Abstract
Written by Brettler from a Jewish perspective, this essay first describes the threefold structure of the Hebrew Bible (Torah, Prophets, Writings), often referred to by the Hebrew acrostic Tanakh. Next it shows how the Bible itself supports many of the hypotheses of critical scholars. It illustrates the development in some traditional Jewish circles (especially under the influence of Maimonides), the belief that the entire Torah was revealed to Moses on Sinai and has been perfectly preserved in the current (Masoretic) Hebrew text. Against this background it shows that Maimonides’s view has not been universally accepted by Jews and is not really true to the nature of the Hebrew Bible itself. Then it traces the gradual acceptance of biblical criticism in Jewish scholarly circles and illustrates his own integrated approach as both biblical critic and believer with reference to Psalm 114.