What does Pentateuch mean in the Bible?

Dictionary

Smith's Bible Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch,
a recension of the commonly received Hebrew text of the Mosaic law, in use among the Samaritans, and written in the ancient Hebrew or so-called Samaritan character. The origin of the Samaritan Pentateuch has given rise to much controversy, into which we cannot here enter. The two most usual opinions are --
That it came into the hands of the Samaritans as an inheritance from the ten tribes whom they succeeded.
That it was introduced by Manasseh at the time of the foundation of the Samaritan sanctuary on Mount Gerizim. It differs in several important points from the Hebrew text. Among these may be mentioned --
Emendations of passages and words of the Hebrew text which contain something objectionable in the eyes of the Samaritans, On account either of historical probability or apparent want of dignity in the terms applied to the Creator. Thus in the Samaritan Pentateuch no one in the antediluvian times begets his first son after he has lived 150 years; but one hundred years are, where necessary, subtracted before, and added after, the birth of the first son. An exceedingly important and often-discussed emendation of this class is the passage in (Exodus 12:40 ) which in our text reads, "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years." The Samaritan has "The sojourning of the children of Israel [1] was four hundred and thirty years;" an interpolation of very late date indeed. Again, in ( Genesis 2:2 ) "And God [2] had finished on the seventh day," is altered into "the sixth " lest God's rest on the Sabbath day might seem incomplete.
Alterations made in favor of or on behalf of Samaritan theology, hermeneutics and domestic worship.
Easton's Bible Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch
The form of the letters in the manuscript copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch is different from that of the Hebrew copies, and is probably the same as that which was in general use before the Captivity. There are other peculiarities in the writing which need not here be specified.
There are important differences between the Hebrew and the Samaritan copies of the Pentateuch in the readings of many sentences. In about two thousand instances in which the Samaritan and the Jewish texts differ, the LXX. agrees with the former. The New Testament also, when quoting from the Old Testament, agrees as a rule with the Samaritan text, where that differs from the Jewish. Thus Exodus 12:40 in the Samaritan reads, "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers which they had dwelt in the land of Canaan and in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years" (Compare Galatians 3:17 ). It may be noted that the LXX. has the same reading of this text.
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch
From early Christian times, and possibly before, the first five books of the Old Testament have collectively been known as the Pentateuch. The name comes from two Greek words, penta meaning ‘five’, and teuchos meaning ‘a volume’. The Hebrews usually referred to the whole Pentateuch as ‘the law’ (2 Chronicles 17:9; Nehemiah 8:14; Nehemiah 8:18; Matthew 5:17; Matthew 11:13; Matthew 12:5; Luke 24:44). It was originally one continuous book, but was divided into five sections for convenience. The English titles of the five separate books are taken from the early Greek translation known as the Septuagint.
Authorship
Age-old Hebrew and Christian tradition recognizes Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, though the Pentateuch itself nowhere names its author (2 Chronicles 35:12; Nehemiah 13:1; Mark 12:26; John 5:46). The Bible speaks frequently of Moses’ literary activity. He wrote down the law that Israel received from God (Exodus 24:4; Exodus 34:27; Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:24), he kept records of Israel’s history (Exodus 17:14; Numbers 33:2) and he wrote songs and poems (Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:22; Deuteronomy 31:30).
Moses would certainly have been familiar with the family records, ancient songs and traditional stories that people had preserved and handed down from one generation to the next (cf. Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10; Genesis 11:27). Like all writers he would have used material from a variety of sources, particularly if writing about times and places other than his own (cf. Genesis 26:32-33; Genesis 35:19-20; Genesis 47:26; Numbers 21:14). In addition he received direct revelations from God and spoke with God face to face (Exodus 32:7-8; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:6-8).
In different eras, critics who reject Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch have suggested various theories for a much later composition. Most of these theories are based on the different names used for God, the similar or contrasting features in narrative accounts, the varying features of Israel’s religious system, and the usage of certain words and phrases. Broadly speaking, these critics have suggested four independent documents that date no earlier than the period of Israel’s monarchy, and that a later editor (or editors) combined into one. The four documents are referred to respectively as J (because it speaks of God as Jehovah, or Yahweh), E (because it speaks of God as Elohim), D (because it bases its content on Deuteronomy) and P (because it deals mainly with matters of priestly interest).
These theories have been argued, answered, revised and contradicted many times over. Debating the mechanics of composition, however, may not always be profitable. The important consideration is not how the Pentateuch was written, but what it means. It stands in both the Hebrew and Christian Bibles as a book whose unity is clear and whose message is the living Word of God (John 5:39; John 5:45-47; John 7:19; Luke 16:31; Acts 15:21).
Message
Genesis introduces the basic issues concerning God the Creator and the people and things he created. It shows that he created human beings good and wanted them to live in harmony with him. Instead of doing so, they rebelled and God punished them. In his grace, however, he did not destroy the human race, but gave it the opportunity for a fresh start. People went the same way as before, but God still extended his favour, promising to work through one of the few remaining believers (Abraham) to bring blessing to the whole world.
God promised that Abraham would produce a notable line of descendants, that those descendants would enjoy a special relationship with himself, and that he would give them a national homeland. In due course Abraham started the family and his descendants began to multiply, but through a variety of circumstances they eventually found themselves slaves in Egypt. The book of Exodus shows that God, faithful to his promise, gave them a leader (Moses) through whom he brought them out of Egypt, gave them his law, and established them in a special covenant relationship with himself. He was their God and they were his people.
Leviticus and the beginning of Numbers give details of how the people were to maintain and enjoy their covenant relationship with God. The remainder of Numbers shows how the people moved on towards the promised land, and Deuteronomy shows the life God required of them once they settled in that land.
The grace of God and the sovereign choice of God are prominent themes in the Pentateuch. The deliverance from Egypt was the turning point in the people’s history, the covenant was the basis of their existence, and the law was the framework for their behaviour. The purposes of God were on their way to fulfilment (cf. Genesis 12:1-3; Galatians 3:16; cf. Deuteronomy 18:18-19; Acts 3:18-23).
Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch
The collection of the five books of Moses, written in Samaritan or Phoenician characters; and, according to some, the ancient Hebrew characters which were in use before the captivity of Babylon. This Pentateuch was unknown in Europe till the seventeenth century, though quoted by Eusebius, Jerome, &c. Archbishop Usher was the first, or at least among the first, who procured it out of the East, to the number of five or six copies. Pietro della Valle purchased a very neat copy at Damascus, in 1616, for M. de Sansi, then ambassador of France at Constantinople, and afterwards bishop of St. Malo. This book was presented to the Fathers of the Oratory of St. Honore, where perhaps it is still preserved; and from which father Morinus, in 1632, printed the first Samaritan Pentateuch, which stands in Le Jay's Polyglot, but more correctly in Walton's from three Samaritan manuscripts, which belonged to Usher. the generality of divines hold, that the Samaritan Pentateuch, and that of the Jews, are one and the same work, written in the same language, only in different characters; and that the difference between the two text is owing to the inadvertency and inaccuracy of transcribers, or to the affectation of the Samaritans, by interpolating what might promote their interests and pretensions; that the two copies were originally the very same, and that the additions were afterwards inserted.
And in this respect the Pentateuch of the Jews must be allowed the preference to that of the Samaritans; whereas others prefer the Samaritan as an original, preserved in the same character and the same condition in which Moses left it. The variations, additions, and transpositions which are found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, are carefully collected by Hottinger, and may be seen on confronting the two texts in the last volume of the English Polyglot, or by inspecting Kinnicott's edition of the Hebrew Bible, where the various readings are inserted. Some of these interpolations serve to illustrate the text; others are a kind of paraphrase, expressing at length what was only hinted at in the original; and others, again, such as favour their pretensions against the Jews; namely, the putting Gerizim for Ebal. Besides the Pentateuch in Phoenician characters, there is another in the language which was spoken at the time that Manasseh, first high priest of the temple of Gerizim, and son-in-law of Sanballat, governor of Samaria, under the king of Persia, took shelter among the Samaritans. The language of this last is a mixture of chaldee, Syriac, and Phoenician. It is called the Samaritan version, executed in favour of those who did not understand pure Hebrew; and is a literal translation, expressing the text word for word.
Morrish Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch
The Greek name given to the first five books of the O.T., which are also called 'the five books of Moses.' The many references to and quotations from them in other parts of the scripture, and allusions to them by Christ under the name of Moses, show plainly that Moses was the inspired writer of them, except of course the small portion that records his death and burial. See MOSES.
Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pentateuch
From five, and an instrument or volume, signifies the collection of the five instruments or books of Moses, which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Some modern writers, it seems, have asserted that Moses did not compose the Pentateuch, because the author always speaks in the third person; abridges his narration like a writer who collected from ancient memoirs; sometimes interrupts the thread of his discourse, for example, Genesis 4:23 ; and because of the account of the death of Moses at the end, &c. It is observed, also, in the text of the Pentateuch, that there are some places that are defective: for example, in Exodus 12:8 . we see Moses speaking to Pharaoh, where the author omits the beginning of his discourse. The Samaritan inserts in the same place what is wanting in the Hebrew. In other places the same Samaritan copy adds what is deficient in the Hebrew; and what is contained more than the Hebrew seems so well connected with the rest of the discourse, that it would be difficult to separate them. Lastly, they think they observe certain strokes in the Pentateuch which can hardly agree with Moses, who was born and bred in Egypt; as what he says of the earthly paradise, of the rivers that watered it and ran through it; of the cities of Babylon, Erech, Resen, and Calmeh; of the gold of Pison; of the bdellium, of the stone of Sohem, or onyx stone, which was to be found in that country.
These particulars, observed with such curiosity, seem to prove that the author of the Pentateuch lived beyond the Euphrates. Add what he says concerning the ark of Noah, of its construction, of the place where it rested, of the wood wherewith it was built, of the bitumen of Babylon, &c. But in answer to all these objections it is justly observed, that these books are by the most ancient writers ascribed to Moses, and it is confirmed by the authority of heathen writers themselves, that they are his writings; besides this, we have the unanimous testimony of the whole Jewish nation ever since Moses's time. Divers texts of the Pentateuch imply that it was written by him; and the book of Joshua and other parts of Scripture import as much; and though some passages have been thought to imply the contrary, yet this is but a late opinion, and has been sufficiently confuted by several learned men. It is probable, however, that Ezra published a new edition of the books of Moses, in which he might add those passages that many suppose Moses did not write. The Abbe Torne, in a sermon preached before the French king in Lent, 1764, makes the following remarks: "The legislator of the Jews was the author of the Pentateuch; an immortal work, wherein he paints the marvels of his reign with the majestic picture of the government and religion which he established! Who before our modern infidels ever ventured to obscure this incontestable fact? Who ever sprang a doubt about this among the Hebrews?
What greater reasons have there ever been to attribute to Mahomet his Alcoran, to Plato his Republic, or to Homer his sublime poems? Rather let us say, What work in any age ever appeared more truly to bear the name of its real author? It is not an ordinary book, which, like many others, may be easily hazarded under a fictitious name. It is a sacred book, which the Jews have always read with a veneration, that remains after seventeen hundred years exile, calamities, and reproach. In this book the Hebrews included all their science; it was their civil, political, and sacred code, their only treasure, their calendar, their annals, the only title of their sovereigns and pontiffs, the alone rule of polity and worship: by consequence it must be formed with their monarchy, and necessarily have the same epoch as their government and religion, &c.
Moses speaks only truth, though infidels charge him with imposture. But, great God! what an impostor must he be, who first spoke of the divinity in a manner so sublime, that no one since, during almost four thousand years, has been able to surpass him! What an impostor must he be whose writings breathe only virtue; whose style equally simple, affecting, and sublime, in spite of the rudeness of those first ages, openly displays an inspiration altogether divine!"
See Ainsworth and Kidder on the Pentateuch; Prideaux's Con. vol. 1: p. 342, 345, 573, 575; Marsh's Authenticity of the Five Books of Moses considered; Warburton's Divine Legation; Dr. Graves's lectures on the last four books in the Old Test. Jenkins's Reasonableness of Christianity; Watson's Apology, let. 2 and 3; Tabor's Horae Mosaicae, or a View of the Mosaical Records.
Holman Bible Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch
The canon or “Bible” of the Samaritans, who revere the Torah as God's revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai and do not regard the rest of the Hebrew Bible as canon. The Samaritans regarded themselves as the true heirs (as versus Judahites) to the Mosaic tradition. Their scripture includes Genesis through Deuteronomy with many variant readings from the Masoretic Text or Hebrew text currently used by scholars. See Bible, Texts and Versions ; Samaria.
Hitchcock's Bible Names - Pentateuch
The five books of Moses
Webster's Dictionary - Pentateuch
(n.) The first five books of the Old Testament, collectively; - called also the Law of Moses, Book of the Law of Moses, etc.
Morrish Bible Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch
An ancient recension of the five books of Moses. Though it had been mentioned by some of the early fathers, it was not till about A.D. 1616 that a MS copy of it was discovered. At first it was considered by some as far superior to the Hebrew Pentateuch, but when other copies came to light (there are now about twenty) and they were examined more carefully, the thought of its superiority was not maintained; it is now regarded only as a copy of the Hebrew, though it agrees with the LXX in many places where that differs from the present Hebrew text. The Pentateuch which the Samaritans called 'The Law' is all they have of the O.T. The characters in which it is written, by being compared with ancient coins, etc., are judged to be more ancient than the square Hebrew letters now in common use. The origin of it may have been a copy of the Pentateuch secured by the Israelites on the division of the kingdom. The Paris and the London Polyglots give the text in full.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary - Samaritan Pentateuch
Pietro della Valle in 1616 procured a complete copy, after it had been lost sight of since its mention by early Christian (Jerome, Prol. Kings, Galatians 3:10; Eusebius of Caesarea, who observes that Septuagint and Samaritan agree (against received text) in the number of years from the flood to Abraham) and Jewish writers; M. de Sancy, French ambassador at Constantinople, obtained it for Pietro della Valle, and sent it to the library of the Orateire at Paris in 1623. Another is in the Ambrosian Library of Milan. Usher procured six copies, mostly imperfect, of which four are now in the Bodleian, one in British Museum. Two more, procured by Pierese, are in the Imperial Library of Paris. Twenty in all, but only two or three perfect, exist in our European libraries. The Paris Polyglot printed it in 1645; Walton's Polyglot in 1657; Bagster in 1821. Dr. Blayney, Oxford, in 1790, published it separately.
Grove in 1861 brought a 4to copy from Nablus for the Count of Paris, in whose library it is. These copies are in forms varying from 12mo to folio; no scroll such as are used in the synagogues is among them. The Samaritans pretend that the scroll in Nablus is inscribed: "I Abisha (or Abishua), son of Pinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron ... upon them be the grace of Jehovah. To His honour I have written this holy law at the entrance of the tabernacle of testimony on Mount Gerizim, Beth El, in the 13th year of taking possession of Canaan ... by Israel. I praise Jehovah." (Letters of Meshalmah, 19,791, British Museum). Levysohn, a Christian Jew, with Kraus, is said to have found it in this scroll. The Scroll is written in letters of gold. Ravius (Exercitt. in Houbig. Prol.,1755) and Gesenius (Pentateuch Samaritan, etc.) have settled the superiority of our Hebrew text. The variations arise from the Samaritans'
(1) imperfect knowledge of grammar and exegesis, or
(2) design to conform passages to their speech, conceptions, and faith (e.g. to make Mount Gerizim the place of worship appointed by God to Moses), or
(3) to remove obscurities and imperfections by repetitions or newly invented and inapt phrases and words. Only twice they alter the Mosaic laws: Exodus 13:7, Samaritan reads "six days" for "seven"; Deuteronomy 23:17, "live" for "there shall not be." Quiescent letters (a h e v i, matres lectionis ) are supplied.
Poetical forms of pronoun altered into common ones. Incomplete verbal forms are completed, the apocopated future changed into the full form. Paragogical letters at the end of nouns omitted. Genders arbitrarily put, from ignorance of nouns of a common gender. The infinitive absolute made a finite verb. Glosses coinciding with Septuagint, probably taken by both from an old targum. Conjectural emendations. Supposed deficiency supplied (Genesis 18:29-30, "destroy" for "do it".) Names reduced to one uniform spelling, where the Hebrew has various forms, as Jethro and Joshua. Supposed historical and chronological improbabilities emended. No antediluvian in the Samaritan begets his first son after he is 150; but 100 years are subtracted before and added after the birth of the first son; so Jared in the Hebrew begat at 162, lived 800 more, and all his years were 962; in Samaritan he begat at 62, lived 785 more, and all his years were 847.
After the flood, conversely, 100 or 50 are added before and subtracted after the begetting, e.g. Arphaxad who in Hebrew is 35 when he begets Shelah, and lived 403 afterward. 438 in all, in Samaritan is 135 when he begets Shelah, and lives 303 afterward, 438 in all. The Samaritan and Septuagint interpolation (Exodus 12:40), "the sojourning of Israel and their fathers who dwelt in ... Canaan and ... Egypt was 430 years" is of late date. Samaritan reads Genesis 2:2 "God on the sixth, day ended His work," lest God should seem to work on the seventh day. Samaritan changes Hebrew into Samaritan idioms. 'Εlohim (plural, four times joined to a plural verb in Hebrew) is in the Samaritan joined to the singular verb (Genesis 20:13; Genesis 31:53; Genesis 35:7). Anthropomorphisms are removed. In Deuteronomy 27:4 Samaritan substitutes Gerizim for Ebal. Age. Luzatto in a letter to R. Kirchhelm observes that, in difficult readings where probably the copyist after Ezra, in transcribing from the old Samaritan characters into the modern square Hebrew letters, mistook Samaritan letters of similar form, our Samaritan Pentateuch has the same text as the Hebrew; therefore the Samaritan must be copied from a Hebrew not a Samaritan manuscript.
The changes of similar Hebrew letters, where the corresponding Samaritan letters are not alike, prove the late date of the Samaritan. The Samaritan jealousy of the worship at Jerusalem, and of the house of David, which are commended in all the other Old Testament books except Judges, Joshua, and Job, accounts for their confining their Scriptures to the Pentateuch. The Samaritan characters were used for ordinary purposes down to a late period; so the Maccabean coins bear Samaritan inscriptions. As there was no Masorah to fix the Samaritan text, it is likely each successive century added its own emendations, so that the original Samaritan text was very different from our present one. The proofs for and against each theory as to the origin and date of the Samaritan are inconclusive. It remains therefore uncertain whether
(1) the original Samaritan was inherited from the ten tribes whom the Samaritans succeeded; or
(2) from Manasseh (Josephus Ant. 11:8, section 2,4) at the founding of the temple on Mount Gerizim, for which theory are urged the idolatry of the Samaritans before they received an Israelite priest through Esarhaddon (2 Kings 17:24-33) and the great number of readings common to Septuagint and Samaritan against the Masoretic Hebrew text; or
(3) that Esarhaddon's priest took the Pentateuch to Samaria with him. Gesenius thinks that both Samaritan and Septuagint were formed from Hebrew manuscripts differing from one another as well as from the authorized one of Palestine, and that many willful corruptions have crept, in latterly.
It is certain the Samaritan was distinct from the Hebrew copy in Deuteronomy 27:4; Deuteronomy 27:8, three hundred years B.C., for then the Jews and Samaritans brought their rival claims before Ptolemy Soter, appealing to their respective copies of the law as to this passage. The Samaritan characters of the Samaritan Pentateuch differ not only from the square Hebrew, but from those generally known as Samaritan. Some think they are those in which the Mosaic law was originally written. They are without vowel points. Each word is separated by a dot. Sections are closed by a space left blank. Marks distinguish peculiarities of sound and signification. The writing of the first page begins on the inside, not the outside, in imitation of the sacred roll. The whole is divided into five books. The division of the sections (ketsin ) differs from that of the Jews.
Versions.
