this is true irrespective of what kind of relationship the scholars in question have to any confession, or being linked to no confession at all). It's not like in physics or chemistry where you can often basically take it for granted that "the latest consensus results are best, the most reliable": Old Testament exegetics and Biblical criticism form a heavily politicized and "research fashion"-injected field littered with big and brash egos and careers supported by this or that "new school". Sure, the article could well point out that current scholars ''most often'' tend to see the editing and a large part of the writing of the Old Testament as occurring sometime between 800 and 250 (excluding the OT deuterocanonic/"apocryphal" books, which are somewhat later, mostly 4th to late 2nd century BC), and that it's a long-established consensus that almost no single book of the OT as we know it existed in anything like its present form before at least 720 BC - but it should also point out how many books and pre-existing sources and traditions are still controversial in terms of date and origin, and that the whole field is constantly geting racked by conflicts relating both to scientific results and to circumstances outside of science. [[Special:Contributions/83.254.151.33|83.254.151.33]] ([[User talk:83.254.151.33|talk]]) 23:48, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

== Reverting recent changes to [[wp:Lead]] section ==
[[User:Tznkai]] has requested on my talk page why I reverted his recent changes.

Old text:
{{quotation|The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") is a canonical collection of texts that are considered sacred. The term "Bible" is shared between Judaism and Christianity, but the collection of texts each considers canonical is not the same. Different religious groups include different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings").

Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. The first part of Christian Bibles is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Hebrew Bible. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.}}

:Revised version:
A bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, "the books") the canonical collection of sacred texts with a religion. "The Bible" is a term shared within Judaism and Christianity to refer to one of several competing canons of texts. Some version of the Bible is also held sacred by Samaritanism, Islam and the B'ahai faith. Different religious groups and sects have different sub-sets of books within their Biblical canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into these books.[1]

The Hebrew Bible, called the Tanakh within Judiasm, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts: the five books of the Torah ("teaching" or "law"), the Nevi'im ("prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("writings"). The Christian Biblical canons range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon. Christian Bibles are divided into two parts. The first is the Old Testament, which contains, at minimum, the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible divided into thirty-nine books and ordered differently from the Tanakh. The Catholic Church and Eastern Christian churches also hold certain deuterocanonical books and passages to be part of the Old Testament canon. The second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books: the four Canonical gospels, Acts of the Apostles, twenty-one Epistles or letters, and the Book of Revelation.

By the 2nd century BCE Jewish groups had called the Bible books "holy," and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments together "The Holy Bible" (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, tà biblía tà ágia) or "the Holy Scriptures" (η Αγία Γραφή, e Agía Graphḗ). Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired. The oldest surviving complete Christian Bibles are Greek manuscripts from the 4th century. The oldest Tanakh manuscript in Hebrew and Aramaic dates to the 10th century CE,[2] but an early 4th-century Septuagint translation is found in the Codex Vaticanus. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne[3] and is now usually cited by book, chapter, and verse.

The Bible is widely considered to be the best selling book of all time,[4] has estimated annual sales of 100 million copies,[5][6] and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West where it was the first mass-printed book. The Gutenberg Bible was the first Bible ever printed using movable type.
:The tone of the introduction just seems so wrong like "A bible" makes it seem like it's fiction. I'm pretty sure that the B in ''Bible'' is always uppercased since the Bible is a title of a book, and the Wiki article is called ''Bible''. This ''"the collection of sacred texts with a religion"'', is also unusual because is sounds like a non-reglious person added this which sounds like a pushing move. The worst part of this section is "Many Christians consider the whole canonical text of the Bible to be divinely inspired" which I find that really violates [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|WP:NPOV]]. Overall, this change done by Tznkai does nothing but causes issues such as how the article is introduced and the tone of the section entirely via violation of [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|WP:WORDS]] and [[Wikipedia:IMPARTIAL|WP:IMPARTIAL]] using [[Wikipedia:WEASEL|WP:WEASEL]]. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]05:21, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Book of Tobit

2014-06-17T10:17:52Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 613196678 by Aetgar (talk)Not consistent with the summary style

[[File:Abraham de Pape 001.jpg|thumb|right|240px|''Tobit and Anna''. Painting by Abraham De Pape (ca 1658), [[National Gallery of London]]]]
[[File:William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - Tobias Saying Good-Bye to his Father (1860).png|thumb|right|240px|''Tobias Saying Good-Bye to his Father''. Painting by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]] (1860)]]

The '''Book of Tobit''' ('''Book of Tobias''' in the [[Vulgate]]; from the Greek: Τωβιθ, and Hebrew: טובי ''Tobi'' "my good", also called the Book of Tobias from the Hebrew טוביה Tovya "God is good") is a book of scripture that is part of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] [[biblical canon]], pronounced canonical by the [[Council of Carthage]] of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the [[Council of Trent]] (1546).

==Canonical status==
The Book of Tobit is listed in the canon of the [[Council of Hippo|Councils of Hippo]] (393 AD), [[Council of Carthage|Carthage]] (397 AD), and [[Council of Florence|Florence]] (1442), and is part of the canon of both the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]], although Roman Catholics often refer to it as [[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical]].<ref name="Fitzmyer55"/>

It is listed as a book of the "[[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]]" in Article VI of the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] of the [[Church of England]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html |title=Anglican Articles of Religion |publisher=Anglicansonline.org |date=2007-04-15 |accessdate=2014-03-11}}</ref> Tobit is regarded by [[Protestantism|Protestants]] as [[apocrypha]]l because it was not included within the [[Tanakh]] nor considered canonical by Judaism.

Prior to the 1952 discovery of [[Aramaic]] and [[Hebrew (language)|Hebrew]] fragments of Tobit among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] in Cave IV at [[Qumran]], it was believed that Tobit was not included in the Jewish canon because of its late authorship, which was estimated to be circa 100 AD.<ref name="Fitzmyer55" >Fitzmyer, at pp. 55–57</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/scrolls-content?locale=en_US |title=Scrolls Content |publisher=The Dead Sea Scrolls |accessdate=2014-03-11}}</ref> However, the Qumran fragments, which date from 100 BC to 25 AD and are in agreement with the Greek text existing in three different [[recension]]s, evidence a much earlier origin than previously thought.<ref name="Fitzmyer55" /> These fragments evidence authorship no later than the 2nd Century BC, and thus at least contemporary to the date modern scholars ascribe to the final compilation of the [[Book of Daniel]], which did attain canonical status.<ref>R. Glenn Wooden, "Changing Perceptions of Daniel: Reading Chapters 4 and 5 of Daniel," in'' From Biblical Criticism to Biblical Faith'', Brackney & Evans eds., p. 10 (Mercer Univ.Press 2007) ISBN 0-88146-052-4.</ref>

Other scholars have postulated that Tobit was excluded from the Jewish Scriptures for a [[halakhic]] reason, because the marriage document discussed in 7:16 was written by Raguel, the bride's father, rather than by the groom, as required under Jewish rabbinical law.<ref name="Fitzmyer55" />

Nevertheless, Tobit may have been considered historical by ancient Jewish rabbinic scholars, as a truncated [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] version of Tobit is included in [[Bereishit Rabbah|Midrash Bereishit Rabbah]], an aggadic commentary on the [[Book of Genesis]] compiled circa 400–600 AD.<ref>Jared L. Olar, Introduction to the Apocrypha, Part Six: The Book of Tobit.</ref> It was also considered part of the Greek Hebrew Bible (the [[Septuagint]]).<ref name="Fitzmyer55" /> More recently, in the Zionist era, Jewish settlers in Israel have sought to reclaim Tobit as part of the canon, as its focus on the response of a righteous Israelite to the massacre of his countrymen resonated with Jews who had recently experienced pogroms and attempts at genocide.<ref>Mark Bredin, Studies in the Book of Tobit: A Multidisciplinary Approach, p. 3 (T&T Clark 2006), ISBN 0-567-08229-6.</ref>

==Summary==

This book tells the story of a righteous Israelite of the [[Tribe of Naphtali]] named '''Tobit''' living in [[Nineveh]] after the deportation of the northern tribes of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] to [[Assyria]] in 721 BC under [[Sargon II]]. (The first two and a half chapters are written in the first person.) Tobit was originally raised by his paternal grandmother Deborah and remained loyal to the worship of God at the temple in Jerusalem, instead of joining in the cult of the [[golden calf|golden calves]] set at [[Dan (ancient city)|Dan]] by [[Jeroboam]], king of Northern Israel. In exile he was particularly noted for his diligence in attempting to provide proper burials for fallen Israelites who had been slain by [[Sennacherib]], for which the king seized all his property and exiled him. After Sennacherib's death, he was allowed to return to Nineveh, but buried a man who had been murdered on the street. That night, he slept in the open and was blinded by bird droppings that fell in his eyes. That put a strain on his marriage, and ultimately, he prayed for death.

Meanwhile, in faraway [[Medes|Media]], a young woman named Sarah had prayed for death in despair. She had lost seven husbands to the [[demon]] of lust, [[Asmodeus]], 'the worst of demons', who abducted and killed every man she married, on their wedding night before the marriage could be consummated. God sent the angel [[Raphael (angel)|Raphael]], disguised as a human, to heal Tobit and to free Sarah from the demon.

The main narrative is dedicated to Tobit's son, Tobiah or Tobiyah (Greek: Τωβίας/Tobias), who was sent by his father to collect a sum of money that the latter had deposited some time previously in the far off land of [[Medes|Media]]. Raphael represented himself as Tobit's kinsman Azariah, and offered to aid and protect Tobias on his journey. Under the guidance of Raphael, Tobias made the journey to Media, accompanied by his dog, and over the objection of Tobit's wife Hannah, who was already discouraged by Tobit's nagging.

Along the way, while washing his feet in the river [[Tigris]], he was attacked by a fish which tried to swallow his foot. By order of the angel he captured it. The heart, liver and gall bladder were removed to make medicines, by order of Raphael.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Tobit+6&version=GNT |title=Tobit 6 GNT - Tobias Catches a Fish - So Tobias and |publisher=Bible Gateway |accessdate=2014-03-11}}</ref>

Upon arriving in Media, Raphael told Tobias of the beautiful Sarah, whom Tobias had the right to marry, because he was her cousin and closest relative. He instructed the young man to burn the fish's liver and heart to drive away the demon when he attacks on the wedding night.

The two were married, and the fumes of the burning organs drove the demon away to [[Upper Egypt]], while Raphael followed him and bound him. Meanwhile, Sarah's father had been digging a grave to secretly bury Tobias (who he assumed would be dead). Surprised to find his son-in-law alive and well, he ordered a double-length wedding feast and had the grave secretly filled. Since he could not leave because of the feast, Tobias sent Raphael to recover his father's money.

After the feast, Tobias and Sarah returned to Nineveh. There, Raphael told the youth to use the fish's gall to cure his father's blindness. Raphael then revealed his true identity and returned to heaven and Tobit sang a hymn of praise.

Tobit told his son to leave Nineveh before God destroys it according to prophecy (cf. the [[Book of Jonah]]). After the prayer, Tobit died at an advanced age.<ref>Tobit's age at death is variously given as 127 years old in Greek I, 117 years old in Greek II and the [[Vetus Latina]], and 102 years old in most manuscripts of the [[Vulgate]] , 112 years in others,
* (158) "an hundred and eight and fifty years old" in [[s:Bible (King James)/Tobit#14:11|Tobit 14:11 KJV]] (Wikisource)
* (102) "a hundred and two years" {{bibleref|Tobit|14:2|63}} Douay-Rheims (Biblegateway)</ref> After burying his father and mother, Tobias returned to Media with his family.

==Significance==
The book is also closely related to Jewish [[wisdom literature]]; nowhere is this more clear than in Tobit's instructions to Tobias before his departure for Media in chapter 4. The value of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is particularly praised in this instruction; in the [[Latin Rite]], readings from this section are often used in the [[liturgy]]. Because of the book's praise for the purity of marriage, it is often read during weddings in many rites.

Doctrinally, the book is cited for its teaching on the intercession of angels, [[filial piety]], and reverence for the dead.

==Composition==
===Dating===
The story in the Book of Tobit is set in the 8th century BC, and it was traditionally thought that it was written at that time.<ref>Miller, at p. 10.</ref> However, a number of historical errors rule out contemporaneous authorship,<ref>Miller, at p. 11.</ref> and most scholars now prefer situating the composition of Tobit between 225 and 175 BC.<ref name="Fitzmyer51">Fitzmyer, at p. 51.</ref> The direct quote in Tobit 2:6 from the Book of Amos ("Your feasts shall be turned into mourning, and all your mirth into lamentation"<ref>{{bibleref2|Tobit.2:5–7;Amos.8:10||DRA|cf. Tobit 2:5–7 & Amos 8:10}}</ref>) indicates that the prophetic books had become not only fixed but authoritative, signalling a [[post-exilic]] date.<ref name="Fitzmyer51"/> Moreover, reference to the "Book of Moses" (6:13, 7:11–13) and the "Law of Moses" (7:13) echo identical phrasing in the [[Book of Chronicles]], which some believe was composed after the 4th Century BC.<ref>Fitzmyer, at p. 51; Miller, at p. 11.</ref> Contextually, dating Tobit's authorship to after 175 BC is problematic, as the author expresses no awareness of Seleucid attempts to [[Hellenize]] [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]] (from 175 BC) or of the [[Maccabean Revolt|Maccabean]] revolt against the [[Seleucids]] (165 BC), nor does it espouse apocalyptic or messianic expectations upon which later writings focused.<ref>Fitzmyer, at pp. 51–52; Miller at pp. 11–12.</ref> Nevertheless, a later date of composition of at least portions of Tobit is espoused by some scholars.<ref>Fitzmyer, at p. 52.</ref>
===Location===
There is no scholarly consensus on the place of composition, and "almost every region of the ancient world seems to be a candidate."<ref name="Miller12">Miller, at pp. 12–13.</ref> A [[Mesopotamian]] origin seems logical given that the story takes place in Assyria and Persia, as does the invocation of the Persian demon "aeshma daeva," rendered "[[Asmodeus]]" by Tobit.<ref name="Miller12"/> But significant errors in geographical detail (such as the distance from Ecbatana to Rages, and the topography of both) render this origin questionable.<ref>Miller, at p. 13.</ref> There are also arguments against and in favor of Palestinian or Egyptian composition.<ref>Miller, at pp. 12–15.</ref>
==Texts==
The original language of composition isn't clear. The book was possibly originally written in one of the forms of the [[Aramaic]] language. [[Jerome]] described his version for the [[Vulgate]] as being made from an Aramaic text available to him. However, fragmentary texts in both Aramaic and Hebrew were found at [[Qumran]].<ref name="ccat.sas.upenn.edu">[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/tobit.pdf A.A. Di Lella, ''New English Translation of the Septuagint'', "Tobit" (PDF)].</ref>

The surviving [[Greek (language)|Greek]] translations are found in two versions. The shorter form, called Greek I by Robert Hanhart in his edition of the [[Septuagint]], is found in [[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]], [[Codex Alexandrinus|Alexandrinus]], Venetus, and most cursive manuscripts. The Greek II version, which is 1700 words longer, is found in [[Codex Sinaiticus]] and closely aligns with the Hebrew and Aramaic fragments found at Qumran. Apparently the Old Latin (La) manuscripts are also translated from the longer Greek II version. Most English translations since 1966 have relied on the Greek II version.<ref name="ccat.sas.upenn.edu"/>

==See also==
* [[Mary Untier of Knots]] (painting with Tobias and the Angel)
* [[Tobias and the Angel (Verrocchio)]]
* [[Philosopher in Meditation]] ("Tobit and Anna in an Interior" by Rembrandt)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

===References===
*Fitzmyer, Joseph A., [http://books.google.com/books?id=fxea1X6HpZ8C&pg=PA54#v=onepage&q=Hippo%20Carthage%20Florence&f=false "Tobit"], (de Gruyter, 2003), ''Commentaries on early Jewish literature'', ISBN 3-11-017574-6
*Miller, Geoffrey David, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=U9Bn3SAEfJcC&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q=historical%20errors&f=false Marriage in the Book of Tobit]'', pp. 10–15 (Walter de Gruyter 2011), ISBN 978-3-11-024786-2

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Tobit|Tobit}}
{{Commons category}}
* [[s:Bible (King James)/Tobit|Wikisource Book of Tobit]] (KJV Apocrypha)
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14749c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) entry]
* [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__1-Tobit.html The Book of Tobit] Full text from St-Takla.org (also available in Arabic)
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=241&letter=T ''Jewish Encyclopedia'']: Tobit; gives an overview of the manuscript tradition
* [http://www.ccel.org/wwsb/Tobit/index.html World Wide Study Bible: Tobit]

* [http://www.biblicalaudio.com/tobi.htm 2012 Critical Translation with Dramatized Audio Version (Tobi)]
* {{cite web |last=Milbank|first=Alison |authorlink=Alison Milbank |author2=Talbert, Andrew |title=Tobit |url=http://www.bibledex.com/videos/tobit.html |work=Bibledex: Deuterocanonical Books |year= 2010 |publisher=[[Brady Haran]] for the [[University of Nottingham]]}}


{{s-start}}
{{s-other| [[Deuterocanonical books|Deuterocanon]]}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Catholic Church|R. Catholic]] [[Books of the Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Judith|Judith]] | rows = 1 }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]]-[[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]] ([[2 Esdras]]) }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Books of the Bible]] }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Judith|Judith]] | rows = 1 }}
{{s-end}}
{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Tobit}}
[[Category:Deuterocanonical books|Tobit]]
[[Category:Wisdom literature]]

Book of Daniel

2014-06-17T10:14:50Z

Jerm729: Undid revision 613237570 by 103.23.133.19 (talk)

{{Other uses}}
{{Tanakh OT}}
The '''Book of Daniel''' is a book of the [[Bible]] which contains an "account of the activities and visions of [[Daniel]], a noble Jew exiled at Babylon."{{sfn|Reid|2000|p=315}} In the [[Hebrew Bible]] it is found in the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' (writings), while in [[Christian biblical canons|Christian Bibles]] and the [[Septuagint]] it is grouped with the [[Major prophet]]s.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}}

The Jewish and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] versions of Daniel (the Greek and [[Catholicism|Catholic]] version contains additional material) divides into two parts, a set of tales in chapters 1–6 in which Daniel and his companions demonstrate the superiority of their God, and the series of visions making up chapters 7–12.{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=265–266}}{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Traditionally ascribed to Daniel himself, modern scholarly consensus considers the book [[pseudonym]]ous, the stories of the first half legendary in origin, and the visions of the second the product of anonymous authors in the [[Maccabees|Maccabean]] period (2nd century BCE).{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Its exclusion from the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]] ([[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and [[Twelve Minor Prophets|the Twelve]]) was probably because it appeared after the canon for those books had closed, and the dominant view among scholars is that Daniel is not in any case a prophetic book but an [[apocalypse]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The Greek and Catholic versions of Daniel include three books that seem to have been written later than the original: The Song of the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Three Holy Children]], The History of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]], and The History of the Destruction of [[Bel and the Dragon]].<ref name="ODCC Daniel">"Daniel, Book of." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>

The book's message is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Its influence has resonated through later ages, from the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] community and the authors of the [[gospel]]s and [[Revelation]], the various movements from the 2nd century to the [[Protestant Reformation]], and modern [[Millennialism|millennial]]ist movements, on whom it continues to have a profound influence.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}}

==Structure==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century).]]

===Divisions: tales and visions, Aramaic and Hebrew===
Daniel falls into two halves, chapters 1–6 containing six tales of Jewish heroism set in the Babylonian court, and chapters 7–12 containing four apocalyptic visions.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}} This is complicated somewhat by the fact that chapters 1 and 8–12 are in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] and 2–7 in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}}{{sfn|Provan|2003|p=665}} The reasons behind this have never been satisfactorily explained. Chapters 1–6 show a progression over time in terms of their setting, from Babylonian to Median times, which begins again (Babylonian to Persian) in chapters 7–12. The following outline is provided by John J. Collins in his commentary on Daniel:{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=31}}

PART I: Tales (chapters 1:1–6:29)
*1: Introduction (1:1–21 – set in the Babylonian era, written in Hebrew)
*2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of four kingdoms (2:1–49 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*3: The fiery furnace (3:1–30 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*4: Nebuchadnezzar's madness (3:31–4:34 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*5: Belshazzar's feast (5:1–6:1 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*6: Daniel in the lions' den (6:2–29 – Median era with mention of Persia; Aramaic)
PART II: Visions (chapters 7:1–12:13)
*7: The beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (7:1–28 – Babylonian era: Aramaic)
*8: The ram and the he-goat (8:1–27 – Babylonian era; Hebrew)
*9: Interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy weeks (9:1–27 – Median era; Hebrew)
*10: The angel's revelation: kings of the north and south (10:1–12:13 – Persian era, mention of Greek era; Hebrew)

===Chiasm in the Aramaic section===
There is also a clear chiasm (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side) in the Aramaic section of the book, chapters 2–7. (The following is taken from Paul Redditt's "Introduction to the Prophets"):{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=177}}

*A1 (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
:*B1 (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
::*C1 (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar's
::*C2 (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
:*B2 (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
*A2 (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

==Content==
[[File:Daniel refuse kingsfood.jpg|thumb|Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration]]

===Captives in Babylon (chapter 1)===
{{Main|Daniel#Induction into Babylon}}
The story begins with a brief reference to king [[Nebuchadnezzar]] robbing the Jerusalem Temple ([[Solomon's Temple]]) and carrying its treasures back to Babylon. It goes on to describe how some young members of the Judean nobility, including Daniel and his three companions, are inducted into the king's service. Daniel and his companions are given Babylonian names, but refuse to be 'defiled' by the royal provisions of meat and wine. Their overseer fears for his life in case the health of his charges deteriorates, but Daniel suggests a ten-day trial on a simple diet of [[Pulse (legume)|pulses]] and water. When they miraculously emerge healthier than their counterparts, Daniel and his friends are allowed to continue with their diet. At the end of the induction period, the king finds them 'ten times better' than all the wise men in his service, and it is noted that Daniel has a particular gift for dream interpretation.

===Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four kingdoms (chapter 2)===
{{Main|Daniel 2#Nebuchadnezzar's dream}}
Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream and asks his wise men to interpret it, but refuses to divulge its content. When they protest he sentences all of them, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel asks permission to petition his God for a solution. He receives an explanatory vision in the night: Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed of an enormous statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of copper, legs of iron, and feet of mixed iron and clay. The statue is destroyed by a rock that turns into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth. The statue symbolises four successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, all of which will be crushed by God's kingdom, which will endure forever. Nebuchadnezzar raises Daniel to be chief over all his wise men, and appoints him and his companions to rule over all the chief cities of Babylon.
{{Daniel chapters}}
===The fiery furnace (chapter 3)===
{{Main|Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego}}
Daniel's companions Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure appear in the furnace with the three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames. Daniel does not appear in this story.

===Nebuchadnezzar's madness (chapter 4)===
[[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] recounts a dream of a huge tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast. All of this comes to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that "heaven rules" and his kingdom and sanity are restored.

===Belshazzar's feast (chapter 5)===
{{See also|The writing on the wall}}
[[Belshazzar]] and his nobles blasphemously drink from sacred Jewish temple vessels, offering praise to inanimate gods, until a hand mysteriously appears and [[The writing on the wall|writes upon the wall]] of the palace. The horrified king eventually summons Daniel who is able to read the writing and offer the following interpretation: ''Mene, Mene'' – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ''Tekel'' – You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. ''Upharsin'' – Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "That very night" Belshazzar was slain and "[[Darius the Mede]]" took over the kingdom.

===Daniel in the lions' den (chapter 6)===
{{Main|Daniel in the lions' den}}
Daniel is elevated to a pre-eminent position under Darius which elicits the jealousy of other officials. Knowing of Daniel's devotion to his God, these officials trick the king into issuing an edict forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30-day period. Because Daniel continues to pray three times a day to God towards Jerusalem, he is accused and King Darius, forced by his own decree, throws Daniel into the lions' den. God shuts up the mouths of the lions and the next morning king Darius finds Daniel unharmed, then he casts Daniel's accusers and their families into the lions' pit where they are instantly devoured.

===Vision of the beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (chapter 7)===
{{Main|Daniel 7}}
{{See also|Four kingdoms of Daniel}}
This vision, set in the first year of [[Belshazzar]], concerns four great beasts (7:3) representing future kings (7:17) or kingdoms (7:23). The fourth of these devours the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it (7:23). This fourth beast has ten horns representing ten kings. They are followed by a further wicked king, or "little horn", who subdues three of the ten (7:24), speaks against the [[Elyon|Most High]], wages war against the [[saints]], and attempts to change the set times and laws (7:25). After '[[Time, times, and half a time|a time and times and half a time]]', this king is judged and stripped of his kingdom by an "[[Ancient of Days]]" and his [[Throne of God|heavenly court]] (7:26). Next, "one like a [[son of man]]" approaches the Ancient of Days and is invested with worldwide dominion. Moreover, his everlasting reign over all earthly kingdoms is shared with "the people of the Most High" (7:27).

===Vision of the ram and goat (chapter 8)===
{{Main|Daniel 8}}
This vision in the third year of Belshazzar describes Daniel's vision of a ram and goat that, according to the text, represent [[Medes|Media]], Persia (the ram's two horns) and Greece (the goat). The goat with the mighty horn, becomes very powerful until the horn breaks off and is replaced by four "lesser" horns. The vision then focuses on a small horn that grows very large, representing a wicked king who arises to challenge the "army of the Lord" by removing the daily temple sacrifices and desecrating the sanctuary for a period of "twenty three hundred evening/mornings". The vision culminates in the "cleansing" or reconsecration of the temple.

===Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (chapter 9)===
{{Main|Prophecy of Seventy Weeks}}
The vision in first year of [[Darius I|Darius]] the son of [[Xerxes I of Persia|Ahasuerus]] (9:1) concerning [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks|seventy weeks]], or seventy "sevens", apportioned for the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|history of the Israelites]] and of [[Jerusalem]] (9:24) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period – "seventy sevens" – and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

===Vision of the kings of north and south (chapters 10–12)===
{{Main|Daniel 11}}
Daniel 10–12, set in the third year of [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] king of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] (around 536 BCE), recounts a vision of a great war. Chapter 10 tells how an angel (called "a man", but clearly a supernatural being) appears to Daniel and explains that he is in the midst of a war with the "prince of Persia", assisted only by [[archangel Michael|Michael]], "your prince." The "prince of Greece" will shortly come, but first he will reveal what will happen Daniel's people (the Jews) in that time.

Daniel 11 begins the angel's revelation of the coming war. A future king of Persia will make war on the king of Greece, a "mighty king" will arise and wield power until his empire is broken up and given to others, and finally the king of the south (identified in verse 8 as Egypt) will go to war with the king of the North. After many battles (described in great detail) a "contemptible person" will become king of the North; this king will invade the South two times, the first time with success, but on his second invasion he will be stopped by "ships of Kittim." He will turn back to his own country, and on the way his soldiers will desecrate the Temple, abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the [[abomination of desolation]]. The triumphant king of the north will wage war in the Levant and defeat and subjugate Libya and Egypt, but "reports from the east and north will alarm him," and he will meet his end "between the sea and the holy mountain."

Daniel 12: the angel reveals that at this time Michael, "the great prince who protects your people," will come. It will be a time of great distress, but all those whose names are written will be delivered. "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt; those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." In the final verses the remaining time to the end is revealed: "a time, times and half a time" (two years and a half). Daniel fails to understand and asks again what will happen, and is told: "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days."

===Additions to Daniel (Greek text tradition)===
The Greek text of Daniel is considerably longer than the Hebrew, due to three additional stories:
*The Prayer of Azariah and the Hymn of the Three Youths, placed after Daniel 3:23;
*The story of Susanna and the Elders, placed before chapter 1 in some Greek versions and after chapter 12 in others;
*The story of Bel and the Dragon, placed at the end of the book.

The [[additions to Daniel]] were accepted by all branches of Christianity until the Protestant movement rejected them in the 16th century on the basis that they were absent from Hebrew bibles; they remain in Catholic, Orthodox, and a few other bibles.

==Historical background==
The visions of chapters 7–12 reflect the crisis which took place in Judea in 167–164 BCE when [[Antiochus IV]], the Greek king of [[Seleucid empire|Syria]], threatened to destroy traditional Jewish worship in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=109-110}} When Antiochus came to the throne the Jews were largely pro-Seleucid. The High Priestly family was split by rivalry, and one member, Jason, offered the king a large sum to be made High Priest. Jason also asked – or more accurately, paid – to be allowed to make Jerusalem a ''[[polis]]'', or Greek city. This meant, among other things, that city government would be in the hands of the citizens, which meant in turn that citizenship would be a valuable commodity, to be purchased from Jason. None of this threatened the Jewish religion, and the reforms were widely welcomed, especially among the Jerusalem aristocracy and the leading priests. Three years later Jason was deposed when another priest, Menelaus, offered Antiochus an even larger sum for the post of High Priest.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=6-13}}

Antiochus invaded Egypt twice, in 169 BCE with success, but on the second incursion, in late 168, he was forced to withdraw by the Romans.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Jason, hearing a rumour that Antiochus was dead, attacked Menelaus to take back the High Priesthood.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Antiochus drove Jason out of Jerusalem, plundered the Temple, and introduced measures to pacify his Egyptian border by imposing complete Hellenisation: the Jewish Book of the Law was prohibited, as was circumcision, and on 15 December 167 an "abomination of desolation", probably a Greek altar, was introduced into the Temple.{{sfn|Sacchi|2010|p=225-226}} With the Jewish religion now clearly under threat a resistance movement sprang up, led by the Maccabee brothers, and over the next three years it won sufficient victories over Antiochus to take back and purify the Temple.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}}

The crisis which the author of Daniel addresses is the destruction of the altar in Jerusalem in 167 BCE (first introduced in chapter 8:11): the daily offering which used to take place twice a day, at morning and evening, stopped, and the phrase "evenings and mornings" recurs through the following chapters as a reminder of the missed sacrifices.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=407}} But whereas the events leading up to the sacking of the Temple in 167 and the immediate aftermath are remarkably accurate (chapter 11:21–29), the predicted war between the Syrians and the Egyptians (11:40–43) never took place, and the prophecy that Antiochus would die in Palestine (11:44–45) is totally inaccurate (he died in Persia).{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=6-7}} The conclusion is that the account must have been completed near the end of the reign of Antiochus but before his death in December 164, or at least before news of it reached Jerusalem.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=7}}

==Composition==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor arbre.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).]]

===Unity===
The first impression of Daniel is of a discontinuous text composed of arbitrary units of various styles and genres, but an important article by H. H. Rowley, "The Unity of the Book of Daniel," has drawn attention to the book's extensive continuity and homogeneity, notably in the complementary character of the visions, the [[chiastic structure]] of the Aramaic part, the references to earlier episodes, and the frequent recurrence of otherwise uncommon Aramaic expressions.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295-296}}

Despite Rowley's defense of the book's overall unity, it is generally accepted that Daniel originated as a collection of Aramaic folk-tales later expanded by the Hebrew revelations.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The folk-tales likely had a long prehistory and would have originated in the Babylonian [[diaspora]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=34-35}} The first stage may have consisted of the stories in chapters 4–6, as these differ quite markedly in the oldest texts.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the second stage chapters 2 and 7 were added, creating the chiasm of the Aramaic section of the book, possibly including a brief Aramaic introduction telling how Daniel and his friends came to Babylon.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the third stage the Hebrew visions of chapters 8–12 were added, plus a revised Hebrew introduction making the present chapter 1.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}}

===Authorship===
Daniel is one of a large number of Jewish apocalypses, all of them pseudonymous.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=2}} Although the entire book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel the seer, chapters 1–6 are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar; only the second half (chapters 7–12) is presented by Daniel himself, introduced by the anonymous narrator in chapters 7 and 10.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295}} The real author/editor of Daniel was probably an educated Jew, knowledgeable in Greek learning, and of high standing in his own community. The book is a product of "Wisdom" circles, but the type of wisdom is [[Wiktionary:mantic|mantic]] (the discovery of heavenly secrets from earthly signs) rather than the wisdom of learning – the main source of wisdom in Daniel is God's revelation.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002b|p=229-230,243}}{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=340}}

It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} [[Ezekiel]], who lived during the Babylonian exile, mentioned him in association with [[Noah]] and [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] ([[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 14:14) as a figure of legendary wisdom (28:3), and a hero named Daniel (more accurately Dan'el, but the spelling is close enough for the two to be regarded as identical) features in a late 2nd millennium myth from [[Ugarit]].{{sfn|Collins|2003|p=69}} "The legendary Daniel, known from long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character...serves as the principal human "hero" in the biblical book that now bears his name"; Daniel is the wise and righteous intermediary who is able to interpret dreams and thus convey the will of God to humans, the recipient of visions from on high that are interpreted to him by heavenly intermediaries.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=4}}

===Dating===
Daniel's exclusion from the Hebrew bible's canon of the prophets, which was closed around 200 BCE, suggests it was not known at that time, and the Wisdom of [[Sirach]], from around 180 BCE, draws on almost every book of the Old Testament except Daniel, leading scholars to suppose that its author was unaware of it. Daniel is, however, quoted by the author of a section of the [[Sibylline Oracles]] commonly dated to the middle of the 2nd century BCE, and was popular at Qumran beginning at much the same time, suggesting that it was known and revered from the middle of that century.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=1-2}}

The actual historical setting of the book is clear from chapter 11, where the prophecy is accurate down to the career of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]], king of Syria and oppressor of the Jews, but not in its prediction of his death: the author knows about Antiochus' two campaigns in Egypt (169 and 167 BCE), the desecration of the Temple (the "abomination of desolation"), and the fortification of the Akra (a fortress built inside Jerusalem), but he knows nothing about the reconstruction of the Temple or the actual circumstances of the death of Antiochus in late 164. Chapters 10–12 must therefore have been written between 167 and 164 BCE. There is no evidence of a significant time lapse between those chapters and chapters 8 and 9, and chapter 7 may have been written just a few months earlier again.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=101}}

==Texts==
The Book of Daniel is preserved in the twelve-chapter [[Masoretic Text]] and in two longer Greek versions, the original [[Septuagint]] version, c. 100 BCE, and the later [[Theodotion]] version from c. 2nd century CE. Both Greek texts contain three [[additions to Daniel]]: [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]; the story of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susannah and the Elders]]; and the story of [[Bel and the Dragon]]. Theodotion is much closer to the Masoretic Text and became so popular that it replaced the original Septuagint version in all but two manuscripts of the Septuagint itself.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=119-120}}{{sfn|Spencer|2002|p=89}}{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}} The Greek additions were apparently never part of the Hebrew text.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3}}

A total of eight incomplete copies of the Book of Daniel have been found at [[Qumran]], two in [[Qumran Caves|Cave 1]], five in Cave 4, and one in Cave 6. None is complete, but between them they preserve text from eleven of Daniel’s twelve chapters, and the twelfth is quoted in the [[Florilegium]] (a compilation scroll) [[4Q174]], showing that the book at Qumran did not lack this conclusion. All eight manuscripts were copied between 125 BCE ([[4QDanc|4QDanc]]) and about 50 CE ([[4QDanb|4QDanb]]), showing that Daniel was being read at Qumran only forty years after its composition. All appear to preserve the 12-chapter Masoretic version rather than the longer Greek text. None reveal any major disagreements against the Masoretic, and the four scrolls that preserve the relevant sections (1QDana, [[4QDana|4QDana]], 4QDanb, and [[4QDand|4QDand]]) all follow the bilingual nature of Daniel where the book opens in [[Hebrew]], switches to [[Aramaic]] at 2:4b, then reverts to Hebrew at 8:1.{{sfn|VanderKam|Flint|2013|p=137-138}}

==Themes==
[[File:Daniel dans la fosse aux lions.jpg|thumb|upright|Daniel in the lions' den saved by [[Habakkuk]] (France, 15th century).]]

''(This section deals with modern scholarly reconstructions of the meaning of Daniel to its original authors and audience)''

===Genre: Apocalypse and eschatology===
The message of the Book of Daniel is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Daniel is an [[apocalypse]], a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterised by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship).{{sfn|Crawford|2000|p=73}} Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}} Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the ''maskil'', the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}}

The book is also an [[eschatology]]: the divine revelation concerns the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420-421}} No real details of the end-time are given in Daniel, but it seems that God's kingdom will be on this earth, that it will be governed by justice and righteousness, and that the tables will be turned on the Seleucids and those Jews who cooperated with them.{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=187}}

===Symbolic imagery and chronology===
Daniel is filled with monsters, angels, and numerology drawn from a wide range of sources, both biblical and non-biblical, that would have had meaning in the context of 2nd century Jewishness.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1}} Professor [[Choon-Leong Seow]] of Princeton Theological Seminary states that while Christian interpreters have always viewed these as predicting events in the New Testament – "the Son of God", "the Son of Man", Christ and the Antichrist - the book's original readers would not have accepted that Daniel's predictions had nothing to do with them.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1-2}} The following explains a few of these, as understood by modern biblical scholars.

