TABERNACLE - the portable tent sanctuary where God met Israel and where Israel worshiped. The tent sanctuary was also known as the "tent of meeting" and the "tent or tabernacle of testimony." The first tent of meeting was pitched outside the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 33:7-11, 34:34-35). Here people could come and consult God although only Moses entered the tent. The second tabernacle is the one people most often refer to. Instructions for its construction (Exod. 25:1-27:21) and the report of its construction (Exod. 35:20-40:33) indicate how large and luxurious the tent and its surrounding courtyard were. The Ark of the Covenant rested inside the Tabernacle as did the other items used in worship. David erected a third tent for the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:17). The pictures below provide a modeler's view of the tabernacle.

Photographs from the
Bible Picture Library of Photo Art
(c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97

TARGUMS - term used to refer to the translations of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. The singular term Targum refers to both the process of translating and explaining and thus the Aramaic translation may include both translation and explanation of the text. Targums exist for every book of the Hebrew Bible except Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel.

TELL - term used to refer to a mound that has been built over centuries or millennia by layers of occupational debris. The word "tell" is an Arabic word meaning "mound." The Hebrew word is tel. Tells typically have sloping sides and a relatively flat top and are formed by settlemenst being built, destroyed, and then new settlements being built on top of the ruins of the previous settlements. As this phenomena occurs over the centuiries or millennia, the tell gets taller and the top covers less area. Settlements might have been built on top of previous setlements because of the attraction of the location (near water and food sources) or because the previous inhabitants returned and rebuilt. Archaeologists dig down into the tell from the top. The deeper they dig, the farther back in history they go.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - refers to the analytical study of ancient manuscripts to determine the correct reading of the text. Textual analysis is employed both in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament. In the Hebrew Bible textual analysis seeks to determine the text in its earliest form (sometimes referred to as the original manuscript or Ur-text) and to trace the history of the development of the text. Some of the more important texts studied and compared in Hebrew Bible textual analysis include the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch, Qumran scrolls, Septuagint, Peshitta, Targums, and Vulgate.

THEOPHANY - a visual and/or audible self-manifestation of a god. In the Hebrew Bible God manifested Himself sometimes in natural form such as through the burning bush (Exod. 3:2), pillar of cloud and of fire (Exod. 13:21), and storm (Exod. 19:16). God also revealed Himself in human form (Gen. 32:30, Exod. 33:11), through an angel or messenger (Gen. 16:7-12, Josh. 5:13-15), in a vision (Isa. 6:1, Ezek. 1:26-28), and through His name (Deut. 12:5).

TORAH PSALM - a type of psalm which encourages meditation on the Torah (e.g., Pss. 1, 119). The Torah was seen as both God's gracious deeds toward His creation and the guidelines He had given for people to live by. Reflection on these two dimensions and their relationship helped one to live in God's world as God intended.

TRADITION ANALYSIS - the study of the history of the oral traditions of a text or section of the Hebrew Bible throughout the transmission of the text. Typically tradition analysis looks looks at a text from its earliest oral traditions to its final form seeking to reconstruct how the text came to be. The phrase tradition analysis is an accurate translation of the German term Traditionsgeschichte ("the history of tradition") and Uberlieferungsgeschichte ("the history of transmission").