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**files (2)**

– ## BIBL282WEEK7.pdf

– ## BIBLE282WEEK7READING.pdf

**## BIBL282WEEK7.pdf**

For this week's group dialogue, please respond to the prompt stated below, along with
two replies to fellow students. A grading rubric for this assignment can be found by
clicking on the three vertical dots above right and clicking on "Show Rubric."

For this week's discussion forum, reflect on what you have learned thus far in this
course about the Pentateuch. Be sure to provide clear explanations as well as
biblical references wherever appropriate. Please avoid discussing Genesis 1 in this
post since we have already discussed that chapter previously.

**## BIBLE282WEEK7READING.pdf**

AN OVERVIEW

The Torah is sometimes conceived as a single work, the Torah scroll. Messiah called it the “book
of Moses” in Mark 12:26. This single work, the Torah, is comprised of five “books,” hence,
“Pentateuch” (see Blenkinsopp, 42–47; Childs, 128–32). It is viable to study each book of the
Torah as well as the Torah as a whole (see Fox, “Can?,” 31–40; Rendtorff, 22–35). The five
books constitute a serial narrative—the Torah story.

In what sense is the Torah five books and in what sense is it one story?

The name of each of the five books captures some sense of the book itself. The traditional
Hebrew names derive from the opening words of the respective books, and the traditional
Christian names are each based on some aspect of the content of the books. The Christian
names come from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
“In the beginning” (the traditional name from the Hebrew word bereshit)
Genesis (meaning “origin”) is taken from 2:4 in the Septuagint: “This is the book of the genesis
of heaven and earth” (LXX lit.).
“These are the names” (shemot)
Exodus is named for Israel’s liberation from slavery and departure from Egypt, the narrative of
which is presented in the first part of the book.
“And he called” (vayyiqra)
Leviticus has nothing to do with the Levites. In the ancient Hellenistic world “Levites” meant
priests, and the name was given to the third book of the Torah, which presents instructions for
the priests and people (see Milgrom, 1).
“In the wilderness” (bemidbar)
Numbers is named for the censuses in the book (see Num 1 and 26).
“These are the words” (devarim)
Deuteronomy (meaning “second law”) stems from a misunderstanding of 17:18 where the term
appears in the Septuagint (deuteronomion), which actually refers to “a copy of the teaching.”
Deuteronomy often refers to itself as torah (1:5; 4:8, 44; 29:21; 30:10).

The Torah is set in the ancient Near East. The stories of each book play out from Ur to Egypt in
the lands of the Levant (along the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea) and
Mesopotamia (between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers).

Map 2-A:
The Setting of the Torah Story in the Ancient Near East
The books of the Torah are connected together successively. The end of each book dovetails in
some fashion with the beginning of the next book (Figure 2-B). Genesis closes with Jacob’s
blessing of his sons, which looks to the fate of the family line of each of his sons and two of his
grandsons. Exodus begins with the twelve families or tribes of Israel. It ends with God’s glory
filling the tabernacle, and Leviticus opens with Yahweh calling to Moses from inside the
tabernacle. Leviticus finishes with a series of regulations for rightly worshiping God, and

Numbers starts with the tribes’ worship. This book ends and Deuteronomy begins with the
Israelites on the plains of Moab preparing to enter the land of promise.

Figure 2-B:
The Connections between the Books of Torah
In addition to the transitional connections between each of the books of the Torah, there are
connections within the Torah as a whole. Put differently, Deuteronomy in some ways functions
as a new beginning by challenging Israel for the present and by interpreting the significance of
the first four books of the Torah (see Fretheim, 56–63). The imagery of the Song of Moses (Deut
32) echoes imagery from the creation and Sinai narratives. The Spirit of God hovered over the
wild and waste of the earth just as he hovered like an eagle over his people in the wasteland of
the wilderness (see Table 2-C).
Table 2-C:
Connections between the Imagery of the Creation and the Redemption
When the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of ocean, rushing-spirit of God
hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2 Fox, emphasis added) You yourselves have
seen what I did to Egypt, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. (Exod 19:4
Fox, emphasis added) He [Yahweh] found him [Jacob] in a wilderness land, in a waste, a
howling desert . . . like an eagle protecting its nest, over its young-birds hovering, he spread out
his wings, he took him, bearing him on his pinions. (Deut 32:10–11 Fox, emphasis added)
The minimal effect of these connections—and there are many others—includes a unified
perspective of the Torah as a whole and the oneness of God the Creator and Redeemer. God’s
activity in both creating and redeeming reveals that he is one in his loving and gracious
intentions for humankind (see von Rad, 53–64).
A READING

The first five books of the Scriptures are known as the Torah or the Five Books of Moses. Many
Christians have understood the Hebrew word torah too narrowly as “law” because of traditional
translations meaning law. It was translated as nomos in the Septuagint, lex in the Latin Vulgate,
and “law” in the King James Version. Although torah can be used with legal connotations, this
misses the more basic sense of the word. Torah, in fact, is better understood as “instruction” or
“teaching.” The educational overtones of “instruction” aptly capture the expectation that torah
would be passed from one generation to the next (see Deut 6:6–9).

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word torah?

As noted in Chapter 1, this book uses “torah” of teaching or instruction and “Torah” of the first
five books of the Bible. The purpose of the Five Books of Moses was not merely to present the
613 laws embedded within them (see Rabinowitz, 5:761–83). Rather, the Torah—“revealed
instruction”—as a whole is story (see Sanders, 9–39). Actually, it is the beginning of the story,
and as such it offers much to those who seek to read it as God’s will.

What is denoted by “the Torah”?

The Torah story establishes the larger biblical narrative as the story of God’s word and the
human revolution against that word. The story may be framed as a question because the matter
is still open at the end of the Torah, as well as at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures: How will
God’s word prevail over the human revolution? The question affirms faith in the power of God’s
word. The answer lies somewhere in the future, beyond the story itself.

What is the Torah’s story?

