There is some confusion regarding the Hebrew names of the books of the Bible. What exactly is the Torah? What is the ‘Ta•nach’ or ‘Ta•nakh,’ as it is spelled in some lexicons and dictionaries?
The Old Testament is also called ‘Ta•nach.’ In Hebrew, it is not a name but the initials of the three sections of the Old Testament: Torah (Torah, the Law); ‘Nevieem’ (Prophets); and Ketuvim (Writings). The Torah includes the five books of Moses (Pentateuch) and ‘Be•re•sheet’ (also known as Genesis) is its first book.
The name ‘Be•re•sheet’ means: “in the beginning,” and this is also the first word in this book and obviously, in the entire Bible.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”
‘Be•re•sheet’ is made of two words: ‘be’ (in, in the) and ‘re•sheet‘ (beginning). The second word is a derivative of the word “rosh” (head); its Hebrew spelling is identical to the first three letters of the word ‘beginning.’
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