What is the purpose of Hebrew scriptures?

Answer 1

(not necessarily in order of importance:)

To record events; to teach all manner of wisdom, knowledge, behavior, morals, attitudes, and laws; to speak about and teach about the Creator; and to provide portents and information about the future, the soul, the upper worlds and the afterlife.

Answer 2

A:Tradition says that the earliest scriptures, the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), were written by Moses around 1400 BCE. If one person wrote all five books, we need to understand why this was so. Why write books that more or less duplicate the same message, and in other cases are inconsistent or contradictory? The answer to this is that nearly all biblical scholars now accept a much later date and multiple authors for them.

The Book of Genesis is a compilation of ancient legends, traditions and myths originally recorded by the Yahwist ('J Source') around the tenth century BCE in the southern kingdom of Judah, and by the Elohist ('E Source') around the ninth century BCE in the northern kingdom of Israel. Centuries later, the Priestly Source added further material, before Genesis was redacted into more or less the same form we know today by another anonymous source now known as the Redactor. Similar history applies to the other books of the Pentateuch. Leviticus, in particular, was written to ensure compliance with the dietary, dress and other rules the priests were trying to enforce at the time of the Babylonian Exile.

The Deuteronomic History (Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Kings) was written towards the end of the monarchic period largely as a record of oral traditions that had been passed down over the centuries, although some additions and changes were made for political and theological purposes. The Book of Chronicles (1 and 2 Chronicles) was written shortly after the Babylonian Exile, largely based on the Deuteronomic History, although some other sources were probably available. The purpose of Chronicles seems to have been to 'correct' the older history and change some of the political perspectives.

Various of the prophetic books were written to record the thoughts and experiences of the authors. However, some books were originally written for amusement and only later came to be regarded as serious scripture. Song of Solomon is believed to have originally been part of an operetta. The Book of Daniel is a novel that has been reliably dated to approximately 167 BCE, and the Book of Esther was a slightly earlier novel.

Answer:

The books and prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures were written at the command of God. The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is important because it tells the history of the ancient Israelites, as well as giving us the teachings of such prophets as Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah, the stories of kings like David and Saul, and the ethics and beliefs of the Jewish religion. Our tradition is that the Hebrew Bible is from God (Exodus 24:12), given to us to provide knowledge, guidance, inspiration, awe and reverence, advice, law, comfort, history and more. It is the basis of Judaism. It crystallized, strengthened and codified our beliefs; insured our awareness and knowledge of our identity and history; and provided powerful impetus to be ethical.
It made us stand in awe of God, while also providing optimism and comfort through the prophecies of redemption. It inspired us to strive for holiness and informed us how to pray and to approach God's presence.
And it set detailed laws, practices and traditions for us forever.

The Torah (the Five Books of Moses): According to tradition, the Torah was given by God to Moses (Exodus 24:12) in 1312 BCE. Moses taught it to the people (Exodus ch.34), and put it in writing before his death (Deuteronomy 31:24) in 1272 BCE.

Nevi'im (the Prophets): Jewish tradition (Talmud, Bava Batra 14b) states that the prophetic books were written by the authors whose names they bear: Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, etc. Judges is credited to Samuel, and Kings was written by Jeremiah. The prophetic books were written in the time of the prophets, from the 1200s BCE (Joshua) to the 300s BCE (Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

Ketuvim (the Writings): Jewish tradition (Talmud, Bava Batra 14b) states that the Writings were written by the authors whose names they bear: Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah. Ruth was written by Samuel; Lamentations was written by Jeremiah; Psalms was set in writing by King David; Chronicles was written by Ezra; Proverbs, Song of Songs and Kohellet (Ecclesiastes) were written by King Solomon; and Esther was written by Mordecai and Esther. The Writings were written between 900 BCE (Ruth) to the 300s BCE (Esther, Daniel, Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah).
Concerning Job, the Talmud states more than one opinion as to when it was written.

Hebrew Bible Canon: Our tradition is that from the time of the First Destruction, God's presence was no longer felt as clearly as before (see Deuteronomy 31:17-18). In addition, exile is not conducive to prophecy (Mechilta, parshat Bo). At that time, the last of the prophets realized that prophecy would soon cease; and that the dispersal of the Jewish people, plus the almost continuous tribulations from the First Destruction onwards, made it imperative to seal the canon of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The Sages of the time, including the last living prophets, convened a special synod for a couple of decades, which was called the Men of the Great Assembly (Mishna, Avot ch.1). This group, who functioned some 2360 years ago, composed the blessings and the basic prayers of the siddur (prayerbook) and the early portions of the Passover Haggadah, made many of the Rabbinical decrees, and (most importantly) sealed the canon of the Tanakh. It was they, for example, who set the twelve Minor Prophets as (halakhically) a single book, and who set the books of the Tanakh in their traditional order (see Talmud, Bava Batra 14b). It was the Men of the Great Assembly whom Esther had to approach when she felt that the Divinely inspired Scroll of Esther should be included in the canon (see Talmud, Megilla 7a).
Since the sealing of the Tanakh, no Jewish sage has ever claimed prophecy.