Genesis begins with an account of God’s speaking the world into existence. God said, “Let there
be light,” and, indeed, there was light (Gen 1:3). God’s word is powerful. It creates and predicts.
The prophets preface their oracles with “Yahweh says” to denote the authority with which they
claim to speak. When God speaks in the beginning of Genesis, everything listens—everything
except human beings. Humans rebel against the single command God gave them. Moreover,
humanity as a whole consistently defies God’s will. The human exception—whether or not
human beings will finally accord with the word of God—forms the problem of the biblical story.
Yahweh spoke his answer to Abraham and promised him seed, land, and blessing. Yahweh has
spoken and it will be. It is the way Joseph interpreted the events in his story: Even those things
intended for evil God used for good to accomplish his word.
Exodus opens with a king of Egypt who had forgotten Joseph, but Yahweh had not forgotten his
word to Abraham. Because of the ancient promise, he speaks to Moses from a burning bush
and leads his people from slavery to the mountain by his mighty arm. From the mountain
Yahweh speaks. The people respond by saying they would obey his voice. Israel, however,
proves to be like their ancestors and like all other human beings—sinful and rebellious against
Yahweh’s will. Yet, in spite of the people’s failures, Yahweh’s glory descends to the tabernacle
and to his people.

Map 2-D:
The Geographic Setting of Individual Books of Torah (The settings marked out are for the main
story lines and do not include other things like the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.)
Leviticus starts with Yahweh calling out to Moses from the tent of meeting. The book records his
instruction for holiness so that his people may continue to enjoy God’s presence among them.
The other options are unthinkable—he will leave them or his holiness will kill them.
Numbers continues the story of the people in the wilderness. At every turn they succumb to
temptation, grumbling, and rebelling against God and his leading. His word is rejected. Even
after the first generation is gone, the second proves to have the same dilemma—a propensity
toward sinfulness. Yahweh’s consistent provision demonstrates, in the end, that the people’s
problems spring not from the wilderness around them but from their own wickedness. Still, in
spite of the failures and rebellions of the second generation, Yahweh will take them into the land
he promised their ancestors.
Deuteronomy offers three discourses to you “here today” (e.g., Deut 5:3)—to listeners then and
to present readers across the generations. These discourses look both back and ahead, so that
the readers do not forget what Yahweh has done when they get to where they are going,
namely, the land of promise on the other side of the Jordan River. The book refers to itself as
torah (revealed instruction to its readers). The instruction includes, among other things, the

command to love Yahweh with all of oneself and to talk of his word everywhere, all the time.
How one passes God’s instruction to the next generation reveals the essence of one’s devotion
to Yahweh.
The Torah looks back and reveals the future. It offers an account of Yahweh’s world and
Yahweh’s word that is a challenge for the next generation. The Torah ends with an expectation
for a prophet to come, a prophet like Moses. The future looks like the past. The future hope and
the teaching for generations to come are the same: to know God’s word and to expect the one
who will bring his word to those who need it.
If one can understand the statement “and God said” in Genesis 1:3, then one can understand
the entire Torah. Yahweh’s will is embodied in his word—Torah.

Torah being lifted up at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
iStock.com/guter
ANOTHER LOOK

What is the function of the Torah? Near the end of the Torah Moses summarizes his pessimistic
view of the readers’ potential for obedience. “Take this Book of the Torah and place it beside the
ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I
know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while
I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!” (Deut 31:26–27,
emphasis added).
The apostle Paul thought that before his conversion he had obeyed the Torah (see Phil 3:5–6).
Yet, after his conversion, he came to regard his former interpretation as a misreading (see 1 Tim
1:13, 15). Paul’s new reading of the function of the Torah was closer to that of Moses. “Now we
know that the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be used. Knowing this, that the
Torah does not exist for a righteous person, but for the torah-less and defiant, the irreligious and
sinful” (1 Tim 1:8–9 lit.). The phrases “the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be
used” and “the Torah . . . [is] for the torah-less” use wordplays on the Greek word for torah (the
italicized terms are each from the Greek word nomos).

What is the function of the Torah?

How exactly is the Torah “good” if it demonstrates human sinfulness? Knowing who we
are—rebels against God’s word—is the beginning of the gospel (see Chapters 24 and 28).
Further, the Torah does not speak despair to readers. It offers the story of the word of God. The
Torah, therefore, is the beginning of a larger story that explains the meaning of the human
situation and the hope for salvation. Torah is life.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Chapter Summary
The Hebrew term torah literally means instruction or teaching. The Torah story can be framed as
a question: How will God’s word overcome the human rebellion? Each of the books of the Torah
advances the interrelated five-part serial story.
Can You Explain the Key Terms?

• Pentateuch
• torah
• Torah
• Septuagint
Challenge Questions
1. Explain the connection between any two adjacent books of the Pentateuch (include verse
references).
2. What is the Torah story, and how does it tie together the Torah with the rest of Scripture?
3. How does the Pentateuch demonstrate the oneness of God as Creator and Redeemer?
4. What is the significance of God’s word within the context of the Torah?
5. What evidence demonstrates the need for Torah to be studied in every area of life?
Advanced Questions
1. What are the most important interpretive differences between the Torah as a book of laws
versus as story?
2. What difference does it make to interpret one of the books of the Torah as a book versus as a
part of the Torah as a whole? Demonstrate this difference with any one of the books of the
Torah.
*3. Define the semantic range of the Hebrew word torah within the Torah, especially in
Deuteronomy.
Research Project Ideas
Explain how any of the five books functions both as a book and as part of the Torah serial
narrative (see Fox, “Can?”; Rendtorff).
Define the meaning of the Hebrew word torah in the Old Testament and/or the meaning of the
Greek term nomos in both Testaments (see Downing; Sanders; Byrne).
The Next Step
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible.
Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Byrne, Brendan. “The Problem of Nomos and the Relationship with Judaism in Romans.”
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62 (2000): 294–309.
Childs, Brevard S. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
Downing, F. Gerald. “Legislation as Social Engineering in the New Testament World.” Pages
218–27 in The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne
Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.
Fox, Everett. “Can Genesis Be Read as a Book?” Semeia 46 (1989): 31–40.
Fretheim, Terrence E. The Pentateuch. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 1–16. Anchor Bible 3. New York: Doubleday, 1991.
Rabinowitz, Abraham Hirsch. “Commandments, The 613.” Pages 761–83 in vol. 5 of
Encyclopedia Judaica.
Rendtorff, Rolf. “Is It Possible to Read Leviticus as a Separate Book?” Pages 22–35 in Reading
Leviticus: A Conversation with Mary Douglas. Edited by John F. A. Sawyer. Journal for the
Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 227. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996.
Sanders, James A. Canon as Paradigm: From Sacred Story to Sacred Text. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1987.

