Nellery, TEXT BOOK OF RELIGION AND ETHICS PART 1. CHAPTER I. THE BIBLE. I. The Bible is the holiest of books. It was written by Jewish people many hundreds of years ago. It is by far the most precious book known to men. The greatest nations prize it highly. 2. Though people speak of the Bible as if it were one book, it is really a number of books bound together in one volume. It is made up of 39 books. The Bible, therefore, is a little library in itself. 3. The Bible is divided into three parts. The first part contains five books. These five books are called the Torah, or Law. 4. It was believed that Moses, our great master, wrote these five books. On this account they were called The Five Books of Moses. Jud 610,903 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY GIFT OF LUCIUS NATHAN LITTAUER 5. Another name for these "Five Books of Moses," or "Five Books of Law," is Pentateuch, which means "five books." 6. The "Five Books of Law" are known by the following names: i. Genesis, which means "Beginning." ii. Exodus, which means "Departure." iii. Leviticus, which means "Concerning Levites." iv. Numbers, which means "Counting the Peo ple." v. Deuteronomy, which means "Repetition of the Law." 7. Genesis is a book of beginnings. It tells of the beginning of the world, of the earliest men and women, and of the commencement of Jewish history. It contains the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. It also tells of the beginning of the history of the Israelites in Egypt. \ 8. Exodus contains an account of our people's sufferings in Egypt and of their departure from Egypt. It also tells of the laws given through Moses and of the building of the Tabernacle, or place of worship. 9. Leviticus contains the laws concerning the sacrifices, the priests and the Levites. It also gives rules for health and conduct. X IO. Numbers tells of the numbering of the twelve tribes of Israel and of their wanderings in the desert of Arabia. II. Deuteronomy contains the farewell speeches of Moses, a repetition of many of the laws and an account of the death of Moses. 12. BIBLE CURIOSITIES. i. The only woman in the Bible whose age is given is mentioned in Genesis 23, verse I. (Sarah died at the age of 127.) ii. The first mention in the Bible of a man buying land is in Genesis 23, verses 4, 5, 16, 17, 18. (Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah for a burying place.) iii. The first woman, of whom the Bible says that she wore a veil, is mentioned in Genesis 24, verse 65. (Rebecca put a veil over her face when she first met Isaac.) iv. The shortest song in the Bible is to be found in Numbers 21, verses 17, 18. (Then Israel sang this song: Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it: The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves.) V. An iron bedstead is mentioned in Deuteronomy 3, verse 11. (Og, King of Bashan, had an iron bedstead nearly five and a half yards long.) L |