Modern Tell Mardikh in Syria, site of an important ancient citystate,

where a library of tablets were discovered in excavations

beginning in the 1960s.

The common word for “God” in ancient Semitic languages like

Hebrew

The literary source, which some find in Genesis through

Numbers, that calls God Elohim. The Elohist stems from the eighth or

ninth century B.C. and supplements the Yahwist in the light of pre-

Mosaic theology.

The Babylonian story of creation of the cosmos,

resulting from divine combat. So named after the account’s first

words, in the original language of the text.

A Jewish apocalyptic group in existence from mid-second

century B.C. until about 70 A.D. Most scholars think the group at

Qumran that possessed the Dead Sea Scrolls were Essenes

Stories that employ nonordinary agents or

circumstances to explain the origins of something.

The period during the sixth century B.C. when part of the

population of Judea was taken into captivity in Babylon.

A Latin phrase meaning "from nothing" that some

theologians apply to the biblical story of creation.

(from Greek for "interpretation") The process of drawing

out meaning from a text; interpreting a text in its literary and historical

Historical and literary analysis that concentrates on

the structure and use that isolatable textual units probably had before

being set into their present larger context

The technical name for the books of Joshua,

Judges, Samuel and Kings-possibly because it was assumed that

prophets had written them.

A listing of descendants, to establish lineage and personal

history

(Hebrew goyyim) In pre-Christian times, non-Jewish

peoples; thereafter, non-Jewish and non-Christian (roughly

synonymous with "pagan")

A legend about the Mesopotamian king Gilgamesh.

The legend includes a flood account similar to the narrative in Genesis

Gentiles who accepted the biblical God and the biblical

ethics and perhaps were considering conversion

Jewish term for interpretations of Tanak that are

devotional, not legal in character. Often they supplement the scriptural

narrative with stories about principal characters.

Writing that narrates the life and/or marvelous deeds of

a holy person.

The Semitic language in which most of the Tanak was

written

Salvation-history (history interpreted as the drama of

divine interventions of human beings’ behalf).

Process of becoming Greek, enculturated by the ideals

derived from Alexander the Great.

Hebrew term referring to steadfast kindness and love, the key

attribute of the God of the covenant.

The first six books of the Hebrew Bible; there may be an

underlying assumption that these belong together historically

The reconstruction of the past based on a critical

examination of ancient materials

Chapters of 17-27 of Leviticus, which detail the laws

for ensuring, protecting, and promoting holiness

The most sacred portion of the Jerusalem Temple,

which housed the Ark of the Covenant.

War sanctioned by God, often led by God, and sometimes

requiring the complete slaughter of the enemy

Derived from Egyptian for "rulers of foreign countries," these

Semitic rulers of Egypt from 1750-1550 B.C.E. were probably the

people in control of Egypt during the sojourn of Joseph and Jacob's

descendants.

The period in which early Judaism

developed, between about 400 B.C.E. (the traditional end date for the

Old Testament/Hebrew Bible) and the first century C.E. (the

composition of the Christian New Testament).

The fiftieth year when all land was to return to its ancestral

owners and slaves were to be freed – a super-Sabbath.

A Levitical family who had the important function of

transporting the Holy of Holies.

A literary term denoting personal and communal songs that

cry out in anguish to God, imploring God to act to deliver the

individual or people from the situation of distress.

The technical name for the collection of prophetic

writings comprised of the books of the three "major" prophets (Isaiah,

Jeremiah, Ezekiel) and those of the twelve "minor" (or shorter)

prophets, collectively called the Book of the Twelve.

The law that the brother of a man who died without a

son had the obligation to marry the widow and try to give her a son in

the dead man’s name

Members of the tribe of Levi who had priestly duties of both

sacrificing and administering the divine law.

An ancient Mesopotamian city that served as a center of trade in

the third millennium.

(Hebrew for "transmitters," derived from Hebrew

masorah, "tradition") The Masoretes were rabbis in ninth century C.E.

Palestine who sought to preserve the traditional text of the Bible

(hence called the Masoretic text), which is still used in contemporary

synagogues.

The geographic region bounded by the Tigris and

Euphrates rivers, now modern Iraq.

Biblical interpretation of the type found in rabbinic

literature, in which the text is carefully explained, often verse by verse

Code of Jewish law (interpretations of the oral Torah)

formally promulgated around 200 A.D.

A consecration to God requiring abstaining from wine

and other intoxicants, not having one’s hair shorn, and not going near a

dead body

(Hebrew for "prophets") The second main division of the

Hebrew Bible, comprising the Former and the Latter Prophets; the “n”

of Tanak.

The bond between God and Noah established after

the flood (Gen. 9).

A Mesopotamian city, where a collection of texts that aid the

reconstruction of the cultural context of early biblical history, were

unearthed by archaeologists.