Sparks, Kenton L. The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography. IBR Bibliographies 1. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.
von Rad, Gerhard. “The Theological Problem of the Old Testament Doctrine of Creation.” Pages
53–64 in Creation and the Old Testament. Edited by Bernard W. Anderson. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1984.

**## BIBLE282WEEK7READING.pdf**

AN OVERVIEW

The Torah is sometimes conceived as a single work, the Torah scroll. Messiah called it the “book
of Moses” in Mark 12:26. This single work, the Torah, is comprised of five “books,” hence,
“Pentateuch” (see Blenkinsopp, 42–47; Childs, 128–32). It is viable to study each book of the
Torah as well as the Torah as a whole (see Fox, “Can?,” 31–40; Rendtorff, 22–35). The five
books constitute a serial narrative—the Torah story.

In what sense is the Torah five books and in what sense is it one story?

The name of each of the five books captures some sense of the book itself. The traditional
Hebrew names derive from the opening words of the respective books, and the traditional
Christian names are each based on some aspect of the content of the books. The Christian
names come from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
“In the beginning” (the traditional name from the Hebrew word bereshit)
Genesis (meaning “origin”) is taken from 2:4 in the Septuagint: “This is the book of the genesis
of heaven and earth” (LXX lit.).
“These are the names” (shemot)
Exodus is named for Israel’s liberation from slavery and departure from Egypt, the narrative of
which is presented in the first part of the book.
“And he called” (vayyiqra)
Leviticus has nothing to do with the Levites. In the ancient Hellenistic world “Levites” meant
priests, and the name was given to the third book of the Torah, which presents instructions for
the priests and people (see Milgrom, 1).
“In the wilderness” (bemidbar)
Numbers is named for the censuses in the book (see Num 1 and 26).
“These are the words” (devarim)
Deuteronomy (meaning “second law”) stems from a misunderstanding of 17:18 where the term
appears in the Septuagint (deuteronomion), which actually refers to “a copy of the teaching.”
Deuteronomy often refers to itself as torah (1:5; 4:8, 44; 29:21; 30:10).

The Torah is set in the ancient Near East. The stories of each book play out from Ur to Egypt in
the lands of the Levant (along the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea) and
Mesopotamia (between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers).

Map 2-A:
The Setting of the Torah Story in the Ancient Near East
The books of the Torah are connected together successively. The end of each book dovetails in
some fashion with the beginning of the next book (Figure 2-B). Genesis closes with Jacob’s
blessing of his sons, which looks to the fate of the family line of each of his sons and two of his
grandsons. Exodus begins with the twelve families or tribes of Israel. It ends with God’s glory
filling the tabernacle, and Leviticus opens with Yahweh calling to Moses from inside the
tabernacle. Leviticus finishes with a series of regulations for rightly worshiping God, and

Numbers starts with the tribes’ worship. This book ends and Deuteronomy begins with the
Israelites on the plains of Moab preparing to enter the land of promise.

Figure 2-B:
The Connections between the Books of Torah
In addition to the transitional connections between each of the books of the Torah, there are
connections within the Torah as a whole. Put differently, Deuteronomy in some ways functions
as a new beginning by challenging Israel for the present and by interpreting the significance of
the first four books of the Torah (see Fretheim, 56–63). The imagery of the Song of Moses (Deut
32) echoes imagery from the creation and Sinai narratives. The Spirit of God hovered over the
wild and waste of the earth just as he hovered like an eagle over his people in the wasteland of
the wilderness (see Table 2-C).
Table 2-C:
Connections between the Imagery of the Creation and the Redemption
When the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of ocean, rushing-spirit of God
hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2 Fox, emphasis added) You yourselves have
seen what I did to Egypt, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. (Exod 19:4
Fox, emphasis added) He [Yahweh] found him [Jacob] in a wilderness land, in a waste, a
howling desert . . . like an eagle protecting its nest, over its young-birds hovering, he spread out
his wings, he took him, bearing him on his pinions. (Deut 32:10–11 Fox, emphasis added)
The minimal effect of these connections—and there are many others—includes a unified
perspective of the Torah as a whole and the oneness of God the Creator and Redeemer. God’s
activity in both creating and redeeming reveals that he is one in his loving and gracious
intentions for humankind (see von Rad, 53–64).
A READING

The first five books of the Scriptures are known as the Torah or the Five Books of Moses. Many
Christians have understood the Hebrew word torah too narrowly as “law” because of traditional
translations meaning law. It was translated as nomos in the Septuagint, lex in the Latin Vulgate,
and “law” in the King James Version. Although torah can be used with legal connotations, this
misses the more basic sense of the word. Torah, in fact, is better understood as “instruction” or
“teaching.” The educational overtones of “instruction” aptly capture the expectation that torah
would be passed from one generation to the next (see Deut 6:6–9).

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word torah?

As noted in Chapter 1, this book uses “torah” of teaching or instruction and “Torah” of the first
five books of the Bible. The purpose of the Five Books of Moses was not merely to present the
613 laws embedded within them (see Rabinowitz, 5:761–83). Rather, the Torah—“revealed
instruction”—as a whole is story (see Sanders, 9–39). Actually, it is the beginning of the story,
and as such it offers much to those who seek to read it as God’s will.

What is denoted by “the Torah”?

The Torah story establishes the larger biblical narrative as the story of God’s word and the
human revolution against that word. The story may be framed as a question because the matter
is still open at the end of the Torah, as well as at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures: How will
God’s word prevail over the human revolution? The question affirms faith in the power of God’s
word. The answer lies somewhere in the future, beyond the story itself.

What is the Torah’s story?

Genesis begins with an account of God’s speaking the world into existence. God said, “Let there
be light,” and, indeed, there was light (Gen 1:3). God’s word is powerful. It creates and predicts.
The prophets preface their oracles with “Yahweh says” to denote the authority with which they
claim to speak. When God speaks in the beginning of Genesis, everything listens—everything
except human beings. Humans rebel against the single command God gave them. Moreover,
humanity as a whole consistently defies God’s will. The human exception—whether or not
human beings will finally accord with the word of God—forms the problem of the biblical story.
Yahweh spoke his answer to Abraham and promised him seed, land, and blessing. Yahweh has
spoken and it will be. It is the way Joseph interpreted the events in his story: Even those things
intended for evil God used for good to accomplish his word.
Exodus opens with a king of Egypt who had forgotten Joseph, but Yahweh had not forgotten his
word to Abraham. Because of the ancient promise, he speaks to Moses from a burning bush
and leads his people from slavery to the mountain by his mighty arm. From the mountain
Yahweh speaks. The people respond by saying they would obey his voice. Israel, however,
proves to be like their ancestors and like all other human beings—sinful and rebellious against
Yahweh’s will. Yet, in spite of the people’s failures, Yahweh’s glory descends to the tabernacle
and to his people.