(1) The original Samaritan having become to the common people a dead tongue, it was translated into the current Samaritan, dialect, a mixture of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac. They say themselves that Nathaniel their high priest, who died 20 B.C., wrote the translation. It slavishly copies the original, sometimes at the sacrifice of sense; but this close verbal adherence makes it a more valuable help for studying the Samaritan text. De la Valle brought it to Europe with the Samaritan text in 1616. Nedrinus published it with a faulty Latin translated in the Paris Polyglot, from whence Walton reprinted it.
(2) A Greek version of the Samaritan was made, as the Jews made the Septuagint from the Hebrew text. The Septuagint manuscripts preserve some fragments of it.
(3) An Arabic version by Abu Said in Egypt, A.D. 1000; a good copy is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, presented by Dr. Taylor, 1663.
CARM Theological Dictionary - Pentateuch
This word is from the Greek penta, "five" and teuchos, "a tool". It refers to the first five books of the Bible known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All five were authored by Moses and are also known as "the Law".
Fausset's Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch
(See MOSES; LAW; GENESIS; EXODUS; LEVITICUS; NUMBERS; DEUTERONOMY.) A term meaning "five volumes" (teuchos in Alexandrian Greek "a book"); applied to the first five books of the Bible, in Tertullian and Origen. "The book of the law" in Deuteronomy 48:61; Deuteronomy 29:21; Deuteronomy 30:10; Deuteronomy 31:26; "the book of the law of Moses," Joshua 23:6; Nehemiah 8:1; in Ezra 7:6, "the law of Moses," "the book of Moses" (2 Chronicles 26:16-2117). The Jews now call it Torah "the law," literally, the directory in Luke 24:27 "Moses" stands for his book.
The division into five books is probably due to the Septuagint, for the names of the five books, Genesis, Exodus, etc., are Greek not Hebrew. The Jews name each book from its first word; the Pentateuch forms one roll, divided, not into books, but into larger and smaller sections Parshiyoth and Sedorim. They divide its precepts into 248 positive, and 365 negative, 248 being the number of parts the rabbis assign the body, 365 the days of the year. As a mnemonic they carry a square cloth with fringes (tsitsit = 600 in Hebrew) consisting of eight threads and five knots, 613 in all. The five of the Pentateuch answer to the five books of the psalter, and the five megilloth of the hagiographa (Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther).
MOSES' AUTHORSHIP. After the battle with Amalek (Exodus 17:14) "Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the Book," implying there was a regular account kept in a well known book. Also Exodus 24:4, "Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah"; (Exodus 34:27) "Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words" distinguished from Exodus 34:28, "He (Jehovah) wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments" (Exodus 34:1). Numbers 33:2 "Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Jehovah." In Deuteronomy 17:18-19, the king is required to "write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites"; and Deuteronomy 31:9-11, "Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests, the son of Levi," who should "at the end of every seven years read this law before all Israel in their hearing"; and Deuteronomy 31:24," Moses made an end of writing the words of this law in a book," namely, the whole Pentateuch ("the law," Psalms 68:7-8; 1 Samuel 13:9-1082), "and commanded the Levites ... put it in the side of the ark that it may be a witness against thee," as it proved under Josiah.
The two tables of the Decalogue were IN the ark (1 Kings 8:9); the book of the law, the Pentateuch, was laid up in the holy of holies, close by the ark, probably in a chest (2 Kings 22:8; 2 Kings 22:18-19). The book of the law thus written by Moses and handed to the priests ends at Deuteronomy 31:23; the rest of the book of Deuteronomy is an appendix added after Moses' death by another hand, excepting the song and blessing, Moses' own composition. Moses speaks of "this law" and "the book of this law" as some definite volume which he had written for his people (Deuteronomy 28:61; Deuteronomy 29:19-20; Deuteronomy 29:29). He uses the third person of himself, as John does in the New Testament He probably dictated much of it to Joshua or some scribe, who subsequently added the account of Moses' death and a few explanatory insertions. The recension by Ezra (and the great synagogue, Buxtori "Tiberius," 1:10, Tertullian De Cultu Fem. 3, Jerome ad Helvid.) may have introduced the further explanations which appear post Mosaic.
Moses probably uses patriarchal documents, as e.g. genealogies for Genesis; these came down through Shem and Abraham to Joseph and Israel in Egypt. That writing existed ages before Moses is proved by the tomb of Chnumhotep at Benihassan, of the twelfth dynasty, representing a scribe presenting to the governor a roll of papyrus covered with inscriptions dated the sixth year of Osirtasin II long before the Exodus. The papyrus found by M. Prisse in the hieratic character is considered the oldest of existing manuscripts and is attributed to a prince of the fifth dynasty; weighed down with age, he invokes Osiris to enable him to give mankind the fruits of his long experience. It contains two treatises, the first, of 12 pages, the end of a work of which the former part is lost, the second by a prince, son of the king next before Assa, in whose reign the work was composed. The Greek alphabet borrows its names of letters and order from the Semitic; those names have a meaning in Semitic, none in Greek Tradition made Cadmus ("the Eastern") introduce them into Greece from Phoenicia (Herodot. 5:58).
Joshua took a Hittite city, Kirjath Sepher, "the city of the book" (1 Samuel 5:3-7), and changed the name to Debir of kindred meaning. Pertaour, a scribe under Rameses the Great, in an Iliadlike poem engraved on the walls of Karnak mentions Chirapsar, of the Khota or Hittites, a writer of books. From the terms for "write," "book," "ink," being in all Semitic dialects, it follows they must have been known to the earliest Shemites before they branched off into various tribes and nations. Moses, Israel's wise leader, would therefore be sure to commit to writing their laws, their wonderful antecedents and ancestry, and the Divine promises from the beginning connected with them, and their fulfillment in Egypt, in the Exodus, and in the wilderness, in order to evoke their national spirit. Israel would certainly have a written history at a time when the Hittites among whom Israel settled were writers.
Moreover, from Joshua downward the Old Testament books abound in references to the laws, history, and words of Moses, as such, universally accepted. They are ordered to be read continually (Joshua 1:7-8); "all the law which Moses My servant commanded ... this book of the law" (Joshua 8:31; Joshua 8:34; Joshua 23:6). In Joshua 1:3-8; Joshua 1:13-18 the words of Deuteronomy 11:24-25; Deuteronomy 31:6-12, and Deuteronomy 3:18-20 Numbers 32:20-28, are quoted. Israel's constitution in church and state accords with that established by Moses. The priesthood is in Aaron's family (Joshua 14:1). "Eleazar," Aaron's son, succeeds to his father's exalted position and with Joshua divides the land (Joshua 21:1), as Numbers 34:17 ordained; the Levites discharge their duties, scattered among the tribes and having 48 cities, as Jehovah by Moses commanded (Numbers 35:7). So the tabernacle made by Moses is set up at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). The sacrifices (Joshua 8:31; Joshua 8:30-31; Joshua 22:27; Joshua 22:29) are those enjoined (Leviticus 1; 2; 3).
The altar built (Exodus 30:19-20; Exodus 20:25) is "as Moses commanded ... in the book of the law of Moses." Compare also as to the ark, Leviticus 6:6-72; Joshua 3:6; Joshua 3:8; Joshua 7:6; circumcision, Joshua 5:2; Passover, Joshua 5:10; with the Pentateuch. There is the same general assembly or congregation and princes (Joshua 9:18-21; Joshua 20:6; Joshua 20:9; Joshua 22:30; Exodus 16:22); the same elders of Israel (Joshua 7:6; Deuteronomy 31:9); elders of the city (Deuteronomy 25:8; Joshua 20:4); judges and officers (Joshua 8:33; Deuteronomy 16:18); heads of thousands (Joshua 22:21; Numbers 25:10-130). Bodies taken down from hanging (Joshua 8:29; Joshua 10:27; Deuteronomy 21:23). No league with Canaan (Joshua 9; Exodus 23:32). Cities of refuge (Joshua 20; Numbers 35:11-15; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; Deuteronomy 19:2-7). Inheritance to Zelophebad's daughters (Joshua 17:3; Numbers 27; 36).
So in Judges Moses' laws are referred to (Judges 2:1-3; Judges 2:11-12; Galatians 4:21; Judges 6:8-10; Judges 20:2; Judges 20:6; Judges 20:13; Deuteronomy 13:6; Deuteronomy 13:12-14; Deuteronomy 22:21). The same law and worship appear in Judges as in Pentateuch. Judah takes the lead (Judges 1:2; Judges 20:18; Genesis 49:8; Numbers 2:3; Numbers 10:14). The judge's office is as Moses defined it (Judges 18:14-175). Gideon recognizes the theocracy, as Moses ordained (Judges 8:22-23; Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 17:14; Deuteronomy 17:20; Deuteronomy 33:5). The tabernacle is at Shiloh (Judges 18:31); Israel goes up to the house of God and consults the high priest with Urim and Thummim (Judges 20:23; Judges 20:26-28; Exodus 28:30; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 12:5). The ephod is the priest's garment (Judges 8:27; Judges 17:5; 1618104641_67).
The Levites scattered through Israel are the recognized ministers (Judges 17:7-13; Judges 19:1-2). Circumcision is Israel's distinguishing badge (Judges 14:3; Judges 15:18). Historical rereferences to the Pentateuch abound (Judges 1:16; Judges 1:20; Judges 1:23; Judges 2:1; Judges 2:10; Judges 6:13), especially Judges 11:15-27 epitomizes Numbers 20; 21; Deuteronomy 2:1-8; Deuteronomy 2:26-34; compare the language Judges 2:1-23 with Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28; Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 12:3; Judges 5:4-5 with Deuteronomy 33:2; Deuteronomy 32:16-17. In the two books of Samuel the law and Pentateuch are the basis. Eli, high priest, is sprung from Aaron through Ithamar (1 Chronicles 24:3; 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Kings 2:27). The transfer from Eli's descendants back to Eleazar's line fulfills 1618104641_61.
The tabernacle is still at Shiloh, 1 Samuel 2:14; 1 Samuel 4:8; the rabbis say it had now become "a low stone wall-structure with the tent drawn over the top," attached to it was a warder's house where Samuel slept. The lamp in it accords with Exodus 27:20-21; Leviticus 24:2-3; but (1 Samuel 3:3) let go out, either from laxity or because the law was not understood to enjoin perpetual burning day and night. The ark in the tabernacle still symbolizes God's presence (1 Samuel 4:3-4; 1 Samuel 4:18; 1 Samuel 4:21-22; Joshua 15:15; 1 Samuel 6:19). Jehovah of hosts dwells between the cherubim . The altar, incense, ephod are mentioned; also the "burnt offering" ('owlah ), the "whole burnt offering" (kalil ), "peace offerings" (shelamim ): 1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 11:15; 1 Samuel 13:9; Exodus 24:5. The "bloody sacrifice" (zebach ) and "unbloody offering" (minchah ): 1 Samuel 2:19; 1 Samuel 3:14; 1 Samuel 26:19. The victims, the bullock, lamb, heifer, and ram, are those ordained in Leviticus (Leviticus 1:24-25; Leviticus 7:9; Leviticus 16:2; Leviticus 15:22).
The priest's perquisites, etc., in 1618104641_46; Deuteronomy 18:1, etc., Numbers 18:8-19; Numbers 18:25; Numbers 18:32, are alluded to in 1 Samuel 2:12-13. The Levites alone should handle the sacred vessels and ark (1 Samuel 6:15; 1 Samuel 6:19). The historical facts of the Pentateuch are alluded to: Jacob's descent to Egypt, Israel's deliverance by Moses and Aaron (1 Samuel 12:8); the Egyptian plagues (1 Samuel 4:8; 1 Samuel 8:8); the Kenites' kindness (1 Samuel 15:6). Language of the Pentateuch is quoted (1 Samuel 2:22; Exodus 38:8). The request for a king (1 Samuel 8:5-6) accords with Moses' words (Deuteronomy 17:14); also Deuteronomy 16:19 with 1 Chronicles 6:22-288. The sacrificing in other places besides at the tabernacle was allowed because the ark was in captivity, and even when restored it was not yet in its permanent seat, Mount Zion, God's one chosen place (1 Samuel 7:17; 1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 16:2-5).
Though Samuel, a Levite not a priest (1618104641_10), is said to sacrifice, it is in the sense that as prophet and judge-prince he blessed it (1 Samuel 9:13). Whoever might slay it, the priest alone sprinkled the blood on the altar. So Joshua (Joshua 8:30-31), Saul (1618104641_1), David (2 Samuel 24:25), Solomon (1 Kings 3:4), and the people (1 Kings 3:2) sacrificed through the priest. Samuel as reformer brought all ordinances of church and state into conformity with the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch and Mosaic ordinances underlie Samuel's work; but, while generally observing them, he so far deviates as no forger would do. The conformity is unstudied and unobtrusive, as that of one looking back to ordinances existing and recorded long before.
David's psalms allude to and even quote the Pentateuch language (Psalms 1:3, compare Genesis 39:3; Genesis 39:23; Psalms 4:5; Deuteronomy 33:19; Psalms 4:6; Numbers 6:26; Psalms 8:6-8; Genesis 1:26; Genesis 1:28; Psalms 9:12; Genesis 9:5; Genesis 15:5; Exodus 22:25; Exodus 23:8; Leviticus 25:36; Deuteronomy 16:19; Psalms 16:4-5-6; Exodus 23:13; Deuteronomy 32:9; Psalms 17:8; Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 24:1; Deuteronomy 10:14; Exodus 19:5; Exodus 26:6; Joshua 22:23; Psalm 30 title; Deuteronomy 20:5; Psalms 39:12; Leviticus 25:23; Psalms 68:1; Psalms 68:4; Matthew 22:40; Psalms 68:17; Numbers 10:35; Deuteronomy 33:26; Exodus 13:21; Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 86:8; Psalms 86:14-15; Exodus 15:11; Exodus 34:6; Numbers 10:10; Psalms 103:17-18; Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalms 110:4; Genesis 14:18; Psalms 133:2; Exodus 30:25; Exodus 30:30.
When dying, he [1] charges Solomon, "keep the charge, as it is written in the law of Moses" (1 Kings 2:3). The Pentateuch must have preceded the kingdom, for it supposes no such form of government. Solomon's Proverbs similarly rest on the Pentateuch (Proverbs 3:9; Proverbs 3:18; Exodus 22:29; Genesis 2:9. Proverbs 10:18; Numbers 13:32; Numbers 14:36. Proverbs 11:1; Proverbs 20:10; Proverbs 20:23; Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13. Proverbs 11:13 margin; Leviticus 19:16,"not go up and down as a talebearer".) Solomon's temple is an exact doubling of the proportions of the tabernacle. No one would have built a house with the proportions of a tent, except to retain the relation of the temple to its predecessor the tabernacle (1 Kings 6:1, etc.). The Pentateuch must have preceded the division between Israel and Judah, because it was acknowledged in both. Jehoshaphat in Judah used "the book of the law of Jehovah," as the textbook for reaching the people (2 Chronicles 17:9).
In 2 Kings 11:12 "the testimony" is put in the hands of Joash at his coronation. Uzziah burning incense contrary to the law incurs leprosy (1618104641_2; Numbers 16:1 etc.). Hezekiah kept the commandments which Jehovah commanded Moses (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Kings 18:6). He destroyed the relic, the brazen serpent which remained from Moses' time, because of its superstitious abuse. Jeroboam in northern Israel set up golden calves on Aaron's model, with words from Exodus 32:28, "behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of Egypt" (1 Kings 12:28). Bethel was chosen as where God appeared to Jacob. The feast in the eighth month was in imitation of that of tabernacles in the seventh month (1 Kings 12:32-38), to prevent the people going up to sacrifice at Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:27); the Levites remaining faithful to the temple, Jeroboam made priests of the lowest people.
In 1 and 2, Kings references to the Pentateuch occur (1 Kings 21:3; Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:8. 1 Kings 21:10; Numbers 35:30; Numbers 22:17; Numbers 27:17. 2 Kings 3:20; Exodus 29:38, etc. 2 Kings 4:1; Leviticus 25:39. 2 Kings 6:18; Genesis 19:11. 2 Kings 7:3; Leviticus 13:46). In Isaiah 5:24;
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Pentateuch
This word, which is derived from the Greek Πεντατευχος , from πεντε , five, and τευχος , a volume, signifies the collection of the five books of Moses, which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That the Jews have acknowledged the authenticity of the Pentateuch, from the present time back to the era of their return from the Babylonish captivity, a period of more than two thousand three hundred years, admits not a possibility of doubt. The five books of Moses have been during that period constantly placed at the head of the Jewish sacred volume, and divided into fixed portions, one of which was read and explained in their synagogues, not only every Sabbath with the other Scriptures, but in many places twice a week, and not unfrequently every evening, when they alone were read. They have been received as divinely inspired by every Jewish sect, even by the Sadducees, who questioned the divinity of the remaining works of the Old Testament. In truth, the veneration of the Jews for their Scriptures, and above all for the Pentateuch, seems to have risen almost to a superstitious reverence. Extracts from the Mosaic law were written on pieces of parchment, and placed on the borders of their garments, or round their wrists and foreheads: nay, they at a later period counted, with the minutest exactness, not only the chapters and paragraphs, but the words and letters, which each book of their Scriptures contains. Thus also the translation, first of the Pentateuch, and afterward of the remaining works of the Old Testament, into Greek, for the use of the Alexandrian Jews, disseminated this sacred volume over a great part of the civilized world, in the language most universally understood, and rendered it accessible to the learned and inquisitive in every country; so as to preclude all suspicion that it could be materially altered by either Jews or Christians, to support their respective opinions as to the person and character of the Messiah; the substance of the text being, by this translation, fixed and authenticated at least two hundred and seventy years before the appearance of our Lord.
But, long previous to the captivity, two particular examples, deserving peculiar attention, occur in the Jewish history, of the public and solemn homage paid to the sacredness of the Mosaic law as promulgated in the Pentateuch; and which, by consequence, afford the fullest testimony to the authenticity of the Pentateuch itself: the one in the reign of Hezekiah, while the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel still subsisted; and the other in the reign of his great grandson Josiah, subsequent to the captivity of Israel. In the former we see the pious monarch of Judah assembling the priests and Levites and the rulers of the people; to deplore with him the trespasses of their fathers against the divine law, to acknowledge the justice of those chastisements which, according to the prophetic warnings of that law, had been inflicted upon them; to open the house of God which his father had impiously shut, and restore the true worship therein according to the Mosaic ritual, 2 Kings 18; 2 Chronicles 29; 2 Chronicles 30; with the minutest particulars of which he complied, in the sin-offerings and the peace- offerings which, in conjunction with his people, he offered for the kingdom and the sanctuary and the people, to make atonement to God for them and for all Israel; restoring the service of God as it had been performed in the purest times. "And Hezekiah," says the sacred narrative, "rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly," 2 Chronicles 29:36 ; immediately on the king's accession to the throne, on the first declaration of his pious resolution. How clear a proof does this exhibit of the previous existence and clearly acknowledged authority of those laws which the Pentateuch contains!
But a yet more remarkable part of this transaction still remains. At this time Hoshea was king of Israel, and so far disposed to countenance the worship of the true God, that he appears to have made no opposition to the pious zeal of Hezekiah; who, with the concurrence of the whole congregation which he had assembled, sent out letters and made a proclamation, not only to his own people of Judah, 2 Chronicles 30:1 , "but to Ephraim and Manasseh and all Israel, from Beersheba even unto Dan, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel; saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to the remnant of you who are escaped out of the hands of the kings of Assyria; and be not ye like your fathers and your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation as ye see.
Now be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto Zebulun," 2 Chronicles 30:6 , &c.
