2006-12-23 12:42:31 · 12 answers · asked by Foxtrot 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It means "law" and applies to the first five books of the Bible, which contain the law for the people of Israel. The word Torah, which means teaching, is related to "moreh", teacher, "hora'ah", guidance and "horeh", parent. It is law in the sense of God's fatherly authority teaching us for our own good. It was translated into Greek and "nomos", which has the connotation of convention, something accepted by human beings for utilitarian reasons, as opposed to "physis", nature, that which is intrinsically true.
When we say law in English, we mean something that can be debated and changed.
Another difficulty in understanding the perspective of Torah lies in the realm of rights and responsibilities. Western political thought takes as axiomatic the "rights of man". Jewish teaching focuses the source of man's dignity on the fact of his being created in the image of God and thus commanded.
2006-12-23 12:48:23 · answer #1 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Torah is a Hebrew word meaning "teaching," "instruction," or "law". It refers primarily to the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers," which refers to the scroll cases in which books were being kept). Other names include Hamisha Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה, "[the] five fifths/parts [of the] Torah") or simply the Humash (חומש "fifth"). A Sefer Torah is a formal written scroll of the five books, written by a Torah scribe under exceptionally strict requirements. The term is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both Judaism's written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, and more. The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
2016-05-23 02:52:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Torah means law. It refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It is also sometimes called the Pentateuch meaning five books.
2006-12-23 12:46:43 · answer #3 · answered by angel_light 3 · 5⤊ 0⤋
the torah is the jewish scriptures better known as the old testament to christians that contains the laws of judaism which are the first 5 books in the whole of scriptures
2006-12-23 12:48:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
the word of god
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. See Table at Bible.
A scroll of parchment containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, used in a synagogue during services.
The entire body of religious law and learning including both sacred literature and oral tradition.
2006-12-23 12:51:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is a Hebrew word that means "teaching", and is used as the title of the main Jewish scriptures. (Like the word "bible", which means "book" refers to the Christian scriptures.) Also called the Tanach, it is the same of the Christian Old Testament.
Technically, the Torah is only the first five books of the Tanach, but the term is often used to refer to the whole Tanach.
2006-12-23 12:46:17 · answer #6 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Torah is the book of Laws in the Jewish bible (Tanakh).
2006-12-23 12:48:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The first five books of the Bible, which is the Jewish law. It contains the books Genesis (which means "in the beginning"), Exodus (which means "names"), Leviticus (which means "he called"), Numbers (which means "in the desert"), and Deuteonomy (which means "words" or "discourses").
I hope that helps.
2006-12-23 12:56:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Law
2006-12-23 13:29:36 · answer #9 · answered by ysk 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Law, in Hebrew.
As an example, in Israel, they call the police "mishtorah", enforcers of the law.
2006-12-23 12:44:47 · answer #10 · answered by CJ 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