Map 2-D:
The Geographic Setting of Individual Books of Torah (The settings marked out are for the main
story lines and do not include other things like the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.)
Leviticus starts with Yahweh calling out to Moses from the tent of meeting. The book records his
instruction for holiness so that his people may continue to enjoy God’s presence among them.
The other options are unthinkable—he will leave them or his holiness will kill them.
Numbers continues the story of the people in the wilderness. At every turn they succumb to
temptation, grumbling, and rebelling against God and his leading. His word is rejected. Even
after the first generation is gone, the second proves to have the same dilemma—a propensity
toward sinfulness. Yahweh’s consistent provision demonstrates, in the end, that the people’s
problems spring not from the wilderness around them but from their own wickedness. Still, in
spite of the failures and rebellions of the second generation, Yahweh will take them into the land
he promised their ancestors.
Deuteronomy offers three discourses to you “here today” (e.g., Deut 5:3)—to listeners then and
to present readers across the generations. These discourses look both back and ahead, so that
the readers do not forget what Yahweh has done when they get to where they are going,
namely, the land of promise on the other side of the Jordan River. The book refers to itself as
torah (revealed instruction to its readers). The instruction includes, among other things, the

command to love Yahweh with all of oneself and to talk of his word everywhere, all the time.
How one passes God’s instruction to the next generation reveals the essence of one’s devotion
to Yahweh.
The Torah looks back and reveals the future. It offers an account of Yahweh’s world and
Yahweh’s word that is a challenge for the next generation. The Torah ends with an expectation
for a prophet to come, a prophet like Moses. The future looks like the past. The future hope and
the teaching for generations to come are the same: to know God’s word and to expect the one
who will bring his word to those who need it.
If one can understand the statement “and God said” in Genesis 1:3, then one can understand
the entire Torah. Yahweh’s will is embodied in his word—Torah.

Torah being lifted up at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
iStock.com/guter
ANOTHER LOOK

What is the function of the Torah? Near the end of the Torah Moses summarizes his pessimistic
view of the readers’ potential for obedience. “Take this Book of the Torah and place it beside the
ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I
know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while
I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!” (Deut 31:26–27,
emphasis added).
The apostle Paul thought that before his conversion he had obeyed the Torah (see Phil 3:5–6).
Yet, after his conversion, he came to regard his former interpretation as a misreading (see 1 Tim
1:13, 15). Paul’s new reading of the function of the Torah was closer to that of Moses. “Now we
know that the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be used. Knowing this, that the
Torah does not exist for a righteous person, but for the torah-less and defiant, the irreligious and
sinful” (1 Tim 1:8–9 lit.). The phrases “the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be
used” and “the Torah . . . [is] for the torah-less” use wordplays on the Greek word for torah (the
italicized terms are each from the Greek word nomos).

What is the function of the Torah?

How exactly is the Torah “good” if it demonstrates human sinfulness? Knowing who we
are—rebels against God’s word—is the beginning of the gospel (see Chapters 24 and 28).
Further, the Torah does not speak despair to readers. It offers the story of the word of God. The
Torah, therefore, is the beginning of a larger story that explains the meaning of the human
situation and the hope for salvation. Torah is life.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Chapter Summary
The Hebrew term torah literally means instruction or teaching. The Torah story can be framed as
a question: How will God’s word overcome the human rebellion? Each of the books of the Torah
advances the interrelated five-part serial story.
Can You Explain the Key Terms?

• Pentateuch
• torah
• Torah
• Septuagint
Challenge Questions
1. Explain the connection between any two adjacent books of the Pentateuch (include verse
references).
2. What is the Torah story, and how does it tie together the Torah with the rest of Scripture?
3. How does the Pentateuch demonstrate the oneness of God as Creator and Redeemer?
4. What is the significance of God’s word within the context of the Torah?
5. What evidence demonstrates the need for Torah to be studied in every area of life?
Advanced Questions
1. What are the most important interpretive differences between the Torah as a book of laws
versus as story?
2. What difference does it make to interpret one of the books of the Torah as a book versus as a
part of the Torah as a whole? Demonstrate this difference with any one of the books of the
Torah.
*3. Define the semantic range of the Hebrew word torah within the Torah, especially in
Deuteronomy.
Research Project Ideas
Explain how any of the five books functions both as a book and as part of the Torah serial
narrative (see Fox, “Can?”; Rendtorff).
Define the meaning of the Hebrew word torah in the Old Testament and/or the meaning of the
Greek term nomos in both Testaments (see Downing; Sanders; Byrne).
The Next Step
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible.
Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Byrne, Brendan. “The Problem of Nomos and the Relationship with Judaism in Romans.”
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62 (2000): 294–309.
Childs, Brevard S. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
Downing, F. Gerald. “Legislation as Social Engineering in the New Testament World.” Pages
218–27 in The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne
Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.
Fox, Everett. “Can Genesis Be Read as a Book?” Semeia 46 (1989): 31–40.
Fretheim, Terrence E. The Pentateuch. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 1–16. Anchor Bible 3. New York: Doubleday, 1991.
Rabinowitz, Abraham Hirsch. “Commandments, The 613.” Pages 761–83 in vol. 5 of
Encyclopedia Judaica.
Rendtorff, Rolf. “Is It Possible to Read Leviticus as a Separate Book?” Pages 22–35 in Reading
Leviticus: A Conversation with Mary Douglas. Edited by John F. A. Sawyer. Journal for the
Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 227. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996.
Sanders, James A. Canon as Paradigm: From Sacred Story to Sacred Text. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1987.

Sparks, Kenton L. The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography. IBR Bibliographies 1. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.
von Rad, Gerhard. “The Theological Problem of the Old Testament Doctrine of Creation.” Pages
53–64 in Creation and the Old Testament. Edited by Bernard W. Anderson. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1984.