Now, can we conceive that such an attempt as this could have been made, if the Pentateuch containing the Mosaic code had not been as certainly recognised through the ten tribes of Israel as in the kingdom of Judah? The success was exactly such as we might reasonably expect if it were so acknowledged; for, though many of the ten tribes laughed to scorn and mocked the messengers of Hezekiah, who invited them to the solemnity of the passover, from the impious contempt which through long disuse they had conceived for it. "Nevertheless," says the sacred narrative, "divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem; and there assembled at Jerusalem much people, to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation; and they killed the passover, and the priests and Levites stood in their places after their manner, according to the law of Moses, the man of God. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like at Jerusalem: and when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all,"
2 Chronicles 30:11 ; 2 Chronicles 31. Can any clearer proof than this be desired of the constant and universal acknowledgment of the divine authority of the Pentateuch throughout the entire nation of the Jews, notwithstanding the idolatries and corruptions which so often prevented its receiving such obedience as that acknowledgment ought to have produced? The argument from this certain antiquity of the Pentateuch, a copy of which existed in the old Samaritan character as well as in the modern Hebrew, is most conclusive as to the numerous prophecies of Christ, and the future and present condition of the Jews which it contains. These are proved to have been delivered many ages before they were accomplished; they could be only the result of divine prescience, and the uttering of them by Moses proves therefore the inspiration and the authority of his writings. See LAW , and See MOSES .
Holman Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch
(pehn' tuh teuhch) First five books of Old Testament The word Pentateuch comes from two Greek words Penta “five” and teuchos meaning “box,” “jar,” or “scroll.” Originally the word was used as an adjective meaning “a five-scrolled (book).” The common Jewish arrangement calls the first five books of the Hebrew Bible Torah , law or teaching. The early church fathers beginning with Tertullian (about A.D. 200) called them the Pentateuch. The fivefold division of the Pentateuch is older than the Septuagint or earliest Greek translation (about 200 B.C.). The Hebrew names of these five scrolls come mainly from the opening word(s) of each scroll. Genesis is called bereshith , “in beginning”; Exodus, we'elleh shehymoth , “These are the names”; Leviticus, wayyikra , “and he called”; Numbers, bemidbar , “in the Wilderness”; and Deuteronomy, elleh haddebarim , “These are the words.” The names of the books in the English Bible, come through the Latin from the Greek Septuagint and are intended to be descriptive of the contents of each book. Genesis means “generation” or “origin”; Exodus means “going out”; Leviticus refers to the Levitical system; Numbers refers to the numbering of the tribes, Levites, and first born (Numbers 1-4 ,Numbers 1-4,26:1 ); and Deuteronomy means “second law” (Deuteronomy 17:18 ).
The dividing lines between the individual books of the Pentateuch generally mark a change in the direction of the materials. At the end of Genesis (Genesis 50:1 ), the stories of the Patriarchs end, and the story of the people of Israel begins in Exodus 1:1 . The division between Exodus and Leviticus marks the change from the building of the tabernacle in Exodus 35-40 to the inauguration of worship ( Leviticus 1-10 ). Numbers begins with preparation for leaving Sinai, and Deuteronomy stands out sharply from the end of Numbers in that Leviticus 24:10-23 begins the great speech of Moses which covers thirty chapters ( Deuteronomy 1-30 ). We do not know when the Pentateuch was divided into five books. The division may have taken place only when the whole material now united within it had been incorporated into one unit and that this division was aimed at producing sections of approximately equal length, corresponding to the normal length of scrolls.
Contents The division of the Pentateuch into five books does not indicate adequately the richness of the contents nor the variety of the literary forms found in the whole. A division of the Pentateuch based on the contents may be outlined as: Genesis 1-11 , Primeval history, from Creation to Abraham; Genesis 12-36 , Patriarchal history; Genesis 37-50 , Joseph stories; Exodus 1-18 , The Exodus; Exodus 19:1 —Numbers 19:1—10:10 , Israel at Sinai; Numbers 10:11-21:35 , Israel in the Wilderness; Numbers 22:1 —Deuteronomy 22:1—34:1 , Israel in the Plains of Moab. Within each of these larger narrative sections are a number of smaller sections dealing with various themes and subhythemes couched in many literary forms.
Themes The first theme in the Pentateuch is God is Creator (Genesis 1-2 ). This is followed closely by a chapter on the beginning of sin (Genesis 3:1 ). Genesis 4-11 tell of the increase of world population and sin, and the judgment of God on the whole world. The themes of electon, covenant, promise, faith, and providence are introduced in the remainder of Genesis (12–50).
Divine deliverance is the major theme of Exodus 1-18 . Covenant and law are themes of Exodus 19-24 . Worship and social ethics are the concerns of Exodus 25:1 —Numbers 25:1—10:10 . Guidance of a rebellious people through the great and terrible wilderness marks Numbers 10-21 ; and preparations for going over Jordan and conquering Canaan are the major topics of Numbers 22:1 —Deuteronomy 22:1—34:1 .
Literary forms and genres The Pentateuch includes many literary forms and genres: narratives, laws, lists, sayings, sermons, and songs. Narratives describe creation, judgment (flood), travel (wilderness wanderings), buildings (Ark, tabernacle), marriages (Isaac and Rebekah), and births (Moses).
Although the Pentateuch is often refered to as Torah or law, laws comprise only a small percentage of the text. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1 : 2-17 ; Deuteronomy 5:6-21 ) are frequently called law, but they are not law in the technical sense because no penalties or sanctions are connected with them. Other groups of laws in the Pentateuch are: the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22-23:19 ); the laws of sacrifice (Leviticus 1-7 ); the laws of purity (Leviticus 11-15 ); the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26 ); and the Deuteronomy Code (Deuteronomy 12-26 ). No laws appear in Genesis. Four out of forty chapters in Exodus (Deuteronomy 20-23 ), most of Leviticus and a small portion of Numbers contain laws. Fourteen out of thirty-four chapters of Deuteronomy consist of legal material. See Deuteronomy 20-23 ; Deuteronomy 20-23 ; Deuteronomy 20-23 ; Deuteronomy 20-23 ; Deuteronomy 20-23 . The 65 laws in the Book of the Covenant (see Exodus 24:7 ) include rules about images and kinds of altars (Exodus 20:22-26 ); Hebrew slaves (Exodus 21:1-11 ); offences penalized by death (Exodus 21:12-17 ); bodily injury (Exodus 21:18-24 ); offences against property (Exodus 21:25-22:17 ); miscellaneous social and cultic laws (Exodus 22:18-23:9 ); a cultic calendar (Exodus 23:10-19 ); blessing and curse (Exodus 23:20-33 ).
The Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26 ) is named from the expression, “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2 ; Leviticus 20:7 ,Leviticus 20:7,20:26 ). The Holiness Code stresses moral and ceremonial laws rather than civil and criminal laws. Leviticus 18-20 ; Leviticus 23-26 are directed to the people; Leviticus 24:1-9 ; Leviticus 21-22 are directed to the priests and the house of Aaron. This Code deals with the slaughter of animals and sacrifice ( Leviticus 17:1-16 ); forbidden sexual relations (Leviticus 18:1-30 ); relationships with neighbors (Leviticus 19:1-37 ); penalties (stoning, burning); rules for personal life of the priests (Leviticus 20:1-22:16 ); the quality of sacrifices (Leviticus 22:17-33 ); a cultic calendar (Leviticus 23:1-44 ); rules for lights in the sanctuary and the shewbread (Leviticus 17:1 ); blasphemy (Deuteronomy 1:1 ); the sabbatic year and jubilee (Leviticus 25:1-55 ); blessings and curses (Leviticus 26:1-46 ).
The Holiness Code says very little about agriculture. Much more is said in this Code than in the Book of the Covenant about forbidden sexual relations, including homosexuality (compare Leviticus 18:1-23 ; Leviticus 20:13 ). All forms of witchcraft, augury, and the occult are forbidden (Leviticus 17:7 ; Leviticus 19:26 ,Leviticus 19:26,19:31 ; Leviticus 20:2-6 ,Leviticus 20:2-6,20:27 ). Two significant passages in this group of laws are: “For the life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:14 RSV), and, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” ( Leviticus 19:18 ). The expression “I am the Lord your God” and similar expressions occur 46 times in Leviticus 18-26 .
The Deuteronomic Code (Deuteronomy 12-26 ) is part of Moses' address to the twelve tribes just before they crossed the Jordan to go into Canaan. These are “preached” laws, full of admonitions and exhortations to heed and obey so that the Lord may bless them and they may live in the land (Deuteronomy 12:1 ,Deuteronomy 12:1,12:13 ,Deuteronomy 12:13,12:19 ,Deuteronomy 12:19,12:28 ; Numbers 21:14-157 ; Deuteronomy 14:1 ; Deuteronomy 15:10 ,Deuteronomy 15:10,15:18 ; Deuteronomy 16:12 ; Deuteronomy 17:20 ,Deuteronomy 17:20,17:29 ). Many of these 80 laws are new because they are addressed to a new generation. See Deuteronomy. The restriction of worship or sacrifice to one legitimate altar is limited to the Deuteronomic Code as is the expression: “the place where I will make my name to dwell.” Permission for private slaughtering and eating animals is given only in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 12:15 ). Laws for judges, prophets, priests, and kings occur only in Deuteronomy. The laws for Hebrew slaves and the calendars of worship are different in Exodus and Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy the Passover is to be observed only at the one legitimate place and the lamb is to be boiled (Deuteronomy 16:7 ), but in Exodus, Passover is a family affair and the lambs are to be roasted (Exodus 12:9 ). The laws for the tithes are different in Deuteronomy 14:1 from those in Numbers 18:21-32 . Laws of holy war are given only in Deuteronomy. Idolatry and the First Commandment are major concerns of all the codes.
Many attempts have been made to classify the laws in the Old Testament according to their types. Some recent scholars have used the terms “apodictic” and “casuistic” to refer to the two main types of laws. Apodictic refers to those authoritative, unconditional laws such as the Ten Commandments which begin, “Thou shalt not,” “You shall,” or laws calling for the death penalty. Casuistic laws are usually case laws which begin “When a man,” or, “If a man.” This classification is helpful in identifying the literary form, setting, and perhaps the origin of a law. Christians often speak of Old Testament laws as moral, civil, and ceremonial, but the Old Testament does not use those categories to classify its laws. In the Pentateuch, laws of every kind are jumbled together and interspersed with narrative and descriptive sections. Rather than attempting to isolate certain moral laws, it would be better to try to detect moral and ethical principles in all types of Old Testament laws. Some recent scholars have classified the laws in the various parts of the Old Testament as: criminal law, civil laws, family laws, cultic (worship) laws, and charitable (humanitarian) laws.
Old Testament laws were given in the context of the covenant. The people had experienced deliverance (salvation) at the Exodus. God took the initiative and by grace redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt. God acted first, then called the people to respond. Old Testament laws were given to redeemed people to tell them how to live as people of God.
The Pentateuch contains many lists: genealogical (Genesis 5:1 ; Genesis 11:1 ; Exodus 5:1 ), geographical and ethnographical (Genesis 10:1 ; Genesis 26:1 ), tribal (Genesis 49:1 ; Deuteronomy 33:1 ); offerings (Exodus 35:1 ); census (Numbers 1-4 ; Numbers 26:1 ), and campsites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:1 ).
The Old Testament contains many “sayings” of various kinds. Some are poetic. Some are proverbial. Some are prose. These sayings may have been remembered and passed from generation to generation. Some familiar examples are:
This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh (Genesis 2:23 NIV).
For dust you are and to dust you will return (Genesis 3:19 NIV).
Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord (Genesis 10:9 NIV).
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious (Exodus 33:19 ).
Deuteronomy is the only place in the Old Testament where long sermons are found. Even the laws in Deuteronomy are “preached” laws. The fact that many admonitions and exhortations occur throughout the book may indicate that the book was used as a covenant renewing document.
One other major literary genre is found in the Pentateuch—that of song: Israel was a singing people. They sang in times of victory (Exodus 15:1 ), at work (Numbers 21:17-18 ), in times of battle (1618104641_75 ,Numbers 21:14-15,21:27-30 ), and in worship (Numbers 6:22-26 ; Deuteronomy 32:1-43 ).
Date and Authorship The problem of the date and authorship of the Pentateuch is one of the major critical problems of the Old Testament. Dr. John R. Sampey wrote,
Possibly the higher criticism of the Pentateuch is the most important critical problem confronting students of the Old Testament. Fundamental and difficult it calls for patience, industry and the ability to sift evidence and estimate its value. It requires logical discipline and a well-balanced mind [1].
The existence of sources for its writing is not the major issue, but its inspiration and reliability in its present form.
One reason the question of date and authorship of the Pentateuch is difficult is that the books themselves are anonymous. Most English Bibles carry the titles of the first five books as “the books of Moses.” These titles are not in the Hebrew manuscripts. They came into England through Tyndale's version and were probably derived from Luther's translation which used only the numerical titles, “First Book of Moses,” and so on to the fifth.
Although the books of the Pentateuch as a whole are anonymous, a number of passages refer to Moses writing at least certain things (compare Exodus 17:14 ; Exodus 24:4 ; Exodus 24:7 ; Numbers 33:1-2 ; Deuteronomy 31:9 ,Deuteronomy 31:9,31:22 ). Late in the Old Testament period, the tradition arose which seemingly refers to the Pentateuch as the “Book of Moses” (2 Chronicles 35:12 ). This tradition was carried on by Jews and Christians until after A.D. 1600. Some Jews and Christians raised occasional questions about the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch during all that time, but the Renaissance and the Enlightenment led to the questioning of all things including the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. One passage in the Pentateuch which contributed to the serious questioning of Mosaic authorship is Deuteronomy 34:5-8 , describing Moses' death and the following period of mourning. Other post-Mosaic references are to Dan (Genesis 14:14 ; compare Joshua 19:47 ; Judges 18:28-29 ), and the conquest of Canaan (Deuteronomy 2:12 ). The way the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch is written today is nothing like it might have appeared in Moses' day. For hundreds of years, the Hebrew text was copied by hand. In the process of copying, the shape of the letters was completely changed. Vowel points and accents were added. Words were separated word by word and divided into verses and chapters.
We do not know who wrote the completed Pentateuch. The Pentateuch makes no claim that Moses wrote all of it. Many theories and hypotheses have been advanced to explain its origin. The classical literary critical theory is associated with the name of Julius Wellhausen, a nineteenth century German scholar. He popularized and synthesized the views of many Old Testament scholars and said that the Pentateuch was a compilation of four basic literary documents identified as J, E, D, and P. J stood for Jehovah or Judah and supposedly was written in the Southern Kingdom about 850 B.C. E stood for Elohim, a favorite Hebrew name for God in this document. It was supposedly written about 750 B.C. D stands for Deuteronomy and was written according to this hypothesis about 621 B.C. P stands for the Priestly document and was written about 500 B.C. The Priestly writer might have compiled the whole Pentateuch according to this theory.
Many other theories and modifications of older theories have arisen in the twentieth century. Critical scholarship's earlier agreement on the four sources has disappeared in the 1980s. Some date P early. Some date J very late. Some see D as the dominant author. Many are more interested in the literary art of the Pentateuch than in literary sources. Scholars are thus no closer to a solution to the problem of the authorship of the Pentateuch than they were when they first asked questions about it.
Even the most conservative scholars who defend Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch admit that Moses did not write every word of the Pentateuch. All accept the possibility of later minor alterations and additions to the work of Moses in the Pentateuch. Many discuss some development of the material in the Pentateuch along independent lines, after Mosaic composition. This is especially true linguistically. There is no reason why conservatives cannot often use such symbols as P and H as a convenient shorthand to refer to certain blocks of material. Recent conservative scholars speak of sources Moses may have used.
Conclusions No agreement has been reached as to the final solution to this most difficult problem. However some things are clear: (1) We should avoid the two extreme views that Moses wrote all the Pentateuch or that he wrote none of it. We should take the claims of the Bible concerning itself seriously but keep our minds and hearts open to new and different possible interpretations. (2) We should recognize the legitimacy of certain critical methods. W. T. Conner, who taught Systematic Theology at Southwestern Seminary for almost 40 years (1910-49), said, “There are certain questions of date, authorship, historical reliability and so forth, that must be settled by historical and literary criticism. There is no other way to settle them” [2]. (3) It is not necessary that we know the date and authorship of a book in the Bible before we can read it with profit. At times we must sacrifice our need for security in certainty to God's nature as sovereign mystery. See Authority ; Inspiration; Revelation.
Ralph L. Smith
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Pentateuch
PENTATEUCH. See Hexateuch.
Holman Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch, Samaritan
See Samaritan Pentateuch ; Bible, Text and Versions.
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch
The five books the books of Moses; that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. See articles on those books, and also MOSES.
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Sentence search

Moses, Books of - See Pentateuch ; Law
Pentateuch - Pentateuch
Chumash - The Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses
Pentateuchal - ) Of or pertaining to the Pentateuch
Pentateuch, Samaritan - See Samaritan Pentateuch ; Bible, Text and Versions
Leviticus - a canonical book of Scripture, being the third book of the Pentateuch of Moses; thus called because it contains principally the laws and regulations relating to the Levites, priests, and sacrifices; for which reason the Hebrews call it the law of the priests, because it includes many ordinances concerning their services. See Pentateuch
Numbers - The title of the fourth book of the Pentateuch
Talmud - ) The body of the Jewish civil and canonical law not comprised in the Pentateuch
Deuteronomy - ) The fifth book of the Pentateuch, containing the second giving of the law by Moses
J - The sign for one of the principle sources critical scholars propose for the Pentateuch. See Pentateuch ; Bible, History of Interpretation
Midrash rabbah - a compilation of Midrashic interpretations of the Pentateuch and certain other Biblical books, composed in the fourth century...
Tora - ) The Pentateuch or "Law of Moses
Reu - Lived 239 years according to the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuch, 339 according to Septuagint
Higher Criticism - , of any writing; as, the higher criticism of the Pentateuch
Samaritan Pentateuch - At first it was considered by some as far superior to the Hebrew Pentateuch, but when other copies came to light (there are now about twenty) and they were examined more carefully, the thought of its superiority was not maintained; it is now regarded only as a copy of the Hebrew, though it agrees with the LXX in many places where that differs from the present Hebrew text. The Pentateuch which the Samaritans called 'The Law' is all they have of the O. The origin of it may have been a copy of the Pentateuch secured by the Israelites on the division of the kingdom
Zephon - The Samaritan Pentateuch and the earliest Greek translation support the identification with Ziphion (Genesis 46:16 )
Jehovistic - ) Relating to, or containing, Jehovah, as a name of God; - said of certain parts of the Old Testament, especially of the Pentateuch, in which Jehovah appears as the name of the Deity
Shi'Lonites, the, - are mentioned among the descendants of Judah dwelling in Jerusalem at a date difficult to (1 Chronicles 8:5 ) They are doubtless the members of the house of Shelah, who in the Pentateuch are more accurately designated Shelanites
Eran - ” Some of the earliest translations and the Samaritan Pentateuch read “Eden” rather than Eran
Shemeber - The Genesis Apocryphon and Samaritan Pentateuch read his name as Shemiabad, “the name is lost
Numbers - a canonical book of the Old Testament, being the fourth of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; and receives its denomination from the numbering of the families of Israel by Moses and Aaron, who mustered the tribes, and marshalled the army, of the Hebrews in their passage through the wilderness. See Pentateuch
Samaritan Pentateuch - This Pentateuch was unknown in Europe till the seventeenth century, though quoted by Eusebius, Jerome, &c. Honore, where perhaps it is still preserved; and from which father Morinus, in 1632, printed the first Samaritan Pentateuch, which stands in Le Jay's Polyglot, but more correctly in Walton's from three Samaritan manuscripts, which belonged to Usher. the generality of divines hold, that the Samaritan Pentateuch, and that of the Jews, are one and the same work, written in the same language, only in different characters; and that the difference between the two text is owing to the inadvertency and inaccuracy of transcribers, or to the affectation of the Samaritans, by interpolating what might promote their interests and pretensions; that the two copies were originally the very same, and that the additions were afterwards inserted. ...