*The ''four kingdoms'' and the ''little horn'' (Daniel 2 and 7): The concept of four successive world empires is drawn from Greek theories of mythological history;{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} most modern interpreters agree that the four are Babylon, the Medes, Persia and the Greeks, ending with Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=34-36}} The symbolism of four metals in the statue in chapter 2 is drawn from Persian writings,{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} while the four "beasts from the sea" in chapter 7 reflect Hosea 13:7–8, in which God threatens that he will be to Israel like a lion, a leopard, a bear or a wild beast.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=80}} The consensus among scholars is that the four beasts of chapter 7, like the metals of chapter 2, symbolise Babylon, Media, Persia and the Seleucids, with Antiochis IV as the "small horn" that uproots three others (Antiochus usurped the rights of several other claimants to become king).{{sfn|Matthews|Moyes|2012|p=260,269}}

*The ''Ancient of Days'' and the ''one like a son of man'' (Daniel 7): The portrayal of God in Daniel 7:13 is similar to the portrayal of the Canaanite god El as an ancient divine king presiding over the divine court.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3-4}} The "Ancient of Days" gives dominion over the earth to "one like a [[son of man]]": scholars are almost universally agreed that this represents "the people of the holy ones of the Most High" (Daniel 7:27), meaning the "maskilim", the community responsible for Daniel,{{sfn|Gabbe|2002a|p=282}}

*''The ram and he-goat'' (Daniel 8) are conventional astrological symbols representing Persia and Syria, as the text explains. The "mighty horn" is [[Alexander the Great]] and the "four lesser horns" represent the four generals who fought over the empire following his death. The "little horn" again represents Antiochus IV. The key to the symbols lies in the description of the little horn's actions: he ends the continual burnt offering and overthrows the Sanctuary, a clear reference to Antiochus' desecration of the Temple.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=87}}

*The ''anointed ones'' and the ''seventy years'' (Chapter 9): Daniel reinterprets [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]]'s "seventy years" prophecy regarding the period Israel would spend in bondage to Babylon. From the point of view of the Maccabean era, Jeremiah's promise was obviously not true – the gentiles still oppressed the Jews, and the "desolation of Jerusalem" had not ended. Daniel therefore reinterprets the seventy years as seventy "weeks" of years, making up 490 years. The 70 weeks/490 years are subdivided, with seven weeks from the "going forth of the word to rebuild and restore Jerusalem" to the coming of an "anointed one" (Joshua, the first post-Exilic High Priest), while the final week is marked by the violent death of another "anointed one", the High Priest [[Onias III]] (ousted to make way for Jason and murdered in 171 BCE), and the profanation of the Temple. The point of this for Daniel is that the period of gentile power is predetermined, and is coming to an end.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=108-109}}{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=260}}

*''Kings of north and south'': Chapters 10–12 concerns the war between these kings, the events leading up to it, and its heavenly meaning. In chapter 10 the angel (Gabriel?) explains that there is currently a war in heaven between Michael, the angelic protector of Israel, and the "princes" (angels) of Persia and Greece; then, in chapter 11, he outlines the human wars which accompany this – the mythological concept is that behind every nation stands a god/angel who does battle on behalf of his people, so that earthly events reflect what happens in heaven. The wars of the Ptolemies ("kings of the south") and Seleucids ("kings of the north") are reviewed down to the career of [[Antiochus the Great]] (Antiochus III, father of Antiochus IV), but the main focus is Antiochus IV, to whom more than half the chapter is devoted. The accuracy of these predictions lends credibility to the real prophecy with which the passage ends, the death of Antiochus – which, in the event, was not accurate.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=110-111}}

*''Predicting the end-time'' (Daniel 8:14 and 12:7–12): Biblical eschatology does not generally give precise information as to when the end will come,{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420}} and Daniel's attempts to specify the number of days remaining is a rare exception.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=114}} Daniel asks the angel how long the "little horn" will be triumphant, and the angel replies that the Temple will be reconsecrated after 2,300 "evenings and mornings" have passed (Daniel 8:14). The angel is counting the two daily sacrifices, so the period is 1,150 days from the desecration in December 167. In chapter 12 the angel gives three more dates: the desolation will last "for a time, times and half a time," or a year, two years, and a half a year (Daniel 12:8); then that the "desolation" will last for 1,290 days (12:11); and finally, 1,335 days (12:12). Verse 12:11 was presumably added after the lapse of the 1,150 days of chapter 8, and 12:12 after the lapse of the number in 12:11.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=99}}

==Later interpretation and influence==
[[File:Daniel 4 Beasts.JPG|thumb|260px|Daniel's vision of the four beasts – [[woodcut]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]]]

The concepts of [[immortality]] and [[resurrection]], with rewards for the righteous and punishment for the wicked, were raised for the first time in Judaism in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. The doctrine has roots much deeper than Daniel, but is clearly stated in the final chapter of that book: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt."{{sfn|Cohn|2002|p=86-87}} [[Christianity]] would have disappeared, like the movements following other charismatic Jewish figures of the 1st century, had it not been for the perceived [[resurrection of Jesus]].{{sfn|Schwartz|1992|p=2}} Further influential elements in shaping elements within the Christian [[gospel]] traditions and [[Revelation]] included Daniel's vision of the "[[Son of Man]]" and the "[[Ancient of Days]]" (Daniel 7) – although it is note-worthy that the Danielic Son of Man is completely absent from the rest of the New Testament writings, suggesting that it was of little if any importance in the rest of Christianity as represented in the NT.{{sfn|Dunn|2002|p=537,539}}

Daniel was quoted and referenced by both Jews and Christians the 1st century CE as predicting the imminent end-time.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002|p=244}} Moments of national and cultural crisis continually reawakened the apocalyptic spirit, through the [[Montanists]] of the 2nd/3rd centuries, persecuted for their [[millennialism]], to the more extreme elements of the 16th century Reformation such as the Zwikau prophets and the [[Anabaptist]] "Kingdom" in Munster.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}} During the [[English Civil War]] the [[Fifth Monarchy Men]] took their name and political program from Daniel 7, demanding that [[Oliver Cromwell]] allow them to form a "government of saints" in preparation for the coming of the Messiah; when Cromwell refused, they identified him instead as the Beast usurping the rightful place of King Jesus.{{sfn|Weber|2007|p=374}}

Daniel remains one of the most influential apocalypses in modern America, along with [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and [[Revelation]]. For modern popularisers elaborating a traditional Christian interpretive framework, Daniel is a prophet who foretells the first coming of Jesus and a series of events that still lie in the future, when a ten-nation confederation (symbolised by the ten toes of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream), ruled by the [[Antichrist]] (the "little horn"), will be destroyed by Jesus (the "rock not made by human hands") as he returns (the [[Second Coming]] to rule the final and eternal kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=24,30–31}} The basic themes in apocalyptic belief as a whole include: America's destiny; Antichrist's identity and signs of his activity in current events; the precise sequence of end-time events; and the vision of a world far different from the present one.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=78}} Individual interpretations of the biblical texts have been ever-changing: in the first half of the 19th century, Daniel was found to have foretold the American [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], and the U.S. itself was the Danielic Fifth Kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=85}} In the 1980s the advent of the ten-member European Union was greeted as confirmation of the ten toes and horns of Daniel's visions, a new Roman Empire, "ready to install a modern-day Nero Caesar on the throne;" However, EU membership rose to 12 by the late 1980s and 28 by 2013, with several more countries moving towards membership.

Nor has the influence of Daniel been confined to Judaism and Christianity: the Quran's tale of [[Dhul-Qarnayn]] (the man of the two horns) may be based on Daniel 8, while in the Middle Ages Muslims created horoscopes whose authority was attributed to Daniel. More recently the [[Bahai]] movement, which originated in Persian Shi'ite Islam, justified its existence on the 1,260-day prophecy of Daniel, holding that it foretold the coming of the [[Twelfth Imam]] and an age of peace and justice in the year 1844, which is the year 1260 of the [[Hijri year|Muslim era]].{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

Daniel belongs not only to the religious tradition but also to the Western secular heritage. Philosophers ([[Spinoza]]), psychologists ([[Carl Jung]]) and the physicist [[Isaac Newton]] all paid special attention to the book; it has inspired musicians from Medieval liturgical drama to the 20th century compositions of [[Darius Milhaud]], and artists including [[Michelangelo]], [[Rembrandt]] and [[Delacroix]] have drawn upon its imagery.{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

==See also==
* [[Biblical numerology]]
* [[Christian eschatology]]
* [[Daniel (Old English poem)|Old English poem ''Daniel'']]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Daniel]]
* [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA67&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+antichrist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O7dwUuL4IsmokAWcpoDIDg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20antichrist&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Horsley
| first = Richard A.
| title = Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea
| year = 2007
| publisher = Presbyterian Publishing Corp
| url = http://books.google.it/books?id=ukojCH-hlVYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Scribes,+Visionaries,+and+the+Politics+of+Second+Temple+Judea&hl=it&sa=X&ei=1XReUqDPI6KIiQeUxYC4Cw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Scribes%2C%20Visionaries%2C%20and%20the%20Politics%20of%20Second%20Temple%20Judea&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Knibb
|first = Michael
|chapter = The Book of Daniel in its Context
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Lucas
|first = Ernest C.
|chapter = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last = Vanhoozer
|editor1-first = Kevin J.
|editor2-last = Bartholomew
|editor2-first = Craig G.
|editor3-last = Treier
|editor3-first = Daniel J.
|title = Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
|year = 2005
|publisher = Baker Academic
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I8UWJohMGUIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+for+Theological+Interpretation+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WqRbUuDpFsSnkQXr8IGwBA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20for%20Theological%20Interpretation%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Matthews
|first1 = Victor H.
|last2 = Moyer
|first2 = James C.
|title = The Old Testament: Text and Context
|year = 2012
|publisher = Baker Books
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rU_dAldCk6gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Old+Testament:+Text+and+Context&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ENpPUp6dOubJiAflzIDADw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Old%20Testament%3A%20Text%20and%20Context&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Niskanen
|first1 = Paul
|title = The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel
|year = 2004
|publisher = Continuum
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=G0YFSrClQOkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Herodotus+and+the+Book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Fi97UqKOIcK4kgX1z4CwCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Provan
|first = Iain
|chapter = Daniel
|editor1-last = Dunn
|editor1-first = James D. G.
|editor2-last = Rogerson
|editor2-first = John William
|title = Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2003
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA665&dq=Eerdmans+Commentary+on+the+Bible+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pq5cUrnZAcbPkQW_loDYBA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Commentary%20on%20the%20Bible%20Daniel&f=false
|isbn = 9780802837110
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Redditt
| first = Paul L.
| title = Introduction to the Prophets
| year = 2009
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=bKM_VJt9e3kC&pg=PA188&dq=Redditt+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SJ1oUt66OojNkwWCq4D4Aw&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Redditt%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Reid
|first = Stephen Breck
|chapter = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2000
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EhJfUuOrCMWokgXf4YDoBw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
|isbn =
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Rowland
|first = Christopher
|chapter = Apocalyptic Literature
|editor1-last = Hass
|editor1-first = Andrew
|editor2-last = Jasper
|editor2-first = David
|editor3-last = Jay
|editor3-first = Elisabeth
|title = The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=bKG12u11z2AC&pg=PA344&dq=handbook+eschatology+Daniel&hl=it&sa=X&ei=IthtUutFx6OVBYGRgNAJ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=handbook%20eschatology%20Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Ryken,
| first1 = Leland
| last2 = Wilhoit
| first2 = Jim
| last3 = Longman
| first3 = Tremper
| title = Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
| year = 1998
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qjEYEjVVEosC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Biblical+Imagery+Daniel+book+of&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lNJpUsmYCsiIrQfg4YE4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20of%20Biblical%20Imagery%20Daniel%20book%20of&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Sacchi
| first = Paolo
| title = The History of the Second Temple Period
| year = 2004
| publisher = Continuum
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=yGNyKdnpMa0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=history+second+temple&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-AVjUtDJE6ubigf814DQCQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=history%20second%20temple&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Schwartz
|first = Daniel R.
|title = Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity
|year = 1992
|publisher = Mohr Siebeck
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&pg=PA110&hl=en#v=snippet&q=resurrection&f=false
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Seow
|first = C.L.
|author-link = Choon-Leong Seow
|title = Daniel
|year = 2003
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nuLapFR3AX4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Seow+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hdRgUvPQBYrOkAX4-4HYDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Seow%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Schiffman
|first = Lawrence H.
|title = From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
|year = 1991
|publisher = KTAV Publishing House
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=3kWYHyBb4C8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=From+Text+to+Tradition:+A+History+of+Second+Temple+and+Rabbinic+Judaism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rIpPUtaTGoShkAX76oHgDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=From%20Text%20to%20Tradition%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Second%20Temple%20and%20Rabbinic%20Judaism&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Spencer
|first = Richard A.
|chapter = Additions to Daniel
|editor1-last = Mills
|editor1-first = Watson E.
|editor2-last = Wilson
|editor2-first = Richard F.
|title = The Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha
|year = 2002
|publisher = Mercer University Press
|url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=doqYxT-1RzEC&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Towner
|first = W. Sibley
|title = Daniel
|year = 1984
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=F8EEY610xeAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Towner+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XLlhUvm6KYuaiAfEtIHADA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Towner%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = VanderKam
| first = James C.
| title = The Dead Sea Scrolls Today
| year = 2010
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=i2i5haDHAygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=VanderKamm+2002&hl=en&sa=X&ei=45tgUtTsG47FkQXe34CADQ&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = VanderKam
|first1 = James C.
|last2 = Flint
|first2 = Peter
|title = The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity
|year = 2013
|publisher = HarperCollins
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=kT0PAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT146&dq=The+meaning+of+the+Dead+Sea+scrolls:+their+significance+for+understanding+the+Bible,+Judaism,+Jesus,+and+Christianity+Most+scholars+agree+that+the+book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B5dpUv3xIOi4iQeo6IHABA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20meaning%20of%20the%20Dead%20Sea%20scrolls%3A%20their%20significance%20for%20understanding%20the%20Bible%2C%20Judaism%2C%20Jesus%2C%20and%20Christianity%20Most%20scholars%20agree%20that%20the%20book%20of%20Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Weber
|first = Timothy P.
|chapter = Millennialism
|editor1-last = Walls
|editor1-first = Jerry L.
|title = The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=N1XYXMTe1jYC&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Wesselius
|first = Jan-Wim
|chapter = The Writing of Daniel
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Book+of+Daniel:+Composition+and+Reception+2&hl=it&sa=X&ei=tgpiUvf9E8nriAfFkoD4Bg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}

==Further reading==

* {{Cite book|last=Baldwin|first=Joyce G.|author-link=Joyce G. Baldwin|editor=Donald J. Wiseman|title=Daniel: an introduction and commentary|year=1981|publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]]|location=Downers Grove|isbn=978-0-87784-273-6|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|author-link=Pierre Briant |last=Briant |first=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander |series=Librairie Artheme Fayard |location=Paris |year=1996 |others=Translation by Peter Daniels, 2002 |page=42 |isbn=1-57506-031-0 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Raymond E. |editor2-last=Fitzmyer |editor2-first=Joseph A. |editor3-last=Murphy |editor3-first=Roland E. |title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary |year=1999 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-859836-3 |page=1475 |ref=harv }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Carey
|first=Greg
|editor-last=Bloomquist
|editor-first=L. Gregory
|title=Vision and Persuasion: Rhetorical Dimensions of Apocalyptic Discourse
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=NyGyGyhUtIEC&pg=PA42
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-25
|year=1999
|publisher=Chalice Press
|isbn=0-8272-4005-8
|page=224
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Casey
|first=Maurice
|title=Son of Man: The interpretation and influence of Daniel 7
|year=1980
|publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
|isbn=0-281-03697-7
|page=272
|quote=lists ten commentators of the 'Syrian Tradition' who identify the fourth beast of chapter 7 as Greece, the little horn as Antiochus, and – in the majority of instances – the "saints of the Most High" as Maccabean Jews.
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Cohn-Sherbok
|first=Dan
|authorlink=Dan Cohn-Sherbok
|title=The Hebrew Bible
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=esHK1XA7_8UC&pg=PA209
|format=Google on-line books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1996
|publisher=Cassell
|isbn=0-304-33703-X
|page=257
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Colless
| first = Brian
| year = 1992
| title = Cyrus the Persian as Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel
| journal = [[Journal for the Study of the Old Testament]]
| volume = 56
| page = 115
| url= http://jot.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/17/56/113?ck=nck
| publisher = subscription site
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-12
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Dougherty
|first=Raymond Philip
|title=Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo- Babylonian Empire
|year=1929
|publisher=Yale University Press
|asin=B000M9MGX8
|page=216
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eisenman|first=Robert|title=James, the brother of Jesus : the key to unlocking the secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls|year=1998|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New York|isbn=0-14-025773-X}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Ford
|first=Desmond
|title=Daniel
|year=1978
|publisher=Southern Publishing Association
|isbn=0-8127-0174-7
|page=309
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book| last1 = Evans | first1 = Craig A. | last2 = Flint | first2 = Peter W. | author-link=Peter Flint|title = Eschatology, messianism, and the Dead Sea scrolls | url = http://books.google.com/?id=DDUw9mvbq4AC&pg=PA44 | year = 1997 | publisher = W.B. Eerdmans | location = Grand Rapids, Mich. | isbn = 978-0-8028-4230-5 | pages = }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Goldingay
|first=John
|authorlink = John Goldingay
|title=Daniel (Word Biblical Themes)
|url=http://documents.fuller.edu/sot/faculty/goldingay/cp_content/homepage/TheTheologyoftheBookofDaniel.rtf
|format=Rich text format of book
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1989
|publisher=Word Publishing Group
|location=Dallas
|isbn=0-8499-0794-2
|page=132
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Grabbe
|first=Lester L.
|editor-last=Rogerson
|editor-first=John William
|editor2-last=Lieu
|editor2-first=Judith
|title=The Oxford handbook of biblical studies
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=2008
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=USA
|isbn=0-19-923777-8
|page=920
|chapter=Chapter 16: Israel from the Rise of Hellenism to 70 CE
|chapterurl=http://books.google.ca/books?id=HMkMeaijNT4C&pg=PA287
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Godwin|first=compiled and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie ; with additional translations by Thomas Taylor and Arthur Fairbanks, Jr. ; introduced and edited by David R. Fideler ; with a foreword by Joscelyn|title=The Pythagorean sourcebook and library : an anthology of ancient writings which relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy|year=1987|publisher=[[Phanes Press]]|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=978-0-933999-51-0|edition=[New ed.]}}
* Louis F. Hartman and Alexander A. Di Lella, "Daniel", in [[Raymond E. Brown]] et al., ed., ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', 1990, pp. 406–20.
* {{Cite book
|last=Hoppe
|first=Leslie J.
|editor-last=Bergant
|editor-first=Dianne
|title=The Collegeville Bible commentary: based on the New American Bible: Old Testament
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Nj-AkOJ9wRQC&pg=PA560
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1992
|publisher=Liturgical Press
|isbn=0-8146-2211-9
|page=464
|chapter=Deuteronomy
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Keil
|first=C. F.
|first2=Franz
|last2=Delitzsch
|title=Ezekiel and Daniel
|series=Commentary on the Old Testament
|volume=9
|origyear=1955
|year=2006
|publisher=Hendrickson Publishers
|isbn=0-913573-88-4
|chapter=
|ref=harv
}}
*{{cite book|first=Tremper |last=Longman III |first2= Raymond B. |last2=Dillard |title= An Introduction to the Old Testament|publisher= Zonderman |year= 2006| edition=2nd |ref=harv|page=528|origyear=1995}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lucas|first=Ernest|title=Daniel|year=2002|publisher=Apollos|location=Leicester, England|isbn=0-85111-780-5|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Millard
| first = Alan R.
| date = Apr–June 1977
| title = Daniel 1–6 and History
| journal = [[Evangelical Quarterly]]
| volume = 49
| issue = 2
| pages = 67–73
| publisher = Paternoster
| url = http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/daniel1-6_millard.pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Miller
|first=Stephen B.
|title=Daniel
|series=New American Commentary
|volume=18
|year=1994
|publisher=Broadman and Holman
|location=Nashville
|isbn=0-8054-0118-0
|page=348
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Murphy
|first=Frederick James
|title=Fallen is Babylon: the Revelation to John
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=uZvGwtOaYNUC&pg=PA436
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=1998
|publisher=Trinity Press International
|isbn=1-56338-152-4
|page= 472
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Notes
|title=The New American Bible
|year=1992
|page=1021
|publisher=Catholic Book Publishing Co.
|isbn=978-0-89942-510-8
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Oppenheim |first=A. Leo |editor=James B. Pritchard |title=Ancient Near Eastern Texts |edition=2nd ed.; 3rd print |year=1966 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=308 |chapter=Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=H. H.
|title = Darius the Mede and the Four World Empires in the Book of Daniel: A Historical Study of Contemporary Theories
|publisher = University of Wales Press
|year = 1959
|page=195
|isbn=1-59752-896-X
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=Harold Henry
|title=The Growth of the Old Testament
|year=1963
|publisher=Harper & Row
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Schwartz
|first=Daniel R.
|title=Studies in the Jewish background of Christianity
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&pg=PA110
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1992
|publisher=Mohr Siebeck
|isbn=3-16-145798-6
|page=304
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Shea
| first = William H.
| year = 1982
| title = Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and the Book of Daniel: An Update
| journal = AUSS Journal Online Archive
| volume = 20
| issue = 2
| pages = 133–149.
| publisher = Andrews University Seminary
| url = http://www.auss.info/auss_publication_file.php?pub_id=649&journal=1&type=pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Shea
|first=William H.
|editor1-last=Holbrook
|editor1-first=Frank
|title=The Seventy Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy
|series=Daniel and Revelation Committee Series
|volume=3
|year=1986
|publisher=Review and Herald Publishing Association
|chapter=The Prophecy of Daniel 9:24–27
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=[[Martin H. Manser]] ; associate editors, [[David Barratt (expositor)|David Barratt]], [[Pieter J. Lalleman]], [[Julius Steinberg]]|title=Critical companion to the Bible : a literary reference|year=2009|publisher=[[Facts On File]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-7065-7|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stimilli|first=Davide|title=The face of immortality : physiognomy and criticism|year=2005|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-6263-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Tyndale|title=Tyndale Bible dictionary|year=2001|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|location=Wheaton, Ill.|isbn=978-0-8423-7089-9|coauthors=Elwell, Walter A., Comfort, Philip W.|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Tomasino
|first=Anthony J.
|title=Judaism before Jesus: the ideas and events that shaped the New Testament world
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=AwTobS58tZwC&pg=PA18
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=2003
|publisher=IVP Academic; Print On Demand Edition
|isbn=0-8308-2730-7
|page=345
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Wiseman
|first=D. J.
|authorlink=D. J. Wiseman
|title=Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel
|year=1965
|publisher=Tyndale Press
|location=London
|isbn=0-85111-038-X
|page=80
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Young
|first=Edward J.
|title=The Prophecy of Daniel: a Commentary
|origyear=1949
|year=2009
|publisher=Eerdmans Publishing
|isbn=0-8028-6331-0
|page=332
|ref=harv
}}
* [[John F. Walvoord]], ''Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation'', 1989. ISBN 0-8024-1753-1.
* {{Cite book|first=Desmond|last=Ford|author-link=Desmond Ford|year=1978|title=Daniel|publisher=Southern Publishing Association|isbn=0-8127-0174-7|page=309|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book| editor-last= Holbrook| editor-first = Frank B. | title= Symposium on Daniel| series= Daniel & Revelation Committee Series| volume= 2| year = 1986| publisher = Biblical Research Institute: Review and Herald Publishing Association| isbn = 0-925675-01-6| page = 557| ref = harv}}
* {{Cite book|first=Gerhard |last=Pfandl|title=Daniel: The Seer of Babylon|publisher=Review and Herald Pub Assoc|year= 2004|ref=harv|page=121|isbn=978-0-8280-1829-6 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=82twQKRNuiIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}
* {{Cite book|first=Zdravko |last=Stefanovic|title=Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise: Commentary on the Book of Daniel|publisher=Pacific Press Publishing Association|year= 2007|ref=harv|isbn=978-0-8163-2212-1 |page=480 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=H7um_XIWyUQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Book of Daniel}}
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Daniel|Daniel}}

;Jewish translations
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15773 Daniel (Judaica Press) *] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org

;Christian translations
* [http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/27_daniel.htm ''Daniel'' at The Great Books *] (New Revised Standard Version)
* [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel.html The Book of Daniel *] (Full text from [http://www.st-takla.org/ St-Takla.org], also available in [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel_.html Arabic])

;Related articles
* [http://www.itanakh.org/texts/tanakh/writings/daniel/index.htm Daniel at iTanakh]
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=34&letter=D ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':] Daniel
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Writings_2140/BickermanDaniel.htm Daniel: Wise Man and Visionary, by Elias Bickerman]

;Commentaries
* [http://books.google.ca/books?id=gG5BAAAAcAAJ Newton, Isaac (1733). ''Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel, and the apocalypse of St. John, Volume 1'' (Google eBook)] Accessed March 24, 2011

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou| [[Major prophet]]s|||}}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Esther|Esther]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] }}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Book Of}}
[[Category:Book of Daniel| ]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Ketuvim]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic literature]]

{{Link GA|pl}}

Book of Daniel

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Jerm729: /* Vision of the beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (chapter 7) */ fixed link

Samaritans

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Jerm729: Reverted to revision 613175795 by Editor2020 (talk): Wrong links and faithful edits done by IP. (TW)

:''For the parable, see [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]]. For other uses, see [[Samaritan (disambiguation)]].''
{{Infobox religious group
| group = Samaritans שומרונים
| flag =
| flag_caption =
| image = [[File:Samaritans marking Passover on Mount Gerizim, West Bank - 20060418.jpg|250px]]
| image_caption = Samaritans on [[Mount Gerizim]], [[West Bank]], 2006
| population = Approx. 800 {{smaller|(1.1.2012)}}<ref name=tsu>[http://www.thesamaritanupdate.com/ The Samaritan Update] Retrieved 8 January 2013.</ref>
| founder =
| regions = {{flag|Israel}} {{flag|Palestine}}
| tablehdr = Samaritan communities
| region1 = {{flagicon|Israel}} [[Holon]]
| pop1 = 400<ref name=tsu/>
| ref1 =
| region2 = {{flagicon|Palestine}} [[Kiryat Luza]]
| pop2 = 350<ref name=tsu/>
| ref2 =
| region3 = {{flagicon|Israel}} other cities
| pop3 = ~50
| ref3 =
| religions = Samaritanism
| scriptures = [[Samaritan Pentateuch|Samaritan Torah]] 
[[Book of Joshua (Samaritan)|Samaritan Book of Joshua]]<ref name=je-joshua/>
| languages = '''Modern Vernacular''' [[Modern Hebrew]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ,[[Arabic language|Arabic]] '''Past Vernacular''' Arabic, preceded by [[Samaritan Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and earlier [[Samaritan Hebrew language|Hebrew]] '''Liturgical''' [[Samaritan Hebrew]], [[Samaritan Aramaic language|Samaritan Aramaic]], [[Arabic language|Samaritan Arabic]]<ref name=je-joshua>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=546&letter=J&search=samaritan |title=Joshua, The Samaritan Book Of: |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref>
| related-c = [[Jews]], [[Palestinian people]]
| notes =
}}

The '''Samaritans''' ([[Samaritan Hebrew]]: ࠔࠌࠓࠉࠌ ''Samerim'' "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]", [[Jewish]] {{lang-he|שומרונים}} ''Shomronim'', {{lang-ar|السامريون}} ''Sāmeriyyūn'') are an [[ethnoreligious]] group of the [[Levant]], descended from ancient [[Semitic]] inhabitants of the region.

The Samaritans are adherents of [[Samaritanism]], an [[Abrahamic religion]] closely related to [[Judaism]]. Based on the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]],<ref>[http://books.google.co.il/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en&id=-wn8ABo-Fz0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR7#v=onepage&q=samaritans%20gerizim&f=false The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation ... - Google Books]</ref> Samaritans say that their worship is the true [[Origins of Judaism|religion]] of the ancient [[Israelites]] prior to the [[Babylonian Exile]], preserved by those who remained in the [[Land of Israel]], as opposed to [[Judaism]], which they say is a related but altered and amended religion, brought back by those returning from the Babylonian exile.

Ancestrally, Samaritans claim descent from the Israelite tribes of [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]] (the two sons of [[Joseph (son of Jacob)]]) as well as from the priestly tribe of [[Levite|Levi]],<ref name="tsu"/> who have links to ancient [[Samaria]] from the period of their entry into the land of Canaan, while some suggest that it was from the beginning of the Babylonian Exile up to the Samaritan polity of [[Baba Rabba]]. Samaritans used to include a line of Benjamin tribe, but it went extinct during the decline period of the Samaritan demographics. The split between them and their brothers; the children of Judah (the Jews) began during [[Eli the priest]], and the culmination was during the [[Kingdom of Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah]] when the Samaritans (then Kingdom of Israel) refused to accept Jerusalem as the elect, and remained on [[Mount Gerizim]].<ref>[http://www.holon.muni.il/toshavim/Community/Pages/shomroniim.aspx עיריית חולון - השומרונים]</ref> The Samaritans say that Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of Israel from the time that [[Joshua]] conquered Israel. The major issue between Jews and Samaritans has always been the location of the chosen place to worship God; Jerusalem according to the Jewish faith or Mount Gerizim according to the Samaritan version.<ref>[http://www.goisrael.gov.il/tourism_heb2/Tourist%20Information/Ethnic%20Groups/Pages/shomronim%20in%20israel.aspx שומרונים בישראל]</ref>

In the [[Talmud]], a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, the Samaritans are called ''Cutheans'' ({{lang-he|כותים}}, ''Kutim''), referring to the ancient city of [[Kutha]], geographically located in what is today [[Iraq]].<ref>"Cutheans were a very early race, widely extended and powerful. That from [[Assyria]] they extended to [[India]], [[China]], [[Arabia Petraea]] and [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]]," [http://books.google.com/books?id=yKZ87hSOJkQC&pg=PA481#v=onepage&q=from%20Assyria%20they%20extended%20to%20India%2C%20China%2C%20Arabia%20Petrea%20and%20Abyssinia&f=false Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record By Henry Burgess] - Kessinger Publishing, May 1, 2003 - p.481</ref> In the biblical account, however, Cuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria,<ref>Yitzhak Magen,'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) ''Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.,'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157ff.p.177 n.13.</ref> and they worshiped [[Nergal]].<ref>([[Books of Kings|2 Kings]], 17:30). "According to the rabbis, his emblem was a [[rooster|cock]]".</ref><ref>[http://clarke.biblecommenter.com/2_kings/17.htm Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Kings 17:30]</ref> Modern genetics suggests some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and the account in the Talmud.<ref name="evolutsioon.ut.ee"/>

Once a large community of over a million in late Roman times, the Samaritans shrank to several tens of thousands in the wake of the bloody suppression of the [[Third Samaritan Revolt]] (529 AD) against the [[Byzantine]] [[Christian]] rulers and mass conversion to Islam in the Early Muslim period of [[Palestine]].<ref name="autogenerated257">M. Levy-Rubin, "New evidence relating to the process of Islamization in Palestine in the Early Muslim Period - The Case of Samaria", in: ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'', 43 (3), p. 257-276, 2000, [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]</ref><ref name="Fattal, A. 1958 p. 72-73">Fattal, A.(1958) ''Le statut légal des non-Musulman en pays d'Islam'', Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique, p. 72-73.</ref>

As of January 1, 2012, the population was 751,<ref name="tsu" /> divided between [[Kiryat Luza]] on [[Mount Gerizim]] and the city of [[Holon]], just outside [[Tel Aviv]].<ref name="FRIEDMAN-2007">{{cite news
|author=Friedman, Matti
|date=2007-03-18
|title=Israeli sings for her estranged people
|agency=Associated Press
|pages=(Sun March 18, 2007, 2:45 PM ET)
|publisher=[[Yahoo! News]]
|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_en_mu/singing_samaritan
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070326164759/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070318/ap_en_mu/singing_samaritan
|archivedate=2007-03-26
|quote=Today there are precisely 705 Samaritans, according to the sect's own tally. Half live near the West Bank city of Nablus on Mt. Gerizim [...]. The other half live in a compound in the Israeli city of Holon, near Tel Aviv.
}}</ref><ref name="CNN14">{{cite news
|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/08/samaritans/
|title=Amid conflict, Samaritans keep unique identity
|author=Dana Rosenblatt
|publisher=[[CNN.com]]
|date=October 14, 2002}}</ref> Most Samaritans in Israel today speak Arabic and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. For [[liturgy|liturgical]] purposes, [[Samaritan Hebrew]], [[Samaritan Aramaic]], and [[Arabic language|Samaritan Arabic]] are used, all written in the [[Samaritan alphabet]], a variant of the [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Old Hebrew alphabet]], which is distinct from the [[Hebrew alphabet]].<ref>{{cite book|year=1993 |title=A History of the Hebrew Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=0-521-55634-1|author=Angel Sáenz-Badillos ; translated by John Elwolde.}}</ref> Hebrew and later Aramaic were languages in use by the Jewish and Samaritan inhabitants of Judea prior to the Roman exile.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3394699,00.html "The Samaritans' Passover sacrifice"], ''[[Ynetnews]]'', May 2, 2007</ref>

Today Samaritans need to officially go through formal [[Conversion to Judaism]] in order to become Jews. One example is Israeli TV personality [[Sofi Tsedaka]], who converted to Judaism at the age of 18.<ref>[http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/155/455.html מקומי - חולון ובת-ים nrg - ...אחרי הפיצוץ הגדול: סופי צדקה]</ref><ref>[http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4234099,00.html ynet סופי צדקה עושה שבת (וחג) - יהדות]</ref>

==Etymology==
In Jewish [[Hebrew]], the Samaritans are called ''Shomronim'', which would appear to simply mean "Samarians" ("inhabitants of Samaria", [[Samaria]] in Jewish Hebrew being [[Shomron]]). In [[Samaritan Hebrew]], however, the Samaritans call themselves "Samerim", which according to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, is derived from the Ancient Hebrew term ''Šamerim/Samerim'' שַמֶרִים, meaning "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/[[Torah]]]".<ref>David Noel Freedman, ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', 5:941 (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992).</ref> Thus, it may suggest Samaria is named after the Samaritans, rather than the Samaritans being named after Samaria. In Jewish tradition, Mount Samaria, meaning "Watch Mountain", is named so because watchers used to watch from those mountains for approaching armies from Egypt from ancient times. Historically, Samaria was the key geographical concentration of the Samaritan community.