**## BIBL282WEEK7.pdf**

For this week's group dialogue, please respond to the prompt stated below, along with
two replies to fellow students. A grading rubric for this assignment can be found by
clicking on the three vertical dots above right and clicking on "Show Rubric."

For this week's discussion forum, reflect on what you have learned thus far in this
course about the Pentateuch. Be sure to provide clear explanations as well as
biblical references wherever appropriate. Please avoid discussing Genesis 1 in this
post since we have already discussed that chapter previously.

**## BIBLE282WEEK7READING.pdf**

AN OVERVIEW

The Torah is sometimes conceived as a single work, the Torah scroll. Messiah called it the “book
of Moses” in Mark 12:26. This single work, the Torah, is comprised of five “books,” hence,
“Pentateuch” (see Blenkinsopp, 42–47; Childs, 128–32). It is viable to study each book of the
Torah as well as the Torah as a whole (see Fox, “Can?,” 31–40; Rendtorff, 22–35). The five
books constitute a serial narrative—the Torah story.

In what sense is the Torah five books and in what sense is it one story?

The name of each of the five books captures some sense of the book itself. The traditional
Hebrew names derive from the opening words of the respective books, and the traditional
Christian names are each based on some aspect of the content of the books. The Christian
names come from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
“In the beginning” (the traditional name from the Hebrew word bereshit)
Genesis (meaning “origin”) is taken from 2:4 in the Septuagint: “This is the book of the genesis
of heaven and earth” (LXX lit.).
“These are the names” (shemot)
Exodus is named for Israel’s liberation from slavery and departure from Egypt, the narrative of
which is presented in the first part of the book.
“And he called” (vayyiqra)
Leviticus has nothing to do with the Levites. In the ancient Hellenistic world “Levites” meant
priests, and the name was given to the third book of the Torah, which presents instructions for
the priests and people (see Milgrom, 1).
“In the wilderness” (bemidbar)
Numbers is named for the censuses in the book (see Num 1 and 26).
“These are the words” (devarim)
Deuteronomy (meaning “second law”) stems from a misunderstanding of 17:18 where the term
appears in the Septuagint (deuteronomion), which actually refers to “a copy of the teaching.”
Deuteronomy often refers to itself as torah (1:5; 4:8, 44; 29:21; 30:10).

The Torah is set in the ancient Near East. The stories of each book play out from Ur to Egypt in
the lands of the Levant (along the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea) and
Mesopotamia (between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers).

Map 2-A:
The Setting of the Torah Story in the Ancient Near East
The books of the Torah are connected together successively. The end of each book dovetails in
some fashion with the beginning of the next book (Figure 2-B). Genesis closes with Jacob’s
blessing of his sons, which looks to the fate of the family line of each of his sons and two of his
grandsons. Exodus begins with the twelve families or tribes of Israel. It ends with God’s glory
filling the tabernacle, and Leviticus opens with Yahweh calling to Moses from inside the
tabernacle. Leviticus finishes with a series of regulations for rightly worshiping God, and

Numbers starts with the tribes’ worship. This book ends and Deuteronomy begins with the
Israelites on the plains of Moab preparing to enter the land of promise.

Figure 2-B:
The Connections between the Books of Torah
In addition to the transitional connections between each of the books of the Torah, there are
connections within the Torah as a whole. Put differently, Deuteronomy in some ways functions
as a new beginning by challenging Israel for the present and by interpreting the significance of
the first four books of the Torah (see Fretheim, 56–63). The imagery of the Song of Moses (Deut
32) echoes imagery from the creation and Sinai narratives. The Spirit of God hovered over the
wild and waste of the earth just as he hovered like an eagle over his people in the wasteland of
the wilderness (see Table 2-C).
Table 2-C:
Connections between the Imagery of the Creation and the Redemption
When the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of ocean, rushing-spirit of God
hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2 Fox, emphasis added) You yourselves have
seen what I did to Egypt, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. (Exod 19:4
Fox, emphasis added) He [Yahweh] found him [Jacob] in a wilderness land, in a waste, a
howling desert . . . like an eagle protecting its nest, over its young-birds hovering, he spread out
his wings, he took him, bearing him on his pinions. (Deut 32:10–11 Fox, emphasis added)
The minimal effect of these connections—and there are many others—includes a unified
perspective of the Torah as a whole and the oneness of God the Creator and Redeemer. God’s
activity in both creating and redeeming reveals that he is one in his loving and gracious
intentions for humankind (see von Rad, 53–64).
A READING

The first five books of the Scriptures are known as the Torah or the Five Books of Moses. Many
Christians have understood the Hebrew word torah too narrowly as “law” because of traditional
translations meaning law. It was translated as nomos in the Septuagint, lex in the Latin Vulgate,
and “law” in the King James Version. Although torah can be used with legal connotations, this
misses the more basic sense of the word. Torah, in fact, is better understood as “instruction” or
“teaching.” The educational overtones of “instruction” aptly capture the expectation that torah
would be passed from one generation to the next (see Deut 6:6–9).

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word torah?

As noted in Chapter 1, this book uses “torah” of teaching or instruction and “Torah” of the first
five books of the Bible. The purpose of the Five Books of Moses was not merely to present the
613 laws embedded within them (see Rabinowitz, 5:761–83). Rather, the Torah—“revealed
instruction”—as a whole is story (see Sanders, 9–39). Actually, it is the beginning of the story,
and as such it offers much to those who seek to read it as God’s will.

What is denoted by “the Torah”?

The Torah story establishes the larger biblical narrative as the story of God’s word and the
human revolution against that word. The story may be framed as a question because the matter
is still open at the end of the Torah, as well as at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures: How will
God’s word prevail over the human revolution? The question affirms faith in the power of God’s
word. The answer lies somewhere in the future, beyond the story itself.

What is the Torah’s story?