And in this respect the Pentateuch of the Jews must be allowed the preference to that of the Samaritans; whereas others prefer the Samaritan as an original, preserved in the same character and the same condition in which Moses left it. The variations, additions, and transpositions which are found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, are carefully collected by Hottinger, and may be seen on confronting the two texts in the last volume of the English Polyglot, or by inspecting Kinnicott's edition of the Hebrew Bible, where the various readings are inserted. Besides the Pentateuch in Phoenician characters, there is another in the language which was spoken at the time that Manasseh, first high priest of the temple of Gerizim, and son-in-law of Sanballat, governor of Samaria, under the king of Persia, took shelter among the Samaritans
Pentateuch - (pehn' tuh teuhch) First five books of Old Testament The word Pentateuch comes from two Greek words Penta “five” and teuchos meaning “box,” “jar,” or “scroll. 200) called them the Pentateuch. The fivefold division of the Pentateuch is older than the Septuagint or earliest Greek translation (about 200 B. ...
The dividing lines between the individual books of the Pentateuch generally mark a change in the direction of the materials. We do not know when the Pentateuch was divided into five books. ...
Contents The division of the Pentateuch into five books does not indicate adequately the richness of the contents nor the variety of the literary forms found in the whole. A division of the Pentateuch based on the contents may be outlined as: Genesis 1-11 , Primeval history, from Creation to Abraham; Genesis 12-36 , Patriarchal history; Genesis 37-50 , Joseph stories; Exodus 1-18 , The Exodus; Exodus 19:1 —Numbers 19:1—10:10 , Israel at Sinai; Numbers 10:11-21:35 , Israel in the Wilderness; Numbers 22:1 —Deuteronomy 22:1—34:1 , Israel in the Plains of Moab. ...
Themes The first theme in the Pentateuch is God is Creator (Genesis 1-2 ). ...
Literary forms and genres The Pentateuch includes many literary forms and genres: narratives, laws, lists, sayings, sermons, and songs. ...
Although the Pentateuch is often refered to as Torah or law, laws comprise only a small percentage of the text. Other groups of laws in the Pentateuch are: the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22-23:19 ); the laws of sacrifice (Leviticus 1-7 ); the laws of purity (Leviticus 11-15 ); the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26 ); and the Deuteronomy Code (Deuteronomy 12-26 ). In the Pentateuch, laws of every kind are jumbled together and interspersed with narrative and descriptive sections. ...
The Pentateuch contains many lists: genealogical (Genesis 5:1 ; Genesis 11:1 ; Exodus 5:1 ), geographical and ethnographical (Genesis 10:1 ; Genesis 26:1 ), tribal (Genesis 49:1 ; Deuteronomy 33:1 ); offerings (Exodus 35:1 ); census (Numbers 1-4 ; Numbers 26:1 ), and campsites in the wilderness (Numbers 33:1 ). ...
One other major literary genre is found in the Pentateuch—that of song: Israel was a singing people. ...
Date and Authorship The problem of the date and authorship of the Pentateuch is one of the major critical problems of the Old Testament. Sampey wrote,...
Possibly the higher criticism of the Pentateuch is the most important critical problem confronting students of the Old Testament. ...
One reason the question of date and authorship of the Pentateuch is difficult is that the books themselves are anonymous. ...
Although the books of the Pentateuch as a whole are anonymous, a number of passages refer to Moses writing at least certain things (compare Exodus 17:14 ; Exodus 24:4 ; Exodus 24:7 ; Numbers 33:1-2 ; Deuteronomy 31:9 ,Deuteronomy 31:9,31:22 ). Late in the Old Testament period, the tradition arose which seemingly refers to the Pentateuch as the “Book of Moses” (2 Chronicles 35:12 ). Some Jews and Christians raised occasional questions about the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch during all that time, but the Renaissance and the Enlightenment led to the questioning of all things including the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. One passage in the Pentateuch which contributed to the serious questioning of Mosaic authorship is Deuteronomy 34:5-8 , describing Moses' death and the following period of mourning. The way the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch is written today is nothing like it might have appeared in Moses' day. ...
We do not know who wrote the completed Pentateuch. The Pentateuch makes no claim that Moses wrote all of it. He popularized and synthesized the views of many Old Testament scholars and said that the Pentateuch was a compilation of four basic literary documents identified as J, E, D, and P. The Priestly writer might have compiled the whole Pentateuch according to this theory. Many are more interested in the literary art of the Pentateuch than in literary sources. Scholars are thus no closer to a solution to the problem of the authorship of the Pentateuch than they were when they first asked questions about it. ...
Even the most conservative scholars who defend Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch admit that Moses did not write every word of the Pentateuch. All accept the possibility of later minor alterations and additions to the work of Moses in the Pentateuch. Many discuss some development of the material in the Pentateuch along independent lines, after Mosaic composition. However some things are clear: (1) We should avoid the two extreme views that Moses wrote all the Pentateuch or that he wrote none of it
Devarim - Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Pentateuch ...
Devarim The fifth of the Five Books of Moses, records Moses' final message to the Israelites, delivered during the last weeks of his life
Genesis - See Pentateuch
Bereishit - "in the beginning"); Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch; the first word of the Torah...
Bereishit: The first of the Five Books of Moses, relates the story of creation and Noah's Flood, and describes the lives and deeds of the Patriarchs, Matriarchs, and the Twelve Tribes
Nophah - The REB and RSV by altering one letter of the Hebrew text read “fire spread,” a reading supported by the earliest Greek translation and Samaritan Pentateuch
Bamidbar - "in the desert"); Numbers; the fourth book of the Pentateuch ...
Bamidbar: ...
The fourth of the Five Books of Moses, relates the story of the Israelites' sojourn in the desert
Sinew - The prohibition is not mentioned in any of the legislative codes of the Pentateuch
Samaritan Pentateuch - The form of the letters in the manuscript copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch is different from that of the Hebrew copies, and is probably the same as that which was in general use before the Captivity. ...
There are important differences between the Hebrew and the Samaritan copies of the Pentateuch in the readings of many sentences
Well - In the Pentateuch this word beer, so rendered, occurs twenty-five times
Iob - Son of Issachar, according to Genesis 46:13 ; but a copyist apparently omitted one Hebrew letter, the name appearing as Jashub in Samaritan Pentateuch and some Greek manuscripts of Genesis (followed by NRSV, NIV, TEV) and in Numbers 26:24 ; 1 Chronicles 7:1
Elcesaites - They kept a mean between the Jews, Christians, and Pagans: they worshipped but one God, observed the Jewish sabbath, circumcision, and the other ceremonies of the law; yet they rejected the Pentateuch and the prophets: nor had they any more respect for the writings of the apostles
Septuagint, the (Lxx) - ) that the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, were translated into Greek
Numbers, the Book of - 1451, and is the fourth book of the Pentateuch
Levit'Icus - The third book in the Pentateuch is called Leviticus because it relates principally to the Levites and priests and their services. Those critics even who hold a different opinion as to the other books of the Pentateuch assign this book in the main to him
Pentateuch - From early Christian times, and possibly before, the first five books of the Old Testament have collectively been known as the Pentateuch. The Hebrews usually referred to the whole Pentateuch as ‘the law’ (2 Chronicles 17:9; Nehemiah 8:14; Nehemiah 8:18; Matthew 5:17; Matthew 11:13; Matthew 12:5; Luke 24:44). ...
Authorship...
Age-old Hebrew and Christian tradition recognizes Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, though the Pentateuch itself nowhere names its author (2 Chronicles 35:12; Nehemiah 13:1; Mark 12:26; John 5:46). ...
In different eras, critics who reject Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch have suggested various theories for a much later composition. The important consideration is not how the Pentateuch was written, but what it means. ...
The grace of God and the sovereign choice of God are prominent themes in the Pentateuch
Pentateuch - Some modern writers, it seems, have asserted that Moses did not compose the Pentateuch, because the author always speaks in the third person; abridges his narration like a writer who collected from ancient memoirs; sometimes interrupts the thread of his discourse, for example, Genesis 4:23 ; and because of the account of the death of Moses at the end, &c. It is observed, also, in the text of the Pentateuch, that there are some places that are defective: for example, in Exodus 12:8 . Lastly, they think they observe certain strokes in the Pentateuch which can hardly agree with Moses, who was born and bred in Egypt; as what he says of the earthly paradise, of the rivers that watered it and ran through it; of the cities of Babylon, Erech, Resen, and Calmeh; of the gold of Pison; of the bdellium, of the stone of Sohem, or onyx stone, which was to be found in that country. ...
These particulars, observed with such curiosity, seem to prove that the author of the Pentateuch lived beyond the Euphrates. Divers texts of the Pentateuch imply that it was written by him; and the book of Joshua and other parts of Scripture import as much; and though some passages have been thought to imply the contrary, yet this is but a late opinion, and has been sufficiently confuted by several learned men. The Abbe Torne, in a sermon preached before the French king in Lent, 1764, makes the following remarks: "The legislator of the Jews was the author of the Pentateuch; an immortal work, wherein he paints the marvels of his reign with the majestic picture of the government and religion which he established! Who before our modern infidels ever ventured to obscure this incontestable fact? Who ever sprang a doubt about this among the Hebrews?...
What greater reasons have there ever been to attribute to Mahomet his Alcoran, to Plato his Republic, or to Homer his sublime poems? Rather let us say, What work in any age ever appeared more truly to bear the name of its real author? It is not an ordinary book, which, like many others, may be easily hazarded under a fictitious name. But, great God! what an impostor must he be, who first spoke of the divinity in a manner so sublime, that no one since, during almost four thousand years, has been able to surpass him! What an impostor must he be whose writings breathe only virtue; whose style equally simple, affecting, and sublime, in spite of the rudeness of those first ages, openly displays an inspiration altogether divine!" ...
See Ainsworth and Kidder on the Pentateuch; Prideaux's Con
Mishna - (Hebrews: repetition) ...
A collection of precepts which forms the basis of the Talmud, and embodies the contents of the oral law, as opposed to the written law, the Pentateuch
Exodus - See Pentateuch
Jehovist - ) The writer of the passages of the Old Testament, especially those of the Pentateuch, in which the Supreme Being is styled Jehovah
Rainbow - Others, however (as Delitzsch, Commentary on Pentateuch), think that it "appeared then for the first time in the vault and clouds of heaven
Polyglot - It contains the Hebrew and Greek originals, with Montanus's interlineary version; the Chaldee paraphrases, the Septuagint, the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Syrian and Arabic Bibles, the Persian Pentateuch and Gospels, the Ethiopian Psalms, Song of Solomon, and New Testament, with their respective Latin translations; together with the Latin Vulgate, and a large volume of various readings, to which is ordinarily joined Castel's Heptaglot Lexicon
Pentateuch - That the Jews have acknowledged the authenticity of the Pentateuch, from the present time back to the era of their return from the Babylonish captivity, a period of more than two thousand three hundred years, admits not a possibility of doubt. In truth, the veneration of the Jews for their Scriptures, and above all for the Pentateuch, seems to have risen almost to a superstitious reverence. Thus also the translation, first of the Pentateuch, and afterward of the remaining works of the Old Testament, into Greek, for the use of the Alexandrian Jews, disseminated this sacred volume over a great part of the civilized world, in the language most universally understood, and rendered it accessible to the learned and inquisitive in every country; so as to preclude all suspicion that it could be materially altered by either Jews or Christians, to support their respective opinions as to the person and character of the Messiah; the substance of the text being, by this translation, fixed and authenticated at least two hundred and seventy years before the appearance of our Lord. ...
But, long previous to the captivity, two particular examples, deserving peculiar attention, occur in the Jewish history, of the public and solemn homage paid to the sacredness of the Mosaic law as promulgated in the Pentateuch; and which, by consequence, afford the fullest testimony to the authenticity of the Pentateuch itself: the one in the reign of Hezekiah, while the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel still subsisted; and the other in the reign of his great grandson Josiah, subsequent to the captivity of Israel. How clear a proof does this exhibit of the previous existence and clearly acknowledged authority of those laws which the Pentateuch contains!...
But a yet more remarkable part of this transaction still remains. ...
Now, can we conceive that such an attempt as this could have been made, if the Pentateuch containing the Mosaic code had not been as certainly recognised through the ten tribes of Israel as in the kingdom of Judah? The success was exactly such as we might reasonably expect if it were so acknowledged; for, though many of the ten tribes laughed to scorn and mocked the messengers of Hezekiah, who invited them to the solemnity of the passover, from the impious contempt which through long disuse they had conceived for it. Can any clearer proof than this be desired of the constant and universal acknowledgment of the divine authority of the Pentateuch throughout the entire nation of the Jews, notwithstanding the idolatries and corruptions which so often prevented its receiving such obedience as that acknowledgment ought to have produced? The argument from this certain antiquity of the Pentateuch, a copy of which existed in the old Samaritan character as well as in the modern Hebrew, is most conclusive as to the numerous prophecies of Christ, and the future and present condition of the Jews which it contains
Pen'Tateuch, the, - " (2 Chronicles 25:4 ; 35:12 ; Ezra 6:13 ; Nehemiah 13:1 ) This was beyond all reasonable doubt our existing Pentateuch. of the Pentateuch form a single roll or volume, and are divided not into books but into the larger and smaller sections called Parshiyoth and Sedarim . The five books of the Pentateuch form a consecutive whole. Till the middle of the last century it was the general opinion of both Jews and Christians that the whole of the Pentateuch was written by Moses, with the exception of a few manifestly later additions,--such as the, 34th chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives the account of Moses death. It is sufficient here to state that there is evidence satisfactory that the main bulk of the Pentateuch, at any rate, was written by Moses, though the probably availed himself of existing documents in the composition of the earlier part of the work. ...
The first composition of the Pentateuch as a whole could not have taken place till after the Israelites entered Cannan
Shalem - " So Rashi and the Jewish commentators; and Samaritan Pentateuch
Leviticus - The name of the third book of the Pentateuch
Hexateuch - The term was coined by source critics impressed with the supposed similarity of sources behind Joshua and the Pentateuch as well as the need for fulfillment of the promise of land to Abraham in the conquest of Cannan
Pentateuch - The Jews name each book from its first word; the Pentateuch forms one roll, divided, not into books, but into larger and smaller sections Parshiyoth and Sedorim. The five of the Pentateuch answer to the five books of the psalter, and the five megilloth of the hagiographa (Song, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther). " In Deuteronomy 17:18-19, the king is required to "write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites"; and Deuteronomy 31:9-11, "Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests, the son of Levi," who should "at the end of every seven years read this law before all Israel in their hearing"; and Deuteronomy 31:24," Moses made an end of writing the words of this law in a book," namely, the whole Pentateuch ("the law," Matthew 22:40; Exodus 30:19-204), "and commanded the Levites . ...
The two tables of the Decalogue were IN the ark (1 Kings 8:9); the book of the law, the Pentateuch, was laid up in the holy of holies, close by the ark, probably in a chest (2 Kings 22:8; 2 Kings 22:18-19). " Compare also as to the ark, Judges 2:11-12; Joshua 3:6; Joshua 3:8; Joshua 7:6; circumcision, Joshua 5:2; Passover, Joshua 5:10; with the Pentateuch. The same law and worship appear in Judges as in Pentateuch. Historical rereferences to the Pentateuch abound (Judges 1:16; Judges 1:20; Judges 1:23; 1 Samuel 8:5-6; Judges 2:10; Judges 6:13), especially Judges 11:15-27 epitomizes Numbers 20; 21; Deuteronomy 2:1-8; Deuteronomy 2:26-34; compare the language Judges 2:1-23 with Exodus 34:13; Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28; Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 12:3; Judges 5:4-5 with Deuteronomy 33:2; Deuteronomy 32:16-17. In the two books of Samuel the law and Pentateuch are the basis. The historical facts of the Pentateuch are alluded to: Jacob's descent to Egypt, Israel's deliverance by Moses and Aaron (1 Samuel 12:8); the Egyptian plagues (1 Samuel 4:8; 1 Samuel 8:8); the Kenites' kindness (1 Samuel 15:6). Language of the Pentateuch is quoted (1 Samuel 2:22; Exodus 38:8). Samuel as reformer brought all ordinances of church and state into conformity with the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch and Mosaic ordinances underlie Samuel's work; but, while generally observing them, he so far deviates as no forger would do. ...
David's psalms allude to and even quote the Pentateuch language (Psalms 1:3, compare Genesis 39:3; Genesis 39:23; Psalms 4:5; Deuteronomy 33:19; Psalms 4:6; Numbers 6:26; Psalms 8:6-8; Genesis 1:26; Genesis 1:28; Psalms 9:12; Genesis 9:5; Genesis 15:5; Exodus 22:25; Exodus 23:8; Leviticus 25:36; Deuteronomy 16:19; Joshua 22:29-6; Exodus 23:13; Deuteronomy 32:9; Psalms 17:8; Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalms 24:1; Deuteronomy 10:14; Exodus 19:5; Exodus 26:6; 1618104641_77; Psalm 30 title; Deuteronomy 20:5; Psalms 39:12; Leviticus 25:23; Psalms 68:1; Psalms 68:4; Joshua 8:33; Psalms 68:17; Numbers 10:35; Deuteronomy 33:26; Exodus 13:21; Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalms 86:8; Psalms 86:14-15; Exodus 15:11; Exodus 34:6; Numbers 10:10; Psalms 103:17-18; Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalms 110:4; Genesis 14:18; Psalms 133:2; Exodus 30:25; Exodus 30:30. The Pentateuch must have preceded the kingdom, for it supposes no such form of government. Solomon's Proverbs similarly rest on the Pentateuch (Proverbs 3:9; Proverbs 3:18; Exodus 22:29; Genesis 2:9. The Pentateuch must have preceded the division between Israel and Judah, because it was acknowledged in both. ...
In 1 and 2, Kings references to the Pentateuch occur (1 Kings 21:3; Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:8
Samaritan Pentateuch, - The origin of the Samaritan Pentateuch has given rise to much controversy, into which we cannot here enter. Thus in the Samaritan Pentateuch no one in the antediluvian times begets his first son after he has lived 150 years; but one hundred years are, where necessary, subtracted before, and added after, the birth of the first son
Decretal - in 1227, following the example of Theodosius and Justinian, formed a constitution of his own, collecting into one body all the decisions and all the causes which served to advance the papal power; which collection of decretals was called the Pentateuch, because it contained five books
Sabaoth, Lord of - The title does not occur in the Pentateuch, nor earlier than 1 Samuel 1:3, but in the singular Joshua 5:14-15
Commandment - ” In the Pentateuch, God is always the Giver of the mitsvâh “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. ”...
Outside the Pentateuch, “commandments” are given by kings (1 Kings 2:43), fathers ( Prophet - The Law is the Pentateuch, or Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
Targums - The way in which it was done was as follows: In the case of the Pentateuch (the ‘Law’) a verse was read in Hebrew, and then translated into Aramaic, and so on to the end of the appointed portion; but in the case of the prophetical writings three verses were read and then translated. Most of the Targums are mainly paraphrases; the only one which is in the form of a translation in the modern sense of the word is the Targum of Onkelos to the, Pentateuch; this is, on the whole, a fairly literal translation. Targum of Onkelos to the Pentateuch, called also Targum Babli , i. The Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch, called also Targum Jerushalmi , i. The ‘Fragment Targum’ to the Pentateuch. ...
To come now to a brief description of these Targums:...
The Targum of Onkelos is the oldest of all the Targums that have come down to us; it is for the most part a literal translation of the Pentateuch, only here and there assuming the form of a paraphrase. The name of this Targum owes its origin to a passage in the Babylonian Talmud ( Megillah , 3 a ), in which it is said: ‘The Targum to the Pentateuch was composed by the proselyte Onkelos at the dictation of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua’; and in the Jerusalem Talmud ( Megillah , 71 c ) it is said: ‘Aquila the proselyte translated the Pentateuch in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua. Seeing that this Targum rests on tradition, it will be clear that we have in it an ancient witness to Jewish exegesis; indeed, it is the earliest example of Midrashic tradition that we possess; and not only so, but as this Targum is mainly a translation, it is a most important authority for the pre-Massoretic text of the Pentateuch. ” ’...
