The library Jews call the Tanakh and Christians call the Old Testament: its three parts, its story from Abraham to the return from exile, covenant, law, poetry and prophecy — and how two communities read the same books. Study cards, hints with links to the texts themselves, a practice quiz at three levels, and four workshop activities.
TORAH is the first five books — Genesis through Deuteronomy. The innermost circle.
Torah = the first five books. Tanakh = the whole Hebrew Bible. Talmud = a later library of rabbinic commentary, separate from both. Three words that get swapped constantly — and swapping them changes what you are actually talking about.
What people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
Torah and Tanakh are two names for the same thing.
Torah is the first five books; Tanakh is the entire Hebrew Bible, including Prophets and Writings. One is a part of the other. And Talmud is a third thing again — rabbinic commentary written centuries later.
Five books, whole Bible, later commentary.
⚠️People often think…
A prophet is mainly someone who predicts the future.
A prophet is a MESSENGER. Most of what the prophetic books contain is confrontation about justice and covenant in the present — how the community is treating the poor, the widow, the stranger. Prediction shows up, but it is not the job description.
A messenger about the present, not a fortune-teller.
⚠️People often think…
“Old Testament” is the neutral academic name for this collection.
It is a CHRISTIAN name — it only makes sense next to a New Testament. In academic writing the neutral term is “Hebrew Bible” or “Tanakh”, because those do not assume one tradition’s frame.
Say Hebrew Bible in an academic summary.
⚠️People often think…
The First and Second Temples were destroyed around the same time.
Six and a half centuries apart. First Temple: built under Solomon, destroyed by Babylon in 586 BCE. Second Temple: built after the return, destroyed by Rome in 70 CE. The exile sits between them, and so does most of the Hebrew Bible’s later writing.
586 BCE and 70 CE. Not the same event.
Worth knowing cold
The story in order
Nearly every book in this collection sits somewhere on this line. Knowing the order turns scattered names into a narrative.
AncestorsCreation, then Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — a family, and a promise made to it.
Egypt and SinaiSlavery in Egypt, the Exodus, and the covenant at Sinai. This is the center of the whole collection.
Land, kings and TempleEntering the land, then kings — Saul, David, Solomon — and the First Temple, destroyed in 586 BCE.
Exile and returnExile in Babylon, then return and the Second Temple — which stood until 70 CE.
Ancestors, Egypt, Sinai, kings, exile, return
1Watch one
Why is covenant called the thread running through the whole collection?
Start at the beginning: a promise is made to Abraham and his descendants.
At Sinai it becomes a formal agreement with terms, given to a whole people.
The histories then ask, again and again, whether the agreement is being kept.
And the prophets confront the community when it is not. Making, keeping, breaking, renewing — that is the thread. ✓
2Do one with me
Fill in the words and the dates.
The first five books are called the
The neutral academic name for this collection is the
The First Temple was destroyed in the year
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why does the name you use for a collection matter?
3Try one
A prophet is best described with which one word?
I want a hint first
The job is carrying something from one party to another — the same word you would use for someone delivering a letter.
💬Last one — then you're done here
Why is the exile a turning point in this collection?
Where this goes
Where this lives
Reading a news story that mentions the Torah or the Temple, understanding why a neighbor’s holiday falls when it does, recognizing a phrase from these books when it shows up in a speech.
What this feeds
Next unit is the New Testament — a different collection, written in a different language and century.
Name one thing you would want to ask about a text before summarizing it.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🧭 The story in one line
Creation → the ancestors (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) → slavery in Egypt → the Exodus and Sinai → the land → kings and the Temple → two kingdoms → exile in Babylon → return.
Ancestors, Egypt, Sinai, kings, exile, return.
🤝 The one idea
Covenant. Nearly every book is about the agreement between God and Israel — making it, keeping it, breaking it, renewing it.
⚠️ Traps to avoid
Torah = the first five books. Tanakh = the whole Hebrew Bible. Talmud = later rabbinic commentary (next unit but one).
‘Old Testament’ is a Christian name. Use ‘Hebrew Bible’ in an academic summary.
A prophet is a messenger, not mainly a fortune-teller.
First Temple: Solomon, destroyed 586 BCE. Second Temple: after the return, destroyed 70 CE.
Write ‘the text says’ and ‘the tradition teaches’ — never ‘as we all know’.
📐 Three parts — the chart
Part
Hebrew name
What is in it
Main genres
Teaching
Torah
Genesis to Deuteronomy
narrative and law
Prophets
Nevi’im
Joshua to Kings; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Twelve
narrative and prophecy
Writings
Ketuvim
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Chronicles and others
poetry, wisdom, story
🎯 How you will be asked
A short passage — “which genre is this, and how can you tell?”
A timeline with one event missing.
Two summaries — “which one is a fair, academic description?”
“How do Jews and Christians read these books differently?”
“What is a covenant? Give an example.”
✅ Before the test, can you…
Name the three parts of the Tanakh and one book from each?
Put Abraham, the Exodus, David, the exile and the return in order?
Tell law, narrative, poetry and prophecy apart?
State two views on who wrote the Torah, fairly?
Explain why the Dead Sea Scrolls matter?
Write a summary that ranks nothing and tells no one what to believe?
📚 Go to the sources
Read the text itself — these open another website and need the internet. Compare two translations of the same verse and notice what changes.
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like a student of religion: put the story in order, shelve the books where the Tanakh keeps them, read Exodus 20 clause by clause, then explain covenant from the text.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.