Genesis begins with an account of God’s speaking the world into existence. God said, “Let there
be light,” and, indeed, there was light (Gen 1:3). God’s word is powerful. It creates and predicts.
The prophets preface their oracles with “Yahweh says” to denote the authority with which they
claim to speak. When God speaks in the beginning of Genesis, everything listens—everything
except human beings. Humans rebel against the single command God gave them. Moreover,
humanity as a whole consistently defies God’s will. The human exception—whether or not
human beings will finally accord with the word of God—forms the problem of the biblical story.
Yahweh spoke his answer to Abraham and promised him seed, land, and blessing. Yahweh has
spoken and it will be. It is the way Joseph interpreted the events in his story: Even those things
intended for evil God used for good to accomplish his word.
Exodus opens with a king of Egypt who had forgotten Joseph, but Yahweh had not forgotten his
word to Abraham. Because of the ancient promise, he speaks to Moses from a burning bush
and leads his people from slavery to the mountain by his mighty arm. From the mountain
Yahweh speaks. The people respond by saying they would obey his voice. Israel, however,
proves to be like their ancestors and like all other human beings—sinful and rebellious against
Yahweh’s will. Yet, in spite of the people’s failures, Yahweh’s glory descends to the tabernacle
and to his people.

Map 2-D:
The Geographic Setting of Individual Books of Torah (The settings marked out are for the main
story lines and do not include other things like the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.)
Leviticus starts with Yahweh calling out to Moses from the tent of meeting. The book records his
instruction for holiness so that his people may continue to enjoy God’s presence among them.
The other options are unthinkable—he will leave them or his holiness will kill them.
Numbers continues the story of the people in the wilderness. At every turn they succumb to
temptation, grumbling, and rebelling against God and his leading. His word is rejected. Even
after the first generation is gone, the second proves to have the same dilemma—a propensity
toward sinfulness. Yahweh’s consistent provision demonstrates, in the end, that the people’s
problems spring not from the wilderness around them but from their own wickedness. Still, in
spite of the failures and rebellions of the second generation, Yahweh will take them into the land
he promised their ancestors.
Deuteronomy offers three discourses to you “here today” (e.g., Deut 5:3)—to listeners then and
to present readers across the generations. These discourses look both back and ahead, so that
the readers do not forget what Yahweh has done when they get to where they are going,
namely, the land of promise on the other side of the Jordan River. The book refers to itself as
torah (revealed instruction to its readers). The instruction includes, among other things, the

command to love Yahweh with all of oneself and to talk of his word everywhere, all the time.
How one passes God’s instruction to the next generation reveals the essence of one’s devotion
to Yahweh.
The Torah looks back and reveals the future. It offers an account of Yahweh’s world and
Yahweh’s word that is a challenge for the next generation. The Torah ends with an expectation
for a prophet to come, a prophet like Moses. The future looks like the past. The future hope and
the teaching for generations to come are the same: to know God’s word and to expect the one
who will bring his word to those who need it.
If one can understand the statement “and God said” in Genesis 1:3, then one can understand
the entire Torah. Yahweh’s will is embodied in his word—Torah.

Torah being lifted up at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
iStock.com/guter
ANOTHER LOOK

What is the function of the Torah? Near the end of the Torah Moses summarizes his pessimistic
view of the readers’ potential for obedience. “Take this Book of the Torah and place it beside the
ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I
know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while
I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!” (Deut 31:26–27,
emphasis added).
The apostle Paul thought that before his conversion he had obeyed the Torah (see Phil 3:5–6).
Yet, after his conversion, he came to regard his former interpretation as a misreading (see 1 Tim
1:13, 15). Paul’s new reading of the function of the Torah was closer to that of Moses. “Now we
know that the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be used. Knowing this, that the
Torah does not exist for a righteous person, but for the torah-less and defiant, the irreligious and
sinful” (1 Tim 1:8–9 lit.). The phrases “the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be
used” and “the Torah . . . [is] for the torah-less” use wordplays on the Greek word for torah (the
italicized terms are each from the Greek word nomos).

What is the function of the Torah?

How exactly is the Torah “good” if it demonstrates human sinfulness? Knowing who we
are—rebels against God’s word—is the beginning of the gospel (see Chapters 24 and 28).
Further, the Torah does not speak despair to readers. It offers the story of the word of God. The
Torah, therefore, is the beginning of a larger story that explains the meaning of the human
situation and the hope for salvation. Torah is life.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Chapter Summary
The Hebrew term torah literally means instruction or teaching. The Torah story can be framed as
a question: How will God’s word overcome the human rebellion? Each of the books of the Torah
advances the interrelated five-part serial story.
Can You Explain the Key Terms?

• Pentateuch
• torah
• Torah
• Septuagint
Challenge Questions
1. Explain the connection between any two adjacent books of the Pentateuch (include verse
references).
2. What is the Torah story, and how does it tie together the Torah with the rest of Scripture?
3. How does the Pentateuch demonstrate the oneness of God as Creator and Redeemer?
4. What is the significance of God’s word within the context of the Torah?
5. What evidence demonstrates the need for Torah to be studied in every area of life?
Advanced Questions
1. What are the most important interpretive differences between the Torah as a book of laws
versus as story?
2. What difference does it make to interpret one of the books of the Torah as a book versus as a
part of the Torah as a whole? Demonstrate this difference with any one of the books of the
Torah.
*3. Define the semantic range of the Hebrew word torah within the Torah, especially in
Deuteronomy.
Research Project Ideas
Explain how any of the five books functions both as a book and as part of the Torah serial
narrative (see Fox, “Can?”; Rendtorff).
Define the meaning of the Hebrew word torah in the Old Testament and/or the meaning of the
Greek term nomos in both Testaments (see Downing; Sanders; Byrne).
The Next Step
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible.
Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Byrne, Brendan. “The Problem of Nomos and the Relationship with Judaism in Romans.”
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62 (2000): 294–309.
Childs, Brevard S. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
Downing, F. Gerald. “Legislation as Social Engineering in the New Testament World.” Pages
218–27 in The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne
Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.
Fox, Everett. “Can Genesis Be Read as a Book?” Semeia 46 (1989): 31–40.
Fretheim, Terrence E. The Pentateuch. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 1–16. Anchor Bible 3. New York: Doubleday, 1991.
Rabinowitz, Abraham Hirsch. “Commandments, The 613.” Pages 761–83 in vol. 5 of
Encyclopedia Judaica.
Rendtorff, Rolf. “Is It Possible to Read Leviticus as a Separate Book?” Pages 22–35 in Reading
Leviticus: A Conversation with Mary Douglas. Edited by John F. A. Sawyer. Journal for the
Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 227. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996.
Sanders, James A. Canon as Paradigm: From Sacred Story to Sacred Text. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1987.

