Tanakh: the acronym referring to the Torah, the Nevi’im and the Kethuvim.

Torah: the first five books of the Bible. Also referred to as the Pentateuch or The Five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Each book is broken into 10-12 weekly parshiyot (54 in total).

Nevi’im: the second part of the Bible, comprised of the eight books of Prophets and the Twelve Minor Prophets (so-called because they are shorter texts): Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

Kethuvim: the “writings,” divided into three main parts:
1. Psalms, Proverbs, Job
2. Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther (also referred to as Hamesh Megillot, the five scrolls)
3. Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles (historical texts)

The Septuagint (LXX): the name commonly given to the Koine Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, translated in stages between the 3rd to 1st century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. In the Septuagint, the Torah and Nevi’im are established as canonical, but the Kethuvim appear not to have been definitively canonized yet.

Mishnah: literally defined as oral instruction, the Mishnah is a compilation of the written records of oral discussions of various laws completed in 200 CE. Believed to be compiled in its final form by Rabbi Judah al-Nasi, “Rabbi.” Divided into six orders, each with numerous subsections called tractates: Zera’im (seeds), rules about agriculture; Mo’ed (appointed times), rules about Sabbaths and festivals; Nashim (women), primarily marriage laws; Nezikin (damages), rules about money and legal disputes; Kodoshim (holy things), Temple procedures; Teharot (purities), ritual impurities and purification.

Tosefta:  literally “addition.”  Further rabbinic comments on most of the topics covered in the Mishnah.

Talmud: exists in two forms – the Jerusalem Talmud (abbreviated y.) and the Babylonian Talmud (abbreviated b.). Compiled during the 3rd to 6th centuries, the Talmud consists of extracts from the Mishnah, accompanied by commentary called Gemara (learning). Represents the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law.

Midrash Rabbah (Great Midrash): collection of rabbinic comments on biblical text, completed in 1545. Contains 10 midrashim: the five books of the Torah and the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Individual sections are referred to by their biblical title (i.e. Genesis/Bereshit Rabbah, etc).

Halakhah and Aggadah: descriptive types of rabbinic comment. Halakhah is legal comment, referring to “the way” of the Torah, concerned with explicating, applying and making sense of the legal materials in the Bible. Aggadah is non-legal comment, a more amorphous category, including theology, legend, sayings, prayer and praise.

Sefer ha-Zohar: The Book of Splenour, the central text of Kabbalah, the mystical branch of Judaism.

Responsa: thousands of volumes of answers to specific questions on Jewish law. If the Talmud is a law book, then the responsa are case law.