Why Is Torah Only The 1st Five Books?
Today I answer this question from a viewer:
Why does the Torah identify the first 5 books of the Old Testament in the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) but excludes the other books of the Old Testament such as Samuel, Ruth, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Joel?
So Torah is instructions/guidelines…but there are 613 commandments in them…So do we only call the LAW..the 10 Commandments?
+Moses Piano Music – SpiriTruth Worship
Love those guys but they still fall short sometimes! The law of the prophets is with the 5 books of Moses making all of it important and rightfully called Torah. Thanks!
+EndlessWonder thank you for sharing, I learn a bit more about Yah from everyone
+Moses Piano Music – SpiriTruth Worship
So cool!
THERE IS NO BIBLICAL REFERENCE to 613 commandments, although the later rabbinic leaders claimed that all 613 commandments are alluded to within the Ten Commandments.
The first actual reference to 613 commandments is found in a lengthy Talmudic passage. There, Rabbi Simlai (third century A.D.) is quoted as saying, “Six hundred and thirteen precepts were communicated to Moses, three hundred and sixty-five negative precepts, …and two hundred and forty-eight positive precepts…” (b. Makkot 23b-24a; we will return to this passage at the end of this answer). Based on this comment, medieval Jewish scholars, sought to come to agreement as to the exact enumeration and delineation of the 613 commandments, since there is a good deal of ambiguity in counting.
For example, would you count “Be fruitful and multiply,” spoken in Genesis 1:28 and repeated in Genesis 9:1, to be one of the 613 commandments? The rabbis did, recognizing it as the first word of command given to the human race. What about commandments that overlap each other? Should these be subdivided?
Questions such as these caused these scholars to come up with slightly different counts-there was essential agreement about the vast majority of these commandments-and the most famous compilation of all, Maimonides’ Book of the Commandments, actually counted only 606 explicit Torah commandments, the last seven consisting of rabbinic commandments, namely: (1) The command to wash the hands before eating (note the conflict over this already in Matthew 15 and Mark 7); (2) laws regarding the Eruv, a rabbinic concept that removed some Sabbath restrictions in very specific ways; (3) reciting a blessing before eating or partaking of any kind of pleasure; (4) lighting the candles on the Sabbath; (5) celebrating the holiday of Purim, which is referred to in the book of Esther but whose observance is not mandated there (see Esther 9:23-32); (6) celebrating Hanukkah, a holiday commemorating events that took place in the second century B.C., well after the Tanakh was already completed; (7) reciting the Hallel prayer on certain occasions.
Although some Jewish leaders differed with Maimonides in including these rabbinic commandments in the count of 613, all traditional Jews recognize these seven commandments as divinely given through the authority of the rabbis. Thus, as noted above (#14) when a Jewish woman lights the Sabbath candles, she blesses God “who commanded us to kindle the Sabbath candles,” even though this is not written in the Torah but rather comes from the rabbis.
The Hebrew acronym for 613 is taryag, as the Hebrew letter t equals 400, r equals 200, y equals 10, and g equals 3. Thus the 613 commandments are known in Hebrew as taryag mitzvoth. In keeping with Rabbi Simlai’s statement, the commandments are divided into negative and positive precepts (that is, “Thou shalt not” and “Thou shalt”). Because of the destruction of the Temple and the lack of a functioning Temple priesthood, Jews today can observe, as written in the Torah, only 77 out of the 365 negative commandments and 194 out of 248 positive commandments. This is one of the major reasons that religious Jews pray three times daily for the rebuilding of the Temple and redemption of their people: They are eager to perform the rest of the commandments!
For a fascinating passage in the Talmud that states that Habakkuk ultimately reduced the 613 commandments to one – namely, Habakkuk 2:4, the just will live by faith – (see Talmud, Makkoth 24a, and more on this question in the book 60 Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices).
Yes, the concluding comment is that the 613 commandments were reduced to one, as expressed in Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith”-a favorite text of Paul! (See Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11.) Of course, this is not to say that the Talmudic rabbis were Christians, but it is to say that when Paul boiled everything down to the just living by faith, he was in good company.
~Michael L. Brown~
Charles Spearman
Habbakuk wasn’t minimizing the Torah. To lead a person with the insinuation that Habbakuk was intending that assumption, is heresy.
as some one raised on the Tanakh and then the Gospels I tend to agree. This is why I wonder to this day, particularly in light of where so much misunderstanding comes from, what particular value comes from the use of many of the Apostolic writings. If, say, we were to remove Paul’s writings today, would the impact be adverse or beneficial ? How would Christianity change.