Sparks, Kenton L. The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography. IBR Bibliographies 1. Grand
Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.
von Rad, Gerhard. “The Theological Problem of the Old Testament Doctrine of Creation.” Pages
53–64 in Creation and the Old Testament. Edited by Bernard W. Anderson. Philadelphia:
Fortress, 1984.

**## BIBL282WEEK7.pdf**

For this week's group dialogue, please respond to the prompt stated below, along with
two replies to fellow students. A grading rubric for this assignment can be found by
clicking on the three vertical dots above right and clicking on "Show Rubric."

For this week's discussion forum, reflect on what you have learned thus far in this
course about the Pentateuch. Be sure to provide clear explanations as well as
biblical references wherever appropriate. Please avoid discussing Genesis 1 in this
post since we have already discussed that chapter previously.

**## BIBLE282WEEK7READING.pdf**

AN OVERVIEW

The Torah is sometimes conceived as a single work, the Torah scroll. Messiah called it the “book
of Moses” in Mark 12:26. This single work, the Torah, is comprised of five “books,” hence,
“Pentateuch” (see Blenkinsopp, 42–47; Childs, 128–32). It is viable to study each book of the
Torah as well as the Torah as a whole (see Fox, “Can?,” 31–40; Rendtorff, 22–35). The five
books constitute a serial narrative—the Torah story.

In what sense is the Torah five books and in what sense is it one story?

The name of each of the five books captures some sense of the book itself. The traditional
Hebrew names derive from the opening words of the respective books, and the traditional
Christian names are each based on some aspect of the content of the books. The Christian
names come from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
“In the beginning” (the traditional name from the Hebrew word bereshit)
Genesis (meaning “origin”) is taken from 2:4 in the Septuagint: “This is the book of the genesis
of heaven and earth” (LXX lit.).
“These are the names” (shemot)
Exodus is named for Israel’s liberation from slavery and departure from Egypt, the narrative of
which is presented in the first part of the book.
“And he called” (vayyiqra)
Leviticus has nothing to do with the Levites. In the ancient Hellenistic world “Levites” meant
priests, and the name was given to the third book of the Torah, which presents instructions for
the priests and people (see Milgrom, 1).
“In the wilderness” (bemidbar)
Numbers is named for the censuses in the book (see Num 1 and 26).
“These are the words” (devarim)
Deuteronomy (meaning “second law”) stems from a misunderstanding of 17:18 where the term
appears in the Septuagint (deuteronomion), which actually refers to “a copy of the teaching.”
Deuteronomy often refers to itself as torah (1:5; 4:8, 44; 29:21; 30:10).

The Torah is set in the ancient Near East. The stories of each book play out from Ur to Egypt in
the lands of the Levant (along the eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean Sea) and
Mesopotamia (between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers).

Map 2-A:
The Setting of the Torah Story in the Ancient Near East
The books of the Torah are connected together successively. The end of each book dovetails in
some fashion with the beginning of the next book (Figure 2-B). Genesis closes with Jacob’s
blessing of his sons, which looks to the fate of the family line of each of his sons and two of his
grandsons. Exodus begins with the twelve families or tribes of Israel. It ends with God’s glory
filling the tabernacle, and Leviticus opens with Yahweh calling to Moses from inside the
tabernacle. Leviticus finishes with a series of regulations for rightly worshiping God, and

Numbers starts with the tribes’ worship. This book ends and Deuteronomy begins with the
Israelites on the plains of Moab preparing to enter the land of promise.

Figure 2-B:
The Connections between the Books of Torah
In addition to the transitional connections between each of the books of the Torah, there are
connections within the Torah as a whole. Put differently, Deuteronomy in some ways functions
as a new beginning by challenging Israel for the present and by interpreting the significance of
the first four books of the Torah (see Fretheim, 56–63). The imagery of the Song of Moses (Deut
32) echoes imagery from the creation and Sinai narratives. The Spirit of God hovered over the
wild and waste of the earth just as he hovered like an eagle over his people in the wasteland of
the wilderness (see Table 2-C).
Table 2-C:
Connections between the Imagery of the Creation and the Redemption
When the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of ocean, rushing-spirit of God
hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2 Fox, emphasis added) You yourselves have
seen what I did to Egypt, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. (Exod 19:4
Fox, emphasis added) He [Yahweh] found him [Jacob] in a wilderness land, in a waste, a
howling desert . . . like an eagle protecting its nest, over its young-birds hovering, he spread out
his wings, he took him, bearing him on his pinions. (Deut 32:10–11 Fox, emphasis added)
The minimal effect of these connections—and there are many others—includes a unified
perspective of the Torah as a whole and the oneness of God the Creator and Redeemer. God’s
activity in both creating and redeeming reveals that he is one in his loving and gracious
intentions for humankind (see von Rad, 53–64).
A READING

The first five books of the Scriptures are known as the Torah or the Five Books of Moses. Many
Christians have understood the Hebrew word torah too narrowly as “law” because of traditional
translations meaning law. It was translated as nomos in the Septuagint, lex in the Latin Vulgate,
and “law” in the King James Version. Although torah can be used with legal connotations, this
misses the more basic sense of the word. Torah, in fact, is better understood as “instruction” or
“teaching.” The educational overtones of “instruction” aptly capture the expectation that torah
would be passed from one generation to the next (see Deut 6:6–9).

What is the meaning of the Hebrew word torah?

As noted in Chapter 1, this book uses “torah” of teaching or instruction and “Torah” of the first
five books of the Bible. The purpose of the Five Books of Moses was not merely to present the
613 laws embedded within them (see Rabinowitz, 5:761–83). Rather, the Torah—“revealed
instruction”—as a whole is story (see Sanders, 9–39). Actually, it is the beginning of the story,
and as such it offers much to those who seek to read it as God’s will.

What is denoted by “the Torah”?

The Torah story establishes the larger biblical narrative as the story of God’s word and the
human revolution against that word. The story may be framed as a question because the matter
is still open at the end of the Torah, as well as at the end of the Hebrew Scriptures: How will
God’s word prevail over the human revolution? The question affirms faith in the power of God’s
word. The answer lies somewhere in the future, beyond the story itself.

What is the Torah’s story?

