Ketuvim in the context of Psalm 1

The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally written in Hebrew (with some parts in Aramaic) and Koine Greek. The texts include instructions, stories, poetry, prophecies, and other genres. The collection of materials accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.

The religious texts, or scriptures, were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah ('Teaching') in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning 'five books') in Greek. The second-oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im). The third collection, the Ketuvim, contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. Tanakh (Hebrew: תָּנָ״ךְ‎, romanized: Tanaḵ) is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh—written in Hebrew and Aramaic—that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism. The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BCE; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.

Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, romanized: Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which they believe was established between God and the Jewish people. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions.

Judaism as a religion and culture is founded upon a diverse body of texts, traditions, theologies, and worldviews. Among Judaism's core texts are the Torah (Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, lit. 'Teaching'), the Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים, 'Prophets'), and the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים, 'Writings'), which together compose the Hebrew Bible. In Modern Hebrew, the Hebrew Bible is often referred to as the Tanakh (תַּנַ׳׳ךּ, Tanaḵ)—an acronym of its constituent divisions—or the Miqra (מִקְרָא, Miqrāʾ, '[that which is] called out'). The Hebrew Bible has the same books as Protestant Christianity's Old Testament, with some differences in order and content.

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (US: /tɑːˈnɑːx/, UK: /tæˈnæx/ or /təˈnæx/; Hebrew: תַּנַ״ךְ, romanized: tanaḵ; תָּנָ״ךְ, tānāḵ; or תְּנַ״ךְ, tənaḵ), also known in Hebrew as Miqra (/miːˈkrɑː/; מִקְרָא, miqrāʾ), is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, comprising the Torah (the five Books of Moses), the Nevi'im (the Books of the Prophets), and the Ketuvim ('Writings', eleven books). Different branches of Judaism and Samaritanism have maintained different versions of the canon, including the 3rd-century BCE Septuagint text used in Second Temple Judaism, the Syriac Peshitta, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and most recently the 10th-century medieval Masoretic Text compiled by the Masoretes, currently used in Rabbinic Judaism. The terms "Hebrew Bible" or "Hebrew Canon" are frequently confused with the Masoretic Text; however, the Masoretic Text is a medieval version and one of several texts considered authoritative by different types of Judaism throughout history. The current edition of the Masoretic Text is mostly in Biblical Hebrew, with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic (in the books of Daniel and Ezra, and the verse Jeremiah 10:11).

The modern form of the Hebrew Bible that is authoritative in Rabbinic Judaism is the Masoretic Text (7th to 10th centuries CE), which consists of 24 books, divided into chapters and pesuqim (verses). The Hebrew Bible developed during the Second Temple Period, as the Jews decided which religious texts were of divine origin; the Masoretic Text, compiled by the Jewish scribes and scholars of the Early Middle Ages, comprises the 24 Hebrew and Aramaic books that they considered authoritative. The Hellenized Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called "the Septuagint", that included books later identified as the Apocrypha, while the Samaritans produced their own edition of the Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch. Both of these ancient editions of the Hebrew Bible differ significantly from the medieval Masoretic Text.

The Nevi'im (/nəviˈiːm, nəˈviːɪm/; Biblical Hebrew: נְבִיאִים, romanized: Nəviʾim, lit. 'spokespersons, prophets') is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh), lying between the Torah (lit. 'instruction') and Ketuvim (lit. 'writings'). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets (Hebrew: נביאים ראשונים Nəviʾim Rishonim) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; while the Latter Prophets (נביאים אחרונים Nəviʾim Aḥaronim) include the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.

The Book of Psalms (/sɑː(l)mz/ SAH(L)MZ, US also /sɔː(l)mz/; Biblical Hebrew: תְּהִלִּים‎, romanized: Tehillīm, lit. 'praises'; Ancient Greek: Ψαλμός, romanized: Psalmós; Latin: Liber Psalmorum; Arabic: مَزْمُور, romanized: Mazmūr, in Islam also called Zabur, Arabic: زَبُورُ, romanized: Zabūr), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called Ketuvim ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.

The book is an anthology of Hebrew religious hymns. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, there are 150 psalms, and several more in the Eastern Christian churches. The book is divided into five sections, each ending with a doxology, a hymn of praise. There are several types of psalms, including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, royal psalms, imprecation, and individual thanksgivings. The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage, and other categories.

The Book of Esther (Hebrew: מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר, romanized: Megillat Ester; Greek: Ἐσθήρ; Latin: Liber Esther), also known in Hebrew as "the Scroll" ("the Megillah"), is a book in the third section (Ketuvim, כְּתוּבִים "Writings") of the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the Five Scrolls (Megillot) in the Hebrew Bible and later became part of the Christian Old Testament. The book relates the story of a Jewish woman in Persia, born as Hadassah but known as Esther, who becomes queen of Persia and thwarts a genocide of her people.