+Teth Many of Paul’s writings are technical and go into detail of doctrine. I don’t think we can take any Scriptures out of the Bible–we need all!
Why does Christ say over and over in Matthew in particular, that ‘ You heard it was said ( eye for an eye etc. etc./Torah), *BUT I SAY DO THIS*……Love your enemies….etc.?
Tree Of Life what did eye for an eye mean?
Tree Of Life because the to rah was a letter to Egypt from moses. The living conditions of his war tribe. During the new testament the Romans were in control not the Egyptians.
RealTalk that’s not the way Torah (Ex.21, Lev.24, Deut.19) taught it at all, in my opinion. It’s all about making things right and repaying. If someone breaks one of these laws then they are to be taken to the Sanhedrin (Jewish court) and judge according to what Torah says and enforce God’s instructions. I don’t know what your view is on the Bible but that it the way it’s supposed to happen.
Jeffro P. Koaltrain
I wasn’t talking about Torah. I was responding to the original comment which was also not about Torah.
RealTalk roger that
so form the tora is how people need to reflect upon to act on our Owen knowledge of things under the Gide of it ?
the health, the Torah guide lines are as important as the ten commandments?
Numbers 10:35-36 were read from a separate scroll by the War Priest. This splits Numbers into 3 Books, for a total of 7. “Wisdom has hewn her Seven Pillars” –Proverbs.
Christ contradicted the Torah over & over again-He told us which laws were completely wrong–such as “an eye for an eye””give your enemy no peace”,”stone adulterers to death” etc
Exactly live by the Law you will be judged by the Law
You are missing the new testament
I fully believe that it was the interpretation of the Torah/Law that Yeshua spoke against. Man had taken Yah’s Way and corrupted it for his personal gain. That is what Yeshua did away with. Yah’s Way stands forever as He does not change. It is man that changes and allows the enemy to corrupt. Thats what my studies and the discernment He has given me has proven.
+Erin- James yes, it was the INTENT – the motive of the heart – when following Torah. The intructions and Law is GOOD. It’s God’s character. Yeshua saved us from the penalty of breaking the Law.
I must ask brother why dose paul say we are not under the law?
I call the whole book Torah..and u made my point as well in this video. calling the first 5 books Torah is seeing things from a *small* view of the word Torah. # Shalam
not to be disrespectful but the Torah is missing the New Testament
taught in the synagogue? he called you demons the synagogue of Satan! so when did he teach in the synagogue? you’re s liar
You believe Jesus is Yeshua?
Corey Sleap Yahshua, came in the name of His Father Yahuah
according to the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, the book of Jubilees is the sixth book of the Torah, and the Nevi’im and the Kethuvim have some extra books you should know about. I feel you’d enjoy the extra readings 🙂
His intro has the same sound as Bad Lip Reading
Does the bible have a good translation of the Torah?
Torah is the guide to life-long living, chayei olam. But people keep asking where the Father’s kingdom is. It is very unfortunate. They already have the answer and yet they refuse to accept it. Even if Yahshua comes 1 more time, 10 more times, 1000 more times, these people will still be lost! They simply didn’t get the message and they refuse to follow the guide! Why can’t they just read the guide more carefully? NOT the guide given to you in the English Bibles because they are all messed up in their translations. Do you own translation and use you own instinct! No one can live your life, except for yourself!
The question is saying – if you only read half the Old Testament you miss out the parts that foretell of Christ and his deed that would add weight to the argument that Jesus was the Messiah, if you study the entire Old Testament you would understand Jesus and rejoice living in heaven on earth. Judeo Christianity and Zionism are destructive forces that destroy what Jesus enabled, True Christianity builds communities and is inclusive and believes in sacrifice of the individual for the whole, where judaism challenges the bible and at its core strives to be as far opposed to it as possible. Babylonian Talmud perpetuates hate division supremacy and war by deceit and has been destroying civilizations for thousands of years.
I love you all!
I wonder do people understand who the Israelites were. The BIBLE says I didn’t choose you because you were anything SPECIAL you were the least! I chose you to be a kingdom of priest. So if people want to honor God by keeping his laws wether they are Israel or not who are we?