Torah

From RationalWiki
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
m
(The books of the Torah)
Line 18: Line 18:
 
==The books of the Torah==
 
==The books of the Torah==
  
*[[Genesis]]  
+
*Bereishis [[Genesis]]  
*[[Exodus]]  
+
*Shemos [[Exodus]]  
*[[Leviticus]]  
+
*Vayikra [[Leviticus]]  
*[[Numbers]]  
+
*Bamidbar [[Numbers]]  
*[[Deuteronomy]]  
+
*Devarim [[Deuteronomy]]  
  
 
Many modern Biblical scholars consider the Torah to be the edited work of at least [[documentary hypothesis|five different writers]] with roots in both Israel and Judah:
 
Many modern Biblical scholars consider the Torah to be the edited work of at least [[documentary hypothesis|five different writers]] with roots in both Israel and Judah:

Revision as of 22:40, 26 December 2011

The Hebrew word Torah (תורה) (literal meaning 'teaching') is usually used to refer to the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Scripture. These are also the first five books of the Christian Old Testament.

The five books are also called the Written Torah, Chumash (from the Hebrew word for five), or Books of Moses. The word is used by Orthodox Jews to refer also to the entirety of Jewish law, including Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings) and Mishnah (Oral law). The term also refers to the entire body of Jewish teachings; thus, someone might say "I have been learning Torah", meaning any element of Judaism. In the broadest sense, any notable teaching is said to come from God and can be called "Torah."

A Torah scroll contains the words of the five books written on parchment according to specific rules. Some of these rules are:

  • The parchment must be scored with lines
  • The ink must be of a specific formulation to be the correct consistency and darkness
  • It must be written with a specific type of quill
  • The person writing it must be an observant Jew
  • The parchment must be written "Lishma" i.e. with the correct intention. For this reason even if all the technical aspects are met for a Torah scroll, if the person writing it is deemed to be an apostate the scroll is not considered to be "kosher" (fit for use), has zero sanctity and should be burnt.
  • The sofer (trained scribe) writing it has to do so in a specific script (Ktiv Ashuri) and style, keeping spacing and distance to certain traditional norms (of which a few minor differences appear in the traditions of certain communities)
  • It must be treated with a profound respect.

The Torah, both written and oral, is considered by Orthodox Jews to be the literal word of God, and absolutely perfect so not not even one letter or one decoration of a letter can be changed. More liberal Jews are much less inclined to agree with this.

Jewish mystics have had a field day with the concept of the written Torah, describing it as written in black fire on white fire (see in Midrash Rabbah and Midrash Tanchuma). This is said to be the form of the Torah before the creation of the world, as Midrash Rabbah states the Torah existed before the world, and the world was created for the purpose of the Torah. However, aside from a few hints as to the precreation stage of the world, not much detail is given on it. As it is stated in Midrash Rabbah: "Why was the world created with the letter bet? "ב" The reason is that the bet is closed on three sides and open only on the side going forward (don't forget that Hebrew is written right to left, thus while an eEnglish reader sees that opening at the front of the letter, in Hebrew it is the back of the letter) as we can only study and understand from the creation of the world forward, what came before is hidden from us. The idea that what came before the creation of the universe cannot be known to us is actually a scientific one as well: There the concept is that in the first trillionth of a second after the Big Bang the laws of nature as we know it were not yet set[citation needed] and thus differed from what we have now. Due to that, we will never be able to meaningfully measure or describe the state of the universe then.

Contents

The books of the Torah

Many modern Biblical scholars consider the Torah to be the edited work of at least five different writers with roots in both Israel and Judah:

  1. Yahwist or J: rooted in Judahite tradition; refers to God as YHWH
  2. Elohist or E: rooted in Israelite tradition; prefers the grammatically ambiguous "Elohim" as the name of God
  3. Deuteronomist or D: believed to have come from the camp that led religious reforms under the Judahite king Josiah; later revised after Josiah's untimely death in Egypt
  4. Priestly or P: Probably written under the auspices of the Kohanim, the priestly clan said to be descended from Moses' brother Aaron and those in charge of daily operations at the Jerusalem temple
  5. The Redactor or R (possibly the Biblical figure Ezra): While responsible for little or no original content, the Redactor is thought to have been responsible for knitting related but separate Israelite and Judahite traditions, as well as varying schools of thought within Judah, into a single, more-or-less coherent whole.

