Tanach
Tanach (תנ״ך in Hebrew*) is the ancient Jewish way of describing the Hebrew Bible. The word itself is an acronym:
Torah (Teaching or Law),
Nevi’im (Prophets), and
Ketuvim (Writings).
Together, these three sections form a unified whole. Unlike the later Christian divisions into law, history, poetry, and prophecy, the Tanach’s structure is as old as the text itself, woven into the way the canon was composed. The shape of the Tanach is not accidental—its very arrangement amplifies its message.
This is why Jesus Himself referred to it in Luke 24:44: “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses [Torah], the Prophets, and the Psalms [the chief book of the Writings].” For Him, the Tanach was the Bible. And it remains the same Bible read and treasured by the Jewish people around the world today.
The practice of dividing the Tanach into weekly readings dates back to the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE. That rhythm continues unbroken: wherever Jewish communities gather—in Jerusalem, New York, Paris, or Buenos Aires—they read the same Parashah (portion) that week. To join this rhythm through the Parashah Project is to immerse yourself in an ancient tradition of scripture study, one that cultivates a Tanachian worldview—a way of seeing all of life through the lens of God’s unified Word.
For an excellent visual and animated explanation of the shape of the first two-thirds of the Bible, see this overview video on the Tanach from The Bible Project. It beautifully illustrates how structure matters—and how the Bible’s very design highlights its unified message pointing to God and His Messiah.
To read the Tanach is to see Scripture’s structure sing its message: one unified story pointing to Messiah.
* Note on the Hebrew acronym: The double mark ״ (gershayim) signals that these letters are initials representing a longer phrase, not a standard word. Thus, the letters תנ״ך form an acronym for:
תורה (Torah) – Teaching or Law
נביאים (Nevi’im) – Prophets
כתובים (Ketuvim) – Writings