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The Torah (/ˈtɔːrə, ˈtoʊrə/; Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה Tōrā, "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.[1] The Torah is known as the Pentateuch (/ˈpɛntətjuːk/) or the Five Books of Moses by Christians. It is also known as the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv) in Rabbinical Jewish tradition. If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll (Sefer Torah or ספר תורה). If in bound book form, it is called Chumash, and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (perushim).
In rabbinic literature, the word Torah denotes both the five books (תורה שבכתב "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah (תורה שבעל פה, "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash.[2] Rabbinic tradition's understanding is that all of the teachings found in the Torah (both written and oral) were given by their God through the prophet Moses, some at Mount Sinai and others at the Tabernacle, and all the teachings were written down by Moses, which resulted in the Torah that exists today. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and was used as the blueprint for Creation.[3] Though hotly debated, the general trend in biblical scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, largely complete by the Persian period,[4][5][6] with possibly some later additions during the Hellenistic period.[7][8]
Traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe (sofer) in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read every Monday morning and Thursday morning at a shul (synagogue) but only if there are ten males above the age of thirteen. Reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases of Jewish communal life. The Torah is also considered a sacred book outside Judaism; in Samaritanism, the Samaritan Pentateuch is a text of the Torah written in the Samaritan script and used as sacred scripture by the Samaritans; the Torah is also common among all the different versions of the Christian Old Testament; in Islam, the Tawrat (Arabic: توراة) is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to have been given by God to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel.[9]
- ^ "Torah | Definition, Meaning, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
- ^ Birnbaum 1979, p. 630.
- ^ Vol. 11 Trumah Section 61
- ^ Blenkinsopp 1992, p. 1.
- ^ McDermott 2002, p. 21.
- ^ Schniedewind 2022, p. 23.
- ^ Schmid, Konrad; Lackowski, Mark; Bautch, Richard. “How to Identify a Persian Period Text in the Pentateuch.” R. J. Bautch / M. Lackowski (eds.), On Dating Biblical Texts to the Persian Period, FAT II/101, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019, 101–118. “There are, however, a few exceptions regarding the pre-Hellenistic dating of the Pentateuch. The best candidate for a post-Persian, Hellenistic text in the Pentateuch seems to be the small ‘apocalypse’ in Num 24:14-24, which in v. 24 mentions the victory of the ships of the כִּתִּים over Ashur and Eber. This text seems to allude to the battles between Alexander and the Persians, as some scholars suggested. Another set of post-Persian text elements might be the specific numbers in the genealogies of Gen 5 and 11. These numbers build the overall chronology of the Pentateuch and differ significantly in the various versions. But these are just minor elements. The substance of the Pentateuch seems pre- Hellenistic.”
- ^ Römer, Thomas “How “Persian” or “Hellenistic” is the Joseph Narrative?”, in T. Römer, K. Schmid et A. Bühler (ed.), The Joseph Story Between Egypt and Israel (Archaeology and Bible 5), Tübinngen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021, pp. 35-53. “The date of the original narrative can be the late Persian period, and while there are several passages that fit better into a Greek, Ptolemaic context, most of these passages belong to later revisions."
- ^ Lang 2015, p. 98.
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