[3] The authoritative form of the modern Hebrew Bible used in Rabbinic Judaism is the Masoretic Text (7th to 10th century CE), which consists of 24 books, divided into chapters and pesuqim (verses).

[2] In addition to the Masoretic Text, modern biblical scholars seeking to understand the history of the Hebrew Bible use a range of sources.

[4] These include the Septuagint, the Syriac language Peshitta translation, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Dead Sea Scrolls collection, the Targum Onkelos, and quotations from rabbinic manuscripts.

[5] These differences have given rise to the theory that yet another text, an Urtext of the Hebrew Bible, once existed and is the source of the versions extant today.

In addition, the Tanakh condemns murder, theft, bribery, corruption, deceitful trading, adultery, incest, bestiality, and homosexual acts.

Nevertheless, "it is highly likely that extensive oral transmission of proverbs, stories, and songs took place during this period", and these may have been included in the Hebrew Bible.

This means the Jacob cycle must be older than the time of King Josiah of Judah (r. 640 – 609 BCE), who pushed for the centralization of worship at Jerusalem.

According to biblical scholar John J. Collins, "It now seems clear that all the Hebrew Bible received its final shape in the postexilic, or Second Temple, period.

"[47] Traditionally, Moses was considered the author of the Torah, and this part of the Tanakh achieved authoritative or canonical status first, possibly as early as the 5th century BCE.

[55] Rabbi and Talmudic scholar Louis Ginzberg wrote in Legends of the Jews, published in 1909, that the twenty-four book canon was fixed by Ezra and the scribes in the Second Temple period.

[56][failed verification] According to the Talmud, much of the Tanakh was compiled by the men of the Great Assembly (Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah), a task completed in 450 BCE, and it has remained unchanged ever since.

[58] The original writing system of the Hebrew text was an abjad: consonants written with some applied vowel letters ("matres lectionis").

This division includes the books which cover the time from the entrance of the Israelites into the Land of Israel until the Babylonian captivity of Judah (the "period of prophecy").

In Masoretic manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stichs in the verses, which are a function of their poetry.

Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics: their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e. the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion); the Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them; two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in Tanakh with significant portions in Aramaic.

Both the Bible and Homer formed "foundational literature" of their respective cultures, studied by children and considered distillations of the society's values.

[72] It is a major subject in the curriculum of Orthodox high schools for girls and in the seminaries which they subsequently attend,[69] and is often taught by different teachers than those who teach Chumash.

[80] As such, much modern day Bible commentary written by non-Orthodox authors is considered forbidden[81] by rabbis teaching in Orthodox yeshivas.

Some classical rabbinic commentators, such as Abraham Ibn Ezra, Gersonides, and Maimonides, used many elements of contemporary biblical criticism, including their knowledge of history, science, and philology.

Multiple scholars have noted the importance of the Hebrew Bible in developing the ethnic and national identity of the Jewish people in antiquity.

[83] David Goodblatt argued that the Bible and related literature served as a key foundation for Jewish nationalism during the Second Temple period, underpinning the collective belief in shared descent, history, and cultural unity.

[84] The Bible also played a key role in preserving Hebrew, which, unlike Phoenician and Edomite, survived even as Aramaic replaced other regional languages.

[84] Several scholars argue that key sections of the Hebrew Bible were deliberately composed during specific historical periods to construct and consolidate a distinct Israelite national consciousness.

E. Theodore Mullen, a key proponent of this idea, argued in his first monograph that the "Deuteronomistic History"— including Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings—was composed during the Babylonian captivity to reinforce a threatened Judean identity.

In another work, he focused on the Tetrateuch—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers—arguing that these books were compiled during the Persian era to forge a unified ethnic identity.

"[84] According to Adrian Hastings, the study of sacred texts, including the Hebrew Bible, was a foundational element that allowed the Jews—whom he describes as the "true proto-nation"—to preserve their national identity during the two millennia following the loss of their political entity in the first century CE.

This enduring connection to their heritage enabled Jews to be perceived as a nation rather than merely an ethnic group, ultimately paving the way for the rise of Zionism and the eventual establishment of the State of Israel.

These books were removed when a slimmed-down King James Version was mass-produced by free Bible societies out of cost considerations.

[88] The ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible currently used by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches are based on the Septuagint, which was considered the authoritative scriptural canon by the early Christians.

[90] Adrian Hastings contended that the model of ancient Israel presented in the Hebrew Bible established the original concept of nationhood, which subsequently influenced the development of nation-states in the Christian world.