The [[Ancient Hebrew]] "Šamerim/Samerim"<ref>{{cite web|title=Biblical Hebrew Lexicon entry#SMRI|url=http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H8113&t=KJV|work=Blue Letter Bible|publisher=King James Version|author=Gesenius Biblical Hebrew Dictionary}}</ref> (Samerin سامرين in Arabic which have the same meaning<ref name="Manzur">{{cite book|author=Ibn Manzur|authorlink=Ibn Manzur|title=Lisan al Arab|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EY5QAAAACAAJ|volume=21|date=19??|publisher=Al-dar al-Misriya li-l-talif wa-l-taryamar|isbn=978-0-86685-541-9|chapter=entry SMR}}</ref>), which in the Bible means ''Guardians'' (singular Šameri/Sameri) comes from the Hebrew root verb S-M-R שמר which means: "to watch", or "to guard".<ref>{{cite web|title=Gessinius Lexicon Hebrew entry#H8104|url=http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H8104&t=KJV|work=Hebrew|publisher=Blue Letter Bible}}</ref>

That the etymology of the Samaritans' [[ethnonym]] in Samaritan Hebrew is derived from "Guardians/Keepers/Watchers [of the Law/Torah]" (to protect it from alteration against the Talmudic Rabbinic school which became the majority of Jews today), as opposed to Samaritans being named after the region of Samaria, is supported by Christian Church fathers [[Epiphanius of Salamis]] in ([[Panarion]]), [[Jerome]] and [[Eusibius]] in [[Chronicon]] and [[Origen]] in The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel, and in some Ancient Jewish Talmudic Bible Interpretations of [[Midrash Tanhuma]] on Genesis chapter 31, and [[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]] chapter 38 Page 21.<ref name="Pummer2002">{{cite book|author=Reinhard Pummer|title=Early Christian Authors on Samaritans and Samaritanism: Texts, Translations and Commentary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=dhDlzh--Q2AC&pg=PA123|year=2002|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=978-3-16-147831-4|pages=123,42,156}}</ref><ref name="Coggins1975">{{cite book|author=R. J. Coggins|title=Samaritans and Jews: the origins of Samaritanism reconsidered|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=JvcRAQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-8042-0109-4}}</ref><ref name="Cyprus)1987">{{cite book|author=Saint Epiphanius (Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus)|title=The Panarion of Ephiphanius of Salamis: Book I (sects 1-46)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=s9-utOHPLfEC&pg=PA29|date=1 January 1987|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-07926-7|page=30}}</ref><ref name="Keseling1921">{{cite book|author=Paul Keseling|title=Die chronik des Eusebius in der syrischen ueberlieferung (auszug)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=gHhNAAAAYAAJ|year=1921|publisher=Druck von A. Mecke|page=184}}</ref><ref name="MillerVandome2010">{{cite book|author1=Frederic P. Miller|author2=Agnes F. Vandome|author3=McBrewster John|title=Chronicon (Eusebius)|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Mg5RbwAACAAJ|date=5 May 2010|publisher=VDM Publishing|isbn=978-613-0-70443-8}}</ref><ref name="Origen1896">{{cite book|author=Origen|title=The Commentary of Origen on S. John's Gospel: The Text Rev. with a Critical Introd. & Indices|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PGuLXIy_eXEC|year=1896|publisher=The University Press}}</ref><ref name="Gesellschaft1862">{{cite book|last1=Grunbaum|first1=M.|authorlink1=|last2=Geiger |first2=Rapoport|title=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: ZDMG|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mgY-AAAAcAAJ|volume=16|year=1862|publisher=Harrassowitz|pages=389–416|chapter=mitgetheilten ausfsatze uber die samaritaner}}</ref>

Eusebius stressed that Origen the Bishop of [[Caesaria]] (home of rabbis graduating college of his time) in Palestine, had formidable knowledge in Hebrew language and created the [[Hexapla]] in which he arranged Greek verses and Hebrew verses together, and also discovered the Lost Hebrew Psalms and translated them by himself.<ref name="Eusebius2007">{{cite book|author=Eusebius|title=Eusebius: The Church History|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LIgMFJdXwagC|volume=6|year=2007|publisher=Kregel Academic|isbn=978-0-8254-9488-8|page=200|chapter=16}}</ref>

==History and origin==

===Samaritan sources===
{{Juddom}}
According to Samaritan tradition, Mount Gerizim was the original Holy Place of the Israelites from the time that [[Joshua]] conquered [[Canaan]] and the tribes of Israel settled the land. The reference to Mount Gerizim derives from the biblical story of Moses ordering Joshua to take the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]], (the number of which did not include the priestly tribe of Levi) to the mountains by [[Nablus]] and place half of the tribes, six in number, on the top of Mount Gerizim, the Mount of the Blessing, and the other half in [[Mount Ebal]], the Mount of the Curse. The two mountains were used to symbolize the significance of the commandments and serve as a warning to whoever disobeyed them (Deut. 11:29; 27:12; Josh. 8:33).

Samaritans claim they are Israelite descendants of the Northern Israelite tribes of [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]], who survived the destruction of the [[Northern Kingdom of Israel]] by the [[Assyria]]ns in 722 BC. The inscription of [[Sargon II]] records the deportation of a relatively small proportion of the Israelites from Samaria (27,290, according to the annals),<ref>Sg II Nimrud Prism IV:25-41</ref> so it is quite possible that a sizable population remained<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Ed., v. 24, p. 109 (London, 1910)</ref> that could identify themselves as Israelites, the term that the Samaritans prefer for themselves.

Samaritan historiography places the basic schism from the remaining part of Israel after the tribes of Israel conquered and returned to the land of [[Canaan]], led by Joshua. After Joshua's death, [[Eli (Bible)|Eli]] the priest left the tabernacle which Moses erected in the desert and established on Mount Gerizim, and built another one under his own rule in the hills of [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]].

[[Abu l-Fath]], who in the 14th century wrote a major work of Samaritan history, comments on Samaritan origins as follows:<ref>''The Keepers, An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans'', by Robert T. Anderson and Terry Giles, Hendrickson Publishing, 2002, pages 11-12</ref>

{{quote|A terrible civil war broke out between Eli son of Yafni, of the line of Ithamar, and the sons of Pincus ([[Phinehas]]), because Eli son of Yafni resolved to usurp the High Priesthood from the descendants of Pincus. He used to offer sacrifices on an altar of stones. He was 50 years old, endowed with wealth and in charge of the treasury of the children of Israel...

He offered a sacrifice on the altar, but without salt, as if he were inattentive. When the Great High Priest Ozzi learned of this, and found the sacrifice was not accepted, he thoroughly disowned him; and it is (even) said that he rebuked him.

Thereupon he and the group that sympathized with him, rose in revolt and at once he and his followers and his beasts set off for Shiloh. Thus Israel split in factions. He sent to their leaders saying to them, ''Anyone who would like to see wonderful things, let him come to me.'' Then he assembled a large group around him in Shiloh, and built a Temple for himself there; he constructed a place like the Temple (on Mount Gerizim). He built an altar, omitting no detail—it all corresponded to the original, piece by piece.

At this time the Children of Israel split into three factions. A loyal faction on Mount Gerizim; a heretical faction that followed false gods; and the faction that followed Eli son of Yafni on Shiloh.}}

Further, the ''[[Samaritan Chronicle Adler]]'', or New Chronicle, believed to have been composed in the 18th century using earlier chronicles as sources states:

{{quote|And the children of Israel in his days divided into three groups. One did according to the abominations of the [[Gentile]]s and served other gods; another followed Eli the son of Yafni, although many of them turned away from him after he had revealed his intentions; and a third remained with the High Priest Uzzi ben Bukki, the chosen place.}}

===Jewish sources===
The emergence of the Samaritans as an ethnic and religious community distinct from other [[Levant]] peoples appears to have occurred at some point after the Assyrian conquest of the Israelite [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] in approximately 721 BC. The records of [[Sargon II of Assyria]] indicate that he deported 27,290 inhabitants of the former kingdom.

Jewish tradition affirms the Assyrian deportations and replacement of the previous inhabitants by forced resettlement by other peoples, but claims a different ethnic origin for the Samaritans. The Talmud accounts for a people called [[Kutha|"Cuthim"]] on a number of occasions, mentioning their arrival by the hands of the Assyrians. According to [[Books of Kings|2 Kings]]<ref>[[Books of Kings|2 Kings]] 17.</ref> and [[Josephus]]<ref>Josephus, ''[[Antiquities of the Jews|Antiquities]]'' 9.277–91).</ref> the people of Israel were removed by the king of the Assyrians ([[Sargon II]])<ref>See the wording of 2 Kings 17 which mentions [[Shalmaneser V|Shalmaneser]] in verse 3 but the "king of the Assyrians" from verse 4 onward.</ref> to [[Halah]], to [[Tell Halaf|Gozan]] on the [[Khabur River]] and to the towns of the [[Medes]]. The king of the Assyrians then brought people from [[Babylon]], [[Kutha|Cuthah]], [[Avah]], [[Emath]], and [[Sepharvaim]] to place in Samaria. Because God sent lions among them to kill them, the king of the Assyrians sent one of the priests from Bethel to teach the new settlers about God's ordinances. The eventual result was that the new settlers worshipped both the God of the land and their own gods from the countries from which they came.

This account is contradicted by the version in [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]],<ref>Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) ''Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.,'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212 .p.187 'The author of Chronicles conceals the information that is given prominence in Kings, and vice versa.' 'The books of [[Ezra]] and [[Nehemiah]] adopt a narrow sectarian approach that seeks to maintain the uniqueness and racial purity of the exiles in Babylonia, while Chronicles is more broad-minded and views the Israelite nation as a great people that includes all the tribes, both Judah and Israel.'</ref> where, following Samaria's destruction, King [[Hezekiah]] is depicted as endeavouring to draw the [[Ephraimites]] and [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manassites]] closer to [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. Temple repairs at the time of [[Josiah]] were financed by moneys from all "the remnant of Israel" in Samaria, including from Manasseh, Ephraim and Benjamin.<ref>{{bibleref|2Chronicles|34:9|9}}</ref> Jeremiah likewise speaks of people from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria who brought offerings of frankincense and grain to the house of the Lord.<ref>{{bibleref|Jeremiah|41:5|9}}</ref> Chronicles makes no mention of an Assyrian resettlement.<ref>Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) ''Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.,'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212 .p.186</ref> Yitzakh Magen argues that the version of Chronicles is perhaps closer to the historical truth, and that the Assyrian settlement was unsuccessful, a notable Israelite population remained in Samaria, part of which, following the conquest of Judah, fled south and settled there as refugees.<ref>Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds.) ''Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E.,'' Eisenbrauns, 2007 pp.157-212. p.187.</ref>

A Midrash ([[Genesis Rabbah]] Sect. 94) relates about an encounter between [[Rabbi Meir]] and a Samaritan. The story that developed includes the following dialogue:
:Rabbi Meir: What tribe are you from?
:The Samaritan: From Joseph.
:Rabbi Meir : No!
:The Samaritan: From which one then?
:Rabbi Meir : From Issachar.
:The Samaritan: How do you figure?
:Rabbi Meir: For it is written (Gen 46:13): The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. These are the Samaritans (shamray).

Zertal dates the Assyrian onslaught at 721 BC to 647 BC and discusses three waves of imported settlers. He shows that Mesopotamian pottery in Samaritan territory cluster around the lands of Menasheh and that the type of pottery found was produced around 689 BC. Some date their split with the Jews to the time of [[Nehemiah]], [[Ezra]], and the building of the [[Second Temple]] in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. Returning exiles considered the Samaritans to be non-Israelites and, thus, not fit for this religious work.

The ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]'' (under "Samaritans") summarizes both past and the present views on the Samaritans' origins. It says:

{{quote|Until the middle of the 20th century it was customary to believe that the Samaritans originated from a mixture of the people living in Samaria and other peoples at the time of the conquest of Samaria by Assyria (722–721 BC). The Biblical account in II Kings 17 had long been the decisive source for the formulation of historical accounts of Samaritan origins. Reconsideration of this passage, however, has led to more attention being paid to the Chronicles of the Samaritans themselves. With the publication of Chronicle II (Sefer ha-Yamim), the fullest Samaritan version of their own history became available: the chronicles, and a variety of non-Samaritan materials.

According to the former, the Samaritans are the direct descendants of the Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and until the 17th century AD they possessed a high priesthood descending directly from Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas. They claim to have continuously occupied their ancient territory and to have been at peace with other Israelite tribes until the time when Eli disrupted the Northern cult by moving from Shechem to Shiloh and attracting some northern Israelites to his new followers there. For the Samaritans, this was the 'schism' par excellence.("Samaritans" in ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', 1972, Volume 14, op. cit., col. 727.)}}

Furthermore, to this day the Samaritans claim descent from the tribe of Joseph:

{{quote|The laymen also possess their traditional claims. They are all of the tribe of Joseph, except those of the tribe of Benjamin, but this traditional branch of people, which, the Chronicles assert, was established at Gaza in earlier days, seems to have disappeared. There exists an aristocratic feeling amongst the different families in this community, and some are very proud over their pedigree and the great men it had produced.(J. A. Montgomery, ''The Samaritans The Earliest Jewish Sect: Their History, Theology And Literature'', 1907, op. cit., p. 32.)}}

===Dead Sea scrolls===
The [[Dead Sea scroll]] 4Q372 hopes that the northern tribes will return to the land of Joseph. The current dwellers in the north are referred to as fools, an enemy people. However they are not referred to as foreigners. It goes on to say that the Samaritans mocked Jerusalem and build a temple on a high place to provoke Israel.<ref>{{cite book |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=lZSl64Or5UMC&dq=4Q372&q=4Q372#v=snippet&q=4Q372&f=false| title = The Origin of the Samaritans| author = Magnar Kartveit |publisher = BRILL | year = 2009 | pages =168–171|accessdate= 30 January 2014}}</ref>

===Tensions between the Samaritans and the Judeans===
The narratives in Genesis about the rivalries among the twelve sons of Jacob describe tensions between north and south. They were temporarily united in the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Monarchy]], but after the death of Solomon the kingdom split in two, the [[Kingdom of Israel]] with its capital [[Samaria]] and the [[Kingdom of Judea]] with its capital [[Jerusalem]].

The [[Deuteronomistic history]], written in Judah, portrayed Israel as a sinful kingdom, divinely punished for its idolatry and iniquity by being destroyed by the Assyrians in 720 BC.

The tensions continued in the postexilic period. Chronicles is more inclusive than Ezra-Nehemiah since for the Chronicler the ideal is of one Israel with twelve tribes; the Chronicler concentrates on Judah and ignores northern Israel.<ref>Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" page 363, 2009.</ref>{{contradiction-inline |reason='is more inclusive' vs. 'ignores northern Israel' |date=February 2014}}

The Samaritans claimed that they were the true Israel who were descendants of the "[[Ten Lost Tribes]]" taken into Assyrian captivity. They had their own temple on Mount Gerizim and claimed that it was the original sanctuary. Moreover, they claimed that their version of the Pentateuch was the original and that the Jews had a falsified text produced by Ezra during the Babylonian exile.

Both Jewish and Samaritan religious leaders taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group, and neither was to enter each other's territories or even to speak to one another. During the New Testament period, although the tensions went unrecognized by Roman authorities, Josephus reports numerous violent confrontations between Jews and Samaritans throughout the first half of the first century.<ref>Mark A. Powell, "Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey" 'Ch.01 The People of Palestine at the Time of Jesus', Baker Academic, 2009.</ref>

====Rejection by Judeans====
[[File:Samaritan inscription.jpg|right|thumb|Ancient inscription in [[Samaritan Hebrew]]. From a photo c.1900 by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]].]]

According to the Jewish version of events, when the Judean exile ended in 538 BC and the exiles began returning home from Babylon, they found their former homeland populated by other people who claimed the land as their own and [[Jerusalem]], their former glorious capital, in ruins. The inhabitants worshiped the [[Paganism|Pagan gods]], but when the then-sparsely populated areas became infested with dangerous wild beasts, they appealed to the king of Assyria for Israelite priests to instruct them on how to worship the "God of that country." The result was a syncretistic religion, in which national groups worshiped the Hebrew god, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

According to {{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|36:22–23|HE}}, the Persian emperor, [[Cyrus the Great]] (reigned 559 BC – 530 BC), permitted the return of the exiles to their homeland and ordered the rebuilding of the Temple in [[Jerusalem]] ([[Zion]]). The prophet Isaiah identified Cyrus as "the Lord's Messiah" ([[Mashiach]]; see {{bibleverse||Isaiah|45:1|HE}}). The word "[[Messiah]]" refers to an anointed one, such as a king or priest.

{{bibleverse||Ezra|4|HE}} says that the local inhabitants of the land offered to assist with the building of the new temple during the time of [[Zerubbabel]], but their offer was rejected. According to Ezra, this rejection precipitated a further interference not only with the rebuilding of the temple but also with the reconstruction of Jerusalem.

The text is not clear on this matter, but one possibility is that these "people of the land" were thought of as Samaritans. We do know that Samaritan and Jewish alienation increased, and that the Samaritans eventually built their own temple on [[Mount Gerizim]], near [[Shechem]].

The rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem took several decades. The project was first led by [[Sheshbazzar]] (about 538 BC), later by [[Zerubbabel]] and [[Joshua the High Priest|Jeshua]], and later still by [[Haggai]] and [[Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)|Zechariah]] (520–515 BC). The work was completed in 515 BC.

The term "Cuthim" applied by Jews to the Samaritans had clear [[pejorative]] connotations, implying that they were interlopers brought in from [[Kutha]] in Mesopotamia and rejecting their claim of descent from the ancient Tribes of Israel.

===Assyrian account of the conquest and settlement of Samaria===
However, the following account of the Assyrian kings, which was among the archaeological discoveries in Babylon, differs from the Samaritan account, and confirms much of the Jewish biblical account but may differ in regard to the ethnicity of the foreigners settled in Samaria by Assyria. At one point it is simply said that they were from Arabia, while at another, that they were brought from a number of countries conquered by Sargon II:

{{quote|[the Samar]ians [who had agreed with a hostile king]...I fought with them and decisively defeated them]....carried off as spoil. 50 chariots for my royal force ...[the rest of them I settled in the midst of Assyria]....The Tamudi, Ibadidi, Marsimani and Hayappa, who live in distant Arabia, in the desert, who knew neither overseer nor commander, who never brought tribute to any king--with the help of Ashshur my lord, I defeated them. I deported the rest of them. I settled them in Samaria/Samerina.(Sargon II Inscriptions, COS 2.118A, p. 293)}}

Also,

{{quote|The inhabitants of Samaria/Samerina, who agreed [and plotted] with a king [hostile to] me, not to do service and not to bring tribute [to Ashshur] and who did battle, I fought against them with the power of the great gods, my lords. I counted as spoil 27,280 people, together with their chariots, and gods, in which they trusted. I formed a unit with 200 of [their] chariots for my royal force. I settled the rest of them in the midst of Assyria. I repopulated Samaria/Samerina more than before. I brought into it people from countries conquered by my hands. I appointed my eunuch as governor over them. And I counted them as Assyrians.(Nimrud Prisms, COS 2.118D, pp. 295-296)}}

===Further history===

====Temple on Mount Gerizim====
Archaeological excavations at Mount Gerizim indicate that a Samaritan temple was built there in the first half of the 5th century BC.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6NsxZRnxE70C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=Lipschits+Yehud&source=bl&ots=ItiriRREm4&sig=8qiPIQOnJdojfacDoHFXFmM4muM&hl=en&ei=UoEUTMGlBcO9cYSd9JAM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Lipschits%20Yehud&f=false |title=Yitzhak Magen, ''The Dating of the First Pahse of the Samaritan Temple on Mount Gerizim in the Light of the Archaeological Evidence'' (in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz, eds, "Judah and Judeans in the Fourth Century BC", Eisenbrauns, 2007) |publisher=Books.google.com.au |accessdate=2011-12-05}}</ref> The date of the schism between Samaritans and Jews is unknown, but by the early 4th century BC the communities seem to have had distinctive practices and communal separation.

According to Samaritans,<ref>http://www.grizimtour.com/Tourism.htm {{dead link|date=February 2010}}</ref> it was on Mount Gerizim that Abraham was commanded by God to offer Isaac, his son, as a sacrifice {{Bibleref|Genesis|22:2|9}}. In both narratives, God then causes the sacrifice to be interrupted, explaining that this was the ultimate test of Abraham's obedience, as a result of which all the world would receive blessing.

The Torah mentions the place where God shall choose to establish His name (Deut 12:5), and Judaism takes this to refer to Jerusalem. However, the Samaritan text speaks of the place where God ''has chosen'' to establish His name, and Samaritans identify it as [[Mount Gerizim]], making it the focus of their spiritual values.

The legitimacy of the Samaritan temple was attacked by Jewish scholars including [[Andronicus ben Meshullam]].

In the Christian Bible, the [[Gospel of John]] relates an encounter between a Samaritan woman and [[Jesus]] in which she says that the mountain was the center of their worship {{Bibleref|John|4:20|9}}.

====Antiochus IV Epiphanes and Hellenization====
In the 2nd century BC a series of events led to a revolution of some Judeans against Antiochus IV.

[[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] was on the throne of the [[Seleucid Empire]] from 175 to 163 BC. His policy was to Hellenize his entire kingdom and standardize religious observance. According to 1 Maccabees 1:41-50 he proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and mandated death to anyone who refused to worship him.

The universal peril led the Samaritans, eager for safety, to repudiate all connection and kinship with the Jews. The request was granted. This was put forth as the final breach between the two groups, being alleged at a much later date in the Christian Bible (John 4:9), "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."<ref>{{bibleref|John|4:9;27|9}}</ref>

Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175–164 BC):<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/282-jesus-and-the-samaritan-woman |title=Jesus and the Samaritan Woman / A Samaritan Woman Approaches:1 |publisher=Christiancourier.com |accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref>

{{quote|the Samaritan temple was renamed either Zeus Hellenios (willingly by the Samaritans according to Josephus) or, more likely, Zeus Xenios, (unwillingly in accord with 2 Macc. 6:2) Bromiley, 4.304).''}}

Josephus Book 12, Chapter 5 quotes the Samaritans as saying:

{{quote|We therefore beseech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give order to Apolonius, the governor of this part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of thy affairs, to give us no disturbances, nor to lay to our charge what the Jews are accused for, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs, but let our temple which at present hath no name at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius.}}

{{quote|Shortly afterwards, the Greek king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews of Israel to violate their ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as the inhabitants of the latter place had requested. —II Maccabees 6:1–2}}

This Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim was destroyed by [[John Hyrcanus]] in about 128 BC, having existed about 200 years. Only a few stone remnants of it exist today.

====164 BC and after====
During the [[Hellenistic]] period, Samaria was largely divided between a Hellenizing faction based in Samaria (Sebastaea) and a pious faction, led by the High Priest and based largely around Shechem and the rural areas. Samaria was a largely autonomous state nominally dependent on the [[Seleucid Empire]] until around 129 BC, when the Jewish [[Hasmonean]] king Yohanan Girhan ([[John Hyrcanus]]) destroyed the Samaritan temple and devastated Samaria.

====Roman period====
[[File:Gerizim2.jpg|left|thumb|Samaritan worship centre on [[Mount Gerizim]]. From a photo c.1900 by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]].]]

Under the [[Roman Empire]], Samaria was a part of the [[Roman Judaea|Roman-ruled province of Judaea]].

Samaritans appear briefly in the Christian gospels, most notably in the account of the [[Samaritan woman at the well]] and the [[parable of the Good Samaritan]]. In the latter, told to Jews, a Samaritan helps a wounded Jew even though Jews and Samaritans despised each other.

This period is considered as something of a golden age for the Samaritan community, the population thought to number up to a million.<ref>{{cite web|author=Greg Johnston |url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/israel-and-the-palestinian-territories |title=Israel & the Palestinian Territories Travel Information and Travel Guide |publisher=Lonely Planet |accessdate=2011-12-05}}</ref> The Temple of Gerizim was rebuilt after the [[Bar Kochba]] revolt against the Romans, around 135 AD. Much of Samaritan liturgy was set by the high priest [[Baba Rabba]] in the 4th century.

A building excavated on [[Delos]], dating to the 2nd century BC, is commonly identified as a [[Delos Synagogue|Samaritan synagogue]], which would make it the oldest known Jewish or Samaritan synagogue.<ref>{{cite journal | author = L. Michael White | title = The Delos Synagogue Revisited Recent Fieldwork in the Graeco-Roman Diaspora | journal = Harvard Theological Review | volume = 80 | year = 1987 | pages = 133–160 | doi=10.1017/s0017816000023579}}</ref> On the other hand, Matassa argues that, although there is evidence of Samaritans on Delos, there is no evidence the building was a synagogue.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Lidia Matassa | title = Unravelling the Myth of the Synagogue on Delos | journal = Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society | year = 2007 | volume = 25 | pages = 81–115}}</ref>

There were some Samaritans in the [[Iran|Persia]]n Empire, where they served in the [[Sassanid]] army.

====Byzantine times====
{{further|Samaritan Revolts}}
According to Samaritan sources, [[Eastern Roman Emperor]] [[Zeno (emperor)|Zeno]] (who ruled 474-491 and whom the sources call "Zait the King of Edom") persecuted the Samaritans. The Emperor went to [[Sichem]] (''Neapolis''), gathered the elders and asked them to convert; when they refused, Zeno had many Samaritans killed, and re-built the synagogue to a church. Zeno then took for himself [[Mount Gerizim]], where the Samaritans worshipped God, and built several edifices, among whom a tomb for his recently deceased son, on which he put a cross, so that the Samaritans, worshipping God, would prostrate in front of the tomb. Later, in 484, the Samaritans revolted. The rebels attacked Sichem, burnt five churches built on Samaritan holy places and cut the finger of bishop Terebinthus, who was officiating the ceremony of [[Pentecost]]. They elected a [[Justa (rebel)|Justa]] (or Justasa/Justasus) as their king and moved to [[Caesarea]], where a noteworthy Samaritan community lived. Here several Christians were killed and the church of St. Sebastian was destroyed. Justa celebrated the victory with games in the circus. According to [[John Malalas]], the ''dux Palaestinae'' Asclepiades, whose troops were reinforced by the Caesarea-based [[Arcadiani]] of Rheges, defeated Justa, killed him and sent his head to Zeno.<ref>Malalas, 15.</ref> According to [[Procopius]], Terebinthus went to Zeno to ask for revenge; the Emperor personally went to Samaria to quell the rebellion.<ref>Procopius, ''Buildings'', 5.7.</ref>

Modern historians believe that the order of the facts preserved by Samaritan sources should be inverted, as the persecution of Zeno was a consequence of the rebellion rather than its cause, and should have happened after 484, around 489. Zeno rebuilt the church of St. Procopius in Neapolis (Sichem) and the Samaritans were banned from Mount Gerizim, on whose top a signalling tower was built to alert in case of civil unrest.<ref>Alan David Crown, ''The Samaritans'', Mohr Siebeck, 1989, ISBN 3-16-145237-2, pp. 72-73.</ref>

Under a [[charismatic authority|charismatic]], [[messianic figure]] named [[Julianus ben Sabar]] (or ben Sahir), the Samaritans launched a war to create their own independent state in 529. With the help of the [[Ghassanid]] Arabs, Emperor [[Justinian I]] crushed the revolt; tens of thousands of Samaritans died or were [[slavery|enslaved]]. The Samaritan faith was virtually outlawed thereafter by the Christian [[Byzantine Empire]]; from a population once at least in the hundreds of thousands, the Samaritan community dwindled to near extinction.

====After the Muslim Conquests====
[[File:The High Priest of the Samaritans with the Codex Nablus c. 192.jpg|thumb|Yitzhaq ben Amram ben Shalma ben Tabia, the High Priest of the Samaritans, Nablus, c. 1920.]]

[[File:Interior of the Synagogue of the Samaritans Nablus c. 1920.jpg|thumb|Interior of the Synagogue of the Samaritans in Nablus, c. 1920.]]

By the time of the [[Muslim Conquests]], Samaritans were living in an area stretching between [[Egypt]], [[Syria]], and [[Iran]]. Like other non-Muslims in the empire, such as Jews, Samaritans were considered to be [[People of the Book]].

Their minority status was protected by the Muslim rulers, and they had the right to practice their religion, but, as [[dhimmi]], adult males had to pay the [[jizya]] or "protection tax".

It has been suggested that they were forced to wear red colored turbans as a result of the terms of a document known as the [[Pact of Umar II]], but this stipulation is not explicitly mentioned in the document, the authenticity has been questioned by contemporary scholars, and the tradition cannot be independently verified.

During the [[Crusade]]s, Samaritans, like the other non-Latin Christian inhabitants of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], were second-class citizens, but they were tolerated and perhaps favoured because they were docile and had been mentioned positively in the Christian New Testament.<ref>Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Frankish period", in ''The Samaritans'', ed. Alan D. Cross (Tübingen, 1989), pp. 86-87.</ref>

Over the centuries of Byzantine, Arab and Turkish rule, the Samaritans suffered many hardships which included [[forced conversion to Christianity]], [[forced conversion to Islam]], harsh religious decrees, massacre and persecution.

While the majority of the Samaritan population in [[Damascus]] was killed or converted during the reign of the Ottoman Pasha [[Mardam Beq]] in the early 17th century, the remainder of the Samaritan communities from [[Damascus]] and the other cities where they had a presence moved to [[Shechem]], due to its close proximity to [[Mount Gerizim]].

The Shechem community endured because most of the surviving diaspora returned, and they have maintained a tiny presence there to this day. In 1624, the last [[Samaritan High Priest]] of the line of [[Eleazar]] son of [[Aaron]] died without issue, but descendants of Aaron's other son, [[Ithamar]], remained and took over the office.<ref name=Ireton/>

The situation of the Samaritan community improved significantly during the [[British Mandate of Palestine]]. At that time, they began to work in the public sector, like many other groups. During the thirties one of the Samaritans, [[Tawfeek Khadir al-Kahen]], was nominated as member of the Shechem Municipality.<ref name="Yaish"/> The censuses of [[1922 census of Palestine|1922]] and [[1931 census of Palestine|1931]] recorded 163 and 182 Samaritans in Palestine, respectively.<ref name=Census1931v1>{{cite book | author = E. Mills | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Volume I. | place = Alexandria | year = 1933 | publisher = Government of Palestine | page = 87}}</ref> The majority of them lived in Nablus.<ref name=Census1931v1/>

==Samaritan origins of Palestinian Muslims in Nablus==
Much of the local [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] population of [[Nablus]] is believed to be descended from Samaritans who converted to Islam.<ref name=Ireton/> According to the historian Fayyad Altif, large numbers of Samaritans converted due to persecution under various Muslim rulers, and because the monotheistic nature of Islam made it easy for them to accept it.<ref name=Ireton>{{cite web|title=The Samaritans - The Samaritans: Strategies for Survival of an Ethno-religious Minority in the Twenty First Century|author=Sean Ireton|publisher=Anthrobase|year=2003|accessdate=2007-11-29|url=http://www.anthrobase.com/Txt/I/Ireton_S_01.htm}}</ref> The Samaritans themselves describe the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman period]] as the worst period in their modern history, as many Samaritan families were forced to convert their religion to Islam during that time.<ref name="Yaish">[http://www.zajel.org/article_view.asp?newsID=4425&cat=18 The Political History of the Samaritans] - zajel / An-Najah National University, January 24, 2005</ref> Even today, certain Nabulsi family names such as Muslimani, Yaish, and Shakshir among others, are associated with Samaritan ancestry.<ref name=Ireton/>

For the Samaritans in particular, the passing of the [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah|al-Hakem]] Edict by the [[Fatimids]] in 1021, under which all Jews and Christians in the Fatimid ruled southern [[Levant]] were ordered to either convert to Islam or leave, along with another notable forced conversion to Islam imposed at the hands of the rebel Ibn Firāsa,<ref name="autogenerated257"/><ref name="Fattal, A. 1958 p. 72-73"/> would contribute to their rapid unprecedented decrease, and ultimately almost complete extinction as a separate religious community. As a result, they have decreased from more than a million in late Roman (Byzantine) times to 150 people by the end of the Ottoman Era.

In 1940, the future Israeli president and historian [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] wrote an article in which he stated that two thirds of the residents of Nablus and the surrounding neighboring villages are of Samaritan origin.<ref name="Zvi"/> He mentioned the name of several Palestinian Muslim families as having Samaritan origins, including the Buwarda and Kasem families, who protected Samaritans from Muslim persecution in the 1850s.<ref name="Zvi"/> He further claimed that these families had written records testifying to their Samaritan ancestry, which were maintained by their priests and elders.<ref name="Zvi">{{cite book |title=Oral telling of Samaritan traditions: Volume 780-785|last=Ben Zvi|first=Yitzhak |authorlink= Yitzhak Ben Zvi |date=October 8, 1985 |publisher=A.B. Samaritan News |location= |isbn= |page=8}}</ref>

==Genetic studies==

===Demographic investigation===
Demographic investigations of the Samaritan community were carried out in the 1960s. Detailed pedigrees of the last 13 generations show that the Samaritans comprise four lineages:
*The Tsedakah lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Manasseh
*The Joshua-Marhiv lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Ephraim
*The Danfi lineage, claiming descent from the tribe of Ephraim
*The priestly [[Kohen|Cohen]] lineage from the tribe of Levi.

===Y-DNA and mtDNA comparisons===
Recently several genetic studies on Samaritan population were made using haplogroup comparisons as well as wide-genome genetic studies. Of the 12 Samaritan males used in the analysis, 10 (83%) had Y chromosomes belonging to [[Haplogroup J (Y-DNA)|haplogroup J]], which includes three of the four Samaritan families. The Joshua-Marhiv family belongs to [[haplogroup]] [[Haplogroup J1 (Y-DNA)|J1]], while the Danfi and Tsedakah families belong to [[Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA)|haplogroup J2]], and can be further distinguished by M67, the derived allele of which has been found in the Danfi family. The only Samaritan family not found in [[haplogroup]] [[J]] was the Cohen family (Tradition: Tribe of Levi) which was found in [[haplogroup]] [[E3b|E3b1a M78]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Shen |first=P |author2=Lavi T |author3=Kivisild T |author4=Chou V |author5=Sengun D |author6=Gefel D |author7=Shpirer I |author8=Woolf E, Hillel J, Feldman MW, Oefner PJ |year=2004 |url=http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Shen2004.pdf |title=Reconstruction of Patrilineages and Matrilineages of Samaritans and Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation | journal = Human Mutation | volume = 24 |pages=248–260 | format= PDF | pmid = 15300852 | doi = 10.1002/humu.20077 |issue=3}}</ref> This article predated the change of the classification of haplogroup E3b1-M78 to E3b1a-M78 and the further subdivision of E3b1a-M78 into 6 subclades based on the research of Cruciani, et al.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/humu.9445 |last=Cruciani |first=F. |author2=La Fratta, R. |author3=Torroni, A. |author4=Underhill, P. A. |author5=Scozzari, R. |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112696808/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |pages=831–2 |issue=8 |title=Molecular Dissection of the Y Chromosome Haplogroup E-M78 (E3b1a): A Posteriori Evaluation of a Microsatellite-Network-Based Approach Through Six New Biallelic Markers | journal = Human Mutation | volume = 27 |date=April 2006 |pmid=16835895 }}</ref>

The 2004 article on the genetic ancestry of the Samaritans by Shen ''et al.'' concluded from a sample comparing Samaritans to several Jewish populations, all currently living in Israel—representing [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jews]], [[Ashkenazi Jews]], [[Iraqi Jews]], [[Libyan Jews]], [[Moroccan Jews]], and [[Yemenite Jews]], as well as Israeli [[Druze]] and [[Palestinians|Palestinian Arabs]]—that the principal components analysis suggested a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in what is today identified as the paternally inherited Israelite high priesthood (Cohanim) with a common ancestor projected to the time of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel.<ref name="evolutsioon.ut.ee">{{PDFlink|[http://evolutsioon.ut.ee/publications/Shen2004.pdf Reconstruction of Patrilineages and Matrilineages of Samaritans and Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation]|855 KB}}, Hum Mutat 24:248–260, 2004.</ref>

Archaeologists Aharoni, et al., estimated that this "exile of peoples to and from Israel under the Assyrians" took place during ca. 734 BC to 712 BC.<ref>Yohanan Aharoni, Michael Avi-Yonah, Anson F. Rainey, [[Ze'ev Safrai]], ''The Macmillan Bible Atlas'', 3rd Edition, Macmillan Publishing: New York, 1993, p. 115. A posthumous publication of the work of Israeli archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni and Michael Avi-Yonah, in collaboration with Anson F. Rainey and [[Ze'ev Safrai]].</ref> The authors speculated that when the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, resulting in the exile of many of the Israelites, a subgroup of the Israelites that remained in the Land of Israel "married Assyrian and female exiles relocated from other conquered lands, which was a typical Assyrian policy to obliterate national identities."<ref name="evolutsioon.ut.ee"/> The study goes on to say that "Such a scenario could explain why Samaritan Y chromosome lineages cluster tightly with Jewish Y lineages, while their mitochondrial lineages are closest to [[Iraqi Jews|Iraqi Jewish]] and Palestinian mtDNA sequences." Non-Jewish Iraqis were not sampled in this study; however, mitochondrial lineages of Jewish communities tend to correlate with their non-Jewish host populations, unlike paternal lineages which almost always correspond to Israelite lineages.

Genetic differences between the Samaritans and neighboring Jewish and non-Jewish populations are corroborated in that study of 7,280 bp of non-recombining Y-chromosome and 5,622 bp of coding and hypervariable segment (HVS-I) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Comparative sequence analysis was carried out on 12 Samaritan Y-chromosome and mtDNA samples from 9 male and 7 female Samaritans separated by at least two generations.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} The four Samaritan families clustered to four distinct Y-chromosome haplogroups according to their patrilineal identity. Of the 16 Samaritan mtDNA samples, 14 carry either of two mitochondrial haplotypes that are rare or absent among other worldwide ethnic groups.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

==Modern times==
[[File:Shomroni tora2.jpg|thumb|left|Samaritan and the Samaritan Torah]]

As of January 1, 2012, there were 751<ref name="tsu"/> Samaritans, half of whom reside in their modern homes at [[Kiryat Luza]] on [[Mount Gerizim]], which is sacred to them, and the rest in the city of [[Holon]], just outside [[Tel Aviv]].<ref name="FRIEDMAN-2007"/><ref name="CNN14"/> There are also four Samaritan families residing in [[Binyamina-Giv'at Ada]], [[Matan, Israel|Matan]] and [[Ashdod]].

