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Torah / Pentateuch

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy: Mosaic corpus with a compositional history. Torah can also mean teaching or law beyond these five books.

Modern overview of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Topic order describes the present literary structure, not the order of composition. Torah has a broader meaning in some ancient usages
Modern overview of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Topic order describes the present literary structure, not the order of composition. Torah has a broader meaning in some ancient usagesModern diagram by IL Archive · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYLicense · Image source

Text

Term and corpus

HebrewHebrewA Northwest Semitic language in the Canaanite group, with ancient and modern forms.Glossary · Click to read the explanation Torah means instruction or law; an ancient use need not designate all five current books.[1] The Pentateuch runs from creation to MosesMosesCentral figure in Exodus, Torah traditions and the Qur’an; childhood accounts differ in detail.Glossary · Click to read the explanation’ death. Book divisions need not coincide with literary sources or layers.[2]

History and witnesses

Third-century BCE Greek translation attests Hebrew pentateuchal texts. Traditions, editing and surviving copies have different dates.[3] The image is a modern guide to book order, not an ancient manuscript.

References and notes

  1. Molly M. Zahn (2021). The Relevance of Moses Traditions in the Second Temple Period. The Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch, pp. 79–94. Torah not always coterminous with the Pentateuch; textual plurality and authority. Publisher abstract only; full chapter not read. Return to the text ↑
  2. Olivier Artus (2021). The Pentateuch: Five Books, One Canon. The Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch, pp. 22–40. Division into five unequal scrolls and relation to literary formation. Publisher abstract only; full chapter not read. Return to the text ↑
  3. Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Septuagint, Introduction. Open introduction: Pentateuch translated in Ptolemaic Egypt, likely Alexandria, mid/late third century BCE. Full entry not read. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Torah / Pentateuch», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/pentateuch