The other Targum to the Pentateuch, the Targum Jerushalmi , has come down to us in two forms: one in a complete form, the other only in fragments, hence the name of the latter which is generally used, the ‘Fragment Targum. ’ This latter is sometimes erroneously called the ‘Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch’; but though this Jonathan was believed to be the author of the Targum to the Prophets which bears his name (see below), there was not the slightest ground for ascribing to him the authorship of the Targum to the Pentateuch (‘Targum Jerushalmi’). ]'>[3] ,’ which of course stood for ‘Jerushalmi,’ was taken to refer to ‘Jonathan,’ the generally acknowledged author of the Targum to the Prophets; thus it came about that this Targum to the Pentateuch, as well as the Targum to the Prophets, was called the Targum of Jonathan
Exodus, Book of - ...
The authorship of this book, as well as of that of the other books of the Pentateuch, is to be ascribed to Moses
Cainan - This is commonly called the 'second' Cainan (because of the earlier one mentioned in Luke 3:37 ) and is remarkable in that it does not occur in the Hebrew, Samaritan Pentateuch, Vulgate, Syriac, nor Arabic texts in Genesis 10:24 ; Genesis 11:12 ; 1 Chronicles 1:18 ; but it is in the LXX, from which it may have found its way into the gospel of Luke, unless, as some suppose, it was added in the later copies of the LXX because of being found in Luke
Septuagint - ) says that, before Demetrius, others had made a translation of the Pentateuch and Joshua (the history of the going forth from Egypt, etc. ; the Pentateuch alone at first; these are the main facts well established. ...
The Pentateuch is the best part of the version, being the first translated; the other books betray increasing degeneracy of the Hebrew manuscripts, with decay of Hebrew learning. In Genesis 4:8 Septuagint has "and Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the plain" or "field" (so Samaritan Pentateuch); but Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Targum of Onkelos agree with our Hebrew
Septuagint - ...
It is not a little remarkable that the Samaritans have traditions in favour of their version of the Pentateuch, equally extravagant with these preserved by the Jews. In the Samaritan chronicle of Abul Phatach, which was compiled in the fourteenth century from ancient and modern authors, both Hebrew and Arabic, there is a story to the following effect: that Ptolemy Philadelphus, in the tenth year of his reign, directed his attention to the difference subsisting between the Samaritans and Jews concerning the law, the former receiving only the Pentateuch, and rejecting every other work ascribed to the prophets by the Jews. Although there is no doubt but that some truth is concealed under this load of fables, yet it is by no means an easy task to discern the truth from what is false: the following, however, is the result of our researches concerning this celebrated version:—...
It is probable that the seventy interpreters, as they are called, executed their version of the Pentateuch during the joint reigns of Ptolemy Lagus and his son Philadelphus. It is well known, that, at the period above noticed, there was a great number of Jews settled in Egypt, particularly at Alexandria: these, being most strictly observant of the religious institutions and usages of their forefathers, had their sanhedrim or grand council composed of seventy or seventy-two members, and very numerous synagogues, in which the law was read to them on every Sabbath; and as the bulk of the common people were no longer acquainted with Biblical Hebrew, the Greek language alone being used in their ordinary intercourse, it became necessary to translate the Pentateuch into Greek for their use. This fact, if it could be proved, for it is offered as a mere conjecture, would account for the story of the king of Egypt's sending an embassy to Jerusalem: there is, however, one circumstance which proves that, in executing this translation, the synagogues were originally in contemplation, namely, that all the ancient writers unanimously concur in saying that the Pentateuch was first translated. The five books of Moses, indeed, were the only books read in the synagogues until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria; who having forbidden that practice in Palestine, the Jews evaded his commands by substituting for the Pentateuch the reading of the prophetic books. The best qualified and most able among them was the translator of the Pentateuch, who was evidently master of both Greek and Hebrew: he has religiously followed the Hebrew text, and has in various instances introduced the most suitable and best chosen expressions. From the very close resemblance subsisting between the text of the Greek version, and the text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Louis De Dieu, Selden, Whiston, Hassencamp, and Bauer, are of opinion that the author of the Alexandrian version made it from the Samaritan Pentateuch. This hypothesis, however ingenious and plausible, is by no means determinate; and what militates most against it is, the inveterate enmity subsisting between the Jews and Samaritans, added to the constant and unvarying testimony of antiquity, that the Greek version of the Pentateuch was executed by Jews. There is no other way by which to reconcile these conflicting opinions than by supposing either that the manuscript used by the Egyptian Jews approximated toward the letters and text of the Samaritan Pentateuch, or that the translators of the Septuagint made use of manuscripts written in ancient characters. Next to the Pentateuch, for ability and fidelity of execution, ranks the translation of the book of Proverbs, the author of which was well skilled in the two languages: Michaelis is of opinion that, of all the books of the Septuagint, the style of the Proverbs is the best, the translator having clothed the most ingenious thoughts in as neat and elegant language as was ever used by a Pythagorean sage, to express his philosophical maxims
Hilkiah - Some have supposed that this "book" was nothing else than the original autograph copy of the Pentateuch written by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:9-26 )
Cainan - For no Hebrew manuscript has it, nor the Samaritan Pentateuch, Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate versions from the Hebrew
Deuteronomy - from δευτερος , second, and νομος ; law; the last book of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses
Num'Bers, - the fourth book of the law or Pentateuch. --This, like the other books of the Pentateuch, is supposed by many critics to consist of a compilation from two or three or more earlier documents; but the grounds on which this distinction of documents rests are in every respect most unsatisfactory, and it may, in common with the preceding books and Deuteronomy, be regarded as the work of Moses
Mosaic Legislation - A body of civil,moral, and religious enactments, found in the last four Books of the Pentateuch and ascribed to Moses by an unbroken Jewish and Christian tradition
Sadducees - It is said also, that they rejected the Bible, except the Pentateuch; denied predestination; and taught, thet God had made man absolute master of all his actions, without assistance to good, or restraint from evil
Lamb (Male) - ” The word occurs 107 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, and especially in the Pentateuch
Chapter - The Pentateuch was divided by the ancient Hebrews into 54 Parshioth Or sections, one of which was read in the synagogue every Sabbath day ( Acts 13:15 )
Versions, Ancient, of the Old And New Testaments, - ...
The Targums were originally oral, and the earliest Targum, which is that of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, began to be committed to writing about the second century of the Christian era; though if did not assume its present shape till the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century. Targum of Jonathan ben-Uzziel and Jerushalmi-Targum on the Pentateuch . --Onkelos and Jonathan on the Pentateuch and prophets, whatever be their exact date, place, authorship and editorship, are the oldest of existing Targums, and belong in their present shape, to Babylon and the Babylonian academies flourishing between the third and fourth centuries A. It may be that as a Samaritan he made this version for some of that people who employed Greek, and who had learned to receive more than the Pentateuch. --[3] SLAVONIC VERSION, --In A
Francis Gasquet - The first volume, the Book of Genesis, had been published, and the second volume, comprising the rest of the Pentateuch, was in press when he died
Congregation - CONVOCATION, qaahaal (restricted to the Pentateuch, except Isaiah 1:13)
Gasquet, Francis Aidan - The first volume, the Book of Genesis, had been published, and the second volume, comprising the rest of the Pentateuch, was in press when he died
Deuteronomy - Or the repetition of the law, the fifth book of the Pentateuch, so called by the Greeks, because in it Moses recapitulates what he had ordained in the preceding books, Deuteronomy 1:1-6 29:1 31:1 33:1-29
ex'Odus - (that is, going out [1]), the second book of the law or Pentateuch
Mosiac Law - The five books of Moses called the Pentateuch, are frequently styled, by way of emphasis, the law
Samaritan Pentateuch - ,1755) and Gesenius (Pentateuch Samaritan, etc. Kirchhelm observes that, in difficult readings where probably the copyist after Ezra, in transcribing from the old Samaritan characters into the modern square Hebrew letters, mistook Samaritan letters of similar form, our Samaritan Pentateuch has the same text as the Hebrew; therefore the Samaritan must be copied from a Hebrew not a Samaritan manuscript. The Samaritan jealousy of the worship at Jerusalem, and of the house of David, which are commended in all the other Old Testament books except Judges, Joshua, and Job, accounts for their confining their Scriptures to the Pentateuch. 11:8, section 2,4) at the founding of the temple on Mount Gerizim, for which theory are urged the idolatry of the Samaritans before they received an Israelite priest through Esarhaddon (2 Kings 17:24-33) and the great number of readings common to Septuagint and Samaritan against the Masoretic Hebrew text; or...
(3) that Esarhaddon's priest took the Pentateuch to Samaria with him. The Samaritan characters of the Samaritan Pentateuch differ not only from the square Hebrew, but from those generally known as Samaritan
Sadducees - " Besides their reasonable denial of an oral law, which the Pharisees maintained was transmitted by Moses, the Sadducees denied the resurrection because it is not explicitly stated in Moses' Pentateuch, the legislator's sanctions of the law being primarily temporal rewards and punishments (Exodus 20:12; Exodus 23:25-26; Deuteronomy 7:12-15; 1618104641_51; Deuteronomy 28:15-68). Job (Job 19:26), Isaiah (Isaiah 26:19), Daniel (Daniel 12:2), and David (Psalm 16; Psalm 17) express the same faith, the germ of which is in the Pentateuch (See RESURRECTION. In Acts 23:8 "the Sadducees" are said to disbelieve in "angel or spirit"; but angels are often introduced in the Pentateuch, which the Sadducees admitted (Genesis 16:7; Genesis 19:1; Genesis 22:11; Genesis 28:12; Exodus 23:20; Numbers 22:23); and Josephus and the Mishna do not mention their disbelief of angels. ...
The Sadducees, though giving paramount authority to Moses' Pentateuch, did not as Epiphanius asserts (Haer
Sep'Tuagint - the Pentateuch) alone was translated at first. Thus the character of the version varies much in the several books, those of the Pentateuch are the best. In the major prophets (probably translated nearly 100 years after the Pentateuch) some of the most important prophecies are sadly obscured
Genesis - The first book of the Pentateuch (q
Pentecost - They hear an oration in praise of the law, and read from the Pentateuch and prophets lessons which have a relation to this festival, and accommodate their prayers to the same occasion
Targum - The principal ones are the Pentateuch by Onkelos, and the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and the Prophets (except Daniel), by Jonathan Ben Uzziel. ...
As an illustration Genesis 22:10-13 is quoted from the Pentateuch of Onkelos, and from the one known as the Pseudo-Jonathan
Torah - (toh' ruh) Hebrew word normally translated “law” which eventually became a title for the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. Eventually the name Torah came to be applied to the entire Pentateuch, the five books traditionally ascribed to Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. See Law; Pentateuch
Congregation - ” The noun mô‛êd appears in the Old Testament 223 times, of which 160 times are in the Pentateuch. These festivals were clearly prescribed in the Pentateuch. The fact that the tent was called the “tent of meeting” signifies that Israel’s God was among His people and that He was to be approached at a certain time and place that were “fixed” (ya’ad) in the Pentateuch
Jubilee - Nothing could have produced this conviction but the experience of miraculous interposition such as the Pentateuch describes. The very existence of this law is a standing monument that when it was given the Mosaic miracles were fully believed; moreover this law, in the Pentateuch which the Jews always have received as written by Moses, is coeval with the witnesses of the miracles: therefore the reality of the Mosaic miracles is undeniable (Graves, Pentateuch, 6)
Gemara - The rabbins call the Pentateuch the law, without any addition
Law - The word is properly used, in Scripture as elsewhere, to express a definite commandment laid down by any recognized authority; but when the word is used with the article, and without any words of limitation, it refers to the expressed will to God, and in nine cases out of ten to the Mosaic law, or to the Pentateuch of which it forms the chief portion
Old Testament - Of the documents which directly bear upon the history of the Hebrew text, the earliest two are the Samaritan copy of the Pentateuch and the Greek translation of the LXX. [2] In the (translations of Aquila and the other Greek interpreters, the fragments of whose works remain to us in the Hexapla, we have evidence of the existence of a text differing but little from our own; so also (in the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan. The care of the Talmudic doctors for the text is shown by the pains with which they counted no the number of verses in the different books and computed which were the middle verses, words and letters in the Pentateuch and in the Psalms. The synagogue rolls contain separate from each other, the Pentateuch, the Haphtaroth or appointed sections of the prophets, and the so-called Megilloth, viz. 1), a Pentateuch roll, unpointed, brought from Derbend in Daghestan, appears by the subscription to have been written previous to A. At Bologna, there subsequently appeared in 1482, the Pentateuch, in folio, pointed, with the Targum and the commentary of Rashi; and the five Megilloth (Ruth--Esther), in folio with the commentaries of Rashi and Aben Ezra
Text, Versions, And Languages of ot - The Samaritan Pentateuch . Before passing from the evidence of Hebrew MSS we have to note that for the Pentateuch, though unfortunately for the Pentateuch only, we have the invaluable assistance of a Hebrew text representing an entirely different recension. This is the Samaritan Pentateuch . The Samaritan Pentateuch is a form of the Hebrew text which has been perpetuated by the Samaritans. The available MSS of the Samaritan Pentateuch are considerably later than the earliest Massoretic MSS; nor is it probable that the copy at Nâblus, though perhaps the earliest Samaritan MS in existence, is earlier than the 12th or 13th cent. No thoroughly critical edition of the Samaritan Pentateuch at present exists. Thanks to a recent discovery, we have a further witness to a fragment of the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch. and there is a Syriac MS of the greater part of the Pentateuch of the date a. The earliest part of this version, namely, the translation of the Pentateuch, goes back to the 3rd century b. The earliest (as is most generally believed) and least paraphrastic of these versions is the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch; it does not appear to have been committed to writing before the 5th cent. Far more paraphrastic is the Targum of the Pentateuch known as the Targum of Jonathan , or the Jerusalem Targum . Fragments of yet a third Targum of the Pentateuch survive, and are known as the 2nd Jerusalem Targum . ’ There is an English translation of the Targums of the Pentateuch by Etheridge (2 vols. The character of the version differs in different books, being literal in the Pentateuch and Job, paraphrastic for example in Chronicles and Ruth
Leviticus - The third book in the Pentateuch; called Leviticus, because it contains principally the laws and regulations relating to the Levites, priests, and sacrifices
Jehovah - , the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, or in the New Testament
Haggadah, Halakah - ...
Halakah according to the early rabbis goes back to oral law given to Moses at Sinai along with the written law (Torah ) embodied in the Bible primarily found in the Pentateuch
Canon of Scripture - the Pentateuch or five books of Moses, is the groundwork of the whole
Inn - In the times of the Pentateuch they were not buildings but resting places where tents might be spread near water and pasture (Exodus 4:24; Genesis 42:27)
Jasher - In this respect, and in its being uninspired or at least not preserved as part of our inspired canon, this book differs from the Pentateuch; both alike record successively the exploits of Jeshurun, the ideally upright nation
Bardaisan, Syrian Theologian - His reception of the Pentateuch, which he seemed to contradict, is expressly attested, and there is no reason to suppose that he rejected the ordinary faith of Christians as founded on the Gospels and the writings of the apostles, except on isolated points
Quails - There can be no doubt that the Hebrew word in the Pentateuch (Exodus 16:13 ; Numbers 11:31,32 ) and in the 105th Psalm, denotes the common quail, Coturnix dactylisonans
Biblical Commission - ...
Moses must be held to be the author of the Pentateuch, though it was conceded that he might have used secretaries in the actual writing, who wrote under his guidance and whose work was approved by Moses and published under his name. It may also be held that Moses made use of earlier documents or oral traditions and that various additions and minor modifications were later introduced into the Pentateuch either intentionally or through error
Samaritans - Moreover, they rejected all the sacred books of the Jews except the Pentateuch. They have a copy of the Pentateuch, professedly made by Abishua the son of Phinehas, 1400 years before Christ
Gen'Esis - (origin ), the first book of the law or Pentateuch, so called from its title ia the Septuagint, that is, Creation . In the common editions of the Bible the Pentateuch occupies about one hundred and fifty pages, of which perhaps ten may be taken up with quotations
Numbers, Book of - ...
This, like the other books of the Pentateuch, bears evidence of having been written by Moses
Tal'Mud - It was an article of faith that in the Pentateuch there was no precept, and no regulation, ceremonial, doctrinal or legal, of which God had not given to Moses all explanations necessary for their application, with the order to transmit them by word of mouth
Deuteronomy - [1]
Sad'Ducees - Some of the early Christian writers attribute to the Sadducees the rejection of all the sacred Scriptures except the Pentateuch ; a statement, however, that is now generally admitted to have been founded on a misconception of the truth, and it seems to have arisen from a confusion of the Sadducees with the Samaritans. To attempt to chock the progress of this new religion among the Jews by an appeal to the temporary rewards and punishments of the Pentateuch would have been as idle as an endeavor to check an explosive power by ordinary mechanical restraints
Leviticus - There is no break between these books, because what we call the five books of Moses (or the Pentateuch) were originally one book (see Pentateuch)
Biblical Criticism - In 1678 Richard Simon, a French priest, arguing from variations in style and from the lack of harmony in parallel passages in the Pentateuch, suggested that these books could not have been the work of Moses alone. This conjecture was elaborated and extended to the whole Pentateuch by Eichhorn in 1780-1783; in 1853Hupfeld distinguished four documents in the Pentateuch, none of them by Moses. Out of this documentary theory later radical critics, notably Graf and Wellhausen, evolved the Development Hypothesis; this makes the Pentateuch a "patchwork quilt" of many documents representing different periods in the history of Jewish religion from the 9th to the 7th century B
Criticism - We come to more intelligible positions in Ewald, the first edition of whose History of Israel appeared in 1843 52, and contained criticism of authorities, four of which he distinguished in the Pentateuch. Graf (1866), following hints of Reuss, dropped in the lecture-room, but never published by that cautious scholar, put forth the hypothesis which became the basis of the subsequently developed theory of the early history of Israel, and thus gave rise to the phrase ‘the Grafian hypothesis,’ according to which the Priestly legislation of the Pentateuch came later than Deuteronomy, and was only incorporated with the earlier work of the Deuteronomist after the Exile. Meanwhile Colenso was working at the historical difficulties of the Pentateuch, and he was followed by Kuenen, whose Religion of Israel (1869 70) drew attention to the great 8th cent. prophets as affording the true basis of that religion, rather than the Pentateuch which is later in date, and the references of which to earlier times can be best appreciated after a study of the prophets
Scriptures - Now the Jews read the Pentateuch once in every year, divided into 54 parashas or "sections": and parts only of the "prophets", haphtaroth) , shorter lessons read by a single individual, whereas the parasha is distributed among seven readers
Septuagint, the - Some parts are found to be a better translation than others, the Pentateuch being considered the best, and the historical parts better than the poetical, except the Psalms and the Proverbs
Book - It is used in referring to "books" of Scripture, the "book," or scroll, of Matthew's Gospel, Matthew 1:1 ; the Pentateuch, as the "book" of Moses, Mark 12:26 ; Isaiah, as "the book of the words of Isaiah," Luke 3:4 ; the Psalms, Luke 20:42 ; Acts 1:20 ; "the prophets," Acts 7:42 ; to "the Book of Life," Philippians 4:3 ; Revelation 3:5 ; 20:15
Inherit - ” This noun is used frequently (220 times), but mainly in the Pentateuch and Joshua. The usage of nachălâh in the Pentateuch and Joshua indicates that the word often denotes that “possession” which all of Israel or a tribe or a clan received as their share in the Promised Land
Old Testament - " The Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch are the oldest documents with which to criticize our Hebrew text. Gesenius has shown the inferiority of the Samaritan text to our Hebrew Pentateuch:...
