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Pentateuch

(Encyclopedia)Pentateuch pĕnˈtətyo͞ok [key] [Gr.,=five books], first five books of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible these books are called the Torah. ...

Dukes, Leopold

(Encyclopedia)Dukes, Leopold, 1810–91, Hungarian Hebrew scholar. He made a collection of rabbinical proverbs and wrote on the history of Jewish literature, notably of Hebrew poetry in the Middle Ages. He also tra...

Leviticus

(Encyclopedia)Leviticus lĭvĭtˈəkəs [key], book of the Bible, 3d of the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. It is in essence a collection of liturgical legislation wi...

Onkelos

(Encyclopedia)Onkelos ŏngˈkəlōs [key], 2d cent. a.d., translator of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, his work later being given the title Targum Onkelos (see Targum). A proselyte, he gained the respect of the lea...

Wellhausen, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Wellhausen, Julius yo͞olˈyo͝os vĕlˈhouˌzən [key], 1844–1918, leading German biblical scholar of the 19th cent. He is recognized for his documentary hypothesis that sought to account for both ...

Exodus

(Encyclopedia)Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

Kennicott, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Kennicott, Benjamin kĕnˈĭkət, –kŏtˌ [key], 1718–83, English clergyman and biblical scholar. His long career at Oxford was one of devotion to learning. He was rector of Culham, Oxfordshire, f...

Polyglot Bible

(Encyclopedia)Polyglot Bible pŏlˈēglŏt [key], Bible in which different texts, often in different languages, are laid out in parallel columns. Polyglot Bibles serve as tools for textual criticism. Origen's Hexap...

Torah

(Encyclopedia)Torah tôrˈə [key] [Heb.,=teachings or learning], Hebrew name for the five books of Moses—the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The Torah is believed by Orthodox J...

Moses

(Encyclopedia)Moses mōˈzĭs [key], Hebrew lawgiver, probably b. Egypt. The prototype of the prophets, he led his people in the 13th cent. b.c. out of bondage in Egypt to the edge of Canaan. The narrative in the B...

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