Figure 1 Studying Torah Torah readings and ceremonies take place daily at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Western Wall dates to the first century B.C.E. and is a surviving portion of the retaining wall of the temple mount. Today it is the closest Jewish point of contact to the site of the ancient temple. Some of the earliest written sources of the Torah came out of Jerusalem, perhaps from the tenth century B.C.E. Photo by Barry Bandstra

Key Terms Anthropomorphism Covenant Deuteronomy Documentary hypothesis Elohim Elohist source Pentateuch Priestly document Torah Yahwist narrative Yahweh YHWH

The term torah has a variety of meanings. It can refer to the "T," or Torah, section of the Tanak, which consists of the first five books of the Bible. The Torah was Israel's constitution and the foundation of its spiritual and communal life. Though often rendered law, the term torah also has a broader meaning. In Jewish tradition, torah designates the instruction, revelation, or teaching of God. As such it is another way of referring to the Scriptures as a whole. Later, the notion even came to include the oral traditions of the rabbis.     Although Torah is the traditional name for the set of books consisting of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, modern readers also call it the Pentateuch, a term derived from the Greek word for "five scroll jars." Typically the term Pentateuch is used in academic settings and Torah in religious ones.     The Torah is the most intensely studied section of the Hebrew Bible within both Judaism and the academic community. Consequently, there is a wealth of scholarship sorting out where it came from and what it means. A good deal wrestles with issues of authorship and literary composition. Many studies also identify the unifying themes and structures of the Torah.

ToC | Reading the Old Testament

. . . Part 1. Torah | ToC