I really don't know who to aim this question at?

Question

SO I'll just ask all of ya! I was just going thru someone's questions-and I am now wondering...is the Torah and the Old Testament the same?
If not, what's different?

please, no nasty answers, I'm just confussed!
thanks

I'll put it this way-are the Torah and O.T. really the same?

Nelly-we'll wait together!=)

Answer 1

Wikipedia says:

The term Old Testament refers to all versions and translations of the Hebrew Bible and is the first major part of the Bible used by Christians. It is usually divided by Judaism into the categories of: law Torah, prophecy Neviim, and writings Kthuvim (history, poetry, wisdom books), as denoted by the acronym Tanakh.

The Protestant Old Testament is for the most part identical with the Jewish Tanakh. The differences between the Tanakh and the Protestant Old Testament are minor, dealing only with the arrangement and number of the books. For example, while the Tanakh considers 1 Kings and 2 Kings to be one book, the Protestant Old Testament considers them to be two books. Similarly Ezra and Nehemiah are considered to be one book by the Tanakh.

Answer 2

Torah contains the first 5 books of the Old Testament.

Answer 3

The Torah is not the same as the Old Testament. It is the first five books (those that are attributed to Moses). It includes:

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

There are other books in the Tanakh (the Jewish Holy Book). Many of them are also in the Christian Old Testament. There are books in the Catholic Old Testament that are not in the Jewish Holy Book. Some of these are not in the Protestant Old Testament either (they are among the books that Martin Luther decided should not be in the Bible).

Answer 4

It depends on the context and who you are speaking to.

"Torah" literally means "teaching", but often carries the meaning of "law".

Torah can mean the Law of Moses, which is the first five books of the "Old Testament". It can also mean the entire Old Testament. Among the Orthodox Jews, it refers to the entire body of Jewish laws, rituals, and traditions as stated in the written Torah (The first five books of the Old Testament), The TN"K (pronounced taw-nakh', and is the Jewish name for the "Old Testament"), the Talmud, and the Jewish traditions that have evolved since then.

So, don't worry. You're not the only confused one. Most people get confused about it, trying to pin the exact meaning, until they realize it depends on context and who you're talking to.

(To confuse ya even more, I'll throw this fact in. Some Messianic Jews [like David Stern in his "Jewish New Testament Commentary] refer to the entire Christian Bible as the Torah, saying that the entire Bible is God's "teachings" to mankind.)

Answer 5

The Torah is the first 5 books of the Old Testament.
In Hebrew the Old Testament is called Tanakah (I am not sure of the spelling).

Answer 6

The Old Testament is a poor translation of Torah with additional books added.

Answer 7

The Torah is part of the Old Testament.

The 1st five books of the bible is the Torah written by Moses.

Answer 8

Both contain the first 5 books of the Old Testament of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers) I'm not sure about anything else.

Answer 9

My understanding is no. The Torah is in Hebrew and is somewhat different than the Christan bible which has been re written thousands of times. I would like to here from a Jewish person on this though.

Answer 10

Looks like Byron Arnold and Shogun have the best answers. I won't even bother trying.