(1) it substitutes common for unusual grammatical forms;...
(2) it admits glosses into the text;...
(3) it emends difficult passages, substituting easier readings;...
(4) it corrects and adds words from parallel passages;...
(5) it interpolates from them;...
(6) it removes historical and other difficulties of the subject matter;...
(7) Samaritanisms in language;...
(8) passages made to agree with the Samaritan theology. " The Samaritans certainly did not receive their Pentateuch from the Israelite northern kingdom, for they have not received the books of Israel's prophets, Hosea, Jonah, Amos. Being pagan, they probably had the Pentateuch first introduced among them from Judah by Manasseh and other priests who joined them at the time of the building of the Mount Gerizim temple. ...
The Talmudic doctors counted the verses in each book, and which was the middle verse, word, and letter in the Pentateuch, and in the psalms, marking it by a large letter or one raised above the line (Leviticus 11:42; Psalms 80:14). The small number in the Pentateuch, 43, is due to the greater care bestowed on the law as compared with the other Scriptures. Synagogue rolls contain separately the Pentateuch, the haphtaroth (literally, "dismissals," being read just before the congregations departed) or sections of the prophets, and the megilloth , namely, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther: all without vowels, accents, and sophpasuks. The Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch agree in the easier reading of Deuteronomy 32:5, "they (belong) not to Him, children of spot" (defilement); compare Ephesians 5:7; but the Hebrew text is intelligible, "they are not His children, but their blemish," i
Deuteronomy, the Book of - " The Samaritans, who received the Pentateuch alone, must have drawn their expectation of the all-revealing Messiah from it: "when He is come He will tell us all things," answering to "I will put My words in His mouth . The coincidences of Moses' song with other parts of the Pentateuch and of Deuteronomy confirm its genuineness. The falsity of the theory that Deuteronomy is of a later age is proved by the fact that the archaisms of vocabulary and grammar characterizing the Pentateuch occur in Deuteronomy. The demonstrative pronoun haeel , characteristic of the Pentateuch, occurs Deuteronomy 4:42; Deuteronomy 7:22; Deuteronomy 19:11, and nowhere else but in the Aramaic (1 Chronicles 20:8 and Ezra 5:15). But if it was the whole Pentateuch put by the Levites, at Moses' command, in the sides of the ark (Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:26; 2 Chronicles 34:14), still Deuteronomy was the part that mainly awakened the conscience of king and people (Deuteronomy 12:2-3; Deuteronomy 12:16; Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 29:25-27; compare 2 Kings 22:13-17; 2 Kings 22:23). The writer of Deuteronomy, if a forger, would never, having the rest of the Pentateuch before him, have left apparent discrepancies between his work and it, when desiring his work to appear as if by the same author
Ebionites - They received nothing of the Old Testament but the Pentateuch
Moriah - ) What Jehovah has made one see (this hophal mowreh occurs four times in the Pentateuch, nowhere in later books) "the vision of Jehovah"
Camp - ” This noun derived from the verb chanah occurs 214 times in the Bible, most frequently in the Pentateuch and in the historical books
Hilkiah - The expression "the book of the law," not a book of laws, must refer to the well known book, the Pentateuch, not to some book then coming to light for the first time. The intimate acquaintance with both its words and truths which the psalmists and prophets long before Josiah's time display establishes the certainty of the Pentateuch's prior existence and of its being the basis of their inspired utterances. Deuteronomy, the repetition of the law in a summary, was the leading portion read, just as at the reading in the feast of tabernacles every seventh year, the year of release, not the whole Pentateuch but lessons from it day by day were read (Nehemiah 8:18; Nehemiah 9:3-5, etc
Ezekiel, Book of - " ...
Ezekiel is singular in the frequency with which he refers to the Pentateuch (e
Eldad - In the sense only that Moses' Pentateuch is the basis of all subsequent prophecy, the psalms and the prophets, it is true
Seir, Mount - "mountain") is the name for Mount Seir in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Jerusalem targum
Naz'Arite, - There is no notice in the Pentateuch of Nazarites for life; but the regulations for the vow of a Nazarite of days are given
Amos - He assumes his readers' knowledge of the Pentateuch, and that the people's religious ritual (excepting the golden calves) accords with the Mosaic law, an incidental confirmation of the truth of the Pentateuch
Consecrate, Consecration - τελειοῦν τὰς χεῖρας is frequently used in the Septuagint , but only in the Pentateuch (Exodus 29:9; Exodus 29:29; Exodus 29:33; Exodus 29:35 161810464124 Leviticus 8:33; Leviticus 16:32, Numbers 3:3), to translate the obscure Hebrew phrase millç’ yâd = ‘fill the hand,’ i. Elsewhere in the Pentateuch and Historical Books (once in Ezekiel [3]) parts of πληρόω, ἐμπίπλημι, πίπλημι are employed
Genesis - They were divided into their present form for convenience, and collectively are known as the Pentateuch (meaning ‘five volumes’). The books are also commonly referred to as the books of Moses, because Moses has traditionally been regarded as the author (see Pentateuch)
Phylacteries, Frontlets - In each of the four compartments of the former was placed a narrow strip of parchment, also from the skin of a ‘clean’ animal, having carefully written on it one of the Pentateuch passages which were regarded as the Scripture warrant for the institution of the phylacteries (see § 4 ). ...
We conclude, then, that the Pentateuch writers really intended by these metaphors to impress upon God’s people that His word was to be to them a treasure more precious than any jewel. This was no doubt due to the fact that some of the most influential Jewish exegetes still frankly maintained the figurative interpretation of the cardinal passages of the Pentateuch
Jephthah - The marked agreement of Jephthah's appeal with the Pentateuch account proves his having that record before him; compare Judges 11:17; Judges 11:19-22 agreeing almost verbatim with Numbers 20:1; Numbers 21:21-25. ...
The Pentateuch omitted this as having no direct bearing on Israel's further course. to Israel's appointed possession), including a portion formerly belonging to Moab and Ammon, but wrested from them by Sihon (Numbers 21:26; Numbers 21:28-29); for Joshua 13:25-26 shows that Sihon's conquests must have included, besides the Moabite land mentioned in the Pentateuch, half the Ammonite land E. " He showed in his message to Ammon his knowledge of the Pentateuch, therefore he must have known that a human sacrifice was against the spirit of the worship of Jehovah
Hospitality - ...
The Pentateuch contains specific commands for the Israelites to love the strangers as themselves (Leviticus 19:33-34 ; Deuteronomy 10:18-19 ), and to look after their welfare (Deuteronomy 24:17-22 )
Philistines - They are, however, not noticed among the Canaanitish tribes mentioned in the Pentateuch
Samuel, Books of, - On the other hand, it could hardly have been written later than the reformation of Josiah, since it seems to have been composed at a time when the Pentateuch was not acted on as the rule of religious observances, which received a special impetus at the finding of the Book of the Law at the reformation of Josiah
Kinsman-Redeemer - Male relative who, according to various laws found in the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act for a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need of vindication
Among - This word is used 222 times in the Old Testament; it is predominant in the Pentateuch (especially Deuteronomy) but is rare in the historical books (apart from the early books, Joshua and Judges)
Antediluvians - The ages of the antediluvians are reported somewhat differently in the Hebrew Bible (Masoretic Text), the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint)
Chronology - There is however one great difficulty in the variations of the Hebrew text from the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint. It is difficult to see why the Hebrew text should be abandoned; and if it were, what superior claim would the LXX have over the Samaritan Pentateuch?...
A summary of the several periods is added, with a few notes and references to the scriptures
Crimes And Punishments - ]'>[3] , the great collection of laws known as the Priests’ Code, and comprising the rest of the legislative material of the Pentateuch. ...
The penal offences of the Pentateuch may be conveniently grouped under the three heads of crimes against J″ Samaritans - They have an ancient MS called the SAMARITAN Pentateuch (q
Shiloh (1) - However, (as sh for the relative pronoun 'asher is unknown in the Pentateuch, and "it (huw' ) is due," namely, the sceptre, would be needed), "the Peacemaker" is best, and so our Hebrew text requires as it has the yod[1]
Gracious, To Be; Show Favor - The Hebrew noun chên occurs 69 times, mainly in the Pentateuch and in the historical books through Samuel
Babel - This writer then goes on to show, that the chronology of the Samaritan Pentateuch reconciles every date, and surmounts every difficulty. All of which also will come within the life of Peleg, who, according to the Samaritan Pentateuch, died in the year 640
Bible - The Law (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses
Josiah - While this work was being carried on, Hilkiah, the high priest, discovered a roll, which was probably the original copy of the law, the entire Pentateuch, written by Moses
Family - …”...
The noun mishpachah is used predominantly in the Pentateuch (as many as 154 times in Numbers) and in the historical books, but rarely in the poetical literature (5 times) and the prophetical writings
Septuagint - He printed the whole of the Pentateuch in five parts follo; and lately edited the prophecy of Daniel according to Theodotian and the LXX
Chronology - ...
As to the patriarchal period, there are three principal systems of chronology: (1) that of the Hebrew text, (2) that of the Septuagint version, and (3) that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, as seen in the scheme on the opposite page
Amalek, Amalekites - The battle which ensued produced such a profound impression, that one of the few things which the Pentateuch claims that Moses wrote is the ban of Jahweh upon Amalek ( Exodus 17:14 )
Law - besides the Pentateuch
Reproach - It is rare in the Pentateuch and in the historical books
Wall - ” It is rare in the Pentateuch, in the historical books, and in the poetical books
Throne - It is rare in the Pentateuch
Circumcise - Most of the occurrences in the Old Testament take place in the Pentateuch (20 times) and Joshua (8 times)
Josiah - This was, probably, a copy of the Pentateuch, which had been lodged there for security by some pious priest in the reign of Ahaz or Manasseh
Law - The Pentateuch was probably "the law," a copy of which every king was to transcribe for himself and study, and which was to be made known to young and old, in public and in private, Deuteronomy 6:7 17:18,19 31:9-19,26
Genesis, the Book of - Genesis is the first of the five parts of the Pentateuch, the grand subject of which is the setting up of the theocratic kingdom, Israel, amidst the nations as the repository of the divine promise until its fulfillment in Messiah, who should be a "light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of His people Israel. The larger sections have subdivisions carefully marked (the Jewish perashiym or sections of the Pentateuch, as our chapters, often obscure the true divisions). ...
The names of God occurring are: ΕL , the shortened form of ΕLΟΗΙΜ ; ΕLΙΟΝ , "Most High" (only in Genesis 14:18 ΕL ΕLΙΟΝ , but in Psalms found alone, and with ΕLΟΗΙΜ and JEHOVAH Υahweh ); and SΗΑDDΑΙ "Almighty," in the Pentateuch generally with EL, The plural is that of excellence and majesty; Elohim combining in Himself the several attributes assigned to distinct gods by the pagan false gods as well as to the true God; and is the word used where pagan people, as the Egyptians, or foreigners, as Hagar, Eliezer of Damascus, the Egyptians, etc
Joshua - But Genesis, which recounts only the origins of the nation to which the Torah was delivered, was included in the Pentateuch; Joshua, which relates the conquest of the land where the Torah was to be practised, was excluded. Jewish tradition worked with criteria of which we are ignorant, but in separating Joshua from the Pentateuch it may have recognized the presence of different documents. ...
Modern criticism has insisted on connecting the book more closely with the Pentateuch, on the ground that, since all the Pentateuch documents look forward to the fulfilment of Jahweh’s promise of Palestine, Joshua, which relates the conquest, is a necessary sequel. ]'>[2] take a character and range wholly unlike those which characterize this document throughout the Pentateuch; on the other, it is still a subject of debate whether the section owes its final form to a Deuteronomic or a Priestly editor, D Samaria, Samaritans - —The basis of the Samaritan religion is the Pentateuch, as they read and understand it; and to this they have been as loyal as the Jews to their Law. The Pentateuch is their sole canonical book, and beyond its life they never seem to have passed. —The most ancient and important document the Samaritans possess is the (Hebrew-) Samaritan Pentateuch; and this they seem to have become possessed of at a very early date—indeed, before the Babylonian (אשורי) alphabet had supplanted the older Hebrew, for, like all the later books of this people, it is written in a character that is now peculiar to them,—the Samaritan alphabet,—but which in itself is nothing more or less than a cursive form of the old lapidary script of Hebrew, Phœnician, and Moabite. While the language of this recension of the Pentateuch is Hebrew, it supports in the matter of various readings rather the LXX Septuagint than the Massoretic Text , the number of agreements being not less than 2000, while in the ages of the patriarchs it differs from both the LXX Septuagint and the Massoretic Text . ...
The synagogue system, which among the Jews led to the formation of the Targums, was also the means of producing an Aramaic-Samaritan Pentateuch (תרגום שמרוני), which, however, Nöldeke dates at not earlier than the 4th cent. ]'>[18] Pentateuch, and in language it differs but little from the Palestinian Aramaic. Another dozen volumes are made up of commentaries on various portions of the Pentateuch text; and, although these also are written in Hebrew, they are usually accompanied by an Arabic translation. ...
So far as Manuscripts are concerned, the only one that, on account of its antiquity, merits our consideration is the jealously guarded Pentateuch roll in Nâblus
Moses - Moses as the author of the Pentateuch. the Pentateuch: Romans 10:5 (‘Moses writeth’); cf. The Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch was an assumption of Jewish tradition and, as such, seems to have been taken over by Jesus and His apostles without criticism of any sort. It is to be noted, however, that they attached no special importance to the belief that Moses himself wrote the Pentateuch
Samaritans - However, Manasseh gave them no other Scriptures beside the Pentateuch, lest, if they had the other Scriptures, they should then find that Jerusalem was the only place where they should offer their sacrifices. They have a Hebrew copy of the Pentateuch, differing in some respects from that of the Jews; and written in different characters, commonly called Samaritan characters; which Origen, Jerom, and other fathers and critics, ancient and modern, take to be the primitive character of the ancient Hebrews, though others maintain the contrary. The point of preference, as to purity, antiquity, &c, of the two Pentateuchs, is also much disputed by modern critics
Midrash - This was followed by the midrashim on the rest of the Pentateuch and the Five Scrolls (Megilloth)
Avenge - ” This root and its derivatives occur 87 times in the Old Testament, most frequently in the Pentateuch, Isaiah, and Jeremiah; occasionally it occurs in the historical books and the Psalms
Frontlets - prayers, for they were worn at prayer to typify sincerity, but others explain ligaments) were parchment strips, inscribed with Exodus 13:2-17; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 6:13-22 (by no means the most important passages in the Pentateuch, which fact is against the Jewish literalism), in prepared ink, rolled in a case of black PHYLACTERY
Witness - ” The 69 ouurrences of this word are scattered throughout the various biblical literary genres and periods although it does not appear in historical literature outside the Pentateuch
Tradition (2) - ’ The ‘tables of stone’ were understood to mean the Ten Commandments; ‘the law,’ the written prescriptions of the Pentateuch; ‘the commandments,’ the Mishna; ‘which I have written,’ the prophets and Hagiographa; ‘that thou mayest teach them,’ the Talmud (Berakh. The whole body of tradition together with the Prophets and Hagiographa, in fact the whole rule of faith with the exception of the Pentateuch, was called Kabbâlâh, that which is received
Gods - He, moreover, countenances the extension of the term ‘Law’ to other portions of the OT besides the Pentateuch. This was a common practice in the writings of the Jewish Rabbins, who spoke of ‘the threefold Law’—Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa (Shabbath, 88a)
Joshua, the Book of - Joshua is based on the Pentateuch (to which it is joined by the conjunction "now" or "and" at its beginning), "now" but distinct from it. ...
Keil gives a list of phrases and forms peculiar to this book and the Pentateuch, marking its composition in or near the same age
Phylacteries - It is disputed whether the passages in the Pentateuch are to be understood literally (so most of the Rabbinic writers, and Ginsburg in Kitto’s Cyclop. In the case of the head phylactery a similar box was prepared, but with four divisions, in which were placed in order, beginning from the left side, the four above named passages of the Pentateuch
Versions - (See OLD TESTAMENT; NEW TESTAMENT; SAMARITAN Pentateuch; and SEPTUAGINT. The portion read from the Pentateuch was called a parasha; that from the prophets, subsequently introduced, the haphtarah. Those extant are the Targum of Onkelos (or AQUILA, Smith's Bible Dictionary) on the Pentateuch (so named not because written by Aquila but because in Aramaic it did what Aquila aimed at in his Greek version, namely, to counteract the arbitrary corruptions of the Septuagint and to produce a translation scrupulously literal, for the benefit of those not knowing the original language); the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the first and last prophets, more probably of Rabbi Joseph the blind, in the middle of the fourth century, full of invectives against Rome (Isaiah 34:9 mentioning Armillus (Antichrist), Isaiah 10:4; Germany, Ezekiel 38:6); also his targum on the Pentateuch; the Targum of Jerusalem on parts of the Pentateuch
Philo - The first and largest deals with the Pentateuch under three heads: a short interpretation, a long allegorical commentary, and an exposition in systematic order (the second and third of these may be called, with O. To him Greek is his mother tongue; his Bible is the Greek translation of the Pentateuch. ...
From the Pythagoreans comes the symbolism of numbers, which finds ample support in the Pentateuch. in the Pentateuch, compared with which the books of the prophets, Psalms, and other books are of but secondary importance. -The most important point to note in Philo is his method of reading the above system into the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch by means of allegorical interpretation
Moses - "The man of God" in the title Psalm 90, for as Moses gave in the Pentateuch the key note to all succeeding prophets so also to inspired psalmody in that the oldest psalm. Besides the Pentateuch, the Prophets and Psalms and New Testament (Acts 7:9; Acts 7:20-38; 2 Timothy 3:8-9; Hebrews 11:20-28; Judges 1:9) give details concerning him. A proof of the genuineness of the Pentateuch is the absence of personal details which later tradition would have been sure to give. Had the Pentateuch been mythical, it would have attributed supernatural wonders to the first fathers of the church and founders of the race. The sustenance of 600,000 men besides women and children, 40 years, in a comparative desert could only be by miracle; as the Pentateuch records, they were fed with manna from heaven until they ate the grain of Canaan, on the morrow after which the manna ceased (Exodus 16; Joshua 5:12). Graves, Pentateuch, 1:1, section 5
Psalms - ...
The Psalter is divided, after the analogy of the Pentateuch, into five books, each closing with a doxology or benediction: ...
...
The first book comprises the first 41 psalms, all of which are ascribed to David except 1,2,10, and 33, which, though anonymous, may also be ascribed to him
Aaron - Delitzsch, The Pentateuch ; D
Masora - Their work regards merely the letter of the Hebrew text, in which they have first fixed the true reading by vowels and accents; they have, secondly, numbered not only the chapters and sections, but the verses, words, and letters of the text: and they find in the Pentateuch 5245 verses, and in the whole Bible 23, 206
Fable - This was added to and illustrated by the teaching of the Rabbis, and in course of time became a supplement to the written law of the Pentateuch-a supplement so ponderous that often the text was overlaid and almost buried in the commentary
Companion - 19:18)—receives reinforcement in the laws of the Pentateuch
Dispersion - Here the Jewish religion was maintained; prophets like Ezekiel and priests like Ezra sprang up, the old laws were studied and worked over, the Pentateuch elaborated, and from this centre Jews radiated to many parts of the East ( Nehemiah 1:1 ff
Moses - , called the Pentateuch, there are many proofs in scripture; such as "have ye not read in the book of Moses?" Mark 12:26 ; "If they hear not Moses and the prophets," Luke 16:31 ; Luke 24:27 ; "When Moses is read," 2 Corinthians 3:15 . It is plain, however, from the above and other passages that Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch, which is often called "the law of Moses
Poetry - The oldest portions of Old Testament history, namely, the Pentateuch, have the least of the poetical and imaginative element. But the earliest Hebrew Scriptures (the Pentateuch) have less of the poetic element than the later; so entirely has the divine Author guarded against the mythical admixture which is found in early heathen lays
Exodus, Book of - The books that we today refer to as the five books of Moses (or the Pentateuch) were originally one continuous volume. (For the authorship of Exodus see Pentateuch
Sinai - ’ Here Moses was granted the vision of the burning bush ( Exodus 3:1 ), whereby he first received a call to lead the Israelites to adopt Jahweh as their covenanted God; and here took place the tremendous theophany which is the central event of the Pentateuch, wherein the covenant was ratified
Targum - The Targum of Jerusalem is only upon the Pentateuch; nor is that entire or perfect
Brownists - Ainsworth, author of the learned Commentary on the Pentateuch
Aquila - ) ...
