8. The twenty-four Books of the Holy Scriptures is made up of three component parts, namely, Torah, Nevi’im and Kesuvvim, the Hebrew initial letters of which form the acronym “TeNaCH.” Torah (also known as the Chumash) consists of the Five Books of Mosheh (the word “Chumash” refers to a fifth); Nevi’im is made up of the eight Books of the Prophets and Kesuvvim is the Writings, made up of eleven Books amongst which are the Psalms (Tehillim) and Proverbs (Mishlay) and the Five Megillos. The difference between Torah and the other two parts of TeNaCH is that whereas the Five Books of Mosheh are the Word of HaShem as dictated by Him to Mosheh, word for word, letter by letter, the words of the Nevi’im and Kesuvvim are the word of G-d but in the words of the Novvi. That is to say, the message is from HaShem but the choice of words and style and idioms of speech are from the prophet himself. That is the reason for the greater sanctity of the Torah over Nevi’im and Kesuvvim.
9. The language of the prophets can be very different from the language of the Torah and can be very challenging to us to understand properly; the Holy Tongue, “Leshon HaKodesh,” has so many meanings and nuances and the divinely-inspired prophets who authored the books of Nevi’im and Kesuvvim intended them all. In addition, each prophet has his chosen style of speaking and delivery and often he uses a particular style reflecting the speech conventions of the day — for Leshon HaKodesh changes as does any living language change and develop. Thus we find that one prophet will speak in flowing language and another will speak in short phrases, almost enigmatic in their brevity. One will use parables and analogies and another use rhetorical question and answer to give over his message. One prophet is dramatic and almost theatrical in his delivery, another poetic and romantic. But always there are to be found numerous meanings — sometimes even conflicting with each other — as the Nevi’im utilised the beauty and richness of Leshon HaKodesh to give over their many-faceted divine message.
10. The reason for our studying today the words of our prophets delivered so many years ago is that these prophecies, coming from HaShem, are timeless, they are not confined to any one time or age. They are intended for all future times, too. As our Chachommim say: despite that the Jewish People had “prophets double the number of the people coming out from Egypt, nevertheless only those prophesies that were for all time were written down and are part of Holy Writ.” This short note will perhaps explain the different styles of the various Haftorahs which are taken from all over the Books of the Prophets.
