See our Hebrew alphabet pronunciation guide
Note: The word "chumash" comes from "chamesh", the number five in Hebrew. Technically it refers to one book of the Five Books of Moses, but a book with all five books is also referred to as a chumash.
Hear "The Five Books of Moses (Chumash)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Bereisheet (there are various ways of spelling it in English) is the first word of the Hebrew Bible / Tanach, and means "in the beginning".
Hear "Genesis (Bereisheet)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Shemot means "names" in Hebrew.
Hear "Exodus (Shemot)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Vayikra means "and he called" in Hebrew. It is the first word of the book of the Hebrew Bible of that name.
Hear "Leviticus (Vayikra)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Bamidbar means "in the wilderness" in Hebrew.
Hear "Numbers (Bamidbar)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Devarim means "words" in Hebrew.
Hear "Deuteronomy (Devarim)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
The Hebrew Bible is called the "Tanach" (תָּנָ"ך), which is an abbreviation for its three sections: The first section--the "ת"--is the תּוֹרָה (Torah), which in this case refers to the first five books. This section is also called the "חוּמָּשׁ" (Khoo-MAHSH). The second section--the "נ"--is the נְבִיאִים (nə-vee-EEM) (Prophets). The third section--the "ך"--is the כְּתוּבִים (kə-too-VEEM) (Writings). (Note that in the abbreviation, there is a final ך because it is the final letter of the abbreviation, even though the word "כְּתוּבִים" begins with a regular כּ).
Hear "Prophets (Nevi'im)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: As in English, in Hebrew Sefer Yehoshua (often simply called Yehoshua) is named after the prophet who is at the center of the action in the book. As Joshua is a common English name, so too Yehoshua is a common name in Hebrew.
Hear "Joshua (Yehoshua)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: Shoftim means "Judges" in Hebrew.
Hear "Judges (Shoftim)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
Note: As in English, in Hebrew Sefer Shmuel (often simply called Shmuel) is named after the prophet who is critical to the action in the book. In Hebrew I Samuel is called Shmuel Alef and II Samuel is called Shmuel Bet. This is because the letter Alef has the numerical value of 1 and Bet has the numerical value of 2.As Samuel is a common English name, so too Shmuel is a common name in Hebrew.
Hear "Samuel (Shmuel)" pronounced in Modern Hebrew by an Israeli:
