Is the written torah the same as the old testement of the Holy Bible?

Answer 1

Wow - you've asked a question that can be considered very difficult...or, if you believe that there is no OT, there is only THE Testament, then it could be very easy to explain.

But, let's try this (do you have a few minutes to read?)

The Hebrew word for five is 'Hamesh,' another word for the Torah is Humash (also seen, Chumash).

(In English, we see the same play on the word for five in the Greek derived word: Pentateuch- from the Greek penta- like pentagon).

The Humash is a book that contains the text of the Torah, and the volume for synagogue usually contains the additional (Prophetic) portions (Haftarah) read on Shabbat morning after the Torah reading.

Haftarah
(sometimes pronounced 'Haftorah'), does NOT come from 'half' the Torah! It actually is a completely different Hebrew root (spelled differently) than Torah and means 'completion.'

So, to summarize: All of the Torah is in the Tanach (or Bible) but not all of the Tanach is in the Torah. To give some examples: The books of Isaiah, Psalms or Esther are in the Bible, but not in the Torah!

Why do Jews not use the term 'Old Testament?
The Tanach, or Hebrew Scriptures (from the root: script meaning writing) is NOT the same as the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is a Christian term. The term 'Old Testament' implies a 'New Testament' so it is commonly not used by Jews.

But there are also important differences between the two besides semantics.

Chapter divisions were a Christian innovation, and while Jewish Bibles have adopted these Christian divisions, they do not always agree with Jewish literary divisions.

Even the way the Ten Commandments are divided is different.

The books of the Bible are in a different order in the Christian Old Testament and in the Jewish Bible. For example, the book of Ruth is placed immediately after Judges in the Christian Bible, (for chronological reasons) but in the Tanach in Writings as part of the Five Scrolls (Megillot).

The book of Daniel is considered a prophet in the Christian Bible, but is in the Historical Writings in the Tanach.

Finally, the Christian Bible includes several books in the Old Testament that are not part of Tanach (such as the books of Judith, Tobith and Maccabbees).

These (later) books that are not considered part of the Jewish canon are termed apocrypha.

What is the Oral Torah?
Now for the confusing part: (Be sure to read this)
While Torah can mean the five books of Moses, there is a much wider meaning as well.

What we would call culturally transmitted ideas and practices, in ancient times was 'oral Torah.' Since society changed much less rapidly than today, and valued the past more, greater stock was placed in old traditions.

Rabbinic tradition refered to the written Bible as 'Torah Shebikhtav,' (often translated as the Written Law, or Written Tradition) to distinguish it from 'Torah Sheb'al Peh,' the Oral tradition, or Oral Teaching.

The written Torah needs to be interpreted because it lacks many details for putting the laws into practice. For example, Deuteronomy mentions a 'sefer keritut' [a writ of divorce] required for a divorce, but nowhere hints at what might be in it. Surely the scribes of the times knew from tradition what this document contained. Or what, for example, constitutes the 'work' that is prohibited on Shabbat?

At first interpretations were probably understood from established practice and legal precedents. In time, this material grew, as laws continued to adapt to changing conditions. This is the very nature of an oral tradition - being transmitted orally, it is not immutable and fossilized but alive and evolving.

As different interpretations and traditions developed, the rabbis faced the need to relate these independent 'oral' traditions to the written text.

This was necessary both to respond to challenges from alternative, sectarian claims as well as to attest to the authority of the transmitted tradition.

Just as the Oral Torah depends on the Written Torah, there can be no real existence for the Written Torah without an Oral tradition.

Initially, this growing oral tradition was indeed transmitted orally, and there was a reluctance to writing it down.

Eventually, though, it was necessary to transcribe and codify this material, or it would have been forgotten.

It was the Rabbis of the first and second centuries responsible for this first layer of 'Oral Torah,' known as the 'Mishnah,' (literally Recitation, or Recapitulation).

While the Mishnah appears to systematize Jewish custom and law into a coherent legal system, it is not strictly a legal code, as it contains non-legal material, unresolved disputes and technical terms that are often assumed to be understood.

This newly compiled 'Oral Torah' itself now became the focus of oral discussions (Gemara, meaning learning), which, like the Mishnah, eventually were transcribed.

The Gemara and the Mishnah are combined together in a 63 volume work called the Talmud (also from a root that means 'learning.' Do you get a sense of a pattern here?).
http://www.kolel.org/torahstory/module1/page1.html
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Most specifically, the word Torah refers to what’s commonly known as The Five Books of Moses.
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"A Torah" is that handwritten parchment scroll in your synagogue’s ark. More generally, the word Torah includes anything that authentically explains or expands the instructions received at Sinai, the Prophets and Scriptures, the Mishna, Talmud, Shulchan Aruch (that’s the Code of Jewish Law), and the thousands of books and commentaries on them all.

They all fit under the vast, ever-expanding Torah umbrella.
http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=417&o=66

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Whew - that's an earful / mouthful.

Anyway, many of the answers here are very good. This is just a very very very very detailed version of the same answers as others!

Good reading...shalom, my friend.

Answer 2

The Torah is composed of the "Five books of Moses". This is what's written on the scroll that Jews read from in synagogue. The Torah is a subset of the Tanach, which includes the Torah, the Writings and Prophets. (TaNaCH is an acronym in Hebrew for these three groups of writings.) This was translated from the Hebrew to the Greek to make what Christians call the "Old Testament". The translation is different, as is the ordering of the books. Jews do not use the "Old Testament" but rather the Tanach. Another way the word "Torah" is used is to refer to the revelation at Sinai. Thus the "whole Torah" was revealed to the Jews at Sinai. It was transmitted orally, until the "written Torah" was collected by Ezra. The "written Torah" is (again) what's written in the scroll, the 5 books of Moses. The "oral Torah" is the collection of explanations and understandings and teachings that were not written down, but passed along from Moses to Joshua, etc. throughout Jewish history. Eventually, during the Babylonian Exile, the "oral Torah" was compiled and written as the Talmud. This can be confusing, especially when Jews talk about something "written in the oral Torah".

Answer 3

The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible, or the Jewish Tanakh. They are attributed to Moses and are books of the Law. As books of the Law, they had a written, or conservative, tradition supported by the Sadducee's, and an oral, or liberal, tradition supported by the Pharisees. What Christians call the Old Testament, Jews call it the Tanakh. They are very similar except for a few things that Constantine edited out of the Christian Bible during the 2 councils of Nicea as he tried to solidify church power.

Answer 4

If you are asking whether or not the Torah, the Penatuech, the Psalms and the propheti writtings are the same as the English translation of the "Holy Bible" that you are more than likely reading (uinless you have actually studied and can read Hebrew) the answer is NO.
They are very different, with very different interpretations by the two different religions that use each.
The Hebrew scriptures as understood by practicing Jews has a very different meaning than the Christian scriptures that are a variation of the afore mentioned work.

Answer 5

The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. They were written by Moses.

Answer 6

No. The Torah is only the first five books of Moses--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The Old Testament contains the Prophets and the Writings (like Psalms) as well.

Answer 7

yes and no. the torah is the name given to the first five books within the old testament attributed to moses. the oldest manuscripts were written in ancient hebrew. they didn't use vowels. they were later compared and canonized by scholars by a pain staking and detailed process in what we know as the old testament or holy bible.

Answer 8

No, the 1st five books or the Penteteuch
The Jewish Bible is the Tanach: Torah, Prophets and Writings

Answer 9

Yes, but just the first five books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Also known as the Pentateuch - prefix 'penta' meaning five.

And the classical version of the Torah is written in scroll form.

Answer 10

Yes. No. Maybe.

"The word 'Torah' is a tricky one, because it can mean different things in different contexts. In its most limited sense, 'Torah' refers to the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the word 'torah' can also be used to refer to the entire Jewish bible (the body of scripture known to non-Jews as the Old Testament and to Jews as the Tanakh or Written Torah), or in its broadest sense, to the whole body of Jewish law and teachings."