Concept

Torah

Overview

The Torah (; Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, romanized: tōrāh, lit. "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () or the Five Books of Moses. In Rabbinical Jewish tradition it is also known as the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll (Hebrew: ספר תורה Sefer Torah). 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. Rabbinic tradition's understanding is that all of the teachings found in the Torah (both written and oral) were given by 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. 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, with possibly some later additions during the Hellenistic period.

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) and as noted later in this article a part is also read on Saturdays. In some synagogues, but not all, the reading is done only if there are ten males above the age of thirteen. Today most "movements" of Judaism accept ten adult Jews as meeting the requirement for reading a Torah portion. 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 tawrāh (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.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.

We may here therefore sacredly inquire first, why it is that Moses is here led to speak thus. And secondly, why it is recorded in this place concerning man only, that God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul," when all animals throughout the whole Scripture are called "living creatures." The divine expressions recorded by Moses above are, "Let the earth bring forth every…
Martin Luther, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1
States what Torah is.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
7), light being an accident; yoẓer harim, “That formeth the mountains” (Amos iv. 13), i.e., that gave them their shape. In the same sense the verb is used in the passage, “And the Lord God formed (va-yiẓer) all the beasts,” etc. (Gen. ii. 7).
Moses Maimonides, The guide for the perplexed
States what Torah is.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader
Fourthly, from the Plague of Darknesse inflicted on the Egyptians, of which it is written (Exod. 10.23.) "They saw not one another, neither rose any man from his place for three days; but all the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings;" the place of the wicked after Judgment, is called Utter Darknesse, or (as it is in the originall) Darknesse Without. And so it is expressed (Mat. 22.13.) where the King…
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
States what Torah is.
Read the chapter · Open in the reader

Philosophers who discussed Torah

Related ideas

Opposing perspectives

Asher ben Jehiel

Place in the tradition

Part of Free will.

Explore Torah in the interactive graph →