Several scholars of eminence have recently maintained that Aquila is to be identified not only with the Akilas of the Talmud, but also with Onkelos, whose name is associated with the well-known Targum on the Pentateuch; holding that the latter is merely an altered form of the name, and that the Chaldee version came to receive what is now its ordinary designation from its being drawn up on the model, or after the manner, of that of Aquila
Scriptures - ...
The Law consisted of the first five books of the Bible, commonly called the books of Moses (Mark 12:26; Acts 15:21; see Pentateuch)
Meat - " (Hengstenberg, Dissertation on the Pentateuch, ii
Book - The word is rare in the Pentateuch except for Deuteronomy (11 times)
Learning - To Christians were due the old Hexapla; and in later times Christians have published the Polyglots and the Samaritan Pentateuch
River; Wadi - ...
The Pentateuch consistently distinguishes between extra-Egyptian waterways (calling them nachal, 13 times, and nahar 13 times) and interEgyptian waterways (calling them ye’or)
Transgress - It is not found in the Pentateuch
High Place - ” The word is rarely used in the Pentateuch or in the poetic or prophetic literature
Synagogue - The shema ’ is the standing designation of three short sections of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (which opens with the word Shema ’ = ‘Hear,’ whence the name) Deuteronomy 11:13-21 , Numbers 15:37-41 . The five books were divided into 154 (or more) Sabbath pericopes or sections, so that the whole Pentateuch was read through in three years (or 3 1 / 2 years, half of a Sabbatic period). The unique position of the Law in the estimation of the time is shown by the fact that the Pentateuch lessons had to be translated a verse at a time, while the Prophets might he rendered three verses at a time
Fall of Man - As this, then, is the case, and the evidence of it lies upon the very face of the history, it is, clear, that if the account of the fall be excerpted from the whole narrative as allegorical, any subsequent part, from Abel to Noah, from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Moses, may be excerpted for the same reason, which reason is merely this, that it does not agree with the theological opinions of the interpreter; and thus the whole of the Pentateuch may be rejected history, and converted into fable. Either then the account of the fall must be taken as history, or the historical character of the whole five books of Moses must be unsettled; and if none but infidels will go to the latter consequence, then no one who admits the Pentateuch to be a true history generally, can consistently refuse to admit the story of the fall of the first pair to be a narrative of real events, because it is written in the same style, and presents the same character of a continuous record of events. So conclusive has this argument been felt, that the anti-literal interpreters have endeavoured to evade it, by asserting that the part of the history of Moses in question bears marks of being a separate fragment, more ancient than the Pentateuch itself, and transcribed into it by Moses, the author and compiler of the whole. For let it be admitted that Moses, in writing the Pentateuchal history, availed himself of the traditions of the patriarchal ages, a supposition not in the least inconsistent with his inspiration or with the absolute truth of his history, since the traditions so introduced have been authenticated by the Holy Spirit; or let it be supposed, which is wholly gratuitous, that he made use of previously existing documents; and that some differences of style in his books may be traced which serve to point out his quotations, which in a position that some of the best Hebraists have denied; yet two things are to be noted: first, that the inspired character of the books of Moses is authenticated by our Lord and his Apostles, so that they must necessarily be wholly true, and free from real contradictions; and, secondly, that to make it any thing to their purpose who contend that the account of the fall in an older document, introduced by Moses, it ought to be shown that it is not written as truly in the narrative style, even if it could be proved to be, in some respects, a different style, as that which precedes and follows it
Scripture - Still greater sanctity was given to the enlarged and more developed Law in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and from that time the whole Pentateuch, regarded as the Law given by God to Moses, is treated as especially sacred and authoritative
Calf, Golden - Deuteronomy 9:7-21 ), a chapter which belongs to the composite Prophetic source of the Pentateuch (JE Numbers, Book of - See Aaron ; Balaam ; Eleazer; Joshua ; Moses ; Pentateuch ; Holy War; Sacred Calendar; Tabernacle ; Tribal Confederation
Obedience - ...
The call to be obedient underlies two or more key verses of the Pentateuch
Adultery - " So the Samaritan Pentateuch reads Genesis 2:24, as it is quoted in Matthew 19:5
Amalekites - ) The descent of the Amalekites from Amalek, Esau's grandson, is favored also by the consideration that otherwise a people so conspicuous in Israel's history would be without specification of genealogy, contrary to the analogy of the other nations connected with Israel in the Pentateuch
Genesis, Book of - ) The theory of Moses having copied from various documents, is carried all through the Pentateuch, and with many it has issued in the very sad result of undermining the inspiration of scripture, and attributing to the Lord, when He speaks of Moses having written the law, the use of the common tradition though it was not true!...
Sin soon came in, and man, after hiding himself from God, was under sentence of death, and was driven out of Eden lest he should eat of the tree of life and live for ever in his sin
Wicked - It is rare in the Pentateuch and in the historical books
Deuteronomy - Concerning the authorship of the book and its relation to the previous four books see Pentateuch
Polychronius, Bishop of Apamea - The following have been ascribed to him: (1) Scholia on the Pentateuch in the catena of Nicephorus
Canon of the Old Testament - Under the influence of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Law ( Torah ) as in the Pentateuch was set apart as Holy Scripture; at some date prior to b. Pentateuch made canonical . Under the influence of these leaders the Pentateuch was made canonical ( Nehemiah 8:1-18 ; Nehemiah 9:1-38 ; Nehemiah 10:1-39 ). That this Canon included only the Torah is proved by the fact that the Samaritans, who were severed from Judaism shortly after Nehemiah’s time, never had any Canon beyond the Pentateuch
Commentary - Ainsworth on the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Song of Solomon. contain commentaries on the Pentateuch, Joshua, homilies on Samuel, sermons on Job, commentaries on Psalms, Isaiah, Evangelists, Acts, Paul's epistles, and the other Catholic epistles; an praelectiones on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets
Law - The consentient belief of the rival kingdoms northern Israel and Judah, the agreement in all essential parts between the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Pentateuch of the Jews who excommunicated the Samaritans as schismatics, accords with the divine origination of the Mosaic law. , in the Pentateuch the promise of the resurrection is by implication contained (Matthew 22:31-32)
Temple - The foundation for temple is laid in the Pentateuch. ...
The tent of the meeting in the Pentateuch, and the priestly tabernacle, is not, however, a projection (or retrojection!) of the temple, but an independent dwelling reflecting the life of Israel prior to settlement and the centralization of worship. ...
The paradoxical and symbolic nature of the temple is thus seen as the author(s) construct the parameters of temple theology: the transcendent deity graciously appears before his holy people in the place of his choosing, a dwelling symbolically rich by virtue of its ability to generate varied metaphoric associations (fire, cloud, tent, ark, and most especially "name" in the Pentateuch)
Baal (1) - For Moses to have used this argument was extremely natural but if a forger had asserted this at hazard, and put it in Moses' mouth it seems very strange that it is the only circumstance he should forget to notice in the direct narrative, and the only one he should notice in his reference to it (Graves, Pentateuch, 1:4)
Junilius, Quaestor of the Sacred Palace - The first class consists of (1) Historical Books: Pentateuch, Josh
Psalms, Book of - These divisions have been compared with the division of the Pentateuch into five books. ...
Outline The Book of Psalms is divided into five sections just as the Pentateuch has five books
Genesis - ...
Genesis has given rise to theories of the origin and compilation of the book and of the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible. See Pentateuch
Bible - ...
The first version of the Bible was that of the Septuagint into Greek, by order of that patron of literature, Ptolemy Philadelphus; though some maintain that the whole was not then translated, but only the Pentateuch; between which and the other books in the Septuagint version, the critics find a great diversity in point of style and expression, as well as of accuracy. In 1622, Erpenius printed an Arabic Pentateuch called also the Pentateuch of Mauritania, as being made by the Jews of Barbary, and for their use. Wilkins published the Coptic New Testament, in quarto, in 1716; and the Pentateuch also in quarto, in 1731, with Latin translations. at the end of the Pentateuch, W
Army - Five was a number regarded as inauspicious by the Egyptians, but honored by Israel; witness the five books of the Pentateuch, the Jubilee of fifty years
Ebal - The Samaritan Pentateuch reads "Gerizim "for Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:4) as the site of the altar and the plastered and law-inscribed stones; but all the Hebrew authorities are against it, and the site of the cursing is fitly the site of the altar where the penalty of the curse is borne by the typical victim
Colours - Associated with scarlet in the Priests’ Code of the Pentateuch are found two colours, ’argâmân rendered purple , and tĕkhçleth rendered blue
Israel in Egypt - " The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX add the words "and of their fathers in the land of Canaan;" but these words are not in the Arabic, Syriac, or Vulgate versions; and may therefore have been added to meet the apparent difficulty
Fasting - The word (tsum ) never occurs in the Pentateuch
Ark - The oldest Pentateuch sources (J Priest; Priesthood - More than one-third of the references to the “priests” are found in the Pentateuch
Remnant - Yet the idea may be found as early as the Pentateuch
Kill - ” This verb occurs more than 40 times in the Old Testament, and its concentration is in the Pentateuch
Moses - ...
Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, as it is called, or the first five books of the Bible
Punishments - There are altogether thirty six or thirty seven cases in the Pentateuch in which this formula is used
Joshua, Theology of - ...
Four theological themes appear in the descriptions of Joshua in the Pentateuch: Joshua's divine commission as leader of Israel, his military leadership, his allocation of the land, and his role in Israel's covenant with God. As a book that provides a transition from the Pentateuch and the lawgiving of Moses to the settled society and rule of the judges and the kings of Israel, this work presents a past ideal in which a leader like Moses brought the people into the promised land and proceeded on faith to lay claim to it
Stoning - The Pentateuch gives no details as to the manner in which the punishment was to be carried out. Death by stoning is the penalty prescribed in the Pentateuch for various offences against religion and morality
Angel - Indeed, the ancient Sadducees are represented as denying all spirits; and yet the Samaritans, and Caraites, who are reputed Sadducees, openly allowed them: witness Abusaid, the author of an Arabic version of the Pentateuch; and Aaron, a Caraite Jew, in his comment on the Pentateuch; both extant in manuscript in the king of France's library
Glory - ]'>[1] sections of the Pentateuch such representations are frequent (see Exodus 24:16-18 , Leviticus 9:8 etc
Jewish Parties in the New Testament - They opposed the oral law, accepting the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, as the ultimate authority
Bread - ” This noun occurs 54 times, all but 14 of them in the Pentateuch
Samaria, Samaritans - Their scriptures were limited to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible
Holy - ...
Qâdôsh is prominent in the Pentateuch, poetic and prophetic writings, and rare in the historical books
Bible - It is certain, however, that the five books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, were collected into one body within a short time after his death; since Deuteronomy, which is, as it were, the abridgment and recapitulation of the other four, was laid in the tabernacle near the ark, according to the order which he gave to the Levites, Deuteronomy 31:24 . Hence the first canon of the sacred writings consisted of the five books of Moses; for a farther account of which see Pentateuch. The original of the Pentateuch had been carefully preserved in the side of the ark, and had been probably introduced with the ark into the temple at Jerusalem. the Pentateuch or five books of Moses, called Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth , 1 & 2 Samuel , 1 & 2 Kings , 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah with his Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. About fifty years before the time of Christ were written the Targums of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and of Jonathan Ben-Uzziel on the Prophets; (according to the Jewish classification of the books of the Old Testament;) which are evidence of the genuineness of those books at that time
Bible - The ‘Prophets’ included not only the utterances ascribed to inspired teachers of Israel, but also the chief historical books later than the Pentateuch. gives us the completed Pentateuch or rather the Hexateuch, Joshua going with the 5 books of the Law, perhaps the latter part of the Deutero-Isaiah (51 60), Malachi, Books 1 and 2 of the Psalter. This may have been done by the Euphrates during the Exile, so that the Law-book brought up to Jerusalem would be the Pentateuch (or the Hexateuch), or it may have been after the Return, in which case the Law-book would be only P
Oral paraphrases, the Targums, or ‘interpretations,’ were made in Aramaic for the benefit of Palestinian Jews; but the earliest written paraphrase is that known as the Targum of Onkelos the official Targum of the Pentateuch the compilation of which in whole or part is assigned to the 2nd or 3rd cent
Psalms - Based on and corresponding to the historical Pentateuch, they form a poetical "Pentateuch" (Epiphanius, de Mens. The Psalms, like the Pentateuch, being used in divine worship, are the people's answer to God's address to them in the law, i. ...
Other scriptures of the Old Testament have corresponding scriptures in the New Testament The Pentateuch and Old Testament histories answer to the Gospels and Acts; Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the prophets to the epistles; the Song of Solomon and Daniel to Revelation
Talmud - the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses. ’ It was an article of faith that in the Pentateuch there was no precept and no regulation, ceremonial, doctrinal, or legal, of which God had not given to Moses all explanations necessary for their application, together with the order to transmit them by word of mouth. , of the Written Law, and embodies in itself the Oral Law, so the Talmud is an expansion, by means of comment and explanation, of the Mishna; as the Mishna contains the Pentateuch, with all the additional explanatory matter, so the Talmud contains the Mishna with a great deal more additional matter
mo'Ses - In the Pentateuch this period is a blank, but in the New Testament he is represented as "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and as "mighty in words and deeds. " Respecting the books of Moses, see Pentateuch
Tabernacles, the Feast of -
The following are the principal passages in the Pentateuch which refer to it: (Exodus 23:16 ; Leviticus 23:34-36 ; 39-43 ; Numbers 29:12-38 ; 16:13-15; 31:10-13) In Nehe 8, there is an account of the observance of the feast by Ezra
Nazarite - The Pentateuch lays down the rule only for a "Nazarite of days" as the Mishna terms it; "the Nazarite for perpetuity" appears only in the Scripture history
Bible, Inspiration of the - ...
Substantial portions of the Pentateuch are directly attributed to God
Gerizim - Gerizim was the true centre of the worship of Jehovah, rested upon a statement in their version of the Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 27:4 f
Ark of the Covenant - The mysterious origin of the ark is seen by contrasting the two accounts of how it was made in the Pentateuch
Antiochus - He was a friend of literature and art, and it is possible that under him the beginning was made for the Greek translation of the Pentateuch
Pharaoh - The Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is strikingly confirmed by the Egyptian words, titles, and names occurring in the Hebrew transcription
Separate - For example, the earliest use of nâzar in the Pentateuch is in Numbers, the Book of - The organic connection of Numbers with the Pentateuch, of which it forms part, involves the Mosaic authorship of the former if Moses was author of the rest of the Pentateuch
Bible, Texts And Versions - One is the Samaritan Pentateuch . Only in a few instances do scholars think that the Samaritan Pentateuch preserves readings superior to the Masoretic text
Korah - One manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch omits it
Leviticus - Wayyiqra' is the Hebrew name, from the initial word; the middle book of the Pentateuch
Hosea - The Pentateuch is the foundation of his prophecies
Levite - Pentateuch
Language - The Targum of Onkelos, that is, the translation of the Pentateuch into Chaldee, affords the next and purest specimen of that language
Sabbath - The Pentateuch presents us with but three applications of the general principle -- (Exodus 16:29 ; 35:3 ; Numbers 15:32-36 ) The reference of Isaiah to the Sabbath gives us no details
Education in Bible Times - Whereas the word torah can be used to refer to all Jewish beliefs, it generally refers to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
Thankfulness, Thanksgiving - Even the concept is rare in the Pentateuch
Statute, Ordinance - The primary use of chûqqâh is in the Pentateuch, especially in Leviticus and Numbers
Iniquity - The Pentateuch as a whole employs the word about 50 times
Psalms, the Book of - ...
The whole collection of the Psalms appears to have first existed in five books, after the example, perhaps, of the Pentateuch
Greek Versions of ot - the Pentateuch; and there is no reason to doubt that this was the first part of the OT to be translated, and that the other books followed at different times and from the hands of different translators. It is at its best in the Pentateuch, which was probably both the first and the most deliberately prepared portion of the translation. the Pentateuch; (ii) the Prophets, consisting of the Former Prophets (Jos
Exodus, the Book of - The same feature appears in subsequent books of the Pentateuch, his shrinking from self-vindication when assailed by Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12); his impetuous temper at the water of Meribah Kadesh, smiting the rock irreverently and hence excluded by God from the promised land. Cook, whose remarks are here epitomized, gives a list of words found only in Exodus, or in the Pentateuch, derived from roots common to Hebrew and Egyptian, or found only in Egyptian; and these occur indiscriminately in the so-called Jehovistic and Elohistic passages
Passover (i.) - ...
From the references outside of the Pentateuch little can be learnt as to the details of the celebration of this feast. on Pentateuch, esp
Violence - ...
The Pentateuch uses the term gazal [ Genesis 21:25 )
Appear, Appearance - While later rabbinic texts hold that a direct vision of God is reserved for the righteous in the age to come, the Pentateuch in particular recounts that God was visible (in various forms) at certain moments to certain people
Sea, the Salt, - In the topographical records of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua it forms one among the landmarks of the boundaries of the whole country, as well as of the inferior divisions of Judah and Benjamin
Punishment - Most crimes and punishments, however, were dealt with through Israel's judicial system, which is found in the Pentateuch
Atonement, Day of - , contributed to the final development of the institution as it now appears in the Pentateuch
Samaria - The Pentateuch was their sole code; for their copy they claimed an antiquity and authority above any Jewish manuscript Jewish renegades joined them; hence they began to claim Jewish descent, as the Samaritan woman (John 4:12) says "Jacob our father
Shechem (1) - Inscriptions from the Samaritan Pentateuch, of A
Judah, Kingdom of - God's great purpose did not fall in spite of Israel's and Judah's unfaithfulness, namely, to preserve in the world a standing monument of the unity, supremacy, and providence of Jehovah; this effect was perpetually and uniformly produced in all periods and by all events of the Jewish history, and to prepare for and introduce the gospel of Christ (Graves, Pentateuch, ii
Law - Hosea 8:12 ), tôrah came to signify such a collection; and ultimately the same word was used as a convenient and comprehensive term for the whole Pentateuch, in which all the most important legal collections were carefully included. On this basis the law of Israel rests, and in the Pentateuch we can distinguish the attempts made from time to time to apply their principles to the life of the people. All the evidence points to this book being practically identical with Deuteronomy; all the reforms which Josiah inaugurated were based upon laws practically indistinguishable from those we now possess in the Deuteronomic Code; in fact, no conclusion of historical or literary criticism has been reached more nearly approaching to absolute certainty than that the Book of the Law brought to light in 621 was none other than the fifth book of the Pentateuch
Bible - The Torah, or law, is mentioned as a book (including the five books of the Pentateuch) (Joshua 1:8; Joshua 8:31-35; Joshua 24:26). The Hebrew names of the five books of the Pentateuch are taken from the initial words of the several books
Language of Christ - The two principal Targums are (1) that on the Pentateuch, known as the Targum of Onkelos, which is characterized by its almost slavish literalism; and (2) that of Jonathan ben-Uzziel on the Prophets, i. The translation was required to be oral, the translator (מְהֻדְנְּבָן) giving his translation after each verse of the Pentateuch and every three verses of the Prophets
Prophet - Roeh , "seer," from raah "to see," was the term in Samuel's days (1 Samuel 9:9) which the sacred writer of 1 Samuel calls "beforetime"; but nabi was the term as far back as the Pentateuch, and roeh does not appear until Samuel's time, and of the ten times of its use in seven it is applied to Samuel. Chazon is used in the Pentateuch, Samuel, Chronicles, Job, and the prophets for a prophetic revelation
Chronology of the Old Testament - No doubt the authors of the Pentateuchal narratives thought themselves able to give the length of time which had elapsed from the creation of the world. The copy of the Pentateuch which circulated among the Samaritans has a still different system
Law, Ten Commandments, Torah - The first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) are known as books of the Law because they are based on the commandments which God revealed to Moses
Remnant - Canonically one may find language of remnant in the Pentateuch, in historical books (e
Septuagint - ...
