How will we sing the instruction of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible? Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, refers to the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It is also called ‘the Law’, in distinction from ‘the Prophets’. Torah is sung through every year in the Synagogue. It sets the scene for the drama to unfold in the Hebrew canon. Everyone knows the beginning of Torah when the Mystery began th ...
How can we discover the differing senses of Hebrew words in translation? The English to Hebrew section of this document shows in English alphabetical order which English word or words are associated with each Hebrew stem and the count of how many times this gloss is used. In the translator’s introduction, compromises, conundrums, and concord are discussed by example. Seven major domains have been chosen to help analyse the words of the text. ...
How do we see the decisions made by a translator of an ancient tongue? This volume contains every word in the Hebrew Bible, in Hebrew and the English equivalent for each word as translated. The glosses provided are for a close translation for the Music. The sequence presented is by Hebrew stem, Hebrew word form, canonical sequence, chapter, verse, and word sequence. In principle, the entire translation can be reconstructed from this data. The ...
What books remain and what do we learn from their placement? The third section of the third major division of the Hebrew Bible has three books. First, Daniel, and he is not among the prophets. Second, Ezra-Nehemiah, treated as one book, records the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple. And third, Chronicles, itself in two parts, recapitulates the history from Genesis to the end of Kings. Even the lists of names are set to music! ...
How will we begin the unfolding history of Israel after the giving of Torah? We have heard the phrase, the Law and the Prophets . The Prophets are the second major division of the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets recount the history of Israel after the giving of the Law. The first section of the prophets is the subject of four books: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Each of Samuel and Kings is traditionally divided into two parts. Here we ...
How will we think about the twelve? Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi are considered a single book in the Hebrew canon. They are the third section of the prophets, the second major division of the Hebrew Bible. We can hear in the music, the words of Amos, and his contemporary, Hosea, whose child was named Not-My-People, yet he sings about the count of the children of Israel as th ...
What will unlock the mysteries of Torah and the Prophets for us? The third major division of the Hebrew canon is called the Writings. The first section of the Writings contains the Books of Truth: Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. These three books introduce a variation in the musical scores. Their music illustrates the forms of the poetry. Like the Torah, the Psalter is divided into five books. They are an immense score, tightly tied together by t ...
Where is a good starting point for reading the Bible? Five scrolls constitute the second section of the third major division of the Hebrew bible. These are the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, and Esther. The Song, like the Psalms, is a key to our hearing of instruction. Ruth establishes the Moabite ancestry of David showing we must read about enemies more carefully. The music of the Lamentations moves us with four acrostic poems ...
The pace and assumptions of modern life often make the pursuing things of the spirit difficult. The Ground of God: Contemplative Prayer for the Contemporary Spirit leads the reader to a rhythmic cycle of read, pray, examine. It’s four sections work together to encourage growth in one’s spiritual life through this cycle so that the reader is drawn step by step into an active and wholly engaging spirituality. Living a prayer filled, bible bas ...
