What is a Book for the Book of Books?

Abstract

Just as the name itself says, the Bible (from the Greek ta biblia,
or rather, the books) or in Hebrew ha-mikrà (which means
reading), is considered in its translation as the book par
excellence. But, what is a book for the book par excellence? The
word used in the original Hebrew language is sefer, which means
book in this case but also scroll (which in Latin is translated by
volume, from the verb volvere, to roll up) which includes any
document sufficiently big to be kept rolled up, like a treaty or a
letter. However, there is a more complete meaning that emerges
coherently from the biblical use: a sefer is the fruit of the act of
memory that precedes a teaching that should be publicly
proclaimed. In this article, we will state the different biblical
acceptations of the term and we will try to clarify their meaning.