After the end of the British Mandate of Palestine and the subsequent establishment of the State of Israel, some of the Samaritans who were living in [[Jaffa]] emigrated to the West Bank and lived in Nablus. But by the late 1950s, around 100 Samaritans left the West Bank for Israel under an agreement with the Jordanian authorities.<ref name="Yaish"/>

Until the 1980s, most of the Samaritans resided in the Samarian town of [[Nablus]] below [[Mount Gerizim]]. They relocated to the mountain itself near the [[Israel]]i settlement neighborhood of [[Har Brakha]] as a result of violence during the [[First Intifada]] (1987–1990). Consequently, all that is left of the Samaritan community in Nablus/Shechem itself is an abandoned synagogue. The [[Israel Defense Forces|Israeli army]] maintains a presence in the area.<ref name=CNN14/>

[[File:Samaritan Pilgrimage 1920.JPG|upright|thumb|During the entire week following the Feast of the Passover, the Samaritans remain encamped on Mount Gerizim. On the last day of the encampment they begin at dawn a pilgrimage to the crest of the sacred mount. Before setting forth on this pilgrimage, however, the men spread their cloths and repeat the creed and the story of the Creation in silence, after which, in loud voice they read the Book of Genesis and the first quarter of the Book of Exodus, ending with the story of the Passover and the flight from Egypt — John D. Whiting   ''The National Geographic Magazine'', Jan 1920]]

Relations of Samaritans with Jewish Israelis and Muslim and Christian Palestinians in neighboring areas have been mixed. In 1954, [[President of Israel|Israeli President]] [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] fostered a Samaritan enclave in Holon, Israel. Samaritans living in both Israel and in the West Bank enjoy Israeli [[citizenship]]. Samaritans in the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]]-ruled territories are a minority in the midst of a Muslim majority, although the Samaritans are a recognized minority along with Christians and Jews. In Israel the Samaritans operate without the status of a recognised religion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arabhumanrights.org/publications/countries/palestine/rapporteurs/a-hrc-10-8-add2-09e.pdf/2009/01/12/|title=HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Tenth session Agenda item 3 PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir Addendum MISSION TO ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY|publisher=http://www.arabhumanrights.org|date=2011-03-17|accessdate=2011-05-07}}</ref> They had a reserved seat in the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]] in the [[Palestinian general election, 1996|election of 1996]], but they no longer have one. Palestinian Samaritans have been granted [[passport]]s by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Samaritan communities tend to be more politically aligned with Israel, regardless of whether they live in Jewish-majority or Arab-majority areas.<ref>[http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Samaritans.html Samaritans], World Culture Encyclopedia</ref> However, Al-Kahen Wasef al-Samery, a Samaritan leader, declared in 1960 that Israel is an enemy for them as it is an enemy for the Arabs. The Samaritans in Nablus often try to show the differences between them and the Jews, more so than those who live in Holon. Samaritans have stated that the military authorities do not treat them as a minority. On the contrary, they felt that they were treated like West Bank Arabs.<ref>[http://www.zajel.org/article_view.asp?newsID=4427&cat=18 The Samaritans in Nablus after 1967], An-Najah National University</ref> Prior to 1948, the Samaritans were divided politically into two factions. The first was led by Sadaqa al-Kahen, who supported the Palestinian Arab leader [[Mohammad Amin al-Husayni]], while the second faction was led by Wasef al-kahen, who supported another Palestinian Arab leader, [[Ragheb Nashashibi]].<ref name="Yaish"/>

As a small community physically divided between neighbors in a hostile region, Samaritans have been hesitant overtly to take sides in the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]], fearing that doing so could lead to negative repercussions. While the Samaritan communities in both the West Bank's Nablus and Israeli Holon have assimilated to the surrounding culture, Hebrew has become the primary domestic language for Samaritans. Samaritans who are Israeli citizens are drafted into the military, along with the Jewish citizens of Israel.

One of the biggest problems facing the community today is the issue of continuity. With such a small population, divided into only four families ([[Kohen|Cohen]], Tsedakah, Danfi and Marhib) (a fifth family died out in the second-last century''Which century? See [[Talk:Samaritans#In which century did the 5th Samaritan family die out?|this discussion]].'' and a general refusal to accept converts, there has been a history of [[genetic disorder|genetic disease]] within the group due to the small [[gene pool]]. To counter this, the Samaritan community has recently agreed that men from the community may marry non-Samaritan (primarily, Israeli Jewish) women, provided that the women agree to follow Samaritan religious practices. There is a six-month trial period prior to officially joining the Samaritan community to see whether this is a commitment that the woman would like to take. This often poses a problem for the women, who are typically less than eager to adopt the strict interpretation of biblical (Levitical) laws regarding [[menstrual cycle|menstruation]], by which they must live in a separate dwelling during their periods and after [[childbirth]]. There have been a few instances of [[interfaith marriage|intermarriage]]. In addition, all marriages within the Samaritan community are first approved by a [[geneticist]] at [[Sheba Medical Center|Tel HaShomer Hospital]], in order to prevent the spread of [[genetic disease]]. In meetings arranged by "[[Mail-order bride|international marriage agencies]]",<ref>{{cite web|last=Patience|first=Martin|title=Ancient community seeks brides abroad|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6333475.stm|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=9 January 2013|date=6 February 2007}}</ref> a small number of [[Ukrainian people|Ukrainian]] women have recently been allowed to marry into the community in an effort to expand the gene pool.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2013/01/20131873534572211.html|title=West Bank Samaritans fight extinction|last=Ferguson|first=Jane|date=8 January 2013|publisher=Al Jazeera English|accessdate=8 January 2013|location=[[Mount Gerizin]]}}</ref>

The [[Israeli Ministry of Interior]] has refused to officially recognize inter-marriages between Jews and Samaritans<ref>[http://www.mynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-4118828,00.html mynet חולון - מחאה למה שר הפנים מסרב להכיר בנישואינו]</ref>

The head of the community is the [[Samaritan High Priest]], who is selected by age from the priestly family, and resides on Mount Gerizim. The current high priest is [[Aabed-El ben Asher ben Matzliach]] who assumed the office in 2013.

==Samaritanism==

[[File:Samaritans.jpg|thumb|left|Samaritans, from a photo c. 1900 by the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]].]]

The Samaritan religion is based on some of the same books used as the basis of mainstream Judaism, but differs from the latter. Samaritan scriptures include the [[Samaritan Pentateuch|Samaritan version of the Torah]], the Memar Markah, the Samaritan liturgy, and Samaritan law codes and biblical commentaries. Samaritans appear to have texts of the Torah as old as the [[Masoretic Text]] and the [[Septuagint]]; scholars have various theories concerning the actual relationships between these three texts.

[[File:Samaritan Passover prayer 1920.JPG|thumb|Samaritans pray before the Holy Rock on Mount Gerizim]]

===Religious beliefs===
*There is one [[God]], [[YHWH]], the same God recognized by the [[prophet#The Hebrew and Jewish concepts of prophet|Hebrew prophets]].
*The [[Torah]] was given by God to [[Moses]].
*[[Mount Gerizim]], not [[Jerusalem]], is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel's God.
*Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be [[resurrection|resurrected]] by [[Taheb]], a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say Moses).
*Paradise ([[heaven]]).
*The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of tradition; [[scholar]]s are secondary to the priesthood.
*The authority of post-Torah sections of the Tanakh, and classical Jewish [[rabbi]]nical works (the [[Talmud]], comprising the [[Mishnah]] and the [[Gemara]]) is rejected.
*They have a [[Ten Commandments#Samaritan|significantly different version]] of the [[Ten Commandments]] (for example, their 10th commandment is about the sanctity of Mount Gerizim).

The Samaritans retained the [[Samaritan alphabet|Ancient Hebrew script]], the [[Kohen Gadol|high priest]]hood, [[animal sacrifice]]s, the eating of [[lamb (meat)|lambs]] at [[Passover]], and the celebration of Aviv in spring as the New Year. Yom Teruah (the biblical name for [[Rosh Hashanah]]), at the beginning of [[Tishrei]], is not considered a [[new year]] as it is in Judaism. Their main [[Samaritan Pentateuch|Torah text]] differs from the [[Masoretic Text]], as well. Some differences are doctrinal: for example, the Samaritan Torah explicitly states that Mount Gerizim is "the place that God ''has chosen''" for the Temple, as opposed to the Jewish Torah that refers to "the place that God ''will'' choose". Other differences are minor and seem more or less accidental.

===Relationship to mainstream Judaism===
[[File:Samaritan doorpost.jpg|thumb|The Samaritan [[Mezuzah]] engraved above the front door]]

Samaritans refer to themselves as ''Bene Yisrael'' ("[[Children of Israel]]") which is a term used by all Jewish denominations as a name for the Jewish people as a whole. They however do not refer to themselves as ''Yehudim'' (Judeans), the standard Hebrew name for Jews, considering the latter to denote only mainstream Jews.

The Talmudic attitude expressed in tractate Kutim is that they are to be treated as Jews in matters where their practice coincides with the mainstream but are treated as non-Jews where their practice differs. Since the 19th century, mainstream Judaism has regarded the Samaritans as a Jewish sect and the term Samaritan Jews has been used for them.<ref>Shulamit Sela, ''The Head of the Rabbanite, Karaite and Samaritan Jews: On the History of a Title'', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 57, No. 2 (1994), pp. 255-267</ref>

===Religious texts===
Samaritan law is not the same as [[halakha]] (Rabbinical Jewish law). The Samaritans have several groups of religious texts, which correspond to Jewish halakhah. A few examples of such texts are:
*'''[[Torah]]'''
**''[[Samaritan Pentateuch]]'': only inspired text. (Contains about 6,000 variations from the Masoretic text. Most are minor.)
*'''Historical writings'''
**''[[Samaritan Chronicle, The Tolidah]]'' (Creation to the time of Abishah)
**[[Book of Joshua (Samaritan)|''Samaritan Chronicle'', The Chronicle of Joshua]] (Israel during the time of divine favor) (4th century, in Arabic and Aramaic)
**''[[Samaritan Chronicle, Adler]]'' (Israel from the time of divine disfavor until the exile)
*'''[[Hagiography|Hagiographical]] texts'''
**''Samaritan Halakhic Text'', The Hillukh (Code of halakhah, marriage, circumcision, etc.)
**''Samaritan Halakhic Text'', the Kitab at-Tabbah (Halacha and interpretation of some verses and chapters from the Torah, written by Abu Al Hassan 12th century CE)
**''Samaritan Halakhic Text'', the Kitab al-Kafi (Book of Halakhah, written by Yosef Al Ascar 14th century AD)
**''Al-Asatir''—legendary Aramaic texts form 11th 12th centuries, containing:
***''Haggadic Midrash'', Abu'l Hasan al-Suri
***''Haggadic Midrash'', Memar Markah—3rd or 4th century theological treaties attributed to ''Hakkam'' Markha
***''Haggadic Midrash'', Pinkhas on the Taheb
***''Haggadic Midrash'', Molad Maseh (On the birth of Moses)
[[File:Bitknest2.jpg|thumb|Entrance to a modern Samaritan synagogue in the city of [[Holon]], Israel]]
*''Defter'', prayer book of psalms and hymns.<ref>''Samaritan Documents, Relating To Their History, Religion and Life'', translated and edited by John Bowman, Pittsburgh Original Texts & Translations Series Number 2, 1977.</ref>

==Christian sources: New Testament==
Samaria or Samaritans are mentioned in the [[New Testament]] books of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]], [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], [[Gospel of John|John]] and [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]]. The [[Gospel of Mark]] contains no mention of Samaritans or Samaria. The best known reference to the Samaritans is the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]], found in the book of Luke. The following references are found:
*When instructing his disciples as to how they should spread the word, Jesus tells them not to visit any Gentile or Samaritan city, but instead go to the "lost sheep of Israel". {{Bibleref2|Matthew|10:5-6}}
* A Samaritan village rejects a request from Jesus for hospitality because the villagers did not want to facilitate a pilgrimage to [[Jerusalem]], a practice which they saw as a violation of the [[Torah|Law of Moses]]. {{Bibleref2|Luke|9:51-53}}
* The [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]]. {{Bibleref2|Luke|10:30-37}}.
* [[Jesus]] healed ten [[leper]]s, of whom only one returned to praise God, and he was a Samaritan. {{Bibleref2|Luke|17:11-19, esp. 17:16}}
* Jesus asks a Samaritan woman of [[Shechem|Sychar]] for water from [[Jacob's Well]]. Thereafter many of the Samaritans from her town become followers of Jesus. This woman considered herself and her people to be Israelites, descendants of Jacob. {{Bibleref2|John| 4:4-42}}
* Jesus is accused of being a Samaritan and being demon-possessed. He denies having a demon, but makes no comment on the Samaritan accusation. {{Bibleref2|John|8:48}}
* Christ tells them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and that they would be his witnesses in "Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." {{Bibleref2|Acts|1:8}}
* The Apostles are being persecuted. Philip preaches the Gospel to a city in Samaria; and the Apostles in Jerusalem hear about it. So they send the Apostles Peter and John to pray for and lay hands on the baptized believers, who then receive the Holy Spirit (vs. 17). They then return to Jerusalem, preaching the Gospel "in many villages of the Samaritans". {{Bibleref2|Acts|8:1-25}}
* {{Bibleref2|Acts|9:31}} says that at that time the churches had "rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria".
* {{Bibleref2|Acts|15:2-3}} says that Paul and Barnabas were "being brought on their way by the church" and that they passed through "Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles". (''Phoenicia'' in several other English versions).

The rest of the New Testament makes no specific mention of Samaria or Samaritans.

==Media==
''The Samaritan News'', a monthly magazine started in 1969, is written in Samaritan, Hebrew, Arabic, and English and deals with current and historical issues with which the Samaritan community is concerned. The ''Samaritan Update'' is a bi-monthly e-newsletter for Samaritan Studies.<ref>[http://www.thesamaritanupdate.com/ The Samaritan News]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Abu Sa'id al-Afif]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Montgomery |first=James Alan |title=The Samaritans, the Earliest Jewish Sect |origyear=1907 |series=The [[Bohlen Lectures]] for 1906 |year=2006 |publisher=Wipf & Stock |location= Eugene, Oregon |isbn=1-59752-965-6 }}
*{{cite book |last=Thomson |first= J. E. H. |title= Tha Samaritans: Their Testimony to the Religion of Israel|publisher=Oliver and Boyd |location=Edinburgh & London |year= 1919 }}
*{{cite book |last=Gaster |first= Moses| authorlink=Moses Gaster |title=The Samaritans: Their History, Doctrines and Literature |series=The [[Schweich Lectures]] for 1923 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year= 1925 }}
*{{cite book |last=Macdonald |first=John |title= The Theology of the Samaritans|publisher=SCM Press |location= London |series = New Testament Library |year= 1964 }}
*{{cite book |last=Purvis |first=James D. |title= The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Origin of the Samaritan Sect |series=Harvard Semitic Monographs |volume=2 |publisher= Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Mass.|year= 1968 }}
*{{cite book |last=Bowman |first=John |title= The Samaritan Problem |publisher= Pickwick Press |location= |year=1975 }}
*{{cite book |last=Coggins |first=R. J. |title= Samaritans and Jews: The Origins of Samaritanism Reconsidered |series= Growing Points in Theology |publisher=Basil Blackwell |location= Oxford |year=1975 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pummer |first= Reinhard |title=The Samaritans |publisher= E. J. Brill |location=Leiden |isbn= 90-04-07891-6 |year= 1987 }}
*{{cite book |last=Hjelm |first=Ingrid |title=Samaritans and Early Judaism: A Literary Analysis| series=Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Series, 303 |publisher=Sheffield Academic Press |location= |isbn=1-84127-072-5|year= 2000 }}
*[http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/9783110212839.1.25 Hjelm, Ingrid, "Mt Gerezim and Samaritans in Recent Research", in ''Samaritans: Past and Present: Current Studies'', Edited by Mor, Menachem; Reiterer, Friedrich V.; Winkler, Waltraud (Berlin, New York) (DE GRUYTER) 2010, Pages 25–44, eBook ISBN 978-3-11-021283-9, Print ISBN 978-3-11-019497-5]
*[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=TIcWAoiRhgAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Anderson,+Robert+T.%3B+Giles,+Terry+%282002%29.+The+Keepers:+An+Introduction+to+the+History+and+Culture+of+the+Samaritans&source=bl&ots=IkA7UnygTs&sig=DTx8YvqeDHtUes5e3eoLdc0jv9c&hl=en&ei=FZ4cTMWWGY7JceTulZgN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Anderson%2C%20Robert%20T.%3B%20Giles%2C%20Terry%20%282002%29.%20The%20Keepers%3A%20An%20Introduction%20to%20the%20History%20and%20Culture%20of%20the%20Samaritans&f=false {{cite book |last=Anderson |first= Robert T. |author2=Giles, Terry |title= The Keepers: An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans |publisher= Hendrickson Publishing |location= |isbn= 1-56563-519-1 |year=2002 |origyear= 2002}}]
*[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=onFolAET0C8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Tradition+kept:+the+literature+of+the+Samaritans&source=bl&ots=lK_nJOlFkv&sig=36noOuETqaJ6oHylhTVe60iebz0&hl=en&ei=OqkcTJPLF8HQcZWE-J8N&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Anderson, Robert T., Giles, Terry, "Tradition kept: the literature of the Samaritans"(Hendrickson Publishers, 2005)]
*{{cite book |last= Crown|first=Alan David |title=A Bibliography of the Samaritans: Revised Expanded and Annotated |origyear=1984 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2005| edition=3rd |location= |isbn= 0-8108-5659-X }}
*Heinsdorff, Cornel (2003). ''Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin bei Juvencus. Mit einem Anhang zur lateinischen Evangelienvorlage'' (= Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte, Bd. 67), Berlin/New York. ISBN 3-11-017851-6
*Zertal, Adam (1989). "The Wedge-Shaped Decorated Bowl and the Origin of the Samaritans". ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'', No. 276. (November 1989), pp. 77–84.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Multicol}}
'''Samaritan view'''
*[http://www.thesamaritanupdate.com The Samaritan Update]

'''Jewish view'''
*[[Jewish Encyclopedia]], 1911: [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=110&letter=S#429 "Samaritans"]
*[http://www.tabletmag.com/news-and-politics/33879/good-samaritans/ Tablet magazine] How Israel's smallest religious minority offers Jews a glimpse of what might have been

'''Independent views'''
*[http://www.adath-shalom.ca/samaritan_origin.htm "The Origin and Nature of the Samaritans and their Relationship to Second Temple Jewish Sects"], David Steinberg
*[http://www.livius.org/saa-san/samaria/samaritans.htm "Samaritans"] (theory on the Samaritan-Jewish tensions), Jona Lendering
*[http://www.jewishmag.co.il/78mag/samaritans/samaritans.htm "Guards of Mount Gerizim"], Alex Maist

{{Multicol-break}}

'''Books and other information'''
*[http://www.houseofdavid.ca/sam_mont.htm "The Samaritans – the earliest Jewish sect"], by [http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1800s/montgomery_james_a.html James A Montgomery]
**[http://www.google.com/books?id=eIhtAAAAMAAJ "The Samaritans – the earliest Jewish sect"], also accessible via [[Google]] [[Google Books|Books]]
*[http://www.houseofdavid.ca/sam_int.htm#bib "Bibliography"], James A Montgomery
*[http://www.samaritans-museum.com/ Samaritan Museum], [[Mount Gerizim|"Gerizim"]] ([[English language]])
*[http://sacred-texts.com/journals/oc/mhs.htm "The Messianic Hope of the Samaritans" by Jacob, Son of Aaron, High Priest of the Samaritans, Chicago, 1907]
* [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=pACJYw0bg3QC&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=curtius+alecander+samaritans&source=bl&ots=GB6tZ5iv4B&sig=Coq2_HG7AB88kgbc4IRpmqUR4wY&hl=en&ei=Nt3RSuj7D9LK_gb8uKjZAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false "Josephus' attitude towards the Samaritans" from "Studies in Hellenistic Judaism" By Louis H. Feldman]
*[http://www.shomronim.com Web Site about the Samaritans life]

'''Photographic links'''
*[http://www.edkaprov.com/samaritans "Samaritans at Mount Grizim near Nablus and the West Bank"], Edward Kaprov photojournalist
*[http://seagull-gull.livejournal.com/353493.html "Passover at Samaritans. Mount Grizim, West Bank"], Inna Kalinina, journalist
*[http://www.rbenninghaus.de/samaritans.htm "Samaritans in Nablus and the West Bank"], Rüdiger Benninghaus
{{commons category|Samaritans}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Samaritans}}
{{Multicol-end}}

{{Ethnic groups in Israel}}
{{Ethnic groups in the State of Palestine}}
{{religion topics}}

[[Category:Samaritans| ]]
[[Category:Abrahamic religions]]
[[Category:Ancient Levant]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Monotheistic religions]]
[[Category:Semitic peoples]]
[[Category:Samaritan culture and history| ]]
[[Category:Ten Lost Tribes]]
[[Category:Palestinian people]]

{{Link FA|fr}}
[[ml:ശമരിയര്‍]]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt

2014-06-16T03:32:36Z

Jerm729: r

===[[Maccabean Revolt]]===
{{REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS AfD|S}}

:{{la|Maccabean Revolt}} – (<includeonly>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt|View AfD]]</includeonly><noinclude>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2014 June 16#{{anchorencode:Maccabean Revolt}}|View log]]</noinclude>{{int:dot-separator}} [http://toolserver.org/~snottywong/cgi-bin/votecounter.cgi?page=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Maccabean_Revolt Stats])
:({{Find sources|Maccabean Revolt}})
There is an article already called: [[Maccabees]]. No need for an extra or similar one. [[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]] ([[User talk:Jerm729|talk]]) 00:31, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Israel|list of Israel-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/History|list of History-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Military|list of Military-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Judaism|list of Judaism-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:'''Keep''' Are you kidding me? This event is unquestionably covered in multiple independent, reliable sources. The fact that there is already an article on a related topic does not take that away, even if their content overlaps significantly. &there4; [[Special:Contributions/ZX95|ZX95]] <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[User talk:ZX95|discuss]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 02:20, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Keep''': the Maccabean Revolt is a subject distinct from the Maccabeans; though it is what they are the most famous for (which, I assume, is the nominator's reasoning), the two topics (each extensively covered by suitable sources, per [[User:ZX95|ZX95]]) are distinct. [[User:הסרפד|<big>הסרפד</big>]] ([[User talk:הסרפד|call me '''''Hasirpad''''']]) 02:27, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Snow Keep''' The article itself references more than enough reliable sources to justify a keep. There is no way that this nomination is going to end in anything but a keep, so I recommend a snow keep per [[WP:SNOW]]. [[User:Spirit of Eagle|Spirit of Eagle]] ([[User talk:Spirit of Eagle|talk]]) 02:41, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Keep''' The revolt is a topic that stands on its own, separate and apart from the [[Maccabees]] article, backed up by reliable and verifiable sources. [[User:Alansohn|Alansohn]] ([[User talk:Alansohn|talk]]) 02:51, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
::@[[User:ZX95|ZX95]], [[User:הסרפד| הסרפד]], [[User:Spirit of Eagle|Spirit of Eagle]], [[User:Alansohn|Alansohn]] - Article: [[Maccabees]] covers the exact same thing if you actually read both articles. An article with reliable sources does not make a phony article legit for Wikipedia. Simply this, [[Maccabean Revolt]] is a [[Wikipedia:Stub|WP:SA]] that covers some exact information as [[Maccabees]] covers more of the same. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]03:03, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:::[[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]]: No, it does not. The Maccabees were a historically important family; the Maccabean Revolt was one war they waged. That, considering that the Maccabean Revolt has in-depth coverage in its own right, is reason enough for a separate article though it is a stub for now. [[User:הסרפד|<big>הסרפד</big>]] ([[User talk:הסרפד|call me '''''Hasirpad''''']]) 03:10, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
::::[[User:הסרפד| הסרפד]]: The article is basiclly covering and using information from articles: [[1 Maccabees]] and [[Hasmonean dynasty]], Also, 1/4 of the reliable sources is a dead link. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]03:32, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt

2014-06-16T03:05:31Z

Jerm729: "covers"

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt

2014-06-16T03:03:06Z

Jerm729: rs

===[[Maccabean Revolt]]===
{{REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS AfD|S}}

:{{la|Maccabean Revolt}} – (<includeonly>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt|View AfD]]</includeonly><noinclude>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2014 June 16#{{anchorencode:Maccabean Revolt}}|View log]]</noinclude>{{int:dot-separator}} [http://toolserver.org/~snottywong/cgi-bin/votecounter.cgi?page=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Maccabean_Revolt Stats])
:({{Find sources|Maccabean Revolt}})
There is an article already called: [[Maccabees]]. No need for an extra or similar one. [[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]] ([[User talk:Jerm729|talk]]) 00:31, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Israel|list of Israel-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/History|list of History-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Military|list of Military-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:Note: This debate has been included in the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Judaism|list of Judaism-related deletion discussions]]. [[User:Gene93k|• Gene93k]] ([[User talk:Gene93k|talk]]) 01:48, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:'''Keep''' Are you kidding me? This event is unquestionably covered in multiple independent, reliable sources. The fact that there is already an article on a related topic does not take that away, even if their content overlaps significantly. &there4; [[Special:Contributions/ZX95|ZX95]] <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[User talk:ZX95|discuss]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> 02:20, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Keep''': the Maccabean Revolt is a subject distinct from the Maccabeans; though it is what they are the most famous for (which, I assume, is the nominator's reasoning), the two topics (each extensively covered by suitable sources, per [[User:ZX95|ZX95]]) are distinct. [[User:הסרפד|<big>הסרפד</big>]] ([[User talk:הסרפד|call me '''''Hasirpad''''']]) 02:27, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Snow Keep''' The article itself references more than enough reliable sources to justify a keep. There is no way that this nomination is going to end in anything but a keep, so I recommend a snow keep per [[WP:SNOW]]. [[User:Spirit of Eagle|Spirit of Eagle]] ([[User talk:Spirit of Eagle|talk]]) 02:41, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
*'''Keep''' The revolt is a topic that stands on its own, separate and apart from the [[Maccabees]] article, backed up by reliable and verifiable sources. [[User:Alansohn|Alansohn]] ([[User talk:Alansohn|talk]]) 02:51, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
:@[[User:ZX95|ZX95]], [[User:הסרפד| הסרפד]], [[User:Spirit of Eagle|Spirit of Eagle]], [[User:Alansohn|Alansohn]] - Article: [[Maccabees]] covers the exact same thing if you actually read both articles. An article with reliable sources does not make a phony article legit for Wikipedia. Simply this, [[Maccabean Revolt]] is a [[Wikipedia:Stub|WP:SA]] that covers some exact information as [[Maccabees]] more of the same. -- [[User:Jerm729|'''♣Jerm♣''']][[User talk:Jerm729|''729'' ]]03:03, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Book of Sirach

2014-06-16T01:33:43Z

Jerm729: /* Structure */ fixed link

{{redirect|Sirach|the medieval text|Alphabet of Sirach|the scholar|Jesus ben Sirach}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Ecclesiasticus|Ecclesiastes}}

[[File:Zentralbibliothek Zürich - Alle Weissheit ist bey Gott dem Herrn - 000012138.jpg|thumb|250px|"Alle Weissheit ist bey Gott dem Herrn..." (Sirach, first chapter, German translation), anonymous artist 1654]]

The '''Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sira'''<ref>Or "…of Joshua son of Sirach", the literal translation of ''ben''.</ref> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|r|æ|k}}, commonly called the '''Wisdom of Sirach''' or simply '''Sirach''', and also known as the '''Book of Ecclesiasticus''' {{IPAc-en|ɨ|ˌ|k|l|iː|z|i|ˈ|æ|s|t|ɪ|k|ə|s}} or '''Siracides''' {{IPAc-en|s|aɪ|ˈ|r|æ|s|ɨ|d|iː|z}} (abbreviated Ecclus.<ref>MLA citation. Gigot, Francis. [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05263a.htm ''Ecclesiasticus.''] The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 25 Oct. 2013 ].</ref>) or '''Ben Sira''',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/ben-sira/ |title=Book of Ben Sira |publisher=Salem Communications Corporation |work=BibleStudyTools.com |date= |accessdate=2013-10-25}}</ref> is a work of ethical teachings from approximately 200 to 175 BCE written by the [[Jewish]] scribe [[Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira]] of [[Jerusalem]].

In [[Egypt]], it was translated into Greek by the author's grandson, who added a prologue. The '''Prologue to the Book of the All-Virtuous Wisdom of Joshua ben Sirach''' is generally considered the earliest witness to a canon of the books of the prophets, and thus the date of the text as we have it is the subject of intense scrutiny. The book itself is the largest wisdom book to have been preserved from antiquity.<ref name=Coogan>{{cite book|title=The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books New York, pp. 99–101|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, USA|isbn=0-19-528478-X|pages=99–101|author=Daniel J. Harrington|edition=4th|authorlink=Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach|editor=Michael Coogan}}</ref>

==Canonical status==
Sirach is accepted as part of the [[Christian biblical canon]] by [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]], [[Anglican]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prayerbook.ca/the-prayer-book-online/129-tables-of-lessons-page-xvi |title=Tables of Lessons |work=Prayerbook.ca |publisher=The Prayer Book Society of Canada |date= |accessdate=2013-10-25}}</ref> and most [[Oriental Orthodox|Oriental Orthodox.]] In addition, like the Churches of the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Churches include it in their lectionaries, and as a book proper for reading, devotion, and prayer. Its influence on early Christianity is evident, as it was explicitly cited in the [[Epistle of James]], the [[Didache]] (iv. 5), and the [[Epistle of Barnabas]] (xix. 9). [[Clement of Alexandria]] and [[Origen]] quote from it repeatedly, as from a γραφή, or holy book.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> The [[Cheltenham|Catalogue of Cheltenham]], [[Damasus I]], the [[Council of Hippo|Councils of Hippo]] (393) and [[Council of Carthage|Carthage]] (397), [[Pope Innocent I]], the second Council of Carthage (419), and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] all regarded it as canonical, although the Council of Laodicea, of Jerome, and of Rufinus of Aquileia, ranked it instead as an ecclesiastical book.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/> It was finally definitively declared canonical in 1546 during the fourth session of the [[Council of Trent]].<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia"/>

Sirach is not part of the Jewish canon established at the hypothetical [[Council of Jamnia]], perhaps due to its late authorship,<ref>Manhardt,Laurie, Ph.D., ''Come and See Wisdom: Wisdom of the Bible'', p. 173'' ''(Emmaus Road Publishing 2009), ISBN 978-1-931018-55-5.</ref> although it is not clear that the canon was completely "closed" at the time of Ben Sira.<ref>Ska, Jean Louis, '' The Exegesis of the Pentateuch: Exegetical Studies and Basic Questions'', pp. 184–195 (Mohr Siebeck Tubingen 2009), ISBN 978-3-16-149905-0.</ref> Others have suggested that Ben Sira's self-identification as the author precluded it from attaining canonical status, which was reserved for works that were attributed (or could be attributed) to the prophets,<ref>Mulder, Otto , ''Simon the High Priest in Sirach 50'', p. 3 fn.8 (Koninkliijke Brill nv 2003), ISBN 90-08-12316-4 ("The highly esteemed book of Ben Sira is not sacred Scripture [because] 'the author was known to have lived in comparatively recent times, in an age when, with the death of the last prophets, the holy spirit had departed from Israel.").</ref> or that it was denied entry to the canon as a rabbinical counter-reaction to its embrace by the nascent Christian community.<ref>Sulmasy, Daniel P., M.D. ''The Rebirth of the Clinic: An Introduction to Spirituality in Health Care'', p. 45 (Georgetown Univ. Press 2006), ISBN 978-1-58901-095-6.</ref>

However, Sirach was considered scripture by some Jews in the diaspora. For instance, it was included in the canon of the Jewish [[Septuagint]], the 2nd century BCE Greek version of the Jewish scriptures used by [[Diaspora]] Jews, through which it became part of the Catholic canon. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the [[Cairo Genizah]] evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages.<ref>Harrington, Daniel J., ''Invitation to the Apocrypha'', p. 90 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1999), ISBN 0-8028-4633-5.</ref>

Because it was excluded from the Jewish canon, Sirach was excised from the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] canon following the [[Reformation]].

==Structure==
As with other [[Sapiential Books|wisdom books]], there is no easily recognizable structure in Sirach; in many parts it is difficult to discover a logical progression of thought or to discern the principles of arrangement.<ref name=Coogan /> However, a series of six poems about the search for and attainment of wisdom (1:1-10, 4:11-19; 6:18-37; 14:20-15:10; 24:1-33; and 38:24-39:11) divide the book into something resembling chapters, although the divisions are not thematically based.<ref name=Coogan /> The exceptions are the first two chapters, whose reflections on wisdom and fear of God provide the theological framework for what follows, and the last nine chapters, which function as a sort of climax, first in an extended praise of God's glory as manifested through creation (42:15-43:33) and second in the celebration of the heroes of ancient Israel's history dating back to before the [[Genesis flood narrative|Great Flood]] through contemporary times (see previous section).<ref name=Coogan />

Despite the lack of structure, there are certain themes running through the Book that reappear at various points. The New Oxford Annotated Apocrypha identifies ten major recurring topics:

* 1. The Creation (16:24-17:24, 18:1-14; 33:7-15; 39:12-35; and 42:15-43:33);
* 2. Death (11:26-28; 22:11-12; 38:16-23; and 41:1-13);
* 3. Friendship (6:5-17; 9:10-16: 19:13-17; 22:19-26: 27:16-21; and 36:23-37:15);
* 4. Happiness (25:1-11; 30:14-25; and 40:1-30);
* 5. Honor and shame (4:20-6:4; 10:19-11:6; and 41:14-42:8);
* 6. Money matters (3:30-4:10; 11:7-28; 13:1-14:19; 29:1-28; and 31:1-11);
* 7. Sin (7:1-17; 15:11-20; 16:1-17:32; 18:30-19:3; 21:1-10; 22:27-23:27; and 26:28-28:7);
* 8. Social justice (4:1-10; 34:21-27; and 35:14-26);
* 9. Speech (5:9-15; 18:15-29; 19:4-17; 20:1-31; 23:7-15; 27:4-7; 27:11-15; and 28:8-26); and
* 10. Women (9:1-9; 23:22-27; 25:13-26:27; 36:26-31; and 42:9-14).<ref name=Coogan />

==Contents==
[[Image:Illustration Ben Sira 25.jpg|thumb|Illustration from Sirach, {{circa}} 1751.]]

''The Wisdom of Sirach'' is a collection of ethical teachings. Thus ''Ecclesiasticus'' closely resembles ''[[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]]'', except that, unlike the latter, it is presented as the work of a single author, not an anthology of maxims drawn from various sources, presented in verse form. The question of which [[Adage|apothegms]] actually originated with Sirach is open to debate, although scholars tend to regard him as a compiler or anthologist.<ref name=Coogan />

The teachings are applicable to all conditions of life: to parents and children, to husbands and wives, to the young, to masters, to friends, to the rich, and to the poor. Many of them are rules of courtesy and politeness; and a still greater number contain advice and instruction as to the duties of man toward himself and others, especially the poor, as well as toward society and the state, and most of all toward God.

Wisdom, in ben Sirach's view, is synonymous with the fear of God, and sometimes is identified in his mind with adherence to the [[613 Commandments|Mosaic law]]. The maxims are expressed in exact formulas, and are illustrated by striking images. They show a profound knowledge of the human heart, the disillusionment of experience, a fraternal sympathy with the poor and the oppressed.

By contrast, Sirach exhibits little compassion for either women or slaves, and advocates distrust and possessiveness over women,<ref>e.g, see: Sirach 42:12–14 ("Do not look upon any one for beauty,and do not sit in the midst of women; [13] for from garments comes the moth,and from a woman comes woman's wickedness. [14] Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good;and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace."); Sir. 22:3 ("the birth of a daughter is a loss"). But see Sirach 7:27 ("With all your heart honor your father,and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother."); Sir. 36:24–25 ("He who acquires a wife gets his best possession,a helper fit for him and a pillar of support.[25] Where there is no fence, the property will be plundered;and where there is no wife, a man will wander about and sigh.").</ref> and the harsh treatment of slaves (which presupposes the validity of slavery as an institution),<ref>See: Sirach 33:24–28 ("Fodder and a stick and burdens for an ass;bread and discipline and work for a servant.[25] Set your slave to work, and you will find rest;leave his hands idle, and he will seek liberty. [26] Yoke and thong will bow the neck,and for a wicked servant there are racks and tortures...Set him to work, as is fitting for him,and if he does not obey, make his fetters heavy."). But see: Sir. 33:30–31 ("If you have a servant, let him be as yourself,because you have bought him with blood.[31] If you have a servant, treat him as a brother,for as your own soul you will need him.")</ref> positions which are not only difficult for modern readers, but cannot be completely reconciled with the social milieu at the time of its composition.<ref>Harrington, pp. 89–90.</ref>

As in ''[[Ecclesiastes]]'', two opposing tendencies war in the author: the faith and the morality of olden times, which are stronger than all argument, and an [[Epicureanism]] of modern date. Occasionally Sirach digresses to attack theories which he considers dangerous; for example, that man has no freedom of will, and that God is indifferent to the actions of mankind and does not reward virtue. Some of the refutations of these views are developed at considerable length.

Through these moralistic chapters runs the prayer of Israel imploring God to gather together his scattered children, to bring to fulfilment the predictions of the Prophets, and to have mercy upon his Temple and his people. The book concludes with a justification of God, whose wisdom and greatness are said to be revealed in all God's works as well as in the history of Israel. These chapters are completed by the author's signature, and are followed by two hymns, the latter apparently a sort of alphabetical acrostic.

Of particular interest to biblical scholars are Chapters 44–50, in which Ben Sira praises "men of renown, and our fathers in their generation", starting from the antediluvian Enoch and continuing through to "Simon, the high priest, son of Onias" (300–270 BCE). Within this recitation, Ben Sira identifies, either directly or indirectly, each of the books of the Old Testament that would eventually become canonical, with the apparent exception of only Ezra, Daniel, Ruth, Esther, and perhaps Chronicles.<ref>Marttila, Marko. ''Foreign Nations in the Wisdom of Ben Sira: A Jewish Sage between Opposition and Assimilation'', pp. 196–199 (Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. 2012), ISBN 978-3-11-027010-5.</ref> The ability to date the composition of Sirach within a few years given the autobiographical hints of Ben Sira and his grandson (author of the introduction to the work) provides great insight regarding the historical development and evolution of the Jewish canon.<ref>''Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures II, Volume 5'', Ehud Ben Zvi ed., pp. 179–190 (Gorgias Press LLC 2007), ISBN 978-1-59333-612-7.</ref>

==Title and versions==
The "Book of ben Sirach" (ספר בן סירא, ''Sefer ben Siraʼ'') was originally written in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and was also known in Hebrew as the "Proverbs of ben Sirach" (משלי בן סירא, ''Mišley ben Siraʼ'') or the "Wisdom of ben Sirach" (חכמת בן סירא, ''Ḥokhmat ben Siraʼ''). The book was not accepted into the [[Hebrew Bible]] and as a result the original Hebrew text was not preserved in the [[Jewish canon]]. However, various original Hebrew versions have since been recovered, including fragments recovered within the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] and the [[Cairo Genizah]], the latter of which includes fragments from six separate manuscripts.<ref>See generally ''The Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at Leiden University'', 11–14 December 1995, Volume 26 (T. Muraoka & J.F. Elwolde eds.), ISBN 90-04-10820-3.</ref>

The Greek translation was accepted in the ''[[Septuagint]]'' under the (abbreviated) name of the author: ''Sirakh'' (Σιραχ). Some Greek manuscripts give as the title the "Wisdom of ''Iēsous'' Son of ''Sirakh''" or in short the "Wisdom of ''Sirakh''". The [[Vetus Latina|older Latin versions]] were based on the ''Septuagint,'' and simply transliterated the Greek title in Latin letters: ''Sirach''. In the ''[[Vulgate]]'' the book is called ''Liber Iesu filii Sirach'' ("Book of Joshua Son of Sirach").

The Greek [[Church Fathers]] also called it the "All-Virtuous Wisdom", while the Latin Church Fathers, beginning with [[Cyprian]],<ref>''Testimonia,'' ii. 1; iii. 1, 35, 51, 95, ''et passim''</ref> termed it ''Ecclesiasticus'' because it was frequently read in [[Church (building)|churches]], leading the [[Church Fathers#Latin Fathers|early Latin Fathers]] to call it ''liber ecclesiasticus'' ([[Latin]] and Latinised [[Greek language|Greek]] for "church book"). Similarly, the ''[[Nova Vulgata]]'' and many modern English translations of the ''Apocrypha'' use the title ''Ecclesiasticus'', literally "of the Church" because of its frequent use in Christian teaching and worship.

Today the work it is more frequently known as ''Sirach''. The name ''Siracides'', of more recent coinage, is also encountered, especially in scholarly works.

==Author==
{{main|Jesus ben Sirach}}

Joshua ben Sirach, or, according to the Greek text "Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem," was a Jewish scribe who had been living in Jerusalem, may have authored the work in Alexandria, Egypt ca. 180–175 BCE, where he is thought to have established a school.<ref name=Coogan /> Ben Sirach is unique among all Old Testament and Apocryphal writers in that he signed his work.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia|work=Jewish Encyclopedia|title=Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of|year=1906|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13785-sirach-the-wisdom-of-jesus-the-son-of}}</ref>

==Translation and dating of the work==
The Prologue, attributed to Ben Sira's grandson and dated to 132 BCE, is generally considered the earliest witness to a canon of the books of the prophets. Thus the date of the text, has been the subject of intense scrutiny by biblical scholars.<ref>Williams, David Salter (1994) "The Date of Ecclesiasticus" ''[[Vetus Testamentum]]'' 44(4): pp. 563–566</ref><ref>DeSilva, David Arthur (2002) "Wisdom of Ben Sira" ''Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance'' Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, p. 158, ISBN 0-8010-2319-X</ref><ref name="Guillaume">{{cite journal|last=Guillaume|first= Philippe|year=2004|url=http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_39.htm|title=New Light on the Nebiim from Alexandria: A Chronography to Replace the Deuteronomistic History|journal=Journal of Hebrew Scriptures|number= 5: Section: 3. The Date of Ben Sira}}</ref>

The Greek translator states in his preface that he was the grandson of the author, and that he came to Egypt in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of "[[Euergetes]]". This [[epithet]] was borne by only two of the [[Ptolemies]]. Of these, [[Ptolemy III of Egypt|Ptolemy III Euergetes]] reigned only twenty-five years (247 – 222 BCE) and thus [[Ptolemy VIII of Egypt|Ptolemy VIII Euergetes]] must be intended; he ascended the throne in the year 170 BCE, together with his brother Philometor, but he soon became sole ruler of [[Cyrene, Libya|Cyrene]], and from 146 to 117 BCE held sway over all Egypt. He dated his reign from the year in which he received the crown (i.e., from 170 BCE). The translator must therefore have gone to Egypt in 132 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Strategic Grasp of the Bible|first=J. Sidlow |last=Baxter|authorlink=J. Sidlow Baxter|publisher=Zondervan|year=1968|page=46}}</ref>

Considering the average length of two [[generation]]s, Sirach's date must fall in the first third of the 2nd century BCE. Furthermore, Sirach contains a [[eulogy]] of "Simon the High Priest, the son of Onias, who in his life repaired the House" (50:1). Festschrift M.Gilbert and other scholars posit that this seems to have formed the original ending of the text, and that Chapters 50 (from verse 2) and 51 are later interpolations.<ref>Mulder, p. 11. However, other scholars take the position that Sirach ''started'' with chapters 1 – 23 and 51, with the intermediate sections being inserted thereafter. Mulder, pp. 30–31.</ref> Under this theory, the second [[Kohen Gadol|High Priest]] [[Simon II (High Priest)|Simon]] (died 196 BCE) would have been intended, and the composition would have concluded shortly thereafter, given that struggles between Simon's successors (175 – 172 BCE) are not alluded to in the book, nor is the persecution of the Jews by [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] (168 BCE).<ref>1 Maccabees 1:20–25, see {{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/poly/ma1001.htm|title=Polyglot Bible. 1 Maccabees.|accessdate=2009-08-05}}</ref><ref name=Whiston>{{cite book|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?layout=&doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148&query=whiston%20chapter%3D%232&loc=1.1|chapter=How the City Jerusalem Was Taken, and the Temple Pillaged. As Also Concerning the Actions of the Maccabees, Matthias and Judas; and Concerning the Death of Judas"|editor= William Whiston|author= Flavius Josephus|title=The Wars of the Jews}}</ref>

Joshua ben Sirach's grandson was in Egypt, translating and editing after the usurping [[Hasmonean]] line had definitively ousted Simon's heirs in long struggles and was finally in control of the High Priesthood in Jerusalem. Comparing the Hebrew and Greek versions shows that he altered the prayer for Simon and broadened its application ("may He entrust to ''us'' his mercy"), in order to avoid having a work centered around praising God’s covenanted faithfulness that closed on an unanswered prayer.<ref name="Guillaume"/>

==Texts and manuscripts==
The work of Sirach is presently known through various versions, which scholars still struggle to disentangle.<ref name="Stone-290">Stone, Michael E. (ed.) (1984) ''Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran, sectarian writings, Philo, Josephus'' Van Gorcum, Assen, Netherlands, [http://books.google.com/books?id=2zffXWORVUcC&pg=PA290 p. 290], ISBN 0-8006-0603-5</ref>

The Greek version of Sirach is found in many codices of the Septuagint.<ref name="Stone-290"/>

As early as 1896, several substantial Hebrew texts of Sirach, copied in the 11th and 12th centuries, were found in the [[Cairo Geniza|Cairo geniz]][[Cairo Geniza|a]] (a synagogue storage room for damaged manuscripts). Although none of these manuscripts is complete, together they provide the text for about two-thirds of the ''Wisdom of Sirach.'' According to scholars including [[Solomon Schechter]] and [[Frederic Kenyon]], this shows that the book was originally written in Hebrew.<ref>See for example the account of Schechter's work on the Geniza manuscripts in Soskice, Janet (2010) ''Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels''. London: Vintage, 240 – 49</ref><ref>Adams, A.W (1958) ''Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 83</ref>

In the 1950s and 1960s three copies of portions of Sirach were found among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]]. The largest scroll was discovered at [[Masada]], the Jewish fortress destroyed in 73 CE. The earliest of these scrolls (2Q18) has been dated to the second part of the 1st century BCE, approximately 150 years after Sirach was first composed. These early Hebrew texts are in substantial agreement with the Hebrew texts discovered in Cairo, although there are numerous minor textual variants. With these findings, scholars are now more confident that the Cairo texts are reliable witnesses to the Hebrew original.<ref>Elizur, Shulamit , “A New Fragment from the Hebrew Text of the Book of Ben Sira,” Tarbiz76 (2008) 17–28 (in Hebrew)</ref><ref>Egger-Wenzel, Renate “Ein neues Sira-Fragment des MS C,” Biblische Notizen 138 (2008) 107-14.</ref>

==Theological Significance==

===Influence in the Jewish doctrine and liturgy===
[[Image:Ben-Sira Hebrew (Vienna 1814).djvu|thumb|Hebrew translation of Sirach, 1814]]

Although excluded from the Jewish canon, Sirach was read and quoted as authoritative from the beginning of the rabbinic period. There are numerous citations to Sirach in the ''[[Talmud]]'' and works of [[rabbinic literature]] (as "ספר בן סירא", e.g., Hagigah 13a, Niddah 16b; Ber. 11b). Some of those Sanhedrin 100b records an unresolved debate between R'Joseph and Abaye as to whether it is forbidden to read the Sirach, wherein Abaye repeatedly draws parallels between statements in Sirach cited by R'Joseph as objectionable and similar statements appearing in canonical books.<ref>[http://dtorah.com/otzar/shas_soncino.php?ms=Sanhedrin&df=100b Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 100b]</ref>

Sirach may have been used as a basis for two important parts of the Jewish liturgy. In the ''[[Mahzor]]'' (High Holiday prayer book), a medieval Jewish poet may have used Sirach as the basis for a poem, ''KeOhel HaNimtah'', in the [[Yom Kippur]] ''[[musaf]]'' ("additional") service for the High Holidays.<ref>See: M.R. Lehmann, "The Writings of Ben Sira, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Temple Worship in the Liturgy of Yom Kippur," in ''Piyyut in Tradition'', vol. 2 (eds. B. Bar-Tikva and E. Hazan [Hebrew]; Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan Univ., 2000), pp. 13–18.</ref> However, some question whether this passage in Sirach is referring at all to [[Yom Kippur]], and thus argue it cannot form the basis of this poem.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tabori|first=Yosef|title=Moʻade Yiśraʼel bi-teḳufat ha-Mishnah ṿeha-Talmud|year=1996|publisher=Hotsaʼat sefarim ʻa. sh. Y.L. Magnes, ha-Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit|location=Yerushalayim|isbn=9652238880|pages=260 n.4|edition=Mahad. 2. metuḳenet u-murḥevet.}}</ref> Some early 20th Century scholars also argued that the vocabulary and framework used by Sirach formed the basis of the most important of all Jewish prayers, the [[Amidah]], but that conclusion is disputed as well.<ref>Reif, Stefan C. ''Prayer in Ben Sira, Qumran and Second Temple Judaism: A Comparative Overview'', in Ben Sira's God: Proceedings of the International Ben Sira Conference, Durham, Renate Egger-Wenzel ed., p. 322 (Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. 2002), ISBN 3-11-017559-2.</ref>

Current scholarship takes a more conservative approach. On one hand, scholars find that "Ben Sira links Torah and wisdom with prayer in a manner that calls to mind the later views of the Rabbis," and that the Jewish liturgy echoes Sirach in the "use of hymns of praise, supplicatory prayers and benedictions, as well as the occurrence of [Biblical] words and phrases [that] take on special forms and meanings."<ref name="Reif, p. 338">Reif, p. 338.</ref> However, they stop short of concluding a direct relationship existed; rather, what "seems likely is that the Rabbis ultimately borrowed extensively from the kinds of circles which produced Ben Sira and the Dead Sea Scrolls ...."<ref name="Reif, p. 338"/>

===In the New Testament===
Some people claim that there are several allusions to the ''Wisdom of Sirach'' in the New Testament. These include the [[Virgin Mary]]'s ''magnificat'' in ''Luke'' 1:52 following ''Sirach'' 10:14; the description of the seed in ''Mark'' 4:5,16-17 following ''Sirach'' 40:15, Christ's statement in ''Matthew'' 7:16,20 following ''Sirach'' 27:6 and ''James'' 1:19 quoting ''Sirach'' 5:11.<ref>[http://www.scripturecatholic.com/deuterocanon.html Scripture Catholic – Deuterocanonical Books In The New Testament]</ref>

The distinguished [[Church Fathers|patristic]] scholar [[Henry Chadwick (theologian)|Henry Chadwick]] has claimed that in ''Matthew'' 11:28 Jesus was directly quoting ''Sirach'' 51:23,<ref name="Chadwick">Chadwick, Henry.(2001) ''The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great'' Clarendon Press, Oxford, England, [http://books.google.com/books?id=nLic1cabc8gC&pg=PA28 page 28], ISBN 0-19-924695-5</ref> as well as comparing ''Matthew'' 6:12 "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (KJV) with ''Sirach'' 28:2 "Forgive your neighbor a wrong, and then, when you petition, your sins will be pardoned."<ref name="Chadwick"/>

===Messianic interpretation by Christians===
Some Christians regard the catalogue of famous men in ''Sirach'' as containing several [[Messiah|messianic]] references. The first occurs during the verses on [[David]]. ''Sir'' 47:11 reads “The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his power for ever; he gave him the covenant of kings and a throne of glory in Israel.” This references the covenant of ''2 Sam'' 7, which pointed toward the Messiah. “Power” (Heb. ''qeren'') is literally translated as horn. This word is often used in a messianic and Davidic sense (e.g. ''Ezek'' 29:21, ''Ps'' 132:17, ''Zech'' 6:12, Jer 33:15). It is also used in the [[Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)|Benedictus]] to refer to [[Jesus]] (“and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David”).<ref>Skehan, Patrick (1987) ''The Wisdom of Ben Sira: a new translation with notes'' (Series: The Anchor Bible volume 39) Doubleday, New York, p. 524, ISBN 0-385-13517-3</ref>

Another verse (47:22) that Christians interpret messianically begins by again referencing ''2 Sam'' 7. This verse speaks of Solomon and goes on to say that David’s line will continue forever. The verse ends telling us that “he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David a root of his stock.” This references Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots”; and “In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek…” (''Is'' 11:1, 10).<ref>Skehan, p. 528</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Sources==
*Beentjes, Pancratius C. (1997) ''The Book of Ben Sira in Hebrew: A Text Edition of All Extant Hebrew Manuscripts and a Synopsis of All Parallel Hebrew Ben Sira Texts'' E.J. Brill, Leiden, ISBN 90-04-10767-3
*Toy, Crawford Howell and Lévi, Israel (1906) [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=836&letter=S&search=Ben%20Sira "Sirach, The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of"] entry in the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
*''Amidah'', entry in (1972) ''Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem'', Keter Publishing, Jerusalem, [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10955972 OCLC 10955972]

==External links==
{{commons category|Ecclesiasticus}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Wisdom_of_Sirach|The King James Version of Wisdom of Sirach}}
*[http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&b=26 Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)] – Latin Vulgate with Douay-Rheims version side-by-side
*[http://BenSira.org BenSira.org, original Hebrew manuscripts]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05263a.htm "Ecclesiasticus"] ''Catholic Encyclopedia''
*[http://www.biblicalproportions.com/bible/9/SIR Ecclesiasticus], "Biblical Proportions"
*[http://www.bibledex.com/videos/sirach.html Sirach] – Bibledex video overview
*[http://www.biblicalaudio.com/sirach.htm Sirach 2012 Translation with Audio]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13785-sirach-the-wisdom-of-jesus-the-son-of The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach], ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906 ed.).

{{s-start}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Book of Wisdom]] | rows= 3}}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] Old Testament }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] | rows = 3 }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] Old Testament '''see [[Deuterocanonical books|Deuterocanon]]'''}}
{{s-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

[[Category:2nd-century BC books]]
[[Category:Old Testament Apocrypha]]
[[Category:Deuterocanonical books]]
[[Category:Septuagint]]
[[Category:Essene texts]]
[[Category:Non-rabbinic Jewish texts]]
[[Category:Old Testament Apocrypha people]]

User talk:ArnoldPettybone

2014-06-16T00:31:03Z

Jerm729: Notification: listing at articles for deletion of Maccabean Revolt. (TW)

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==[[Vasileios Spanoulis]]==
Someone with an anonymous IP is vandalizing the Vassilis Spanoulis page, I tried talking to them and they say "they are a Houston Rockets fan and that POS player will be vandalized." Anyway the person made an edit, and keeps reverting all edits back to their page. He deleted things saying they are not sourced, but I looked and everything he deleted is sourced. Anyway, I come into this AFTER this has gone on, I made some edits that were corrections to things I actually fixed, and this fool reverts back to his edit, nothing to do with edits I made (like I said in first place his "edit" is deleting sourced info he apparently does not want on there - from what I see anything that may makes Spanoulis look good), anyway what he is doing is because of this, if any new person comes in to edit the page their edit gets deleted, because he just reverts the page back to his edit. Like I corrected a team name and player height and made them to what they actually are and sourced this, this edit gets erased because he just reverts. Is there anyone that monitors the basketball sections for vandalizing from idiots like this?
[[User:Ogmion Ogmios|Ogmion Ogmios]] 13:45, 18 March 2008 (UTC)
:I don't think so, not as far as the European players concern. Ask [[User:Dale Arnett|Dale Arnett]], maybe he should know.--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 20:08, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

== Euroleague ==

Hello! Very good work! I hope you'll go on making articles about each year's Euroleague. - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] 23:23, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

:I'll do my best. I've already started the article about Euroleague 2005-06. But I don't have sources prior to 1992 and I love to see them in wikipedia. - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] 23:33, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! I have to make the articles about the groups etc. I think that the box should include all the competitions up to now instead of having two different boxes. - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] 16:44, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

:OK. But the links to each season in the article of [[Euroleague]] should be put to the years not in a separate link such as "details". - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] 20:42, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Piraeus belongs to greater Athens. See [[Athens]] article. - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] 10:47, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

In the articles [[FIBA European Champions Cup 1957-58]] to [[FIBA European Champions Cup 1964-65]] you use <nowiki></nowiki> for references, but you don't close the block with <nowiki></nowiki>, which effects (screws) the style on some parts of the articles. --[[User:Sporti|Sporti]] 13:29, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

:Look at what I added [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FIBA_European_Champions_Cup_1957-58&diff=152716757&oldid=152685367 here]. --[[User:Sporti|Sporti]] 16:29, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

== Aleksey Savrasenko ==

I removed it because he is not Greek, nor had he ever Greek citizenship, as far as I know. Where does it come from, that he is Greek?--[[User:Kostisl|Kostisl]] 22:31, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

== Phinehas edits ==

You recently moved [[Phinehas]] to [[Pinhas]], and then copied and pasted the content from [[Pinhas]] to [[Pinhas (disambiguation)]], and the content from [[Phinehas, son of Eleazar]] to [[Pinhas]]. First of all, page moves '''must''' be done with the "move" button. This is so that the [[Help:Page history|article history]] will remain intact. If the desired location for an article already contains content, you must [[WP:RM|request]] that an administrator perform the move.

The second issue with these moves is that you have moved the English version of פינחס to a Hebrew transliteration. Since Wikipedia is an English encyclopedia, English naming conventions are used when they are well-established. In the case of Biblical figures, the [[King James Bible]] is usually considered to be authoritative.

Please keep these rules in mind when making future edits. Also, please do not make any more edits to [[Pinhas]] or [[Pinhas (disambiguation)]] until the page histories have been repaired. --[[user:Eliyak|Eliyak]] [[User_talk:Eliyak|T]]·[[Special:Contributions/Eliyak|C]] 22:31, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
:From my talk page:
:''I couldn't move Pinhas to a new page because that page name already existed as a disambiguation page, only without the disambiguation title. secondly, I didn't know about the king James bible thing. agreed. thirdly, the idiot who revised my version now made the Pinhas son of Eleazar version unaccessible. I personally think that every individual should have he's own article, no matter how short it is. That the reason I'm doing all of this.--ArnoldPettybone 22:39, 2 July 2007 (UTC)''
::As I said above, when you cannot move a page yourself, you must ask an administrator to do it. Cutting & pasting is not an option. --[[user:Eliyak|Eliyak]] [[User_talk:Eliyak|T]]·[[Special:Contributions/Eliyak|C]] 22:45, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

== Re: Real Madrid Baloncesto logo ==

The Fair Use rationale for the Real Madrid logo states that the logo must not be used in a decorative capacity. By using it on the FIBA European Champions' Cup pages, you are not using it Fairly, and as such you are breaching the copyright attached to the logo. Do not revert my edits again, or you will be reported. - [[User:PeeJay2K3|PeeJay]] 23:49, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

: However, the article is not exclusively about the Real Madrid Baloncesto team, and [[Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline]] recommends that logos only be used in educational articles about the entities the logos represent. Furthermore, a similarly-sized image of the flag of Spain would serve just as well. - [[User:PeeJay2K3|PeeJay]] 00:19, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

:: But the Real Madrid logo doesn't illustrate the actual topic of the article. Sure, it illustrates who won the tournament, but it is decorative and serves no educational purpose. In actual fact, the logo does nothing to enhance the article. People are more likely to recognise the name "Real Madrid" than they are to recognise the logo. By the way, your comment about deleting flags is completely unfounded. Flags are not copyrightable, and are therefore not subject to Fair Use rules. The Real Madrid logos will not be reinstated to the articles, and that is final. Any action that goes against this will be reported. - [[User:PeeJay2K3|PeeJay]] 00:45, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

==Oded Katash==
I've (temporarily) removed him from [[List of people with heterochromia]] since no source indicating that he has the condition was provided. Do you have access to one? If so, please feel free to re-add him, with the source included this time. -[[User:Hit bull, win steak|Hit bull, win steak]][[User talk:Hit bull, win steak|(Moo!)]] 23:37, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
:Non-English sources are fine, as long as they meet [[WP:RS]]. Just make sure that you indicate whatever the native language is when you add it to the list. -[[User:Hit bull, win steak|Hit bull, win steak]][[User talk:Hit bull, win steak|(Moo!)]] 00:39, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
::Nice work. That should be just fine. -[[User:Hit bull, win steak|Hit bull, win steak]][[User talk:Hit bull, win steak|(Moo!)]] 01:16, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

== Alexander Volkov ==

Re your comments at [[Talk:Alexander Volkov (basketball)]]: I was the one who started the article. All the Interwikis say that he played for Milan and Hapeol Holon, as does [http://www.eurobasket.lt/zaidejas-1130-Aleksandr-Volkov.html this page]. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the main Eurobasket site, so I'd be interested in hearing which teams it says he actually played for. Thanks! [[User:Zagalejo|Zagalejo]] 23:35, 28 August 2007 (UTC)
:Cool, thanks for the response. [[User:Zagalejo|Zagalejo]] 00:37, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

==Mila Kunis==
The NNDB doesn't qualify as a reliable source, as described at [[WP:RS]]. As such, I've re-removed Kunis from the list. We need something more along the lines of a newspaper/magazine article or an interview, like all the other people on the list. -[[User:Hit bull, win steak|Hit bull, win steak]][[User talk:Hit bull, win steak|(Moo!)]] 17:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

== Know anything about [[Dimitris Spanoulis]]? ==

His article is currently [[Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Dimitris_Spanoulis|up for deletion]]. Since you seem to know about European basketball, it would be great if you could chime in. [[User:Zagalejo|Zagalejo]][[User talk:Zagalejo|^]] 01:51, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
==Orphaned non-free media (Image:Dyntb.gif)==
[[Image:Nuvola apps important blue.svg|25px]] Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:Dyntb.gif]]'''. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a [[WP:FU|claim of fair use]]. However, it is currently [[Wikipedia:Orphan|orphaned]], meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. [[WP:BOLD|You may add it back]] if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see [[Wikipedia:Non-free content#Policy|our policy for non-free media]]).

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==Fair use rationale for [[:Image:FIBA 2002 logo.jpg]]==
Thanks for uploading or contributing to '''[[:Image:FIBA 2002 logo.jpg]]'''. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under [[Wikipedia:Fair use|fair use]] but there is not a suitable explanation or rationale as to why each specific use in Wikipedia constitutes fair use. Please go to [[:Image:FIBA 2002 logo.jpg|the image description page]] and edit it to include a [[Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline|fair use rationale]].

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. If you have any questions please ask them at the [[Wikipedia:media copyright questions|Media copyright questions page]]. Thank you. NOTE: once you correct this, please remove the tag from the image's page. [[User:STBotI|STBotI]] 08:20, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
==Orphaned non-free media (Image:Slovenia basketball federtaion.jpg)==
[[Image:Nuvola apps important blue.svg|25px]] Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:Slovenia basketball federtaion.jpg]]'''. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a [[WP:FU|claim of fair use]]. However, it is currently [[Wikipedia:Orphan|orphaned]], meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. [[WP:BOLD|You may add it back]] if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see [[Wikipedia:Non-free content#Policy|our policy for non-free media]]).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any '''articles''' will be deleted after seven days, as described on [[wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. Thank you. [[User:BetacommandBot|BetacommandBot]] 15:09, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

==Fair use rationale for [[:Image:MBC Dynamo Moscow logo.gif]]==
Thanks for uploading or contributing to '''[[:Image:MBC Dynamo Moscow logo.gif]]'''. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under [[Wikipedia:Fair use|fair use]] but there is not a suitable explanation or rationale as to why each specific use in Wikipedia constitutes fair use. Please go to [[:Image:MBC Dynamo Moscow logo.gif|the image description page]] and edit it to include a [[Wikipedia:Non-free use rationale guideline|fair use rationale]].

If you have uploaded other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on those pages too. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any non-free media lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. If you have any questions please ask them at the [[Wikipedia:media copyright questions|Media copyright questions page]]. Thank you. [[User:PxMa|PxMa]] 16:40, 27 October 2007 (UTC)

==[[Krylatskoe Sport Palace]]==
Thanks for the information. I created a stub on the arena. [[User:Patken4|Patken4]] 02:18, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

==Greek in [[1998 FIBA World Championship]]==
I stumbled across [[1998 FIBA World Championship]] and noticed that you added Greek to it while expanding it. Good job expanding it, but could you please translate it into English? Thanks--[[User:Thomas.macmillan|Thomas.macmillan]] ([[User talk:Thomas.macmillan|talk]]) 01:53, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

== sr. wiki ==

I just send you message for anonymous users. It's a kind of welcome message and call for register on wiki. Best regards. --[[User:Sasa Stefanovic|Sasa]][[User_talk:Sasa Stefanovic|Stefanovic]] • 09:40, 26 January 2008 (UTC)

== FIBA Euroleague 1992-93 ==

Thank you! Yes of course you can move it. Please could you give me a source to know when the competition changed each name? - [[User:Sthenel|Sthenel]] ([[User talk:Sthenel|talk]]) 18:06, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

==[[Alexander Gomelsky]]==
Could you please bring a link to him being Jewish? Gomelsky might also be be a Belorussian surname, since Gomel is Belarus, or Russian noble (Like Gumilev for example. Also means from Gomel, but it's a Russian noble family). Alot say it so your probably right, but having a link about it would be needed. P.S. Please continue this conversation on the talk page of the article about him. —Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/79.177.138.204|79.177.138.204]] ([[User talk:79.177.138.204|talk]]) 18:55, 27 May 2008 (UTC) 

== FIBA world cup templates for deletion ==

Hello
In December 2007 you had vote keep in the discussion about [[Template:United States Squad 2006 FIBA World Championship]]. The result of the debate was to keep.

:{{lt|Germany Squad 1994 FIBA World Championship}}
:{{lt|Greece Squad 1986 FIBA World Championship‎}}
:{{lt|Germany Squad 2006 FIBA World Championship‎}}
:{{lt|Greece Squad 1990 FIBA World Championship‎}}
:{{lt|Israel Squad 1986 FIBA World Championship‎}}
:{{lt|Canada Squad 1994 FIBA World Championship‎}}
:{{lt|China Squad 2006 FIBA World Championship‎}}

These templates are proposed for deletion in 2/6/2008. I have inform user Crzycheetah for the past voting but he said that this was only for the medalists. I cannot see in the past discussion this. Is this fair? [[User:Sportin|Sportin]] 3 June 2008
:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Templates_for_deletion/Log/2008_January_19#Template:United_States_Squad_1990_FIBA_World_Championship here].--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 13:10, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

== Sarunas Jasikevicius ==

Hello sorry for adding '''BC''' back in the article. The way it is now looks and should be better. I'll add it to the rest of Greek Basketball players. Best wishes. [[User:Sergiogr|Sergiogr]] ([[User talk:Sergiogr|talk]]) 17:23, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
==[[Marko Jaric]]==
It wasn't I who removed the "Greek nationality" claim from this article, it was [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marko_Jari%C4%87&diff=219684801&oldid=219301494 this person]. I merely carried on from his version because no citations were present.

So in future, get your facts sorted...''or you will be reported''. hahaha --[[Special:Contributions/203.134.48.170|203.134.48.170]] ([[User talk:203.134.48.170|talk]]) 02:36, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

==Orphaned non-free media (Image:EuroBasket 99 logo.gif)==
[[Image:Ambox warning blue.svg|25px]] Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:EuroBasket 99 logo.gif]]'''. The media description page currently specifies that it is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a [[WP:FU|claim of fair use]]. However, it is currently [[Wikipedia:Orphan|orphaned]], meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the media was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. [[WP:BOLD|You may add it back]] if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that media for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see [[Wikipedia:Non-free content#Policy|our policy for non-free media]]).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that all non-free media not used in any '''articles''' will be deleted after seven days, as described on [[wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. Thank you. [[User:BJBot|BJBot]] ([[User talk:BJBot|talk]]) 13:35, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

== Replaceable fair use Image:SovietUnion-Israelbball79.jpg ==
[[Image:Ambox warning.svg|32px|left|Replaceable fair use]]
Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:SovietUnion-Israelbball79.jpg]]'''. I noticed the description page specifies that the media is being used under a claim of [[Wikipedia:Non-free content|fair use]], but its use in Wikipedia articles fails our [[Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria|first non-free content criterion]] in that it illustrates a subject for which a freely licensed media could reasonably be found or created that provides substantially the same information. If you believe this media is not replaceable, please:

# Go to [[:Image:SovietUnion-Israelbball79.jpg|the media description page]] and edit it to add {{tlx|di-replaceable fair use disputed}}, '''without deleting the original replaceable fair use template'''.
# On [[Image talk:SovietUnion-Israelbball79.jpg|the image discussion page]], write the reason why this image is not replaceable at all.

Alternatively, you can also choose to replace this non-free media by finding freely licensed media of the same subject, [[Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission|requesting that the copyright holder release this (or similar) media under a free license]], or by taking a picture of it yourself.

If you have uploaded other non-free media, consider checking that you have specified how these images fully satisfy our non-free content criteria. You can find a list of description pages you have edited by clicking on [{{fullurl:Special:Contributions|target={{PAGENAMEE}}&namespace=6}} this link]. Note that even if you follow steps 1 and 2 above, non-free media which could be replaced by freely licensed alternatives will be deleted 2 days after this notification (7 days if uploaded before [[13 July]] [[2006]]), per our [[Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria|non-free content policy]]. If you have any questions please ask them at the [[Wikipedia:Media copyright questions|Media copyright questions page]]. Thank you. Do you want to [[Template:Bots#Message notification opt out|opt out]] of receiving this notice? [[User:Melesse|Melesse]] ([[User talk:Melesse|talk]]) 00:32, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

==Core Schmore & More - Harringay Arena==

Dear Arnold, Old chap, the idea of a Wikipedia article is to provide a readable and valuable info resource on its subject. The articles are not best used as places to just lob in bits of info and leave it at that. As you're clearly keen on including your table, might I at least suggest that you do a little work to position it within the article, explain what it is and connect it to the text. As it is, it's unconnected with the text and has no meaning. Wassay pardner?
[[User:Hjuk|hjuk]] ([[User talk:Hjuk|talk]]) 23:23, 1 November 2008 (UTC)
:I don't really see your point here...Its all explained in the box's wikilinks and references in the article itself. I can add a collapsible thingy, If it hurts your eyes so much...--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 16:25, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

== Hebrew Niqqud/Dagesh ==

I was looking for help from a native Hebrew speaker concerning the niqqud and dagesh on a few Hebrew words. I would much appreciate any help you have to offer. [[User:Brownsc|Brownsc]] ([[User talk:Brownsc|talk]]) 23:36, 16 December 2008 (UTC) p.s. I also find ancient Israel and the civilizations it interacted with to be very interesting.
:What exactly do you need?--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 18:51, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I've actually already gotten what I needed, but thanks anyway. [[User:Brownsc|Brownsc]] ([[User talk:Brownsc|talk]]) 12:36, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

==Hapoel Tel Aviv==
Yes, I can explain what the hell I am doing. Basically removing unnecessary information. Having a table of every game Hapoel has played in Europe is totally unnecessary, and adds nothing to the article. Notable European runs are covered in the text. It is not part of the [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Football/Clubs|Manual of Style]] for football club articles, and can you imagine listing every game Manchester United or Liverpool have played in their articles? [[User:Number 57|пﮟოьεԻ]] [[User talk:Number 57|5]][[Special:Contributions/Number 57|7]] 11:54, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
:First of all, who are you do judge what is "necessary" or not and bluntly removing it without any further discussion? second, this table of info regarding European matches is common in most of the club pages I've seen here, plus a table of season by season performance which is not there at the moment, maybe I'll create one later.. When the article becomes too large, relevant seasons articled of the club are created. There aren't any at the moment and the article is pretty small and poor, so that's the way it is. And of course, having the squad updated to last July without any reference instead of referenced and updated to the present day, plus the domestic trophy list referenced, is the best way to keep and article up to date...you really don't have any clue on what you're doing, do you? P.S. it is common to continue the talk where created....--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 12:18, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
::I've removed it again - it isn't part of the manual of style. If you want to include it, suggest it at [[WT:FOOTY]]. The fact that other articles are incorrectly using it is simply a case of [[WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS]] - plenty of football club articles use bold to list international players in their squad even though they aren't meant to.
::In addition, please don't make [[WP:Personal attacks]] - claiming I don't have any clue what I'm doing is both [[WP:DICK|dickish]] and wrong - I've been writing football club articles since 2005 and am a regular contributor to [[WP:FOOTY]] - I've written tens of articles on Israeli football clubs. Please grow up and try and debate with other editors without resorting to this kind of behaviour. [[User:Number 57|пﮟოьεԻ]] [[User talk:Number 57|5]][[Special:Contributions/Number 57|7]] 12:51, 6 January 2010 (UTC)
::Writing articles since 2005 and still haven't figured out where to post user talks? whatever, man.--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 12:57, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

== [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|Proposed deletion]] of [[Eleazar (son of Aminadab)]] ==
[[Image:Ambox warning yellow.svg|left|link=|48px|]]

The article [[Eleazar (son of Aminadab)]] has been [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|proposed for deletion]] because of the following concern:
:'''Not notable, should be included in some sort of compilation of Hebrew Bible people, orphaned'''

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be [[WP:DEL#REASON|deleted for any of several reasons]].

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{Tlc|proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your [[Help:edit summary|edit summary]] or on [[Talk:Eleazar (son of Aminadab)|the article's talk page]].

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{Tlc|proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|proposed deletion process]], but other [[Wikipedia:deletion process|deletion process]]es exist. The [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion|speedy deletion]] process can result in deletion without discussion, and [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion|articles for deletion]] allows discussion to reach [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] for deletion. [[User:RoryReloaded|Rory]] [[User talk:RoryReloaded|What did I do wrong?]] 08:47, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

==[[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion|Speedy deletion]] nomination of [[List of Israeli football transfers winter 2010–11]]==
[[Image:Ambox warning pn.svg|left|48px|alt=|link=]]
A tag has been placed on [[List of Israeli football transfers winter 2010–11]], requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under the [[WP:CSD#Articles|criteria for speedy deletion]], because it is a very short article providing no content to the reader. Please note that external links, "See also" section, book reference, category tag, template tag, interwiki link, rephrasing of the title, or an attempt to contact the subject of the article don't count as content. Moreover, please add more verifiable sources, not only 3rd party sources. Please see [[Wikipedia:Stub#Essential information about stubs|Wikipedia:Stub]] for our minimum information standards for short articles. Also please note that articles must be on [[Wikipedia:Notability|notable]] subjects and should provide references to [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable sources]] that [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|verify]] their content. You may wish to consider using a Wizard to help you create articles - see the [[Wikipedia:Article wizard2.0|Article Wizard]].

Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag yourself. If you plan to expand the article, contest the deletion by clicking on the button that looks like this: [[File:Speedy delete contest button.png|250px|link=]] which appears inside of the speedy deletion (<code><nowiki>{{db-...}}</nowiki></code>) tag (if no such tag exists, the page is no longer a speedy delete candidate). Doing so will take you to the talk page where you will find a pre-formatted place for you to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. You can also visit '''[[Talk:List of Israeli football transfers winter 2010–11|the article's talk page directly]]''' to give your reasons, but be aware that once tagged for ''speedy'' deletion, if the article meets the criterion, it may be deleted without delay. Feel free to leave a note on my talk page if you have any questions about this.
It appears to me that this article contains no content (nor sources or anything to support inclusion under [[WP:N]], hence my nomination. Please do contest this nomination if you feel it is in error. [[User:MyNameWasTaken|MyNameWasTaken]] ([[User talk:MyNameWasTaken|talk]]) 20:34, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
==Orphaned non-free image File:Slovenia basketball federtaion.jpg==
'''[[Image:Ambox warning blue.svg|35px|left|⚠|link=]]''' Thanks for uploading '''[[:File:Slovenia basketball federtaion.jpg]]'''. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a [[WP:FU|claim of fair use]]. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see [[Wikipedia:Non-free content#Policy|our policy for non-free media]]).

Note that any non-free images not used in any '''articles''' will be deleted after seven days, as described in the [[wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#F5|criteria for speedy deletion]]. Thank you. [[User:Skier Dude|Skier Dude]] ([[User_talk:Skier Dude|talk]]) 01:14, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

==Euroleague seasons==
Hey, I believe that the Euroleague officially goes by the name Euroleague first, and then the season year second. For example -> [http://www.euroleague.net/main/statistics/individual/average] [http://www.euroleague.net/competition/awards/awards-2010-11] - I'm not totally sure about that, but I think that is how they do it.[[Special:Contributions/173.216.237.132|173.216.237.132]] ([[User talk:173.216.237.132|talk]]) 11:13, 27 October 2011 (UTC)
:Wikipedia goes by season first standard, for all Football articles and NBA Articles. I believe Euroleague should follow.--[[User:ArnoldPettybone|ArnoldPettybone]] ([[User talk:ArnoldPettybone#top|talk]]) 20:55, 2 November 2011 (UTC)
== Nomination of [[:Maccabean Revolt]] for deletion ==
<div class="floatleft" style="margin-bottom:0">[[File:Ambox warning orange.svg|48px|alt=|link=]]</div>A discussion is taking place as to whether the article '''[[:Maccabean Revolt]]''' is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to [[Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines|Wikipedia's policies and guidelines]] or whether it should be [[Wikipedia:Deletion policy|deleted]].

The article will be discussed at [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt ]] until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. [[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]] ([[User talk:Jerm729|talk]]) 00:31, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Maccabean Revolt

2014-06-16T00:31:02Z

Jerm729: Nominated for deletion; see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt. (TW)

{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Maccabean Revolt|timestamp=20140616003101|year=2014|month=June|day=16|substed=yes|help=off}}


{{incomplete|date=November 2010}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Revolt of the Maccabees
|partof=
|image=
|caption=The Hasmonean Kingdom
|date=167–160 BCE
|place=[[Judea]]
|casus=Antiochus's decrees forbidding [[Jewish services|Jewish religious practices]]
|territory=Expansion of [[Judea]]
|result=Jewish sovereignty
|combatant1=[[Image:Menora Titus.jpg|20px]] Jewish unconventional fighters
|combatant2=[[File:Mina Antiochus IV.PNG|20px]] [[Seleucid Empire]]
|combatant3=
|commander1=[[Mattathias]] [[Judas Maccabeus]] {{KIA|alt=yes}} [[Jonathan Apphus]] [[Eleazar Avaran]] {{KIA|alt=yes}} [[Simon Thassi]] [[John Gaddi]] {{KIA|alt=yes}}
|commander2=[[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] [[Lysias (Syrian chancellor)|Lysias]] [[Apollonius (Seleucid army)|Apollonius]] {{KIA|alt=yes}} [[Gorgias (Syrian general)|Gorgias]] [[Nicanor (Seleucid general)|Nicanor]] {{KIA|alt=yes}} [[Bacchides (general)|Bacchides]]
|commander3=
|strength1=
|strength2=
|strength3=
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
|casualties3=
|notes=
}}
{{Campaignbox Maccabean Revolt dates}}
[[File:Judea Judas Makk.PNG|thumb|230px|Israel under Judah Maccabee]]
[[File:Judea Jonathan Makk.PNG|thumb|230px|Jonathan's conquests|right]]
[[File:Judea Simon Makk.PNG|thumb|230px|Simon's conquests|right]]
The '''Maccabean Revolt''' was a conflict, lasting from 167 to 160 BC, between a [[Judea]]n rebel group known as the [[Maccabees]] and the [[Seleucid Empire]]. In the narrative of ''[[I Maccabees]]'', after [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes|Antiochus]] issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice, a rural Jewish [[priest]] from [[Modiin]], [[Mattathias]] the [[Hasmonean]], sparked the revolt against the Seleucid Empire by refusing to worship the [[Greek gods]]. Mattathias killed a [[Hellenistic Judaism|Hellenistic Jew]] who stepped forward to offer a sacrifice to an idol in Mattathias' place. He and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judah. After Mattathias' death about one year later in 166 BC, his son [[Judah Maccabee]] led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the [[Seleucids|Seleucid dynasty]] in [[guerrilla warfare]], which at first was directed against Hellenized Jews, of whom there were many. The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages, circumcised boys and forced Jews into outlawry.<ref name=deLange>[[Nicholas de Lange]] (ed.), ''The Illustrated History of the Jewish People'', London, Aurum Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85410-530-2</ref> The term Maccabees as used to describe the Jewish army is taken from the Hebrew word for "hammer".<ref>http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Maccabees.html Jewish Virtual Library</ref>

The revolt itself involved many battles, in which the Maccabean forces gained notoriety among the Seleucid army for their use of [[guerrilla]] tactics. After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the [[Temple of Jerusalem|Temple]], reestablishing traditional [[Jewish services|Jewish worship]] there and installing [[Jonathan Maccabee]] as high priest. A large Seleucid army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom.

The Jewish festival of [[Hanukkah]] celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple following Judah Maccabee's victory over the Seleucids. According to [[Rabbinic tradition]], the victorious Maccabees could only find a small jug of oil that had remained uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the [[Menorah (Temple)|Menorah]] for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil could be procured.<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Talmud/shabbat2.html ''Talmud'', Tractate Shabbat]</ref>

Professor John Ma of [[Oxford University]] argues that it is possible to read the main sources for the events as suggesting that the loss of religious and civil rights by the Jews in 168 BC was not a result of religious persecution, but rather an administrative punishment by the Seleucid Empire in the aftermath of local unrest, and that the Temple was restored upon petition by the [[Menelaus (High Priest)|High Priest Menelaus]], rather than liberated and rededicated by the Maccabees.<ref>Ma, John. [http://themarginaliareview.com/archives/3083 "Re-examining Hanukkah"], ''The Marginalia Review of the Book'', July 9, 2013</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Hanukkah footer}}

[[Category:2nd century BCE in the Hasmonean Kingdom]]
[[Category:Jewish military history]]
[[Category:Maccabees| ]]
[[Category:Rebellions against empires]]
[[Category:Religion-based wars]]
[[Category:Revolts in Greek Antiquity]]
[[Category:Seleucid Empire]]
[[Category:Wars of ancient Israel]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Seleucid Empire]]

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2014 June 16

2014-06-16T00:31:02Z

Jerm729: Adding Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt. (TW)

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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt

2014-06-16T00:31:02Z

Jerm729: Creating deletion discussion page for Maccabean Revolt. (TW)

===[[Maccabean Revolt]]===
{{REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS AfD|?}}

:{{la|Maccabean Revolt}} – (<includeonly>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Maccabean Revolt|View AfD]]</includeonly><noinclude>[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2014 June 16#{{anchorencode:Maccabean Revolt}}|View log]]</noinclude>{{int:dot-separator}} [http://toolserver.org/~snottywong/cgi-bin/votecounter.cgi?page=Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Maccabean_Revolt Stats])
:({{Find sources|Maccabean Revolt}})
There is an article already called: [[Maccabees]]. No need for an extra or similar one. [[User:Jerm729|Jerm729]] ([[User talk:Jerm729|talk]]) 00:31, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Book of Daniel

2014-06-16T00:24:38Z

Jerm729: redirecting link

{{Other uses}}
{{Tanakh OT}}
The '''Book of Daniel''' is a book of the [[Bible]] which contains a "account of the activities and visions of [[Daniel]], a noble Jew exiled at Babylon."{{sfn|Reid|2000|p=315}} In the [[Hebrew Bible]] it is found in the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' (writings), while in [[Christian biblical canons|Christian Bibles]] and the [[Septuagint]] it is grouped with the [[Major prophet]]s.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}}

The Jewish and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] versions of Daniel (the Greek and [[Catholicism|Catholic]] version contains additional material) divides into two parts, a set of tales in chapters 1–6 in which Daniel and his companions demonstrate the superiority of their God, and the series of visions making up chapters 7–12.{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=265–266}}{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Traditionally ascribed to Daniel himself, modern scholarly consensus considers the book [[pseudonym]]ous, the stories of the first half legendary in origin, and the visions of the second the product of anonymous authors in the [[Maccabees|Maccabean]] period (2nd century BCE).{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Its exclusion from the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]] ([[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and [[Twelve Minor Prophets|the Twelve]]) was probably because it appeared after the canon for those books had closed, and the dominant view among scholars is that Daniel is not in any case a prophetic book but an [[apocalypse]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The Greek and Catholic versions of Daniel include three books that seem to have been written later than the original: The Song of the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Three Holy Children]], The History of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]], and The History of the Destruction of [[Bel and the Dragon]].<ref name="ODCC Daniel">"Daniel, Book of." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>

The book's message is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Its influence has resonated through later ages, from the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] community and the authors of the [[gospel]]s and [[Revelation]], the various movements from the 2nd century to the [[Protestant Reformation]], and modern [[Millennialism|millennial]]ist movements, on whom it continues to have a profound influence.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}}

==Structure==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century).]]

===Divisions: tales and visions, Aramaic and Hebrew===
Daniel falls into two halves, chapters 1–6 containing six tales of Jewish heroism set in the Babylonian court, and chapters 7–12 containing four apocalyptic visions.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}} This is complicated somewhat by the fact that chapters 1 and 8–12 are in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] and 2–7 in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}}{{sfn|Provan|2003|p=665}} The reasons behind this have never been satisfactorily explained. Chapters 1–6 show a progression over time in terms of their setting, from Babylonian to Median times, which begins again (Babylonian to Persian) in chapters 7–12. The following outline is provided by John J. Collins in his commentary on Daniel:{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=31}}

PART I: Tales (chapters 1:1–6:29)
*1: Introduction (1:1–21 – set in the Babylonian era, written in Hebrew)
*2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of four kingdoms (2:1–49 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*3: The fiery furnace (3:1–30 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*4: Nebuchadnezzar's madness (3:31–4:34 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*5: Belshazzar's feast (5:1–6:1 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*6: Daniel in the lions' den (6:2–29 – Median era with mention of Persia; Aramaic)
PART II: Visions (chapters 7:1–12:13)
*7: The beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (7:1–28 – Babylonian era: Aramaic)
*8: The ram and the he-goat (8:1–27 – Babylonian era; Hebrew)
*9: Interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy weeks (9:1–27 – Median era; Hebrew)
*10: The angel's revelation: kings of the north and south (10:1–12:13 – Persian era, mention of Greek era; Hebrew)

===Chiasm in the Aramaic section===
There is also a clear chiasm (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side) in the Aramaic section of the book, chapters 2–7. (The following is taken from Paul Redditt's "Introduction to the Prophets"):{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=177}}

*A1 (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
:*B1 (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
::*C1 (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar's
::*C2 (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
:*B2 (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
*A2 (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

==Content==
[[File:Daniel refuse kingsfood.jpg|thumb|Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration]]

===Captives in Babylon (chapter 1)===
{{Main|Daniel#Induction into Babylon}}
The story begins with a brief reference to king [[Nebuchadnezzar]] robbing the Jerusalem Temple ([[Solomon's Temple]]) and carrying its treasures back to Babylon. It goes on to describe how some young members of the Judean nobility, including Daniel and his three companions, are inducted into the king's service. Daniel and his companions are given Babylonian names, but refuse to be 'defiled' by the royal provisions of meat and wine. Their overseer fears for his life in case the health of his charges deteriorates, but Daniel suggests a ten-day trial on a simple diet of [[Pulse (legume)|pulses]] and water. When they miraculously emerge healthier than their counterparts, Daniel and his friends are allowed to continue with their diet. At the end of the induction period, the king finds them 'ten times better' than all the wise men in his service, and it is noted that Daniel has a particular gift for dream interpretation.

===Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four kingdoms (chapter 2)===
{{Main|Daniel 2#Nebuchadnezzar's dream}}
Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream and asks his wise men to interpret it, but refuses to divulge its content. When they protest he sentences all of them, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel asks permission to petition his God for a solution. He receives an explanatory vision in the night: Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed of an enormous statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of copper, legs of iron, and feet of mixed iron and clay. The statue is destroyed by a rock that turns into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth. The statue symbolises four successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, all of which will be crushed by God's kingdom, which will endure forever. Nebuchadnezzar raises Daniel to be chief over all his wise men, and appoints him and his companions to rule over all the chief cities of Babylon.
{{Daniel chapters}}
===The fiery furnace (chapter 3)===
{{Main|Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego}}
Daniel's companions Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure appear in the furnace with the three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames. Daniel does not appear in this story.

===Nebuchadnezzar's madness (chapter 4)===
[[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] recounts a dream of a huge tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast. All of this comes to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that "heaven rules" and his kingdom and sanity are restored.

===Belshazzar's feast (chapter 5)===
{{See also|The writing on the wall}}
[[Belshazzar]] and his nobles blasphemously drink from sacred Jewish temple vessels, offering praise to inanimate gods, until a hand mysteriously appears and [[The writing on the wall|writes upon the wall]] of the palace. The horrified king eventually summons Daniel who is able to read the writing and offer the following interpretation: ''Mene, Mene'' – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ''Tekel'' – You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. ''Upharsin'' – Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "That very night" Belshazzar was slain and "[[Darius the Mede]]" took over the kingdom.

===Daniel in the lions' den (chapter 6)===
{{Main|Daniel in the lions' den}}
Daniel is elevated to a pre-eminent position under Darius which elicits the jealousy of other officials. Knowing of Daniel's devotion to his God, these officials trick the king into issuing an edict forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30-day period. Because Daniel continues to pray three times a day to God towards Jerusalem, he is accused and King Darius, forced by his own decree, throws Daniel into the lions' den. God shuts up the mouths of the lions and the next morning king Darius finds Daniel unharmed, then he casts Daniel's accusers and their families into the lions' pit where they are instantly devoured.

===Vision of the beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (chapter 7)===
{{Main|Daniel 7}}
{{See also|Four monarchies}}
This vision, set in the first year of [[Belshazzar]], concerns four great beasts (7:3) representing future kings (7:17) or kingdoms (7:23). The fourth of these devours the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it (7:23). This fourth beast has ten horns representing ten kings. They are followed by a further wicked king, or "little horn", who subdues three of the ten (7:24), speaks against the [[Elyon|Most High]], wages war against the [[saints]], and attempts to change the set times and laws (7:25). After '[[Time, times, and half a time|a time and times and half a time]]', this king is judged and stripped of his kingdom by an "[[Ancient of Days]]" and his [[Throne of God|heavenly court]] (7:26). Next, "one like a [[son of man]]" approaches the Ancient of Days and is invested with worldwide dominion. Moreover, his everlasting reign over all earthly kingdoms is shared with "the people of the Most High" (7:27).

===Vision of the ram and goat (chapter 8)===
{{Main|Daniel 8}}
This vision in the third year of Belshazzar describes Daniel's vision of a ram and goat that, according to the text, represent [[Medes|Media]], Persia (the ram's two horns) and Greece (the goat). The goat with the mighty horn, becomes very powerful until the horn breaks off and is replaced by four "lesser" horns. The vision then focuses on a small horn that grows very large, representing a wicked king who arises to challenge the "army of the Lord" by removing the daily temple sacrifices and desecrating the sanctuary for a period of "twenty three hundred evening/mornings". The vision culminates in the "cleansing" or reconsecration of the temple.

===Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (chapter 9)===
{{Main|Prophecy of Seventy Weeks}}
The vision in first year of [[Darius I|Darius]] the son of [[Xerxes I of Persia|Ahasuerus]] (9:1) concerning [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks|seventy weeks]], or seventy "sevens", apportioned for the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|history of the Israelites]] and of [[Jerusalem]] (9:24) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period – "seventy sevens" – and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

===Vision of the kings of north and south (chapters 10–12)===
{{Main|Daniel 11}}
Daniel 10–12, set in the third year of [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] king of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] (around 536 BCE), recounts a vision of a great war. Chapter 10 tells how an angel (called "a man", but clearly a supernatural being) appears to Daniel and explains that he is in the midst of a war with the "prince of Persia", assisted only by [[archangel Michael|Michael]], "your prince." The "prince of Greece" will shortly come, but first he will reveal what will happen Daniel's people (the Jews) in that time.

Daniel 11 begins the angel's revelation of the coming war. A future king of Persia will make war on the king of Greece, a "mighty king" will arise and wield power until his empire is broken up and given to others, and finally the king of the south (identified in verse 8 as Egypt) will go to war with the king of the North. After many battles (described in great detail) a "contemptible person" will become king of the North; this king will invade the South two times, the first time with success, but on his second invasion he will be stopped by "ships of Kittim." He will turn back to his own country, and on the way his soldiers will desecrate the Temple, abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the [[abomination of desolation]]. The triumphant king of the north will wage war in the Levant and defeat and subjugate Libya and Egypt, but "reports from the east and north will alarm him," and he will meet his end "between the sea and the holy mountain."

Daniel 12: the angel reveals that at this time Michael, "the great prince who protects your people," will come. It will be a time of great distress, but all those whose names are written will be delivered. "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt; those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." In the final verses the remaining time to the end is revealed: "a time, times and half a time" (two years and a half). Daniel fails to understand and asks again what will happen, and is told: "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days."

===Additions to Daniel (Greek text tradition)===
The Greek text of Daniel is considerably longer than the Hebrew, due to three additional stories:
*The Prayer of Azariah and the Hymn of the Three Youths, placed after Daniel 3:23;
*The story of Susanna and the Elders, placed before chapter 1 in some Greek versions and after chapter 12 in others;
*The story of Bel and the Dragon, placed at the end of the book.

The [[additions to Daniel]] were accepted by all branches of Christianity until the Protestant movement rejected them in the 16th century on the basis that they were absent from Hebrew bibles; they remain in Catholic, Orthodox, and a few other bibles.

==Historical background==
The visions of chapters 7–12 reflect the crisis which took place in Judea in 167–164 BCE when [[Antiochus IV]], the Greek king of [[Seleucid empire|Syria]], threatened to destroy traditional Jewish worship in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=109-110}} When Antiochus came to the throne the Jews were largely pro-Seleucid. The High Priestly family was split by rivalry, and one member, Jason, offered the king a large sum to be made High Priest. Jason also asked – or more accurately, paid – to be allowed to make Jerusalem a ''[[polis]]'', or Greek city. This meant, among other things, that city government would be in the hands of the citizens, which meant in turn that citizenship would be a valuable commodity, to be purchased from Jason. None of this threatened the Jewish religion, and the reforms were widely welcomed, especially among the Jerusalem aristocracy and the leading priests. Three years later Jason was deposed when another priest, Menelaus, offered Antiochus an even larger sum for the post of High Priest.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=6-13}}

Antiochus invaded Egypt twice, in 169 BCE with success, but on the second incursion, in late 168, he was forced to withdraw by the Romans.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Jason, hearing a rumour that Antiochus was dead, attacked Menelaus to take back the High Priesthood.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Antiochus drove Jason out of Jerusalem, plundered the Temple, and introduced measures to pacify his Egyptian border by imposing complete Hellenisation: the Jewish Book of the Law was prohibited, as was circumcision, and on 15 December 167 an "abomination of desolation", probably a Greek altar, was introduced into the Temple.{{sfn|Sacchi|2010|p=225-226}} With the Jewish religion now clearly under threat a resistance movement sprang up, led by the Maccabee brothers, and over the next three years it won sufficient victories over Antiochus to take back and purify the Temple.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}}

The crisis which the author of Daniel addresses is the destruction of the altar in Jerusalem in 167 BCE (first introduced in chapter 8:11): the daily offering which used to take place twice a day, at morning and evening, stopped, and the phrase "evenings and mornings" recurs through the following chapters as a reminder of the missed sacrifices.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=407}} But whereas the events leading up to the sacking of the Temple in 167 and the immediate aftermath are remarkably accurate (chapter 11:21–29), the predicted war between the Syrians and the Egyptians (11:40–43) never took place, and the prophecy that Antiochus would die in Palestine (11:44–45) is totally inaccurate (he died in Persia).{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=6-7}} The conclusion is that the account must have been completed near the end of the reign of Antiochus but before his death in December 164, or at least before news of it reached Jerusalem.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=7}}

==Composition==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor arbre.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).]]

===Unity===
The first impression of Daniel is of a discontinuous text composed of arbitrary units of various styles and genres, but an important article by H. H. Rowley, "The Unity of the Book of Daniel," has drawn attention to the book's extensive continuity and homogeneity, notably in the complementary character of the visions, the [[chiastic structure]] of the Aramaic part, the references to earlier episodes, and the frequent recurrence of otherwise uncommon Aramaic expressions.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295-296}}

Despite Rowley's defense of the book's overall unity, it is generally accepted that Daniel originated as a collection of Aramaic folk-tales later expanded by the Hebrew revelations.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The folk-tales likely had a long prehistory and would have originated in the Babylonian [[diaspora]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=34-35}} The first stage may have consisted of the stories in chapters 4–6, as these differ quite markedly in the oldest texts.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the second stage chapters 2 and 7 were added, creating the chiasm of the Aramaic section of the book, possibly including a brief Aramaic introduction telling how Daniel and his friends came to Babylon.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the third stage the Hebrew visions of chapters 8–12 were added, plus a revised Hebrew introduction making the present chapter 1.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}}

===Authorship===
Daniel is one of a large number of Jewish apocalypses, all of them pseudonymous.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=2}} Although the entire book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel the seer, chapters 1–6 are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar; only the second half (chapters 7–12) is presented by Daniel himself, introduced by the anonymous narrator in chapters 7 and 10.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295}} The real author/editor of Daniel was probably an educated Jew, knowledgeable in Greek learning, and of high standing in his own community. The book is a product of "Wisdom" circles, but the type of wisdom is [[Wiktionary:mantic|mantic]] (the discovery of heavenly secrets from earthly signs) rather than the wisdom of learning – the main source of wisdom in Daniel is God's revelation.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002b|p=229-230,243}}{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=340}}

It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} [[Ezekiel]], who lived during the Babylonian exile, mentioned him in association with [[Noah]] and [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] ([[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 14:14) as a figure of legendary wisdom (28:3), and a hero named Daniel (more accurately Dan'el, but the spelling is close enough for the two to be regarded as identical) features in a late 2nd millennium myth from [[Ugarit]].{{sfn|Collins|2003|p=69}} "The legendary Daniel, known from long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character...serves as the principal human "hero" in the biblical book that now bears his name"; Daniel is the wise and righteous intermediary who is able to interpret dreams and thus convey the will of God to humans, the recipient of visions from on high that are interpreted to him by heavenly intermediaries.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=4}}

===Dating===
Daniel's exclusion from the Hebrew bible's canon of the prophets, which was closed around 200 BCE, suggests it was not known at that time, and the Wisdom of [[Sirach]], from around 180 BCE, draws on almost every book of the Old Testament except Daniel, leading scholars to suppose that its author was unaware of it. Daniel is, however, quoted by the author of a section of the [[Sibylline Oracles]] commonly dated to the middle of the 2nd century BCE, and was popular at Qumran beginning at much the same time, suggesting that it was known and revered from the middle of that century.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=1-2}}

The actual historical setting of the book is clear from chapter 11, where the prophecy is accurate down to the career of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]], king of Syria and oppressor of the Jews, but not in its prediction of his death: the author knows about Antiochus' two campaigns in Egypt (169 and 167 BCE), the desecration of the Temple (the "abomination of desolation"), and the fortification of the Akra (a fortress built inside Jerusalem), but he knows nothing about the reconstruction of the Temple or the actual circumstances of the death of Antiochus in late 164. Chapters 10–12 must therefore have been written between 167 and 164 BCE. There is no evidence of a significant time lapse between those chapters and chapters 8 and 9, and chapter 7 may have been written just a few months earlier again.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=101}}

==Texts==
The Book of Daniel is preserved in the twelve-chapter [[Masoretic Text]] and in two longer Greek versions, the original [[Septuagint]] version, c. 100 BCE, and the later [[Theodotion]] version from c. 2nd century CE. Both Greek texts contain three [[additions to Daniel]]: [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]; the story of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susannah and the Elders]]; and the story of [[Bel and the Dragon]]. Theodotion is much closer to the Masoretic Text and became so popular that it replaced the original Septuagint version in all but two manuscripts of the Septuagint itself.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=119-120}}{{sfn|Spencer|2002|p=89}}{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}} The Greek additions were apparently never part of the Hebrew text.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3}}

A total of eight incomplete copies of the Book of Daniel have been found at [[Qumran]], two in [[Qumran Caves|Cave 1]], five in Cave 4, and one in Cave 6. None is complete, but between them they preserve text from eleven of Daniel’s twelve chapters, and the twelfth is quoted in the [[Florilegium]] (a compilation scroll) [[4Q174]], showing that the book at Qumran did not lack this conclusion. All eight manuscripts were copied between 125 BCE ([[4QDanc|4QDanc]]) and about 50 CE ([[4QDanb|4QDanb]]), showing that Daniel was being read at Qumran only forty years after its composition. All appear to preserve the 12-chapter Masoretic version rather than the longer Greek text. None reveal any major disagreements against the Masoretic, and the four scrolls that preserve the relevant sections (1QDana, [[4QDana|4QDana]], 4QDanb, and [[4QDand|4QDand]]) all follow the bilingual nature of Daniel where the book opens in [[Hebrew]], switches to [[Aramaic]] at 2:4b, then reverts to Hebrew at 8:1.{{sfn|VanderKam|Flint|2013|p=137-138}}

==Themes==
[[File:Daniel dans la fosse aux lions.jpg|thumb|upright|Daniel in the lions' den saved by [[Habakkuk]] (France, 15th century).]]

''(This section deals with modern scholarly reconstructions of the meaning of Daniel to its original authors and audience)''

===Genre: Apocalypse and eschatology===
The message of the Book of Daniel is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Daniel is an [[apocalypse]], a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterised by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship).{{sfn|Crawford|2000|p=73}} Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}} Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the ''maskil'', the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}}

The book is also an [[eschatology]]: the divine revelation concerns the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420-421}} No real details of the end-time are given in Daniel, but it seems that God's kingdom will be on this earth, that it will be governed by justice and righteousness, and that the tables will be turned on the Seleucids and those Jews who cooperated with them.{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=187}}

===Symbolic imagery and chronology===
Daniel is filled with monsters, angels, and numerology drawn from a wide range of sources, both biblical and non-biblical, that would have had meaning in the context of 2nd century Jewishness.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1}} Professor [[Choon-Leong Seow]] of Princeton Theological Seminary states that while Christian interpreters have always viewed these as predicting events in the New Testament – "the Son of God", "the Son of Man", Christ and the Antichrist - the book's original readers would not have accepted that Daniel's predictions had nothing to do with them.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1-2}} The following explains a few of these, as understood by modern biblical scholars.

*The ''four kingdoms'' and the ''little horn'' (Daniel 2 and 7): The concept of four successive world empires is drawn from Greek theories of mythological history;{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} most modern interpreters agree that the four are Babylon, the Medes, Persia and the Greeks, ending with Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=34-36}} The symbolism of four metals in the statue in chapter 2 is drawn from Persian writings,{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} while the four "beasts from the sea" in chapter 7 reflect Hosea 13:7–8, in which God threatens that he will be to Israel like a lion, a leopard, a bear or a wild beast.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=80}} The consensus among scholars is that the four beasts of chapter 7, like the metals of chapter 2, symbolise Babylon, Media, Persia and the Seleucids, with Antiochis IV as the "small horn" that uproots three others (Antiochus usurped the rights of several other claimants to become king).{{sfn|Matthews|Moyes|2012|p=260,269}}

*The ''Ancient of Days'' and the ''one like a son of man'' (Daniel 7): The portrayal of God in Daniel 7:13 is similar to the portrayal of the Canaanite god El as an ancient divine king presiding over the divine court.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3-4}} The "Ancient of Days" gives dominion over the earth to "one like a [[son of man]]": scholars are almost universally agreed that this represents "the people of the holy ones of the Most High" (Daniel 7:27), meaning the "maskilim", the community responsible for Daniel,{{sfn|Gabbe|2002a|p=282}}

*''The ram and he-goat'' (Daniel 8) are conventional astrological symbols representing Persia and Syria, as the text explains. The "mighty horn" is [[Alexander the Great]] and the "four lesser horns" represent the four generals who fought over the empire following his death. The "little horn" again represents Antiochus IV. The key to the symbols lies in the description of the little horn's actions: he ends the continual burnt offering and overthrows the Sanctuary, a clear reference to Antiochus' desecration of the Temple.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=87}}

*The ''anointed ones'' and the ''seventy years'' (Chapter 9): Daniel reinterprets [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]]'s "seventy years" prophecy regarding the period Israel would spend in bondage to Babylon. From the point of view of the Maccabean era, Jeremiah's promise was obviously not true – the gentiles still oppressed the Jews, and the "desolation of Jerusalem" had not ended. Daniel therefore reinterprets the seventy years as seventy "weeks" of years, making up 490 years. The 70 weeks/490 years are subdivided, with seven weeks from the "going forth of the word to rebuild and restore Jerusalem" to the coming of an "anointed one" (Joshua, the first post-Exilic High Priest), while the final week is marked by the violent death of another "anointed one", the High Priest [[Onias III]] (ousted to make way for Jason and murdered in 171 BCE), and the profanation of the Temple. The point of this for Daniel is that the period of gentile power is predetermined, and is coming to an end.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=108-109}}{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=260}}

*''Kings of north and south'': Chapters 10–12 concerns the war between these kings, the events leading up to it, and its heavenly meaning. In chapter 10 the angel (Gabriel?) explains that there is currently a war in heaven between Michael, the angelic protector of Israel, and the "princes" (angels) of Persia and Greece; then, in chapter 11, he outlines the human wars which accompany this – the mythological concept is that behind every nation stands a god/angel who does battle on behalf of his people, so that earthly events reflect what happens in heaven. The wars of the Ptolemies ("kings of the south") and Seleucids ("kings of the north") are reviewed down to the career of [[Antiochus the Great]] (Antiochus III, father of Antiochus IV), but the main focus is Antiochus IV, to whom more than half the chapter is devoted. The accuracy of these predictions lends credibility to the real prophecy with which the passage ends, the death of Antiochus – which, in the event, was not accurate.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=110-111}}

*''Predicting the end-time'' (Daniel 8:14 and 12:7–12): Biblical eschatology does not generally give precise information as to when the end will come,{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420}} and Daniel's attempts to specify the number of days remaining is a rare exception.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=114}} Daniel asks the angel how long the "little horn" will be triumphant, and the angel replies that the Temple will be reconsecrated after 2,300 "evenings and mornings" have passed (Daniel 8:14). The angel is counting the two daily sacrifices, so the period is 1,150 days from the desecration in December 167. In chapter 12 the angel gives three more dates: the desolation will last "for a time, times and half a time," or a year, two years, and a half a year (Daniel 12:8); then that the "desolation" will last for 1,290 days (12:11); and finally, 1,335 days (12:12). Verse 12:11 was presumably added after the lapse of the 1,150 days of chapter 8, and 12:12 after the lapse of the number in 12:11.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=99}}

==Later interpretation and influence==
[[File:Daniel 4 Beasts.JPG|thumb|260px|Daniel's vision of the four beasts – [[woodcut]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]]]

The concepts of [[immortality]] and [[resurrection]], with rewards for the righteous and punishment for the wicked, were raised for the first time in Judaism in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. The doctrine has roots much deeper than Daniel, but is clearly stated in the final chapter of that book: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt."{{sfn|Cohn|2002|p=86-87}} [[Christianity]] would have disappeared, like the movements following other charismatic Jewish figures of the 1st century, had it not been for the perceived [[resurrection of Jesus]].{{sfn|Schwartz|1992|p=2}} Further influential elements in shaping elements within the Christian [[gospel]] traditions and [[Revelation]] included Daniel's vision of the "[[Son of Man]]" and the "[[Ancient of Days]]" (Daniel 7) – although it is note-worthy that the Danielic Son of Man is completely absent from the rest of the New Testament writings, suggesting that it was of little if any importance in the rest of Christianity as represented in the NT.{{sfn|Dunn|2002|p=537,539}}

Daniel was quoted and referenced by both Jews and Christians the 1st century CE as predicting the imminent end-time.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002|p=244}} Moments of national and cultural crisis continually reawakened the apocalyptic spirit, through the [[Montanists]] of the 2nd/3rd centuries, persecuted for their [[millennialism]], to the more extreme elements of the 16th century Reformation such as the Zwikau prophets and the [[Anabaptist]] "Kingdom" in Munster.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}} During the [[English Civil War]] the [[Fifth Monarchy Men]] took their name and political program from Daniel 7, demanding that [[Oliver Cromwell]] allow them to form a "government of saints" in preparation for the coming of the Messiah; when Cromwell refused, they identified him instead as the Beast usurping the rightful place of King Jesus.{{sfn|Weber|2007|p=374}}

Daniel remains one of the most influential apocalypses in modern America, along with [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and [[Revelation]]. For modern popularisers elaborating a traditional Christian interpretive framework, Daniel is a prophet who foretells the first coming of Jesus and a series of events that still lie in the future, when a ten-nation confederation (symbolised by the ten toes of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream), ruled by the [[Antichrist]] (the "little horn"), will be destroyed by Jesus (the "rock not made by human hands") as he returns (the [[Second Coming]] to rule the final and eternal kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=24,30–31}} The basic themes in apocalyptic belief as a whole include: America's destiny; Antichrist's identity and signs of his activity in current events; the precise sequence of end-time events; and the vision of a world far different from the present one.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=78}} Individual interpretations of the biblical texts have been ever-changing: in the first half of the 19th century, Daniel was found to have foretold the American [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], and the U.S. itself was the Danielic Fifth Kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=85}} In the 1980s the advent of the ten-member European Union was greeted as confirmation of the ten toes and horns of Daniel's visions, a new Roman Empire, "ready to install a modern-day Nero Caesar on the throne;" However, EU membership rose to 12 by the late 1980s and 28 by 2013, with several more countries moving towards membership.

Nor has the influence of Daniel been confined to Judaism and Christianity: the Quran's tale of [[Dhul-Qarnayn]] (the man of the two horns) may be based on Daniel 8, while in the Middle Ages Muslims created horoscopes whose authority was attributed to Daniel. More recently the [[Bahai]] movement, which originated in Persian Shi'ite Islam, justified its existence on the 1,260-day prophecy of Daniel, holding that it foretold the coming of the [[Twelfth Imam]] and an age of peace and justice in the year 1844, which is the year 1260 of the [[Hijri year|Muslim era]].{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

Daniel belongs not only to the religious tradition but also to the Western secular heritage. Philosophers ([[Spinoza]]), psychologists ([[Carl Jung]]) and the physicist [[Isaac Newton]] all paid special attention to the book; it has inspired musicians from Medieval liturgical drama to the 20th century compositions of [[Darius Milhaud]], and artists including [[Michelangelo]], [[Rembrandt]] and [[Delacroix]] have drawn upon its imagery.{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

==See also==
* [[Biblical numerology]]
* [[Christian eschatology]]
* [[Daniel (Old English poem)|Old English poem ''Daniel'']]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Daniel]]
* [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
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}}
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|last = Collins
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|chapter = Current Issues in the Study of Daniel
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|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
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|last = Collins
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|editor3-last = Stein
|editor3-first = Stephen J.
|title = The Continuum History of Apocalypticism
|year = 2003
|publisher = Continuum
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7UlbWioOV7sC&pg=PA64&dq=From+Prophecy+to+Apocalypticism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=amJkUuz3HqfyiAeT14HQBg&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=From%20Prophecy%20to%20Apocalypticism&f=false
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|last = Collins
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|editor1-last = Lieb
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|editor3-last = Roberts
|editor3-first = Jonathan
|title = The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible
|year = 2013
|publisher = Oxford UNiversity Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=jgPn26iYzagC&pg=PP140&dq=The+Oxford+Handbook+of+the+Reception+History+of+the+Bible+book+daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Hyq-UsmUEMbGkAWN-oDgAg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
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}}
* {{Cite book
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|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA73&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+apocalyptic&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TvpsUvuDKueSiAfsmIDYCg&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20apocalyptic&f=false
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}}
* {{Cite book
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|title = The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies
|year = 2006
|publisher = Oxford Handbooks Online
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eKZYMifS1fAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Oxford+handbook+of+biblical+studies&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8-BgUtuqDobekgW03IDwCA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
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}}
* {{Cite book
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|chapter = Apocalyptic Communities
|editor1-last = Neusner
|editor1-first = Jacob
|title = World Religions in America: An Introduction
|year = 2009
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA237&dq=influence+book+daniel+adventist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XwVhUrzbJa6ViQetmYCYDQ&ved=0CHoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=influence%20book%20daniel%20adventist&f=false
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|first = Jacques
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|publisher = Review and Herald Pub Assoc
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|year = 2000
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|first = James D.G.
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|editor1-last = Collins
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|editor2-last = Flint
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|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA545&dq=The+Danielic+Son+of+Man+in+the+New+Testament&hl=it&sa=X&ei=C1NvUsrJN6PeiAKit4FY&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=The%20Danielic%20Son%20of%20Man%20in%20the%20New%20Testament&f=false
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}}
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| first = Lester L.
| title = An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus
| year = 2010
| publisher = Continuum
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| first = Lester L.
| title = Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh
| year = 2002a
| publisher = Routledge
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|last = Grabbe
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|editor1-last = Collins
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|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002b
|publisher = BRILL
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}}

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| first = Raymond
| title = The Book of Daniel
| year = 1976
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
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* {{Cite book
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| title = Daniel—Malachi
| year = 2009
| publisher = Zondervan
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=_VWQlEQGW-oC&pg=PT247&dq=Daniel+Antiochus&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZIBnUrKmNo7IkwW3m4D4DQ&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20Antiochus&f=false
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|last = Hill
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|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA67&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+antichrist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O7dwUuL4IsmokAWcpoDIDg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20antichrist&f=false
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}}
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|last = Knibb
|first = Michael
|chapter = The Book of Daniel in its Context
|editor1-last = Collins
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|editor2-last = Flint
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|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
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}}
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|last = Lucas
|first = Ernest C.
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|editor1-last = Vanhoozer
|editor1-first = Kevin J.
|editor2-last = Bartholomew
|editor2-first = Craig G.
|editor3-last = Treier
|editor3-first = Daniel J.
|title = Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
|year = 2005
|publisher = Baker Academic
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I8UWJohMGUIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+for+Theological+Interpretation+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WqRbUuDpFsSnkQXr8IGwBA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20for%20Theological%20Interpretation%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
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|publisher = Baker Books
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rU_dAldCk6gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Old+Testament:+Text+and+Context&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ENpPUp6dOubJiAflzIDADw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Old%20Testament%3A%20Text%20and%20Context&f=false
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}}
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|first1 = Paul
|title = The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel
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|publisher = Continuum
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=G0YFSrClQOkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Herodotus+and+the+Book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Fi97UqKOIcK4kgX1z4CwCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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}}
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|last = Provan
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|title = Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2003
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA665&dq=Eerdmans+Commentary+on+the+Bible+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pq5cUrnZAcbPkQW_loDYBA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Commentary%20on%20the%20Bible%20Daniel&f=false
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}}
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| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=bKM_VJt9e3kC&pg=PA188&dq=Redditt+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SJ1oUt66OojNkwWCq4D4Aw&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Redditt%20Daniel&f=false
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|last = Reid
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|chapter = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2000
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EhJfUuOrCMWokgXf4YDoBw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
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|editor3-first = Elisabeth
|title = The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=bKG12u11z2AC&pg=PA344&dq=handbook+eschatology+Daniel&hl=it&sa=X&ei=IthtUutFx6OVBYGRgNAJ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=handbook%20eschatology%20Daniel&f=false
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| title = Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
| year = 1998
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qjEYEjVVEosC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Biblical+Imagery+Daniel+book+of&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lNJpUsmYCsiIrQfg4YE4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20of%20Biblical%20Imagery%20Daniel%20book%20of&f=false
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* {{Cite book
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}}
* {{cite book
|last = Schwartz
|first = Daniel R.
|title = Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity
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}}
* {{cite book
|last = Seow
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|title = Daniel
|year = 2003
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nuLapFR3AX4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Seow+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hdRgUvPQBYrOkAX4-4HYDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Seow%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Schiffman
|first = Lawrence H.
|title = From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
|year = 1991
|publisher = KTAV Publishing House
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=3kWYHyBb4C8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=From+Text+to+Tradition:+A+History+of+Second+Temple+and+Rabbinic+Judaism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rIpPUtaTGoShkAX76oHgDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=From%20Text%20to%20Tradition%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Second%20Temple%20and%20Rabbinic%20Judaism&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Spencer
|first = Richard A.
|chapter = Additions to Daniel
|editor1-last = Mills
|editor1-first = Watson E.
|editor2-last = Wilson
|editor2-first = Richard F.
|title = The Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha
|year = 2002
|publisher = Mercer University Press
|url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=doqYxT-1RzEC&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Towner
|first = W. Sibley
|title = Daniel
|year = 1984
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=F8EEY610xeAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Towner+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XLlhUvm6KYuaiAfEtIHADA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Towner%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = VanderKam
| first = James C.
| title = The Dead Sea Scrolls Today
| year = 2010
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=i2i5haDHAygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=VanderKamm+2002&hl=en&sa=X&ei=45tgUtTsG47FkQXe34CADQ&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = VanderKam
|first1 = James C.
|last2 = Flint
|first2 = Peter
|title = The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity
|year = 2013
|publisher = HarperCollins
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=kT0PAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT146&dq=The+meaning+of+the+Dead+Sea+scrolls:+their+significance+for+understanding+the+Bible,+Judaism,+Jesus,+and+Christianity+Most+scholars+agree+that+the+book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B5dpUv3xIOi4iQeo6IHABA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20meaning%20of%20the%20Dead%20Sea%20scrolls%3A%20their%20significance%20for%20understanding%20the%20Bible%2C%20Judaism%2C%20Jesus%2C%20and%20Christianity%20Most%20scholars%20agree%20that%20the%20book%20of%20Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Weber
|first = Timothy P.
|chapter = Millennialism
|editor1-last = Walls
|editor1-first = Jerry L.
|title = The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=N1XYXMTe1jYC&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Wesselius
|first = Jan-Wim
|chapter = The Writing of Daniel
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Book+of+Daniel:+Composition+and+Reception+2&hl=it&sa=X&ei=tgpiUvf9E8nriAfFkoD4Bg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}

==Further reading==

* {{Cite book|last=Baldwin|first=Joyce G.|author-link=Joyce G. Baldwin|editor=Donald J. Wiseman|title=Daniel: an introduction and commentary|year=1981|publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]]|location=Downers Grove|isbn=978-0-87784-273-6|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|author-link=Pierre Briant |last=Briant |first=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander |series=Librairie Artheme Fayard |location=Paris |year=1996 |others=Translation by Peter Daniels, 2002 |page=42 |isbn=1-57506-031-0 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Raymond E. |editor2-last=Fitzmyer |editor2-first=Joseph A. |editor3-last=Murphy |editor3-first=Roland E. |title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary |year=1999 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-859836-3 |page=1475 |ref=harv }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Carey
|first=Greg
|editor-last=Bloomquist
|editor-first=L. Gregory
|title=Vision and Persuasion: Rhetorical Dimensions of Apocalyptic Discourse
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=NyGyGyhUtIEC&pg=PA42
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-25
|year=1999
|publisher=Chalice Press
|isbn=0-8272-4005-8
|page=224
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Casey
|first=Maurice
|title=Son of Man: The interpretation and influence of Daniel 7
|year=1980
|publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
|isbn=0-281-03697-7
|page=272
|quote=lists ten commentators of the 'Syrian Tradition' who identify the fourth beast of chapter 7 as Greece, the little horn as Antiochus, and – in the majority of instances – the "saints of the Most High" as Maccabean Jews.
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Cohn-Sherbok
|first=Dan
|authorlink=Dan Cohn-Sherbok
|title=The Hebrew Bible
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=esHK1XA7_8UC&pg=PA209
|format=Google on-line books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1996
|publisher=Cassell
|isbn=0-304-33703-X
|page=257
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Colless
| first = Brian
| year = 1992
| title = Cyrus the Persian as Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel
| journal = [[Journal for the Study of the Old Testament]]
| volume = 56
| page = 115
| url= http://jot.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/17/56/113?ck=nck
| publisher = subscription site
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-12
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Dougherty
|first=Raymond Philip
|title=Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo- Babylonian Empire
|year=1929
|publisher=Yale University Press
|asin=B000M9MGX8
|page=216
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eisenman|first=Robert|title=James, the brother of Jesus : the key to unlocking the secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls|year=1998|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New York|isbn=0-14-025773-X}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Ford
|first=Desmond
|title=Daniel
|year=1978
|publisher=Southern Publishing Association
|isbn=0-8127-0174-7
|page=309
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book| last1 = Evans | first1 = Craig A. | last2 = Flint | first2 = Peter W. | author-link=Peter Flint|title = Eschatology, messianism, and the Dead Sea scrolls | url = http://books.google.com/?id=DDUw9mvbq4AC&pg=PA44 | year = 1997 | publisher = W.B. Eerdmans | location = Grand Rapids, Mich. | isbn = 978-0-8028-4230-5 | pages = }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Goldingay
|first=John
|authorlink = John Goldingay
|title=Daniel (Word Biblical Themes)
|url=http://documents.fuller.edu/sot/faculty/goldingay/cp_content/homepage/TheTheologyoftheBookofDaniel.rtf
|format=Rich text format of book
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1989
|publisher=Word Publishing Group
|location=Dallas
|isbn=0-8499-0794-2
|page=132
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Grabbe
|first=Lester L.
|editor-last=Rogerson
|editor-first=John William
|editor2-last=Lieu
|editor2-first=Judith
|title=The Oxford handbook of biblical studies
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=2008
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=USA
|isbn=0-19-923777-8
|page=920
|chapter=Chapter 16: Israel from the Rise of Hellenism to 70 CE
|chapterurl=http://books.google.ca/books?id=HMkMeaijNT4C&pg=PA287
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Godwin|first=compiled and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie ; with additional translations by Thomas Taylor and Arthur Fairbanks, Jr. ; introduced and edited by David R. Fideler ; with a foreword by Joscelyn|title=The Pythagorean sourcebook and library : an anthology of ancient writings which relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy|year=1987|publisher=[[Phanes Press]]|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=978-0-933999-51-0|edition=[New ed.]}}
* Louis F. Hartman and Alexander A. Di Lella, "Daniel", in [[Raymond E. Brown]] et al., ed., ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', 1990, pp. 406–20.
* {{Cite book
|last=Hoppe
|first=Leslie J.
|editor-last=Bergant
|editor-first=Dianne
|title=The Collegeville Bible commentary: based on the New American Bible: Old Testament
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Nj-AkOJ9wRQC&pg=PA560
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1992
|publisher=Liturgical Press
|isbn=0-8146-2211-9
|page=464
|chapter=Deuteronomy
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Keil
|first=C. F.
|first2=Franz
|last2=Delitzsch
|title=Ezekiel and Daniel
|series=Commentary on the Old Testament
|volume=9
|origyear=1955
|year=2006
|publisher=Hendrickson Publishers
|isbn=0-913573-88-4
|chapter=
|ref=harv
}}
*{{cite book|first=Tremper |last=Longman III |first2= Raymond B. |last2=Dillard |title= An Introduction to the Old Testament|publisher= Zonderman |year= 2006| edition=2nd |ref=harv|page=528|origyear=1995}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lucas|first=Ernest|title=Daniel|year=2002|publisher=Apollos|location=Leicester, England|isbn=0-85111-780-5|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Millard
| first = Alan R.
| date = Apr–June 1977
| title = Daniel 1–6 and History
| journal = [[Evangelical Quarterly]]
| volume = 49
| issue = 2
| pages = 67–73
| publisher = Paternoster
| url = http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/daniel1-6_millard.pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Miller
|first=Stephen B.
|title=Daniel
|series=New American Commentary
|volume=18
|year=1994
|publisher=Broadman and Holman
|location=Nashville
|isbn=0-8054-0118-0
|page=348
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Murphy
|first=Frederick James
|title=Fallen is Babylon: the Revelation to John
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=uZvGwtOaYNUC&pg=PA436
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=1998
|publisher=Trinity Press International
|isbn=1-56338-152-4
|page= 472
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Notes
|title=The New American Bible
|year=1992
|page=1021
|publisher=Catholic Book Publishing Co.
|isbn=978-0-89942-510-8
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Oppenheim |first=A. Leo |editor=James B. Pritchard |title=Ancient Near Eastern Texts |edition=2nd ed.; 3rd print |year=1966 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=308 |chapter=Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=H. H.
|title = Darius the Mede and the Four World Empires in the Book of Daniel: A Historical Study of Contemporary Theories
|publisher = University of Wales Press
|year = 1959
|page=195
|isbn=1-59752-896-X
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=Harold Henry
|title=The Growth of the Old Testament
|year=1963
|publisher=Harper & Row
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Schwartz
|first=Daniel R.
|title=Studies in the Jewish background of Christianity
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&pg=PA110
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1992
|publisher=Mohr Siebeck
|isbn=3-16-145798-6
|page=304
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Shea
| first = William H.
| year = 1982
| title = Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and the Book of Daniel: An Update
| journal = AUSS Journal Online Archive
| volume = 20
| issue = 2
| pages = 133–149.
| publisher = Andrews University Seminary
| url = http://www.auss.info/auss_publication_file.php?pub_id=649&journal=1&type=pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Shea
|first=William H.
|editor1-last=Holbrook
|editor1-first=Frank
|title=The Seventy Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy
|series=Daniel and Revelation Committee Series
|volume=3
|year=1986
|publisher=Review and Herald Publishing Association
|chapter=The Prophecy of Daniel 9:24–27
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=[[Martin H. Manser]] ; associate editors, [[David Barratt (expositor)|David Barratt]], [[Pieter J. Lalleman]], [[Julius Steinberg]]|title=Critical companion to the Bible : a literary reference|year=2009|publisher=[[Facts On File]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-7065-7|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stimilli|first=Davide|title=The face of immortality : physiognomy and criticism|year=2005|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-6263-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Tyndale|title=Tyndale Bible dictionary|year=2001|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|location=Wheaton, Ill.|isbn=978-0-8423-7089-9|coauthors=Elwell, Walter A., Comfort, Philip W.|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Tomasino
|first=Anthony J.
|title=Judaism before Jesus: the ideas and events that shaped the New Testament world
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=AwTobS58tZwC&pg=PA18
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=2003
|publisher=IVP Academic; Print On Demand Edition
|isbn=0-8308-2730-7
|page=345
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Wiseman
|first=D. J.
|authorlink=D. J. Wiseman
|title=Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel
|year=1965
|publisher=Tyndale Press
|location=London
|isbn=0-85111-038-X
|page=80
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Young
|first=Edward J.
|title=The Prophecy of Daniel: a Commentary
|origyear=1949
|year=2009
|publisher=Eerdmans Publishing
|isbn=0-8028-6331-0
|page=332
|ref=harv
}}
* [[John F. Walvoord]], ''Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation'', 1989. ISBN 0-8024-1753-1.
* {{Cite book|first=Desmond|last=Ford|author-link=Desmond Ford|year=1978|title=Daniel|publisher=Southern Publishing Association|isbn=0-8127-0174-7|page=309|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book| editor-last= Holbrook| editor-first = Frank B. | title= Symposium on Daniel| series= Daniel & Revelation Committee Series| volume= 2| year = 1986| publisher = Biblical Research Institute: Review and Herald Publishing Association| isbn = 0-925675-01-6| page = 557| ref = harv}}
* {{Cite book|first=Gerhard |last=Pfandl|title=Daniel: The Seer of Babylon|publisher=Review and Herald Pub Assoc|year= 2004|ref=harv|page=121|isbn=978-0-8280-1829-6 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=82twQKRNuiIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}
* {{Cite book|first=Zdravko |last=Stefanovic|title=Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise: Commentary on the Book of Daniel|publisher=Pacific Press Publishing Association|year= 2007|ref=harv|isbn=978-0-8163-2212-1 |page=480 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=H7um_XIWyUQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Book of Daniel}}
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Daniel|Daniel}}

;Jewish translations
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15773 Daniel (Judaica Press) *] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org

;Christian translations
* [http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/27_daniel.htm ''Daniel'' at The Great Books *] (New Revised Standard Version)
* [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel.html The Book of Daniel *] (Full text from [http://www.st-takla.org/ St-Takla.org], also available in [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel_.html Arabic])

;Related articles
* [http://www.itanakh.org/texts/tanakh/writings/daniel/index.htm Daniel at iTanakh]
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=34&letter=D ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':] Daniel
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Writings_2140/BickermanDaniel.htm Daniel: Wise Man and Visionary, by Elias Bickerman]

;Commentaries
* [http://books.google.ca/books?id=gG5BAAAAcAAJ Newton, Isaac (1733). ''Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel, and the apocalypse of St. John, Volume 1'' (Google eBook)] Accessed March 24, 2011

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou| [[Major prophet]]s|||}}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Esther|Esther]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] }}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Book Of}}
[[Category:Book of Daniel| ]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Ketuvim]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic literature]]

{{Link GA|pl}}

Book of Daniel

2014-06-16T00:17:48Z

Jerm729: redirecting link

{{Other uses}}
{{Tanakh OT}}
The '''Book of Daniel''' is a book of the [[Bible]] which contains a "account of the activities and visions of [[Daniel]], a noble Jew exiled at Babylon."{{sfn|Reid|2000|p=315}} In the [[Hebrew Bible]] it is found in the ''[[Ketuvim]]'' (writings), while in [[Christian biblical canons|Christian Bibles]] and the [[Septuagint]] it is grouped with the [[Major prophet]]s.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}}

The Jewish and [[Protestantism|Protestant]] versions of Daniel (the Greek and [[Catholicism|Catholic]] version contains additional material) divides into two parts, a set of tales in chapters 1–6 in which Daniel and his companions demonstrate the superiority of their God, and the series of visions making up chapters 7–12.{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=265–266}}{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Traditionally ascribed to Daniel himself, modern scholarly consensus considers the book [[pseudonym]]ous, the stories of the first half legendary in origin, and the visions of the second the product of anonymous authors in the [[Maccabean]] period (2nd century BCE).{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}} Its exclusion from the [[Nevi'im|Prophets]] ([[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and [[Twelve Minor Prophets|the Twelve]]) was probably because it appeared after the canon for those books had closed, and the dominant view among scholars is that Daniel is not in any case a prophetic book but an [[apocalypse]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The Greek and Catholic versions of Daniel include three books that seem to have been written later than the original: The Song of the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Three Holy Children]], The History of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]], and The History of the Destruction of [[Bel and the Dragon]].<ref name="ODCC Daniel">"Daniel, Book of." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>

The book's message is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Its influence has resonated through later ages, from the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] community and the authors of the [[gospel]]s and [[Revelation]], the various movements from the 2nd century to the [[Protestant Reformation]], and modern [[Millennialism|millennial]]ist movements, on whom it continues to have a profound influence.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}}

==Structure==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the composite statue (France, 15th century).]]

===Divisions: tales and visions, Aramaic and Hebrew===
Daniel falls into two halves, chapters 1–6 containing six tales of Jewish heroism set in the Babylonian court, and chapters 7–12 containing four apocalyptic visions.{{sfn|Bandstra|2008|p=445}} This is complicated somewhat by the fact that chapters 1 and 8–12 are in [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] and 2–7 in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}}{{sfn|Provan|2003|p=665}} The reasons behind this have never been satisfactorily explained. Chapters 1–6 show a progression over time in terms of their setting, from Babylonian to Median times, which begins again (Babylonian to Persian) in chapters 7–12. The following outline is provided by John J. Collins in his commentary on Daniel:{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=31}}

PART I: Tales (chapters 1:1–6:29)
*1: Introduction (1:1–21 – set in the Babylonian era, written in Hebrew)
*2: Nebuchadnezzar's dream of four kingdoms (2:1–49 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*3: The fiery furnace (3:1–30 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*4: Nebuchadnezzar's madness (3:31–4:34 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*5: Belshazzar's feast (5:1–6:1 – Babylonian era; Aramaic)
*6: Daniel in the lions' den (6:2–29 – Median era with mention of Persia; Aramaic)
PART II: Visions (chapters 7:1–12:13)
*7: The beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (7:1–28 – Babylonian era: Aramaic)
*8: The ram and the he-goat (8:1–27 – Babylonian era; Hebrew)
*9: Interpretation of Jeremiah's prophecy of the seventy weeks (9:1–27 – Median era; Hebrew)
*10: The angel's revelation: kings of the north and south (10:1–12:13 – Persian era, mention of Greek era; Hebrew)

===Chiasm in the Aramaic section===
There is also a clear chiasm (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side) in the Aramaic section of the book, chapters 2–7. (The following is taken from Paul Redditt's "Introduction to the Prophets"):{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=177}}

*A1 (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
:*B1 (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
::*C1 (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar's
::*C2 (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
:*B2 (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
*A2 (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

==Content==
[[File:Daniel refuse kingsfood.jpg|thumb|Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration]]

===Captives in Babylon (chapter 1)===
{{Main|Daniel#Induction into Babylon}}
The story begins with a brief reference to king [[Nebuchadnezzar]] robbing the Jerusalem Temple ([[Solomon's Temple]]) and carrying its treasures back to Babylon. It goes on to describe how some young members of the Judean nobility, including Daniel and his three companions, are inducted into the king's service. Daniel and his companions are given Babylonian names, but refuse to be 'defiled' by the royal provisions of meat and wine. Their overseer fears for his life in case the health of his charges deteriorates, but Daniel suggests a ten-day trial on a simple diet of [[Pulse (legume)|pulses]] and water. When they miraculously emerge healthier than their counterparts, Daniel and his friends are allowed to continue with their diet. At the end of the induction period, the king finds them 'ten times better' than all the wise men in his service, and it is noted that Daniel has a particular gift for dream interpretation.

===Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of four kingdoms (chapter 2)===
{{Main|Daniel 2#Nebuchadnezzar's dream}}
Nebuchadnezzar has a disturbing dream and asks his wise men to interpret it, but refuses to divulge its content. When they protest he sentences all of them, including Daniel and his friends, to death. Daniel asks permission to petition his God for a solution. He receives an explanatory vision in the night: Nebuchadnezzar has dreamed of an enormous statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of copper, legs of iron, and feet of mixed iron and clay. The statue is destroyed by a rock that turns into a huge mountain, filling the whole earth. The statue symbolises four successive kingdoms, starting with Nebuchadnezzar, all of which will be crushed by God's kingdom, which will endure forever. Nebuchadnezzar raises Daniel to be chief over all his wise men, and appoints him and his companions to rule over all the chief cities of Babylon.
{{Daniel chapters}}
===The fiery furnace (chapter 3)===
{{Main|Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego}}
Daniel's companions Ananias (Hananiah/Shadrach), Azariah (Abednego), and Mishael (Meshach) refuse to bow to the emperor's golden statue and are thrown into a furnace. Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure appear in the furnace with the three and God is credited for preserving them from the flames. Daniel does not appear in this story.

===Nebuchadnezzar's madness (chapter 4)===
[[Nebuchadnezzar II|Nebuchadnezzar]] recounts a dream of a huge tree that is suddenly cut down at the command of a heavenly messenger. Daniel is summoned and interprets the dream. The tree is Nebuchadnezzar himself, who for seven years will lose his mind and live like a wild beast. All of this comes to pass until, at the end of the specified time, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges that "heaven rules" and his kingdom and sanity are restored.

===Belshazzar's feast (chapter 5)===
{{See also|The writing on the wall}}
[[Belshazzar]] and his nobles blasphemously drink from sacred Jewish temple vessels, offering praise to inanimate gods, until a hand mysteriously appears and [[The writing on the wall|writes upon the wall]] of the palace. The horrified king eventually summons Daniel who is able to read the writing and offer the following interpretation: ''Mene, Mene'' – God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. ''Tekel'' – You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. ''Upharsin'' – Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. "That very night" Belshazzar was slain and "[[Darius the Mede]]" took over the kingdom.

===Daniel in the lions' den (chapter 6)===
{{Main|Daniel in the lions' den}}
Daniel is elevated to a pre-eminent position under Darius which elicits the jealousy of other officials. Knowing of Daniel's devotion to his God, these officials trick the king into issuing an edict forbidding worship of any other god or man for a 30-day period. Because Daniel continues to pray three times a day to God towards Jerusalem, he is accused and King Darius, forced by his own decree, throws Daniel into the lions' den. God shuts up the mouths of the lions and the next morning king Darius finds Daniel unharmed, then he casts Daniel's accusers and their families into the lions' pit where they are instantly devoured.

===Vision of the beasts from the sea and the Son of Man (chapter 7)===
{{Main|Daniel 7}}
{{See also|Four monarchies}}
This vision, set in the first year of [[Belshazzar]], concerns four great beasts (7:3) representing future kings (7:17) or kingdoms (7:23). The fourth of these devours the whole earth, treading it down and crushing it (7:23). This fourth beast has ten horns representing ten kings. They are followed by a further wicked king, or "little horn", who subdues three of the ten (7:24), speaks against the [[Elyon|Most High]], wages war against the [[saints]], and attempts to change the set times and laws (7:25). After '[[Time, times, and half a time|a time and times and half a time]]', this king is judged and stripped of his kingdom by an "[[Ancient of Days]]" and his [[Throne of God|heavenly court]] (7:26). Next, "one like a [[son of man]]" approaches the Ancient of Days and is invested with worldwide dominion. Moreover, his everlasting reign over all earthly kingdoms is shared with "the people of the Most High" (7:27).

===Vision of the ram and goat (chapter 8)===
{{Main|Daniel 8}}
This vision in the third year of Belshazzar describes Daniel's vision of a ram and goat that, according to the text, represent [[Medes|Media]], Persia (the ram's two horns) and Greece (the goat). The goat with the mighty horn, becomes very powerful until the horn breaks off and is replaced by four "lesser" horns. The vision then focuses on a small horn that grows very large, representing a wicked king who arises to challenge the "army of the Lord" by removing the daily temple sacrifices and desecrating the sanctuary for a period of "twenty three hundred evening/mornings". The vision culminates in the "cleansing" or reconsecration of the temple.

===Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (chapter 9)===
{{Main|Prophecy of Seventy Weeks}}
The vision in first year of [[Darius I|Darius]] the son of [[Xerxes I of Persia|Ahasuerus]] (9:1) concerning [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks|seventy weeks]], or seventy "sevens", apportioned for the [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|history of the Israelites]] and of [[Jerusalem]] (9:24) This consists of a meditation on the prediction in Jeremiah that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years, a lengthy prayer by Daniel in which he pleads for God to restore Jerusalem and its temple, and an angelic explanation which focuses on a longer time period – "seventy sevens" – and a future restoration and destruction of city and temple by a coming ruler.

===Vision of the kings of north and south (chapters 10–12)===
{{Main|Daniel 11}}
Daniel 10–12, set in the third year of [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] king of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]] (around 536 BCE), recounts a vision of a great war. Chapter 10 tells how an angel (called "a man", but clearly a supernatural being) appears to Daniel and explains that he is in the midst of a war with the "prince of Persia", assisted only by [[archangel Michael|Michael]], "your prince." The "prince of Greece" will shortly come, but first he will reveal what will happen Daniel's people (the Jews) in that time.

Daniel 11 begins the angel's revelation of the coming war. A future king of Persia will make war on the king of Greece, a "mighty king" will arise and wield power until his empire is broken up and given to others, and finally the king of the south (identified in verse 8 as Egypt) will go to war with the king of the North. After many battles (described in great detail) a "contemptible person" will become king of the North; this king will invade the South two times, the first time with success, but on his second invasion he will be stopped by "ships of Kittim." He will turn back to his own country, and on the way his soldiers will desecrate the Temple, abolish the daily sacrifice, and set up the [[abomination of desolation]]. The triumphant king of the north will wage war in the Levant and defeat and subjugate Libya and Egypt, but "reports from the east and north will alarm him," and he will meet his end "between the sea and the holy mountain."

Daniel 12: the angel reveals that at this time Michael, "the great prince who protects your people," will come. It will be a time of great distress, but all those whose names are written will be delivered. "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt; those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." In the final verses the remaining time to the end is revealed: "a time, times and half a time" (two years and a half). Daniel fails to understand and asks again what will happen, and is told: "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days."

===Additions to Daniel (Greek text tradition)===
The Greek text of Daniel is considerably longer than the Hebrew, due to three additional stories:
*The Prayer of Azariah and the Hymn of the Three Youths, placed after Daniel 3:23;
*The story of Susanna and the Elders, placed before chapter 1 in some Greek versions and after chapter 12 in others;
*The story of Bel and the Dragon, placed at the end of the book.

The [[additions to Daniel]] were accepted by all branches of Christianity until the Protestant movement rejected them in the 16th century on the basis that they were absent from Hebrew bibles; they remain in Catholic, Orthodox, and a few other bibles.

==Historical background==
The visions of chapters 7–12 reflect the crisis which took place in Judea in 167–164 BCE when [[Antiochus IV]], the Greek king of [[Seleucid empire|Syria]], threatened to destroy traditional Jewish worship in Jerusalem.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=109-110}} When Antiochus came to the throne the Jews were largely pro-Seleucid. The High Priestly family was split by rivalry, and one member, Jason, offered the king a large sum to be made High Priest. Jason also asked – or more accurately, paid – to be allowed to make Jerusalem a ''[[polis]]'', or Greek city. This meant, among other things, that city government would be in the hands of the citizens, which meant in turn that citizenship would be a valuable commodity, to be purchased from Jason. None of this threatened the Jewish religion, and the reforms were widely welcomed, especially among the Jerusalem aristocracy and the leading priests. Three years later Jason was deposed when another priest, Menelaus, offered Antiochus an even larger sum for the post of High Priest.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=6-13}}

Antiochus invaded Egypt twice, in 169 BCE with success, but on the second incursion, in late 168, he was forced to withdraw by the Romans.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Jason, hearing a rumour that Antiochus was dead, attacked Menelaus to take back the High Priesthood.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}} Antiochus drove Jason out of Jerusalem, plundered the Temple, and introduced measures to pacify his Egyptian border by imposing complete Hellenisation: the Jewish Book of the Law was prohibited, as was circumcision, and on 15 December 167 an "abomination of desolation", probably a Greek altar, was introduced into the Temple.{{sfn|Sacchi|2010|p=225-226}} With the Jewish religion now clearly under threat a resistance movement sprang up, led by the Maccabee brothers, and over the next three years it won sufficient victories over Antiochus to take back and purify the Temple.{{sfn|Grabbe|2010|p=13-16}}

The crisis which the author of Daniel addresses is the destruction of the altar in Jerusalem in 167 BCE (first introduced in chapter 8:11): the daily offering which used to take place twice a day, at morning and evening, stopped, and the phrase "evenings and mornings" recurs through the following chapters as a reminder of the missed sacrifices.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=407}} But whereas the events leading up to the sacking of the Temple in 167 and the immediate aftermath are remarkably accurate (chapter 11:21–29), the predicted war between the Syrians and the Egyptians (11:40–43) never took place, and the prophecy that Antiochus would die in Palestine (11:44–45) is totally inaccurate (he died in Persia).{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=6-7}} The conclusion is that the account must have been completed near the end of the reign of Antiochus but before his death in December 164, or at least before news of it reached Jerusalem.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=7}}

==Composition==
[[File:Songe Nabuchodonosor arbre.jpg|thumb|upright|Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).]]

===Unity===
The first impression of Daniel is of a discontinuous text composed of arbitrary units of various styles and genres, but an important article by H. H. Rowley, "The Unity of the Book of Daniel," has drawn attention to the book's extensive continuity and homogeneity, notably in the complementary character of the visions, the [[chiastic structure]] of the Aramaic part, the references to earlier episodes, and the frequent recurrence of otherwise uncommon Aramaic expressions.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295-296}}

Despite Rowley's defense of the book's overall unity, it is generally accepted that Daniel originated as a collection of Aramaic folk-tales later expanded by the Hebrew revelations.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=29}} The folk-tales likely had a long prehistory and would have originated in the Babylonian [[diaspora]].{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=34-35}} The first stage may have consisted of the stories in chapters 4–6, as these differ quite markedly in the oldest texts.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the second stage chapters 2 and 7 were added, creating the chiasm of the Aramaic section of the book, possibly including a brief Aramaic introduction telling how Daniel and his friends came to Babylon.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}} In the third stage the Hebrew visions of chapters 8–12 were added, plus a revised Hebrew introduction making the present chapter 1.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=176-177}}

===Authorship===
Daniel is one of a large number of Jewish apocalypses, all of them pseudonymous.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=2}} Although the entire book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel the seer, chapters 1–6 are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar; only the second half (chapters 7–12) is presented by Daniel himself, introduced by the anonymous narrator in chapters 7 and 10.{{sfn|Wesselius|2002|p=295}} The real author/editor of Daniel was probably an educated Jew, knowledgeable in Greek learning, and of high standing in his own community. The book is a product of "Wisdom" circles, but the type of wisdom is [[Wiktionary:mantic|mantic]] (the discovery of heavenly secrets from earthly signs) rather than the wisdom of learning – the main source of wisdom in Daniel is God's revelation.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002b|p=229-230,243}}{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=340}}

It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} [[Ezekiel]], who lived during the Babylonian exile, mentioned him in association with [[Noah]] and [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] ([[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 14:14) as a figure of legendary wisdom (28:3), and a hero named Daniel (more accurately Dan'el, but the spelling is close enough for the two to be regarded as identical) features in a late 2nd millennium myth from [[Ugarit]].{{sfn|Collins|2003|p=69}} "The legendary Daniel, known from long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character...serves as the principal human "hero" in the biblical book that now bears his name"; Daniel is the wise and righteous intermediary who is able to interpret dreams and thus convey the will of God to humans, the recipient of visions from on high that are interpreted to him by heavenly intermediaries.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=4}}

===Dating===
Daniel's exclusion from the Hebrew bible's canon of the prophets, which was closed around 200 BCE, suggests it was not known at that time, and the Wisdom of [[Sirach]], from around 180 BCE, draws on almost every book of the Old Testament except Daniel, leading scholars to suppose that its author was unaware of it. Daniel is, however, quoted by the author of a section of the [[Sibylline Oracles]] commonly dated to the middle of the 2nd century BCE, and was popular at Qumran beginning at much the same time, suggesting that it was known and revered from the middle of that century.{{sfn|Hammer|1976|p=1-2}}

The actual historical setting of the book is clear from chapter 11, where the prophecy is accurate down to the career of [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]], king of Syria and oppressor of the Jews, but not in its prediction of his death: the author knows about Antiochus' two campaigns in Egypt (169 and 167 BCE), the desecration of the Temple (the "abomination of desolation"), and the fortification of the Akra (a fortress built inside Jerusalem), but he knows nothing about the reconstruction of the Temple or the actual circumstances of the death of Antiochus in late 164. Chapters 10–12 must therefore have been written between 167 and 164 BCE. There is no evidence of a significant time lapse between those chapters and chapters 8 and 9, and chapter 7 may have been written just a few months earlier again.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=101}}

==Texts==
The Book of Daniel is preserved in the twelve-chapter [[Masoretic Text]] and in two longer Greek versions, the original [[Septuagint]] version, c. 100 BCE, and the later [[Theodotion]] version from c. 2nd century CE. Both Greek texts contain three [[additions to Daniel]]: [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]]; the story of [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susannah and the Elders]]; and the story of [[Bel and the Dragon]]. Theodotion is much closer to the Masoretic Text and became so popular that it replaced the original Septuagint version in all but two manuscripts of the Septuagint itself.{{sfn|Harrington|1999|p=119-120}}{{sfn|Spencer|2002|p=89}}{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=28}} The Greek additions were apparently never part of the Hebrew text.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3}}

A total of eight incomplete copies of the Book of Daniel have been found at [[Qumran]], two in [[Qumran Caves|Cave 1]], five in Cave 4, and one in Cave 6. None is complete, but between them they preserve text from eleven of Daniel’s twelve chapters, and the twelfth is quoted in the [[Florilegium]] (a compilation scroll) [[4Q174]], showing that the book at Qumran did not lack this conclusion. All eight manuscripts were copied between 125 BCE ([[4QDanc|4QDanc]]) and about 50 CE ([[4QDanb|4QDanb]]), showing that Daniel was being read at Qumran only forty years after its composition. All appear to preserve the 12-chapter Masoretic version rather than the longer Greek text. None reveal any major disagreements against the Masoretic, and the four scrolls that preserve the relevant sections (1QDana, [[4QDana|4QDana]], 4QDanb, and [[4QDand|4QDand]]) all follow the bilingual nature of Daniel where the book opens in [[Hebrew]], switches to [[Aramaic]] at 2:4b, then reverts to Hebrew at 8:1.{{sfn|VanderKam|Flint|2013|p=137-138}}

==Themes==
[[File:Daniel dans la fosse aux lions.jpg|thumb|upright|Daniel in the lions' den saved by [[Habakkuk]] (France, 15th century).]]

