Torah

What is the Torah?

The Torah is the Hebrew name for the first 5 books of our Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It was Moses, who received the Torah from God, on Mt. Sinai, around 1400 BC. while leading the Israelites out of their bondage in Egypt, Moses received all of the first 5 books of the Old Testament, when he went up the mountain several times to meet with God.

In todays bibles you will not see the word “Torah”, instead you will see the word “Law” used, which is unfortunate. The word Torah does not mean law, it means, “instructions” or “teachings”. The change from Torah to Law happened when the scriptures were translated into Greek.

Torah - Five books of Moses

Genesis (“Bereshit”) is the first book of the Torah, and the only one consisting almost entirely of stories, with just three explicit laws. It tells of the origins of mankind and the Israelites, with stories on creation, Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark, the patriarchs and matriarchs – Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Rachel – and Joseph and his brothers. Its narratives depict figures as they encounter God, face wandering and exile, and grapple with conflict in family relationships

Exodus (“Shemot”) is the second book of the Torah. It describes the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt, their miraculous redemption through ten plagues, and the splitting of the Red Sea. Under Moses’ leadership, they begin their travels in the desert, where they experience God’s revelation, receive the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and build the tabernacle. Throughout the book are over hundred mitzvot (commandments).

Leviticus (“Vayikra”) is the third book of the Torah. It mainly focuses on the rules for sacrifices in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a temporary place of worship set up in the desert. The book also covers topics like impurity and purification, Yom Kippur, festivals, forbidden relationships, food laws, and different ethical and farming laws. Even though it talks about a lot of different things, the common theme throughout the book is the idea of holiness in people, time, and place.

Numbers (“Bamidbar”) is the fourth book of the Torah. It tells the story of the Israelites’ 40 years of wandering in the desert, starting with a census and preparations to enter Israel. The book goes on to describe a series of complaints, sins, punishments, and a failed rebellion. It also includes various commandments and ends with a list of the places the Israelites traveled and the borders of Israel.

Deuteronomy (“Devarim”) is the fifth and last book of the Torah, primarily consisting of Moses’ final speeches ahead of his death. He reminds the Israelites of events that happened in the desert. He also reviews old laws, introduces new laws to follow as the Israelites enter Israel, and emphasizes the importance of faithfulness to God.

Written Law

The written law, the Torah, are scriptures found in the Old Testament, that Moses received from God when he went up the mountain several times to meet with God. In the Bible, the laws were written down on stone tablets under the Old Covenant, and in the New Covenant the laws are written on our hearts and minds. More on Old vs New Covenant – here.

Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is a sacred object mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. It is described as a wooden chest covered in gold, which held the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments inscribed on them. The Ark was constructed by the Israelites under God’s command during their time in the desert for 40 years and was later placed in the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem. Moses was given specific instructions on how to store the tablets in a ark (Exodus 25:10-16). The Ten Commandments represent the core from which the other laws within Torah come from.

Oral Law

Firstly, the Oral law, the Oral Torah, are Not scripture. Over time the Jews started use the word torah and law, to apply to other non biblical text and commentary, that you will find in Judaism today, called the talmud. The two books that make up the Jewish Oral Law are the Mishnah and the Gemara; together, they make up the Talmud, which is the primary books of the Oral Law in Judaism.

Mishnah:

This is the foundational text, a collection of laws and interpretations of the Written Torah compiled by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi around 200 CE.

Gemara:

This is a commentary on the Mishnah, containing extensive debates and discussions from later rabbis, which when combined with the Mishnah forms the Talmud.

When Yeshua was rebuking the Pharisees in the New Testament about the law and commandments, He was addressing the Oral laws and man made commandments, Not the Law of God, given to Moses which was first 5 books of the Old Testament, the Torah.

Old Testament

The Old Testament is a term commonly used by Christians to refer to the first part of the Bible. However, the Hebrew Bible is not called the “Old Testament”. Instead, it is known as the Tanakh. It’s an acronym for the three main sections of the Hebrew Bible: Torah (Five books of Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). Tanakh is an invented word: it takes the T from Torah, the N from Nevi’im, and the K from K’tuvim adds a couple of vowel sounds and presto. Tanakh. The Old Testament consist of 39 books in the Christian bible and 24 books in the Hebrew bible. The Tanakh and the Old Testament are exactly the same thing, except in some cases the books are arranged in slightly different order. At some point they began referring to ANY of the holy scriptures as Torah. So, the original Torah from Moses was “Torah”, and all the newer scripture was also referred to as “Torah” as well.

Oh, how I love your Torah! I meditate on it all day long.

Psalms 119:97

Lets Recap

The Tanakh, which is sometimes called the Hebrew Bible, is simply another name for our current Old Testment. The Torah the first 5 books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) which was given to Moses by God. The Talmud is NOT Holy Scripture, but rather a collection Jewish religious commentary.