Books of the Tanakh

The Hebrew text consisted only of consonants, together with some inconsistently applied letters used as vowels (matres lectionis). During the early middle ages, the Masoretes codified the oral tradition for reading the Tanakh by adding two special kinds of symbols to the text: niqqud (vowel points) and cantillation signs. The latter indicate syntax, stress (accentuation), and the melody for reading.

The books of the Torah have generally-used names which are based on the first prominent word in each book. The English names are not translations of the Hebrew; they are based on the Greek names created for the Septuagint which in turn were based on Rabbinic names describing the thematic content of each of the Books.

The Torah (Pentateuch) consists of:

Genesis [בראשית]
Exodus [שמות]
Leviticus [ויקרא]
Numbers[במדבר]
Deuteronomy [דברים]
The books of Nevi'im ("Prophets") are:

6. Joshua [יהושע]
7. Judges [שופטים]
8. Samuel (I & II) [שמואל]
9. Kings (I & II) [מלכים]
10. Isaiah [ישעיה]
11. Jeremiah [ירמיה]
12. Ezekiel [יחזקאל]
13. The Twelve Minor Prophets [תרי עשר]
I. Hosea [הושע]
II. Joel [יואל]
III. Amos [עמוס]
IV. Obadiah [עובדיה]
V. Jonah [יונה]
VI. Micah [מיכה]
VII. Nahum [נחום]
VIII. Habakkuk [חבקוק]
IX. Zephaniah [צפניה]
X. Haggai [חגי]
XI. Zechariah [זכריה]
XII. Malachi [מלאכי]
The Ketuvim ("Writings") are:

14. Psalms [תהלים]
15. Proverbs [משלי]
16. Job [איוב]
17. Song of Songs [שיר השירים]
18. Ruth [רות]
19. Lamentations [איכה]
20. Ecclesiastes [קהלת]
21. Esther [אסתר]
22. Daniel [דניאל]
23. Ezra-Nehemiah [עזרא ונחמיה]
24. Chronicles (I & II) [דברי הימים]

Chapters, verses, and book divisions in the Tanakh. The chapter divisions and verse numbers have no significance in the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, they are noted in all modern editions of the Tanakh so that verses may be located and cited. The division of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into parts I and II is also indicated on each page of those books in order to prevent confusion about whether a chapter number is from part

I or II, since the chapter numbering for these books follows their partition in the Christian textual tradition.

The adoption of the Christian chapter divisions by Jews began in the late middle ages in Spain, partially in the context of forced clerical debates which took place against a background of harsh persecution and of the Spanish Inquisition. The chapter divisions often reflect Christian exegesis of the Bible. Nevertheless, because they proved useful – and eventually indispensable – for citations, they continued to be included by Jews in most Hebrew editions of the biblical books. For more information on the origin of these divisions, see chapters and verses of the Bible.

The chapter and verse numbers were often indicated very prominently in older editions, to the extent that they overshadowed the traditional Jewish masoretic divisions. However, in many Jewish editions of the Tanakh published over the past forty years, there has been a major historical trend towards minimizing the impact and prominence of the chapter and verse numbers on the printed page. Most editions accomplish this by removing them from the text itself and relegating them to the margins of the page. The main text in these editions is unbroken and uninterrupted at the beginning of chapters (which are noted in the margin). The lack of chapter breaks within the text in these editions also serves to reinforce the visual impact created by the spaces and "paragraph" breaks on the page, which indicate the traditional Jewish parashah divisions.

These modern Jewish editions present Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (as well as Ezra) as single books in their title pages, and make no indication inside the main text of their division into two parts (though it is noted in the upper and side margins). The text of Samuel II, for instance, follows Samuel I on the very same page with no special break at all in the flow of the text, and may even continue on the very same line of text.

Oral Torah - Talmud

Rabbinical Judaism believes that the Torah was transmitted side by side with an oral tradition. Other groups, such as Karaite Judaism, the ancient Saducees, and Christianity do not accept this claim. Indeed, many terms and definitions used in the written law are undefined within the Torah itself; and the reader is assumed to be familiar with the context and details. This fact is presented as evidence to the antiquity of the oral tradition.

An opposing argument is that only a small portion of the vast rabbinic works on the oral tradition can be described as mere clarifications and context. These rabbinic works, collectively known as "the oral law" [תורה שבעל פה], include the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the two Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem), and the early Midrash compilations.