Genesis begins with an account of God’s speaking the world into existence. God said, “Let there
be light,” and, indeed, there was light (Gen 1:3). God’s word is powerful. It creates and predicts.
The prophets preface their oracles with “Yahweh says” to denote the authority with which they
claim to speak. When God speaks in the beginning of Genesis, everything listens—everything
except human beings. Humans rebel against the single command God gave them. Moreover,
humanity as a whole consistently defies God’s will. The human exception—whether or not
human beings will finally accord with the word of God—forms the problem of the biblical story.
Yahweh spoke his answer to Abraham and promised him seed, land, and blessing. Yahweh has
spoken and it will be. It is the way Joseph interpreted the events in his story: Even those things
intended for evil God used for good to accomplish his word.
Exodus opens with a king of Egypt who had forgotten Joseph, but Yahweh had not forgotten his
word to Abraham. Because of the ancient promise, he speaks to Moses from a burning bush
and leads his people from slavery to the mountain by his mighty arm. From the mountain
Yahweh speaks. The people respond by saying they would obey his voice. Israel, however,
proves to be like their ancestors and like all other human beings—sinful and rebellious against
Yahweh’s will. Yet, in spite of the people’s failures, Yahweh’s glory descends to the tabernacle
and to his people.

Map 2-D:
The Geographic Setting of Individual Books of Torah (The settings marked out are for the main
story lines and do not include other things like the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.)
Leviticus starts with Yahweh calling out to Moses from the tent of meeting. The book records his
instruction for holiness so that his people may continue to enjoy God’s presence among them.
The other options are unthinkable—he will leave them or his holiness will kill them.
Numbers continues the story of the people in the wilderness. At every turn they succumb to
temptation, grumbling, and rebelling against God and his leading. His word is rejected. Even
after the first generation is gone, the second proves to have the same dilemma—a propensity
toward sinfulness. Yahweh’s consistent provision demonstrates, in the end, that the people’s
problems spring not from the wilderness around them but from their own wickedness. Still, in
spite of the failures and rebellions of the second generation, Yahweh will take them into the land
he promised their ancestors.
Deuteronomy offers three discourses to you “here today” (e.g., Deut 5:3)—to listeners then and
to present readers across the generations. These discourses look both back and ahead, so that
the readers do not forget what Yahweh has done when they get to where they are going,
namely, the land of promise on the other side of the Jordan River. The book refers to itself as
torah (revealed instruction to its readers). The instruction includes, among other things, the

command to love Yahweh with all of oneself and to talk of his word everywhere, all the time.
How one passes God’s instruction to the next generation reveals the essence of one’s devotion
to Yahweh.
The Torah looks back and reveals the future. It offers an account of Yahweh’s world and
Yahweh’s word that is a challenge for the next generation. The Torah ends with an expectation
for a prophet to come, a prophet like Moses. The future looks like the past. The future hope and
the teaching for generations to come are the same: to know God’s word and to expect the one
who will bring his word to those who need it.
If one can understand the statement “and God said” in Genesis 1:3, then one can understand
the entire Torah. Yahweh’s will is embodied in his word—Torah.

Torah being lifted up at the Western Wall, Jerusalem
iStock.com/guter
ANOTHER LOOK

What is the function of the Torah? Near the end of the Torah Moses summarizes his pessimistic
view of the readers’ potential for obedience. “Take this Book of the Torah and place it beside the
ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I
know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against Yahweh while
I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!” (Deut 31:26–27,
emphasis added).
The apostle Paul thought that before his conversion he had obeyed the Torah (see Phil 3:5–6).
Yet, after his conversion, he came to regard his former interpretation as a misreading (see 1 Tim
1:13, 15). Paul’s new reading of the function of the Torah was closer to that of Moses. “Now we
know that the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be used. Knowing this, that the
Torah does not exist for a righteous person, but for the torah-less and defiant, the irreligious and
sinful” (1 Tim 1:8–9 lit.). The phrases “the Torah is good if anyone uses it the way it should be
used” and “the Torah . . . [is] for the torah-less” use wordplays on the Greek word for torah (the
italicized terms are each from the Greek word nomos).

What is the function of the Torah?

How exactly is the Torah “good” if it demonstrates human sinfulness? Knowing who we
are—rebels against God’s word—is the beginning of the gospel (see Chapters 24 and 28).
Further, the Torah does not speak despair to readers. It offers the story of the word of God. The
Torah, therefore, is the beginning of a larger story that explains the meaning of the human
situation and the hope for salvation. Torah is life.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Chapter Summary
The Hebrew term torah literally means instruction or teaching. The Torah story can be framed as
a question: How will God’s word overcome the human rebellion? Each of the books of the Torah
advances the interrelated five-part serial story.
Can You Explain the Key Terms?

• Pentateuch
• torah
• Torah
• Septuagint
Challenge Questions
1. Explain the connection between any two adjacent books of the Pentateuch (include verse
references).
2. What is the Torah story, and how does it tie together the Torah with the rest of Scripture?
3. How does the Pentateuch demonstrate the oneness of God as Creator and Redeemer?
4. What is the significance of God’s word within the context of the Torah?
5. What evidence demonstrates the need for Torah to be studied in every area of life?
Advanced Questions
1. What are the most important interpretive differences between the Torah as a book of laws
versus as story?
2. What difference does it make to interpret one of the books of the Torah as a book versus as a
part of the Torah as a whole? Demonstrate this difference with any one of the books of the
Torah.
*3. Define the semantic range of the Hebrew word torah within the Torah, especially in
Deuteronomy.
Research Project Ideas
Explain how any of the five books functions both as a book and as part of the Torah serial
narrative (see Fox, “Can?”; Rendtorff).
Define the meaning of the Hebrew word torah in the Old Testament and/or the meaning of the
Greek term nomos in both Testaments (see Downing; Sanders; Byrne).
The Next Step
Blenkinsopp, Joseph. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible.
Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Byrne, Brendan. “The Problem of Nomos and the Relationship with Judaism in Romans.”
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 62 (2000): 294–309.
Childs, Brevard S. Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979.
Downing, F. Gerald. “Legislation as Social Engineering in the New Testament World.” Pages
218–27 in The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne
Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.
Fox, Everett. “Can Genesis Be Read as a Book?” Semeia 46 (1989): 31–40.
Fretheim, Terrence E. The Pentateuch. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 1–16. Anchor Bible 3. New York: Doubleday, 1991.
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