The story takes place during the reign of King Ahasuerus in the First Persian Empire. Queen Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus, is banished from the court for disobeying the king's orders. A beauty pageant is held to find a new queen, and Esther, a young Jewish woman living in Persia, is chosen as the new queen. Esther's cousin Mordecai, who is a Jewish leader, discovers a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire by Haman, one of the king's advisors. Mordecai urges Esther to use her position as queen to intervene and save their people. Esther reveals her Jewish identity to the king and begs for mercy for her people. She exposes Haman's plot and convinces the king to spare the Jews. The Jewish festival of Purim is established to celebrate the victory of the Jews of the First Persian Empire over their enemies, and Esther becomes a heroine of the Jewish people.

The Book of Chronicles (Hebrew: דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים Dīvrē-hayYāmīm, "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tanakh, the Ketuvim ("Writings"). It contains a genealogy starting with Adam and a history of ancient Judah and Israel up to the Edict of Cyrus in 539 BC.

The book was translated into Greek and divided into two books in the Septuagint in the mid-3rd century BC. In Christian contexts Chronicles is referred to in the plural as the Books of Chronicles, after the Latin name chronicon given to the text by Jerome, but is also referred to by its Greek name as the Books of Paralipomenon. In Christian Bibles, they usually follow the two Books of Kings and precede Ezra–Nehemiah, the last history-oriented book of the Protestant Old Testament.

The Pharisees (/ˈfærəsiːz/; Hebrew: פְּרוּשִׁים, romanized: Pərūšīm, lit. 'separated ones') were a Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism. Although the group no longer exists, their traditions are of great importance for the manifold Jewish religious movements.

Conflicts between Pharisees and Sadducees took place in the context of much broader and longstanding social and religious conflicts amongst Jews (exacerbated by the Roman conquest). One conflict was cultural, between those who favored Hellenization (the Sadducees) and those who resisted it (the Pharisees). Another was juridical-religious, between those who emphasized the importance of the Temple with its rites and services, and those who emphasized the importance of other Mosaic Laws. A specifically religious point of conflict involved different interpretations of the Torah and how to apply it to Jewish life: Sadducees recognized only the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב‎, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv, '"Written Law"'), rejecting Prophets, Writings, and doctrines such as the Oral Torah and the resurrection of the dead.

There is no scholarly consensus as to when the canon of the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) was fixed. Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text—five books of the Torah, eight books of the Nevi'im (Prophets), and eleven books of the Ketuvim (Writings)—as the authoritative version of the Tanakh. Of these books, the Book of Daniel of the Ketuvim has the most recent final date of composition (chapters 10–12 were written sometime between 168 and 164 BCE). The canon was therefore fixed at some time after this date. Some scholars argue that it was fixed during the Hasmonean dynasty (140–40 BCE), while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later.

The book of 2 Maccabees, itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah (around 400 BCE) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings". The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to the Second Temple of Jerusalem around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus (around 167 BCE) also collected sacred books.

The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th-century BC setting. It is ostensibly a narrative detailing the experiences and prophetic visions of Daniel, a Jewish exile in Babylon. The text features prophecy rooted in Jewish history as well as a portrayal of the end times that is cosmic in scope and political in its focus. The message of the text intended for the original audience was that just as the God of Israel saves Daniel from his enemies, so too he would save the Israelites in their present oppression.

The Hebrew Bible includes Daniel as one of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), while Christian biblical canons group the work with the major prophets. It divides into two parts: a set of six court tales in chapters 1–6, written mostly in Biblical Aramaic, and four apocalyptic visions in chapters 7–12, written mainly in Late Biblical Hebrew; the Septuagint contains three additional sections in Koine Greek: the Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon.

The Poetic Books, also called the Sapiential Books, are a division of the Christian Bible grouping five or seven books (depending on the canon) in the Old Testament. The term "Sapiential Books" refers to the same set, although not all the Psalms are usually regarded as belonging to the Wisdom tradition.

In terms of the Tanakh, it includes the three poetic books of Ketuvim, as well as Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs from the Five Megillot. Wisdom and Sirach are also part of the Poetic Books, but are not part of the Hebrew Bible, and are seen by Protestant Christians as apocryphal, for which reason they are excluded from Protestant Bibles.

The Book of Proverbs (Hebrew: מִשְלֵי, Mišlê; Greek: Παροιμίαι, Paroimiai; Latin: Liber Proverbiorum, "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is the second book in the third section of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and a book in the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), it became Παροιμίαι (Paroimiai, "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate, the title was Proverbia—from which the English name is derived.

Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life that lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of Biblical wisdom literature and raises questions about values, moral behavior, the meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is personified and praised for her role in creation; God created her before all else and gave order to chaos through her. As humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life.