While this model is not universally accepted, and is universally rejected by Orthodox Jews, it has been one of the most important working hypotheses of Biblical scholarships over the last century-plus. Orthodox Jews offer different explanations for the shifts in style and language usage based on phase of the world, nuances of Hebrew and what concepts are being taught in each area. Other explanations are also given, but these are generally ignored by liberal Jews and mmodern scholars who find the traditional explanations "unacademic" and thus not acceptable.

The Book of J

In The Book of J Harold Bloom argues that the first five books of the Bible were compiled by the "Redactor" (probably Ezra) around the time of the Exile using Jawist, Elohist, Priestly, and Deuteronomist sources. In this book Bloom separates out the "J" or Jawist document alone and presents it in all its original glory. One thing that stands out in J when it is isolated this way is how interesting the female characters are compared to their male counterparts, and how the J document states origins in such a way that emphasizes the Kingdom of Judah's claim to the scepter over that of the northern Kingdom.

After compiling all the evidence, Bloom makes the case that the author of J was a brilliant female poet and writer in the court of Solomon. Yahweh as a deity is anthropomorphized to a greater extent in J than in any other source. He's a hands-on sort of God who must "go down" to see what they are building at Babel and actually wrestles with Jacob. Over time, Jewish priests cleaned up J's depiction of Yahweh by first calling his appearances to men "The angel of the LORD" which introduced a buffer (an example is the burning bush speaking to Moses), and even later, angels were described as created conscious beings in their own right as messengers of Yahweh, thus completing his elevation to an unknowable transcendence.

See also

Footnotes

Guide to the Jewish and Christian Scriptures
Torah: Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy Old Testament History: Book of Joshua - Book of Judges - Ruth - Samuel (1 & 2) - Kings (1 and 2 Kings) - Chronicles - Ezra and Nehemiah - Book of Esther Old Testament Wisdom: Book of Job - Psalms - Book of Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon Major Prophets: Isaiah - Book of Jeremiah - Lamentations - Book of Ezekiel - Book of Daniel Minor Prophets: Minor Prophets

Deuterocanon (Catholic and Orthodox): - Tobit - Judith - 1 Maccabees - 2 Maccabees - Book of Wisdom - Sirach - Baruch - Letter of Jeremiah Deuterocanon (Orthodox): 1 Esdras - 3 Maccabees - Prayer of Manasseh - Psalm 151 Deuterocanon (Georgian Orthodox): 4 Maccabees - 2 Esdras Ethiopian Orthodox ("narrow" canon): Jubilees - Enoch - Rest of the Words of Baruch - 1-3 Meqabyan Syriac Peshitta: 2 Baruch Psalms 152-155


The Gospels: Gospel of Matthew - Gospel of Mark - Gospel of Luke - Gospel of John Acts: Acts of the Apostles Pauline Epistles: Romans - 1 & 2 Corinthians - Galatians - Ephesians - Philippians - Colossians - First Thessalonians - Second Thessalonians - First Timothy - Second Timothy - Titus - Epistle to Philemon General Epistles: Epistle to the Hebrews - Epistle of James - First Peter - Second Peter - 1 John - 2 John - 3 John - Epistle of Jude Revelation: Book of Revelation


Selected pseudepigrapha: Gospel of Judas - Infancy Gospel of James - Gospel of Mary - Gospel of Philip - Gospel of Thomas - Nag Hammadi texts


Rational Wiki's Guide to the Protestant Bible

Guide to Bible translations

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Tools
support