''(This section deals with modern scholarly reconstructions of the meaning of Daniel to its original authors and audience)''

===Genre: Apocalypse and eschatology===
The message of the Book of Daniel is that just as the God of Israel saved Daniel and his friends from their enemies, so he would save all Israel in their present oppression.{{sfn|Brettler|2005|p=218}} Daniel is an [[apocalypse]], a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterised by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship).{{sfn|Crawford|2000|p=73}} Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}} Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the ''maskil'', the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness.{{sfn|Davies|2006|p=397-406}}

The book is also an [[eschatology]]: the divine revelation concerns the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420-421}} No real details of the end-time are given in Daniel, but it seems that God's kingdom will be on this earth, that it will be governed by justice and righteousness, and that the tables will be turned on the Seleucids and those Jews who cooperated with them.{{sfn|Redditt|2009|p=187}}

===Symbolic imagery and chronology===
Daniel is filled with monsters, angels, and numerology drawn from a wide range of sources, both biblical and non-biblical, that would have had meaning in the context of 2nd century Jewishness.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1}} Professor [[Choon-Leong Seow]] of Princeton Theological Seminary states that while Christian interpreters have always viewed these as predicting events in the New Testament – "the Son of God", "the Son of Man", Christ and the Antichrist - the book's original readers would not have accepted that Daniel's predictions had nothing to do with them.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=1-2}} The following explains a few of these, as understood by modern biblical scholars.

*The ''four kingdoms'' and the ''little horn'' (Daniel 2 and 7): The concept of four successive world empires is drawn from Greek theories of mythological history;{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} most modern interpreters agree that the four are Babylon, the Medes, Persia and the Greeks, ending with Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=34-36}} The symbolism of four metals in the statue in chapter 2 is drawn from Persian writings,{{sfn|Niskanen|2004|p=27,31}} while the four "beasts from the sea" in chapter 7 reflect Hosea 13:7–8, in which God threatens that he will be to Israel like a lion, a leopard, a bear or a wild beast.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=80}} The consensus among scholars is that the four beasts of chapter 7, like the metals of chapter 2, symbolise Babylon, Media, Persia and the Seleucids, with Antiochis IV as the "small horn" that uproots three others (Antiochus usurped the rights of several other claimants to become king).{{sfn|Matthews|Moyes|2012|p=260,269}}

*The ''Ancient of Days'' and the ''one like a son of man'' (Daniel 7): The portrayal of God in Daniel 7:13 is similar to the portrayal of the Canaanite god El as an ancient divine king presiding over the divine court.{{sfn|Seow|2003|p=3-4}} The "Ancient of Days" gives dominion over the earth to "one like a [[son of man]]": scholars are almost universally agreed that this represents "the people of the holy ones of the Most High" (Daniel 7:27), meaning the "maskilim", the community responsible for Daniel,{{sfn|Gabbe|2002a|p=282}}

*''The ram and he-goat'' (Daniel 8) are conventional astrological symbols representing Persia and Syria, as the text explains. The "mighty horn" is [[Alexander the Great]] and the "four lesser horns" represent the four generals who fought over the empire following his death. The "little horn" again represents Antiochus IV. The key to the symbols lies in the description of the little horn's actions: he ends the continual burnt offering and overthrows the Sanctuary, a clear reference to Antiochus' desecration of the Temple.{{sfn|Collins|1984|p=87}}

*The ''anointed ones'' and the ''seventy years'' (Chapter 9): Daniel reinterprets [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]]'s "seventy years" prophecy regarding the period Israel would spend in bondage to Babylon. From the point of view of the Maccabean era, Jeremiah's promise was obviously not true – the gentiles still oppressed the Jews, and the "desolation of Jerusalem" had not ended. Daniel therefore reinterprets the seventy years as seventy "weeks" of years, making up 490 years. The 70 weeks/490 years are subdivided, with seven weeks from the "going forth of the word to rebuild and restore Jerusalem" to the coming of an "anointed one" (Joshua, the first post-Exilic High Priest), while the final week is marked by the violent death of another "anointed one", the High Priest [[Onias III]] (ousted to make way for Jason and murdered in 171 BCE), and the profanation of the Temple. The point of this for Daniel is that the period of gentile power is predetermined, and is coming to an end.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=108-109}}{{sfn|Matthews|Moyer|2012|p=260}}

*''Kings of north and south'': Chapters 10–12 concerns the war between these kings, the events leading up to it, and its heavenly meaning. In chapter 10 the angel (Gabriel?) explains that there is currently a war in heaven between Michael, the angelic protector of Israel, and the "princes" (angels) of Persia and Greece; then, in chapter 11, he outlines the human wars which accompany this – the mythological concept is that behind every nation stands a god/angel who does battle on behalf of his people, so that earthly events reflect what happens in heaven. The wars of the Ptolemies ("kings of the south") and Seleucids ("kings of the north") are reviewed down to the career of [[Antiochus the Great]] (Antiochus III, father of Antiochus IV), but the main focus is Antiochus IV, to whom more than half the chapter is devoted. The accuracy of these predictions lends credibility to the real prophecy with which the passage ends, the death of Antiochus – which, in the event, was not accurate.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=110-111}}

*''Predicting the end-time'' (Daniel 8:14 and 12:7–12): Biblical eschatology does not generally give precise information as to when the end will come,{{sfn|Carroll|2000|p=420}} and Daniel's attempts to specify the number of days remaining is a rare exception.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=114}} Daniel asks the angel how long the "little horn" will be triumphant, and the angel replies that the Temple will be reconsecrated after 2,300 "evenings and mornings" have passed (Daniel 8:14). The angel is counting the two daily sacrifices, so the period is 1,150 days from the desecration in December 167. In chapter 12 the angel gives three more dates: the desolation will last "for a time, times and half a time," or a year, two years, and a half a year (Daniel 12:8); then that the "desolation" will last for 1,290 days (12:11); and finally, 1,335 days (12:12). Verse 12:11 was presumably added after the lapse of the 1,150 days of chapter 8, and 12:12 after the lapse of the number in 12:11.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=99}}

==Later interpretation and influence==
[[File:Daniel 4 Beasts.JPG|thumb|260px|Daniel's vision of the four beasts – [[woodcut]] by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]]]

The concepts of [[immortality]] and [[resurrection]], with rewards for the righteous and punishment for the wicked, were raised for the first time in Judaism in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. The doctrine has roots much deeper than Daniel, but is clearly stated in the final chapter of that book: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt."{{sfn|Cohn|2002|p=86-87}} [[Christianity]] would have disappeared, like the movements following other charismatic Jewish figures of the 1st century, had it not been for the perceived [[resurrection of Jesus]].{{sfn|Schwartz|1992|p=2}} Further influential elements in shaping elements within the Christian [[gospel]] traditions and [[Revelation]] included Daniel's vision of the "[[Son of Man]]" and the "[[Ancient of Days]]" (Daniel 7) – although it is note-worthy that the Danielic Son of Man is completely absent from the rest of the New Testament writings, suggesting that it was of little if any importance in the rest of Christianity as represented in the NT.{{sfn|Dunn|2002|p=537,539}}

Daniel was quoted and referenced by both Jews and Christians the 1st century CE as predicting the imminent end-time.{{sfn|Grabbe|2002|p=244}} Moments of national and cultural crisis continually reawakened the apocalyptic spirit, through the [[Montanists]] of the 2nd/3rd centuries, persecuted for their [[millennialism]], to the more extreme elements of the 16th century Reformation such as the Zwikau prophets and the [[Anabaptist]] "Kingdom" in Munster.{{sfn|Towner|1984|p=2-3}} During the [[English Civil War]] the [[Fifth Monarchy Men]] took their name and political program from Daniel 7, demanding that [[Oliver Cromwell]] allow them to form a "government of saints" in preparation for the coming of the Messiah; when Cromwell refused, they identified him instead as the Beast usurping the rightful place of King Jesus.{{sfn|Weber|2007|p=374}}

Daniel remains one of the most influential apocalypses in modern America, along with [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and [[Revelation]]. For modern popularisers elaborating a traditional Christian interpretive framework, Daniel is a prophet who foretells the first coming of Jesus and a series of events that still lie in the future, when a ten-nation confederation (symbolised by the ten toes of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream), ruled by the [[Antichrist]] (the "little horn"), will be destroyed by Jesus (the "rock not made by human hands") as he returns (the [[Second Coming]] to rule the final and eternal kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=24,30–31}} The basic themes in apocalyptic belief as a whole include: America's destiny; Antichrist's identity and signs of his activity in current events; the precise sequence of end-time events; and the vision of a world far different from the present one.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=78}} Individual interpretations of the biblical texts have been ever-changing: in the first half of the 19th century, Daniel was found to have foretold the American [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], and the U.S. itself was the Danielic Fifth Kingdom.{{sfn|Boyer|1992|p=85}} In the 1980s the advent of the ten-member European Union was greeted as confirmation of the ten toes and horns of Daniel's visions, a new Roman Empire, "ready to install a modern-day Nero Caesar on the throne;" However, EU membership rose to 12 by the late 1980s and 28 by 2013, with several more countries moving towards membership.

Nor has the influence of Daniel been confined to Judaism and Christianity: the Quran's tale of [[Dhul-Qarnayn]] (the man of the two horns) may be based on Daniel 8, while in the Middle Ages Muslims created horoscopes whose authority was attributed to Daniel. More recently the [[Bahai]] movement, which originated in Persian Shi'ite Islam, justified its existence on the 1,260-day prophecy of Daniel, holding that it foretold the coming of the [[Twelfth Imam]] and an age of peace and justice in the year 1844, which is the year 1260 of the [[Hijri year|Muslim era]].{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

Daniel belongs not only to the religious tradition but also to the Western secular heritage. Philosophers ([[Spinoza]]), psychologists ([[Carl Jung]]) and the physicist [[Isaac Newton]] all paid special attention to the book; it has inspired musicians from Medieval liturgical drama to the 20th century compositions of [[Darius Milhaud]], and artists including [[Michelangelo]], [[Rembrandt]] and [[Delacroix]] have drawn upon its imagery.{{sfn|Doukhan|2000|p=9}}

==See also==
* [[Biblical numerology]]
* [[Christian eschatology]]
* [[Daniel (Old English poem)|Old English poem ''Daniel'']]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Daniel]]
* [[Prophecy of Seventy Weeks]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
* {{Cite book
| last = Bandstra
| first = Barry L.
| title = Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
| year = 2008
| publisher = Wadsworth Publishing Company
| url = http://books.google.com/?id=vRY9mTUZKJcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bandstra#v=onepage&q&f=false
| ref = harv
}}

* {{Cite book
|last = Bar
|first = Shaul
|title = A letter that has not been read: dreams in the Hebrew Bible
|year = 2001
|publisher = Hebrew Union College Press
|location = Cincinnati
|isbn = 9780878204243
|url = http://books.google.com/?id=zs3gup4iFu4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Letter+that+Has+Not+Been+Read#v=onepage&q=daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Boyer
|first = Paul S.
|title = When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture
|url = http://books.google.com/?id=FyTeW7vQ8K4C&dq=When+Time+Shall+be+No+More+By+Paul+S.+Boyer&printsec=frontcover
|year = 1992
|publisher = Harvard University Press
|isbn = 0-674-95129-8
|ref = harv
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Brettler
| first = Mark Zvi
| title = How To Read the Bible
| year = 2005
| publisher = Jewish Publication Society
| url = http://books.google.com/?id=39nQafdJ_ssC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Brettler#v=onepage&q&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Carroll
|first = John T.
|chapter = Eschatology
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA422&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+eschatology&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2JtrUsTgF8HqiAfwmYGQDg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20eschatology&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Cohn
| first = Shaye J.D.
| title = From the Maccabees to the Mishnah
| year = 2006
| publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=H5hLLIrh6n8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=From+the+Maccabees+to+the+Mishnah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xGNgUu22KYPKkwWd-ICIAQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=From%20the%20Maccabees%20to%20the%20Mishnah&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|title = Daniel: With an Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature
|year = 1984
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=9r_Zs7T1nCMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Daniel:+with+an+introduction+to+apocalyptic+literature&source=bl&ots=-KqrJ7cA7M&sig=F7xiF-XLbr_NR25iastKnVE70PY&hl=en&ei=tSqwTPjFD8eecLmY2fYK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|title = The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature
|year = 1998
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=PxjNsMrzI-kC&pg=PA103&dq=Son+of+Man:+The+interpretation+and+influence+of+Daniel+7&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LyVmUo61HNCLkgW0yYD4AQ&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|title = Seers, Sibyls, and Sages in Hellenistic-Roman Judaism
|year = 2001
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=M8s3cp97b-AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Seers,+Sibyls,+and+Sages+in+Hellenistic-Roman+Judaism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SCi-UtesBsuglQXsuIE4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Seers%2C%20Sibyls%2C%20and%20Sages%20in%20Hellenistic-Roman%20Judaism&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|chapter = Current Issues in the Study of Daniel
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|chapter = From Prophecy to Apocalypticism: The Expectation of the End
|editor1-last = McGinn
|editor1-first = Bernard
|editor2-last = Collins
|editor2-first = John J.
|editor3-last = Stein
|editor3-first = Stephen J.
|title = The Continuum History of Apocalypticism
|year = 2003
|publisher = Continuum
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=7UlbWioOV7sC&pg=PA64&dq=From+Prophecy+to+Apocalypticism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=amJkUuz3HqfyiAeT14HQBg&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=From%20Prophecy%20to%20Apocalypticism&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Collins
|first = John J.
|authorlink = John J. Collins
|chapter = Daniel
|editor1-last = Lieb
|editor1-first = Michael
|editor2-last = Mason
|editor2-first = Emma
|editor3-last = Roberts
|editor3-first = Jonathan
|title = The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible
|year = 2013
|publisher = Oxford UNiversity Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=jgPn26iYzagC&pg=PP140&dq=The+Oxford+Handbook+of+the+Reception+History+of+the+Bible+book+daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Hyq-UsmUEMbGkAWN-oDgAg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Crawford
|first = Sidnie White
|chapter = Apocalyptic
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA73&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+apocalyptic&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TvpsUvuDKueSiAfsmIDYCg&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20apocalyptic&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Davies
|first = Philip
|chapter = Apocalyptic
|editor1-last = Rogerson
|editor1-first = J. W.
|editor2-last = Lieu
|editor2-first = Judith M.
|title = The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies
|year = 2006
|publisher = Oxford Handbooks Online
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eKZYMifS1fAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Oxford+handbook+of+biblical+studies&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8-BgUtuqDobekgW03IDwCA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = DeChant
|first = Dell
|chapter = Apocalyptic Communities
|editor1-last = Neusner
|editor1-first = Jacob
|title = World Religions in America: An Introduction
|year = 2009
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA237&dq=influence+book+daniel+adventist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XwVhUrzbJa6ViQetmYCYDQ&ved=0CHoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=influence%20book%20daniel%20adventist&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Doukhan
|first = Jacques
|title = Secrets of Daniel: wisdom and dreams of a Jewish prince in exile
|publisher = Review and Herald Pub Assoc
|url = http://books.google.com/?id=hXSW1QBB2KIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
|year = 2000
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Dunn
|first = James D.G.
|chapter = The Danilic Son of Man in the New Testament
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&pg=PA545&dq=The+Danielic+Son+of+Man+in+the+New+Testament&hl=it&sa=X&ei=C1NvUsrJN6PeiAKit4FY&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=The%20Danielic%20Son%20of%20Man%20in%20the%20New%20Testament&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Grabbe
| first = Lester L.
| title = An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism: History and Religion of the Jews in the Time of Nehemiah, the Maccabees, Hillel, and Jesus
| year = 2010
| publisher = Continuum
| url = http://books.google.com/?id=i89-9fdNUcAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Grabbe#v=onepage&q&f==false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Grabbe
| first = Lester L.
| title = Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh
| year = 2002a
| publisher = Routledge
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ES2oy3IHBx0C&pg=PA282&dq=Son+of+Man:+The+interpretation+and+influence+of+Daniel+7&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3rdsUtfwIOj_iAeI24GIDw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Daniel%201&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Grabbe
|first = Lester L.
|chapter = A Dan(iel) For All Seasons
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002b
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}

* {{Cite book
| last = Hammer
| first = Raymond
| title = The Book of Daniel
| year = 1976
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=w0VmxeM472EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Hammer,+The+Book+of+Daniel&source=bl&ots=_HgIUqCl0D&sig=AS0FF0vKqVg_89SX8jj6gU2zAro&hl=en&ei=giWwTIqkLMXIcfWNpbIN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Harrington
| first = Daniel J.
| title = Invitation to the Apocrypha
| year = 1999
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com/?id=L6zJG-9BZMQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Harrington#v=onepage&q&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Hill
| first = Andrew E.
| chapter = Daniel
| editor1-last = Garland
| editor1-first = David E.
| editor2-last = Longman
| editor2-first = Tremper
| title = Daniel—Malachi
| year = 2009
| publisher = Zondervan
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=_VWQlEQGW-oC&pg=PT247&dq=Daniel+Antiochus&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZIBnUrKmNo7IkwW3m4D4DQ&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20Antiochus&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Hill
|first = Charles E.
|chapter = Antichrist
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|year = 2000
|publisher = Eerdmans
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA67&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible+antichrist&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O7dwUuL4IsmokAWcpoDIDg&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible%20antichrist&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Horsley
| first = Richard A.
| title = Scribes, Visionaries, and the Politics of Second Temple Judea
| year = 2007
| publisher = Presbyterian Publishing Corp
| url = http://books.google.it/books?id=ukojCH-hlVYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Scribes,+Visionaries,+and+the+Politics+of+Second+Temple+Judea&hl=it&sa=X&ei=1XReUqDPI6KIiQeUxYC4Cw&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Scribes%2C%20Visionaries%2C%20and%20the%20Politics%20of%20Second%20Temple%20Judea&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Knibb
|first = Michael
|chapter = The Book of Daniel in its Context
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=oAVPfTe_wkYC&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Lucas
|first = Ernest C.
|chapter = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last = Vanhoozer
|editor1-first = Kevin J.
|editor2-last = Bartholomew
|editor2-first = Craig G.
|editor3-last = Treier
|editor3-first = Daniel J.
|title = Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible
|year = 2005
|publisher = Baker Academic
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I8UWJohMGUIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+for+Theological+Interpretation+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WqRbUuDpFsSnkQXr8IGwBA&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20for%20Theological%20Interpretation%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Matthews
|first1 = Victor H.
|last2 = Moyer
|first2 = James C.
|title = The Old Testament: Text and Context
|year = 2012
|publisher = Baker Books
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rU_dAldCk6gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Old+Testament:+Text+and+Context&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ENpPUp6dOubJiAflzIDADw&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Old%20Testament%3A%20Text%20and%20Context&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = Niskanen
|first1 = Paul
|title = The Human and the Divine in History: Herodotus and the Book of Daniel
|year = 2004
|publisher = Continuum
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=G0YFSrClQOkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Herodotus+and+the+Book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Fi97UqKOIcK4kgX1z4CwCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Provan
|first = Iain
|chapter = Daniel
|editor1-last = Dunn
|editor1-first = James D. G.
|editor2-last = Rogerson
|editor2-first = John William
|title = Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2003
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA665&dq=Eerdmans+Commentary+on+the+Bible+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pq5cUrnZAcbPkQW_loDYBA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Commentary%20on%20the%20Bible%20Daniel&f=false
|isbn = 9780802837110
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Redditt
| first = Paul L.
| title = Introduction to the Prophets
| year = 2009
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=bKM_VJt9e3kC&pg=PA188&dq=Redditt+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SJ1oUt66OojNkwWCq4D4Aw&ved=0CFYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Redditt%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Reid
|first = Stephen Breck
|chapter = Daniel, Book of
|editor1-last = Freedman
|editor1-first = David Noel
|editor2-last = Myers
|editor2-first = Allen C.
|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible
|publisher = Eerdmans
|year = 2000
|url = http://books.google.com.kh/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Eerdmans+Dictionary+of+the+Bible&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EhJfUuOrCMWokgXf4YDoBw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Eerdmans%20Dictionary%20of%20the%20Bible&f=false
|isbn =
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Rowland
|first = Christopher
|chapter = Apocalyptic Literature
|editor1-last = Hass
|editor1-first = Andrew
|editor2-last = Jasper
|editor2-first = David
|editor3-last = Jay
|editor3-first = Elisabeth
|title = The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=bKG12u11z2AC&pg=PA344&dq=handbook+eschatology+Daniel&hl=it&sa=X&ei=IthtUutFx6OVBYGRgNAJ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=handbook%20eschatology%20Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1 = Ryken,
| first1 = Leland
| last2 = Wilhoit
| first2 = Jim
| last3 = Longman
| first3 = Tremper
| title = Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
| year = 1998
| publisher = InterVarsity Press
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qjEYEjVVEosC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Dictionary+of+Biblical+Imagery+Daniel+book+of&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lNJpUsmYCsiIrQfg4YE4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Dictionary%20of%20Biblical%20Imagery%20Daniel%20book%20of&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = Sacchi
| first = Paolo
| title = The History of the Second Temple Period
| year = 2004
| publisher = Continuum
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=yGNyKdnpMa0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=history+second+temple&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-AVjUtDJE6ubigf814DQCQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=history%20second%20temple&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Schwartz
|first = Daniel R.
|title = Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity
|year = 1992
|publisher = Mohr Siebeck
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&pg=PA110&hl=en#v=snippet&q=resurrection&f=false
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Seow
|first = C.L.
|author-link = Choon-Leong Seow
|title = Daniel
|year = 2003
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nuLapFR3AX4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Seow+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hdRgUvPQBYrOkAX4-4HYDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Seow%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Schiffman
|first = Lawrence H.
|title = From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism
|year = 1991
|publisher = KTAV Publishing House
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=3kWYHyBb4C8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=From+Text+to+Tradition:+A+History+of+Second+Temple+and+Rabbinic+Judaism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rIpPUtaTGoShkAX76oHgDA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=From%20Text%20to%20Tradition%3A%20A%20History%20of%20Second%20Temple%20and%20Rabbinic%20Judaism&f=false
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}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Spencer
|first = Richard A.
|chapter = Additions to Daniel
|editor1-last = Mills
|editor1-first = Watson E.
|editor2-last = Wilson
|editor2-first = Richard F.
|title = The Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha
|year = 2002
|publisher = Mercer University Press
|url = http://books.google.ca/books?id=doqYxT-1RzEC&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Towner
|first = W. Sibley
|title = Daniel
|year = 1984
|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=F8EEY610xeAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Towner+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XLlhUvm6KYuaiAfEtIHADA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Towner%20Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
| last = VanderKam
| first = James C.
| title = The Dead Sea Scrolls Today
| year = 2010
| publisher = Eerdmans
| url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=i2i5haDHAygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=VanderKamm+2002&hl=en&sa=X&ei=45tgUtTsG47FkQXe34CADQ&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Daniel&f=false
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last1 = VanderKam
|first1 = James C.
|last2 = Flint
|first2 = Peter
|title = The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity
|year = 2013
|publisher = HarperCollins
|url = http://books.google.com.au/books?id=kT0PAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT146&dq=The+meaning+of+the+Dead+Sea+scrolls:+their+significance+for+understanding+the+Bible,+Judaism,+Jesus,+and+Christianity+Most+scholars+agree+that+the+book+of+Daniel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B5dpUv3xIOi4iQeo6IHABA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20meaning%20of%20the%20Dead%20Sea%20scrolls%3A%20their%20significance%20for%20understanding%20the%20Bible%2C%20Judaism%2C%20Jesus%2C%20and%20Christianity%20Most%20scholars%20agree%20that%20the%20book%20of%20Daniel&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Weber
|first = Timothy P.
|chapter = Millennialism
|editor1-last = Walls
|editor1-first = Jerry L.
|title = The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology
|year = 2007
|publisher = Oxford University Press
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=N1XYXMTe1jYC&printsec=frontcover&hl=it&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last = Wesselius
|first = Jan-Wim
|chapter = The Writing of Daniel
|editor1-last = Collins
|editor1-first = John J.
|editor2-last = Flint
|editor2-first = Peter W.
|editor3-last = VanEpps
|editor3-first = Cameron
|title = The Book of Daniel: Composition and Reception
|year = 2002
|publisher = BRILL
|url = http://books.google.it/books?id=kvtbNQtMqEUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Book+of+Daniel:+Composition+and+Reception+2&hl=it&sa=X&ei=tgpiUvf9E8nriAfFkoD4Bg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
|ref = harv
}}

==Further reading==

* {{Cite book|last=Baldwin|first=Joyce G.|author-link=Joyce G. Baldwin|editor=Donald J. Wiseman|title=Daniel: an introduction and commentary|year=1981|publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]]|location=Downers Grove|isbn=978-0-87784-273-6|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|author-link=Pierre Briant |last=Briant |first=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander |series=Librairie Artheme Fayard |location=Paris |year=1996 |others=Translation by Peter Daniels, 2002 |page=42 |isbn=1-57506-031-0 }}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Raymond E. |editor2-last=Fitzmyer |editor2-first=Joseph A. |editor3-last=Murphy |editor3-first=Roland E. |title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary |year=1999 |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=0-13-859836-3 |page=1475 |ref=harv }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Carey
|first=Greg
|editor-last=Bloomquist
|editor-first=L. Gregory
|title=Vision and Persuasion: Rhetorical Dimensions of Apocalyptic Discourse
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=NyGyGyhUtIEC&pg=PA42
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-25
|year=1999
|publisher=Chalice Press
|isbn=0-8272-4005-8
|page=224
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Casey
|first=Maurice
|title=Son of Man: The interpretation and influence of Daniel 7
|year=1980
|publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
|isbn=0-281-03697-7
|page=272
|quote=lists ten commentators of the 'Syrian Tradition' who identify the fourth beast of chapter 7 as Greece, the little horn as Antiochus, and – in the majority of instances – the "saints of the Most High" as Maccabean Jews.
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Cohn-Sherbok
|first=Dan
|authorlink=Dan Cohn-Sherbok
|title=The Hebrew Bible
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=esHK1XA7_8UC&pg=PA209
|format=Google on-line books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1996
|publisher=Cassell
|isbn=0-304-33703-X
|page=257
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Colless
| first = Brian
| year = 1992
| title = Cyrus the Persian as Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel
| journal = [[Journal for the Study of the Old Testament]]
| volume = 56
| page = 115
| url= http://jot.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/17/56/113?ck=nck
| publisher = subscription site
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-12
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Dougherty
|first=Raymond Philip
|title=Nabonidus and Belshazzar: A Study of the Closing Events of the Neo- Babylonian Empire
|year=1929
|publisher=Yale University Press
|asin=B000M9MGX8
|page=216
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eisenman|first=Robert|title=James, the brother of Jesus : the key to unlocking the secrets of early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls|year=1998|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New York|isbn=0-14-025773-X}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Ford
|first=Desmond
|title=Daniel
|year=1978
|publisher=Southern Publishing Association
|isbn=0-8127-0174-7
|page=309
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book| last1 = Evans | first1 = Craig A. | last2 = Flint | first2 = Peter W. | author-link=Peter Flint|title = Eschatology, messianism, and the Dead Sea scrolls | url = http://books.google.com/?id=DDUw9mvbq4AC&pg=PA44 | year = 1997 | publisher = W.B. Eerdmans | location = Grand Rapids, Mich. | isbn = 978-0-8028-4230-5 | pages = }}
* {{Cite book
|last=Goldingay
|first=John
|authorlink = John Goldingay
|title=Daniel (Word Biblical Themes)
|url=http://documents.fuller.edu/sot/faculty/goldingay/cp_content/homepage/TheTheologyoftheBookofDaniel.rtf
|format=Rich text format of book
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1989
|publisher=Word Publishing Group
|location=Dallas
|isbn=0-8499-0794-2
|page=132
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Grabbe
|first=Lester L.
|editor-last=Rogerson
|editor-first=John William
|editor2-last=Lieu
|editor2-first=Judith
|title=The Oxford handbook of biblical studies
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=2008
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|location=USA
|isbn=0-19-923777-8
|page=920
|chapter=Chapter 16: Israel from the Rise of Hellenism to 70 CE
|chapterurl=http://books.google.ca/books?id=HMkMeaijNT4C&pg=PA287
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Godwin|first=compiled and translated by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie ; with additional translations by Thomas Taylor and Arthur Fairbanks, Jr. ; introduced and edited by David R. Fideler ; with a foreword by Joscelyn|title=The Pythagorean sourcebook and library : an anthology of ancient writings which relate to Pythagoras and Pythagorean philosophy|year=1987|publisher=[[Phanes Press]]|location=Grand Rapids|isbn=978-0-933999-51-0|edition=[New ed.]}}
* Louis F. Hartman and Alexander A. Di Lella, "Daniel", in [[Raymond E. Brown]] et al., ed., ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary'', 1990, pp. 406–20.
* {{Cite book
|last=Hoppe
|first=Leslie J.
|editor-last=Bergant
|editor-first=Dianne
|title=The Collegeville Bible commentary: based on the New American Bible: Old Testament
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=Nj-AkOJ9wRQC&pg=PA560
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-24
|year=1992
|publisher=Liturgical Press
|isbn=0-8146-2211-9
|page=464
|chapter=Deuteronomy
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Keil
|first=C. F.
|first2=Franz
|last2=Delitzsch
|title=Ezekiel and Daniel
|series=Commentary on the Old Testament
|volume=9
|origyear=1955
|year=2006
|publisher=Hendrickson Publishers
|isbn=0-913573-88-4
|chapter=
|ref=harv
}}
*{{cite book|first=Tremper |last=Longman III |first2= Raymond B. |last2=Dillard |title= An Introduction to the Old Testament|publisher= Zonderman |year= 2006| edition=2nd |ref=harv|page=528|origyear=1995}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lucas|first=Ernest|title=Daniel|year=2002|publisher=Apollos|location=Leicester, England|isbn=0-85111-780-5|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Millard
| first = Alan R.
| date = Apr–June 1977
| title = Daniel 1–6 and History
| journal = [[Evangelical Quarterly]]
| volume = 49
| issue = 2
| pages = 67–73
| publisher = Paternoster
| url = http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eq/daniel1-6_millard.pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Miller
|first=Stephen B.
|title=Daniel
|series=New American Commentary
|volume=18
|year=1994
|publisher=Broadman and Holman
|location=Nashville
|isbn=0-8054-0118-0
|page=348
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Murphy
|first=Frederick James
|title=Fallen is Babylon: the Revelation to John
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=uZvGwtOaYNUC&pg=PA436
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=1998
|publisher=Trinity Press International
|isbn=1-56338-152-4
|page= 472
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Notes
|title=The New American Bible
|year=1992
|page=1021
|publisher=Catholic Book Publishing Co.
|isbn=978-0-89942-510-8
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Oppenheim |first=A. Leo |editor=James B. Pritchard |title=Ancient Near Eastern Texts |edition=2nd ed.; 3rd print |year=1966 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=308 |chapter=Babylonian and Assyrian Historical Texts|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=H. H.
|title = Darius the Mede and the Four World Empires in the Book of Daniel: A Historical Study of Contemporary Theories
|publisher = University of Wales Press
|year = 1959
|page=195
|isbn=1-59752-896-X
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Rowley
|first=Harold Henry
|title=The Growth of the Old Testament
|year=1963
|publisher=Harper & Row
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Schwartz
|first=Daniel R.
|title=Studies in the Jewish background of Christianity
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=rd5OB4PtlCUC&pg=PA110
|format=Google On-line Books
|accessdate=2010-06-28
|year=1992
|publisher=Mohr Siebeck
|isbn=3-16-145798-6
|page=304
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite journal
| last = Shea
| first = William H.
| year = 1982
| title = Nabonidus, Belshazzar, and the Book of Daniel: An Update
| journal = AUSS Journal Online Archive
| volume = 20
| issue = 2
| pages = 133–149.
| publisher = Andrews University Seminary
| url = http://www.auss.info/auss_publication_file.php?pub_id=649&journal=1&type=pdf
| format = PDF
| accessdate = 2010-06-19
| ref = harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Shea
|first=William H.
|editor1-last=Holbrook
|editor1-first=Frank
|title=The Seventy Weeks, Leviticus, and the Nature of Prophecy
|series=Daniel and Revelation Committee Series
|volume=3
|year=1986
|publisher=Review and Herald Publishing Association
|chapter=The Prophecy of Daniel 9:24–27
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book|last=Steinberg|first=[[Martin H. Manser]] ; associate editors, [[David Barratt (expositor)|David Barratt]], [[Pieter J. Lalleman]], [[Julius Steinberg]]|title=Critical companion to the Bible : a literary reference|year=2009|publisher=[[Facts On File]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-7065-7|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stimilli|first=Davide|title=The face of immortality : physiognomy and criticism|year=2005|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-6263-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Tyndale|title=Tyndale Bible dictionary|year=2001|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|location=Wheaton, Ill.|isbn=978-0-8423-7089-9|coauthors=Elwell, Walter A., Comfort, Philip W.|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Tomasino
|first=Anthony J.
|title=Judaism before Jesus: the ideas and events that shaped the New Testament world
|url=http://books.google.com/?id=AwTobS58tZwC&pg=PA18
|accessdate=2010-06-26
|year=2003
|publisher=IVP Academic; Print On Demand Edition
|isbn=0-8308-2730-7
|page=345
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Wiseman
|first=D. J.
|authorlink=D. J. Wiseman
|title=Notes on Some Problems in the Book of Daniel
|year=1965
|publisher=Tyndale Press
|location=London
|isbn=0-85111-038-X
|page=80
|ref=harv
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Young
|first=Edward J.
|title=The Prophecy of Daniel: a Commentary
|origyear=1949
|year=2009
|publisher=Eerdmans Publishing
|isbn=0-8028-6331-0
|page=332
|ref=harv
}}
* [[John F. Walvoord]], ''Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation'', 1989. ISBN 0-8024-1753-1.
* {{Cite book|first=Desmond|last=Ford|author-link=Desmond Ford|year=1978|title=Daniel|publisher=Southern Publishing Association|isbn=0-8127-0174-7|page=309|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book| editor-last= Holbrook| editor-first = Frank B. | title= Symposium on Daniel| series= Daniel & Revelation Committee Series| volume= 2| year = 1986| publisher = Biblical Research Institute: Review and Herald Publishing Association| isbn = 0-925675-01-6| page = 557| ref = harv}}
* {{Cite book|first=Gerhard |last=Pfandl|title=Daniel: The Seer of Babylon|publisher=Review and Herald Pub Assoc|year= 2004|ref=harv|page=121|isbn=978-0-8280-1829-6 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=82twQKRNuiIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}
* {{Cite book|first=Zdravko |last=Stefanovic|title=Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise: Commentary on the Book of Daniel|publisher=Pacific Press Publishing Association|year= 2007|ref=harv|isbn=978-0-8163-2212-1 |page=480 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=H7um_XIWyUQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Book of Daniel}}
{{Wikisource|Bible (King James)/Daniel|Daniel}}

;Jewish translations
* [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive2.asp?AID=15773 Daniel (Judaica Press) *] translation [with [[Rashi]]'s commentary] at Chabad.org

;Christian translations
* [http://www.anova.org/sev/htm/hb/27_daniel.htm ''Daniel'' at The Great Books *] (New Revised Standard Version)
* [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel.html The Book of Daniel *] (Full text from [http://www.st-takla.org/ St-Takla.org], also available in [http://st-takla.org/pub_Deuterocanon/Deuterocanon-Apocrypha_El-Asfar_El-Kanoneya_El-Tanya__7-Daniel_.html Arabic])

;Related articles
* [http://www.itanakh.org/texts/tanakh/writings/daniel/index.htm Daniel at iTanakh]
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=34&letter=D ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':] Daniel
* [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/bible/TO_Writings_2140/BickermanDaniel.htm Daniel: Wise Man and Visionary, by Elias Bickerman]

;Commentaries
* [http://books.google.ca/books?id=gG5BAAAAcAAJ Newton, Isaac (1733). ''Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel, and the apocalypse of St. John, Volume 1'' (Google eBook)] Accessed March 24, 2011

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou| [[Major prophet]]s|||}}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Esther|Esther]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Ezra-Nehemiah]] }}
{{S-bef| before = [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Old Testament]] }}
{{S-aft| after = [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{Books of the Bible}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel, Book Of}}
[[Category:Book of Daniel| ]]
[[Category:Christian eschatology]]
[[Category:Ketuvim]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic literature]]

{{Link GA|pl}}