Portal:Bible/Featured article/March, 2007
Torah (תּוֹרָה) is a Hebrew word meaning "teaching," "instruction," or "law". It refers primarily to the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Law of Moses (Torat Moshe תּוֹרַת־מֹשֶׁה) or the Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers," which refers to the scroll cases in which books were being kept). Other names include Hamisha Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה, "[the] five fifths/parts [of the] Torah") or simply the Humash (חומש "fifth"). A Sefer Torah is a formal written scroll of the five books, written by a Torah scribe under exceptionally strict requirements. The term is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both Judaism's written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, and more.
The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The five books, their names and pronunciations in the original Hebrew, are as follows:
- Genesis (בראשית, Bereshit: "In the beginning...")
- Exodus (שמות, Shemot: "Names")
- Leviticus (ויקרא, Vayyiqra: "And he called...")
- Numbers (במדבר, Bammidbar: "In the desert...")
- Deuteronomy (דברים, Devarim: "Words", or "Discourses")
(The Hebrew names are taken from initial words within the first verse of each book. See, for example, Genesis 1:1.)
Written in Hebrew, the oldest Jewish language, the Torah is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages, and very important to Christians. It is traditionally accepted as the literal word of God as told to Moses. For many, it is neither exactly history, nor theology, nor legal and ritual guide, but something beyond all three. It is the primary guide to the relationship between God and man, and the whole meaning and purpose of that relationship, a living document that unfolds over generations and millennia.