The number one best seller of all times, the text that has shaped, designed and influenced the history of humanity in general and the western civilization in particular – the Bible – was written originally in Hebrew.
According to the Jewish tradition, the Hebrew Bible has 24 books. Some of the books are counted as one unit and therefore referred to as a single book. The Hebrew Bible is divided into three parts: Torah {תורה} (‘first five books of Moses), ‘Nevieim’ {נביאים} (‘prophets’) and ‘Ketuvim’ {כתובים}(‘writings’ or ‘scriptures’). The three parts together are known by their Hebrew abbreviation ‘TaNaKh’ {תנ”ך} and that is the common name of the Bible in Hebrew.
From this name, ‘Tanakh,’ the name of Biblical Hebrew (in Hebrew) is derived – ‘Ivrit Tanakhit.’ {עברית תנ”כית} The Hebrew Bible begins with the creation of the world as found in the Book of Genesis (‘Bereshit’ {בראשית} in Hebrew) and ends with the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and the rise of Cyrus the Great – King of Persia – which can be found in the Books of Chronicles (‘Diveri Ha-Yamim’ {דברי הימים} in Hebrew).