The Alexandrian version embraced only the Pentateuch; and the letter of Aristeas professes no more
Interpretation - Paul and the author of Hebrews cite mainly from the Pentateuch
Agriculture - Agriculture, as is natural, bulks largely in the legislative codes of the Pentateuch
Bible, - The Pentateuch, or five books of Moses
Divorce (2) - Just as he has so arranged Matthew 5:16-20 as to represent Christ’s attitude to the Law to be that of the Rabbinical Jews, who regarded every letter of the Law as permanently valid, so here he has so shaped Christ’s teaching about divorce as to make it consonant with the permanent authority of the Pentateuch, and harmonious with the stricter school of Jewish theologians
Dead Sea Scrolls - It takes laws related by subject matter, but scattered throughout the Pentateuch, and brings them together to form a systematic code. In particular, it fills in the obvious gaps in the Pentateuch with detailed regulations concerning the temple and the king
Deuteronomy, Theology of - The fifth book of the Pentateuch is not merely a recasting of the Sinai covenant text and all its derivative materials, but a new and fresh statement of Yahweh's covenant purposes to a new generation in a new place with new prospects. This view not only denies the book's authorship to Moses but has given rise to modern documentary hypotheses as a whole with their source-critical theories concerning the composition of the Pentateuch
Holiness - ‘sanctify, the derived noun miqdâsh ‘sanctuary,’ qâdçsh qedçshâh ‘whore,’ ‘harlot’ occur in about 830 passages in OT, about 350 of which are in the Pentateuch
Idolatry - If the legislation embodied in the Pentateuch had all along been an acknowledged, even though a neglected, code, such a complete neglect of it during long periods, taken with the total silence about its distinctive features in the sayings and writings of the most enlightened and devoted men, would present phenomena quite inexplicable
Sadducees (2) - It is not, however, correct to say that the Sadducees acknowledged only the Pentateuch and rejected the rest of the OT
Nehemiah - The book was probably the Pentateuch (Torah) or some part of it
Synagogue - Hebrew eedah , "a congregation" or "appointed solemn meeting," in the Pentateuch; qaahaal , "a meeting called", represents ekklesia the "Church"
Redeem - ” This word group is used 90 times, chiefly in the Pentateuch, Psalms, Isaiah, and Ruth
Pass'Over, - ) The following are the principal passages in the Pentateuch relating to the Passover: ( Exodus 12:1-51 ; 13:3-10 ; 23:14-19 ; 34:18-26 ; Leviticus 23:4-14 ; Numbers 9:1-14 ; 28:16-25 ; 16:1-6) Why instituted
Synagogue - 132); and the composition of the prophetical books in their present shape, with the message of comfort at the end of each portion or book, if not also that of the Pentateuch (cf. For the reading from the Pentateuch different members of the congregation were called up, on Sabbath seven, on the Day of Atonement six, on festival days five, on New Moon and semi-festivals four, and on the second and fifth weekdays and Sabbath afternoons three (Meg
Wisdom of Solomon - ...
On the other hand, it is probably later than the LXX translation of the Pentateuch, since it exhibits certain technicalities which are likely to have been introduced by that work, e. Yet where passages of the Pentateuch are reproduced the translator of Wisdom did not always consult the LXX , e
Sin - The concept of sin is complex, and the terminology large and varied so that it may be best to look at the reality of sin in the Pentateuch first, then reflect theologically. ...
The sacrifices and rituals for cleansing listed in the Pentateuch remind us of the gravity of sin
Passover - The sauce is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, but in John 13:26; Matthew 26:23. 10:1, 7), which the Pentateuch does not mention; usually red, mixed with water ( High Priest - ...
The term high priest occurs in only one brief passage in the Pentateuch (Numbers 35:25 ,Numbers 35:25,35:28 ,Numbers 35:28,35:32 ), once in Joshua (Joshua 20:6 where the legislation of Numbers 35:1 is enacted), and never in the Book of Judges
Bible, Translations - ...
Early Translations The Samaritan Pentateuch used by the Samaritan community is a form of Hebrew written in a different script (Samaritan characters) from that which the Jewish community later came to use
Sermon on the Mount - Massey, Interpreting the Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Jewish Tradition as Evidenced in the Palestinian Targums of the Pentateuch
Poor And Poverty, Theology of - The Pentateuch emphasizes equitable treatment for the poor
Alexandria - The work is of very unequal merit, the Pentateuch being the best done, while some of the later books are wretchedly translated
Law - The statement maintains the freedom of the believer from the "law" of Moses in its totality as a means of justification); ...
(d) by metonymy, of the books which contain the "law," (1) of the Pentateuch, e
Nationality - Of these ideals the former rested on the Messianic Hope, the latter on the Mosaic Law, which were the key-notes of the most ancient Scriptures of the Jews—the Prophets and the Pentateuch respectively
Marriage - " The Septuagint, and Samaritan Pentateuch reads "twain" or "two" in Genesis 2:24; compare as to this joining in one flesh of husband and wife, the archetype of which is the eternally designed union of Christ and the church, Ephesians 5:31; Mark 10:5-9; 1 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 7:2
Esther - Maimonides says that in Messiah's days the prophets and hagiographa shall pass away, except "Esther," which will remain with the Pentateuch
Deuteronomy, the Book of - Pentateuch (five books) is the familiar title associated with these five books of Law, the first and most important division of the Hebrew Bible
Excommunication - -In the Pentateuch it is stated that certain heinous sins cannot be forgiven
Pharisees - The absence of directions for prayer, and of mention of a future life, in the Pentateuch probably gave a pretext for the figment of a traditional oral law
Deuteronomy - Three other codes can be distinguished in the Pentateuch, and a comparison of these with Deut
God - The fact of the composite character of the Pentateuch, however, makes it very difficult for us to find out exactly what were the conceptions about God in patriarchal and in Mosaic times; and it is impossible to be dogmatic in speaking of them. (a passage derived from a ‘special source’ of the Pentateuch, i
Timothy, Epistles to - But, as Philo and others use the word ‘genealogy’ of the primitive history of the Pentateuch, it is now generally allowed that the reference is not to Gnostic speculations but to the legendary history of the Jewish patriarchs
Canon of the New Testament - As the Old Testament is made up of the law, and the doctrinal, historical, and prophetical books; so in the New Testament the four Gospels are the fundamental law, based, as in the Pentateuch, on the included history; the Acts unfold the continued history; the Epistles are the doctrinal, the Apocalyptic revelations the prophetical, elements
Exodus, Book of - Literary Setting The Book of Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament and of the Pentateuch
Bible, Canon of the - The Torah or Pentateuch was immediately acknowledged as authoritative and never questioned thereafter
Census - It was not so much the act which was faultworthy (for indeed the taking of the census was recognized in the Pentateuch: Exodus 30:12) as the motive, trust in the arm of flesh instead of in Jehovah (Jeremiah 17:5)
Creation - One of the most convincing proofs of the composite authorship of the Pentateuch has always been found in the existence side by side of two independent and mutually irreconcilable accounts of the creation of the world
Poetry - Some of the most sublime poetry in the Bible lies in such diverse texts as Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32-33 in the Pentateuch, to Judges 5, 2 Samuel 1 in the historical books, to the majority of the Book of Isaiah in the prophets, to name only a few
Law - Frequently it is used of the written Word of God (Psalms 119:18-20; Psalms 119:57-61), sometimes applying to the Old Testament as a whole and sometimes to part of the Old Testament, such as the five books of Moses (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; John 15:25; see Pentateuch)
Jews - They acknowledge a two-fold law of God, a written and an unwritten one; the former is contained in the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses; the latter they pretend, was delivered by God to Moses, and handed down from him by oral tradition, and now to be received as of equal authority with the former. ...
There are to this day some remains of the ancient sect of the Samaritans, who are zealous for the law of Moses, but are despised by the Jews, because they receive only the Pentateuch, and observe different ceremonies from theirs
Trinity - Allix enumerates many other striking instances that might be brought from the Pentateuch; and other inspired writers use it in the same manner in various parts of the Old Testament, Job 35:10 ; Joshua 24:19 ; Psalms 109:1 ; Ecclesiastes 12:3 ; 2 Samuel 7:23 . It must appear, therefore, to every reader of reflection, exceedingly singular, that when Moses was endeavouring to establish a theological system, of which the unity of the Godhead was the leading principle, and in which it differed from all other systems, he should make use of terms directly implicative of a plurality in it; yet so deeply was the awful truth under consideration impressed upon the mind of the Hebrew legislator, that this is constantly done by him; and, indeed, as Allix has observed, there is scarcely any method of speaking from which a plurality in Deity may be inferred, that is not used either by himself in the Pentateuch, or by the other inspired writers in various parts of the Old Testament
Ezekiel - His style is colored by the Pentateuch and by Jeremiah
Exodus, the - No account can be given so satisfactory as that in the Pentateuch, that it was by God's miraculous interposition
Tabernacle - Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch is marked by the fact that all his directions concerning impurity through a dead body relate to a tent such as was in the wilderness, nothing is said of a house; but in the case of leprosy a house is referred to (Numbers 19:11; Numbers 19:14; Numbers 19:21; Leviticus 13:47-59)
Chronology - , are thus differently given in the Septuagint, the Hebrew, and the Samaritan Pentateuch:...
Septuagint...
Hebrew...
Samaritan...
Flood after Creation...
2262...
1656...
1307...
Peleg's birth...
401...
101...
401...
Abram's departure from Haran...
616...
266...
616...
3279...
2023...
2324...
Hales takes the long system mainly from the Septuagint account of the patriarchal generations
Infancy - ...
In the Pentateuch this devotion of the male firstborn of both man and beast to Jahweh, carrying with it the necessity of redemption in the case of sons, is traced as to its institution to the smiting of the firstborn in Egypt at the Exodus (Exodus 13:15, Matthew 2:12-13)
Prayer - ...
The spiritual songs in the Pentateuch (Exodus 15:1-19; Psalms 141:2; Deuteronomy 32) and succeeding books (Judges 5; 1 Samuel 2:1-10; 1 Samuel 2:2 Samuel 22; 1618104642_72; Psalms 138:2) abound in prayer accompanied with praise
Sanctify - This noun appears in the Pentateuch, all periods of historical writings, and Hosea and Job
Jews - They have counted not only the large and small sections, the verses and the words, but even the letters in some of the books; and they have likewise reckoned which is the middle letter of the Pentateuch, which is the middle clause of each book, and how often each letter of the alphabet occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jews suppose that God first dictated the text of the law to Moses, which he commanded to be put in writing, and which exists in the Pentateuch, and then gave him an explication of every thing comprehended in it, which he ordered to be committed to memory
Satan (2) - Traces appear elsewhere of early beliefs current among the Hebrews in the existence of demons, satyrs, liliths, and the like, as in the use of the name ‘Azazel,’ a mysterious being mentioned in the Pentateuch in connexion with the ordinance of the scapegoat (Leviticus 16)
Scripture (2) - Such a phrase as ‘Moses’ γράμματα’ (John 5:47), for example, probably ascribes to Moses only a single book—what we call the Pentateuch; and such a phrase as ἱερὰ γράμματα (2 Timothy 3:15) does not suggest to us a ‘Divine library,’ but brings the OT before us as a unitary whole
Law - The laws (traditionally 613 in number) are concentrated in certain passages in the Pentateuch
Apocrypha - The author employs, in the main, illustrations from the Pentateuch
Greece, Religion And Society of - Within a short time the Pentateuch of the Hebrew Scriptures was translated into the Greek language
Sacrifice And Offering - Leviticus 1:1-17 ; Leviticus 2:1-16 ; Leviticus 3:1-17 ; Leviticus 4:1-35 ; 1618104642_9 ; Leviticus 6:1-30 ; Leviticus 7:1-38 ); for the former we must have recourse to the numerous references to sacrifice in the non-Priestly sources of the Pentateuch, in the early narratives of the historical books, and in the writings of the pre-exilic prophets
Ecclesiastes, Theology of - In this way, Qohelet affirms the Pentateuch, Wisdom, and Prophets
Bible, Theology of - It seeks to isolate and express the theological teachings of a specific portion of Scripture, such as the theology of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament), or the theology of the prophets, or the theology of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke), or the theology of John, or the theology of the Pauline writings, etc
Leviticus, Theology of - It contains the core of the priestly ritual material of the Pentateuch and, in fact, the entire Old Testament
Ten Commandments - The Pentateuch, if not the entire Bible, is clear that the root of all evil is the human attempt to meet our needs for ourselves
Beda, Historian - , extracts from Jerome; on Ezra and Nehemiah 3 books; on the Song of Habakkuk , 1 book; on Tobit , 1; chapters of lessons on the Pentateuch, Josh
Amen (2) - —The formula is found in (a) the Pentateuch (Numbers 5:22, Deuteronomy 27 passim) as a ritual injunction (LXX Septuagint γένοιτο throughout)
Trade And Commerce - ( Ezekiel 7:12 ) ‘let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn’ suggests that the latter operation was not ordinarily thought of as it is in communities a large portion of which lives by trade, but rather as a humiliation required at times by stern necessity; and there are few allusions to trade in the codes embodied in the Pentateuch, though such are not absolutely wanting
Canaan - (See Graves, Pentateuch. ) In Genesis 12:6 "the Canaanite was then in the land" is no gloss (as if it meant the Canaanite was STILL in the land), nor proof of the Pentateuch's composition after Israel had driven them out, but implies that the aboriginal peoples (compare Genesis 14:5-7) were by this time dispossessed, and the Canaanite settlers ALREADY in the land (compare Genesis 13:7)
Number - The chief authorities for the text of the Pentateuch are the Heb
Jerusalem - Ezra instituted religious reforms based on the "Book of the Law of Moses, " probably the Pentateuch, which he brought back with him from Babylon (Nehemiah 8:1 )
Word - It occurs once in the Pentateuch (Genesis 15:4 ), numerous times in the historical books, and many times in the prophets
Letters - The high antiquity of the use of letters; the Hebrew characters...
having existed in a perfect state when Moses composed the Pentateuch, the most ancient writing now known to be extant
Tabernacle - But modern criticism has revealed the fact that this artistic and costly structure is confined to the Priestly sources of the Pentateuch, and is to be carefully distinguished from a much simpler tent bearing the same name and likewise associated with Moses
Kings, the Books of - The frequent reference to the Pentateuch accords with the interest Jeremiah was sure to feel in the discovery under Josiah of the temple copy (1 Kings 22:25 compare Deuteronomy 27:26; Jeremiah 32:18-21 compare Exodus 20:6; Exodus 6:6 Jeremiah 34:14 compare Deuteronomy 15:12)
Jacob - For "Shalem, a city of Shechem," translated with Samaritan Pentateuch, "Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem," though there is still a Salim E
Holy, Holiness - Of over 830 instances of term in all its forms in the Old Testament, nearly 350 occur in the Pentateuch after Genesis
Fulfilment - But (b) the case for omitting Matthew 5:18—with its Pharisaic aspect, its at least seemingly exaggerated canonization of the whole letter of the Pentateuch—is being very strongly pressed to-day (e
Ebionism And Ebionites - In the same spirit they accepted the Pentateuch alone among the O
Egypt - As scripture does not give the names of the Pharaohs in the Pentateuch, there is really no definite link between those mentioned therein and any particular kings as found on the monuments
Synagogue (2) - Eventually an official lectionary was adopted, so arranged that the reading of the Pentateuch was completed in a year, the section from the Prophets being selected as far as possible with a view to enforce the lesson of that from the Law; but in the time of Christ the reader of the Prophetic section seems to have been at liberty to select whatever part he liked (Luke 4:17)
High Priest - In Hebrew "THE priest," and in books after the Pentateuch "the great priest," "the head priest," or "chief priest" (2 Kings 25:18)
Gospels - Graves (Pentateuch, 2:3,6) well says, had they universally embraced the gospel at its first publication, the sceptic might allege the prophecies to have been fabricated or altered to fit them to the events; the contrary is now certain
Canon - The Jewish doctors are of opinion that the book of Jasher is one of the books of the Pentateuch, or the whole law
Creation - " The mighty Elohim who created all things is also the Jehovah, who from the days of paradise down to the days of Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch, has been in personal and unchangeable covenant relation with His people
Miracles - 6) observes we have two histories of Moses and his miracles, one in his book, the other in Israel's laws and ceremonies which are a living witness, not only of the Pentateuch history in general, but also of the miracles it records (Exodus 13:1; compare Numbers 3:11; Numbers 3:46); its facts are inseparably connected with the miraculous
Amos, Theology of - Instead of reflecting the humanitarian and egalitarian character of much Pentateuchal legislation (Amos 1:3-298 ; Leviticus 19:15 ; 25:35-43 ; Deuteronomy 17:18-20 ; 24:14-18 ), Israelite society is fractured into classes defined by economics and political influence (Amos 2:6-8 ; 3:9-10,15 ; 4:1 ; 5:11-12 ; 6:1,4-7,11 ; 7:1 ; 8:4-6 ). Beneath the surface, it is not the pure form of the worship of Yahweh envisioned in the Pentateuch with its exclusive devotion to Israel's God and its centralized cult (Exodus 20:2-6 ; Deuteronomy 5:6-10 ; 6:4-5 ; 12:1-13:18 )
Law - It may mean the whole Pentateuch-the Torah in the wider sense-as in Romans 3:21 (the Law and the Prophets), Galatians 4:21, 1 Corinthians 14:34, and even the entire OT, which might be thus designated a parte potiori, as in Romans 3:19 (the Psalms also included under the term), 1 Corinthians 14:21 (Isaiah 28:11 f
Acts of the Apostles - These critics see in the book traces of four strata, and assert that it is a compilation of the same nature as the Pentateuch, the Book of Enoch , and the Apostolic Constitutions
Priest (2) - The term ‘high priest’ occurs only nine times in the OT, of which but two are in the Pentateuch, and it is curious that the term is never once applied to Aaron
Biblical Theology - ...
The five Old Testament books of Moses, the Pentateuch, set forth a lofty practical and spiritual agenda
Judges (1) - ]'>[1] the Book of Ruth is sometimes, in some MSS, included in that of Judges , other MSS treat the Pentateuch and Jos
Lord's Day - We cannot point to any definite act of institution, any such impressive story and legislative sanction as the Pentateuch supplies with reference to the Jewish Sabbath
Eschatology (2) - ]'>[14] And the ‘Law’ meant not simply the legal precepts of the Pentateuch (in particular the Priestly Code), it meant the ‘tradition’ of the elders
Boyhood - This was in accordance with the OT and especially the Pentateuch, which gives no commands for formal religious instruction (schools, tutors, etc
Job - Except in the Syriac Bible, which locates it between the Pentateuch and Joshua, on account of its supposed great antiquity, the book is always reckoned as one of the Kethubim or Hagiographa , and is often given the third place
Offering - ” The noun 'âshâm occurs 46 times in biblical Hebrew; 33 of its occurrences are in the Pentateuch
Book - ]'>[1] At the end of each book the Jews also added the number of verses contained in it, and at the end of the Pentateuch the number of sections; that it might be transmitted to posterity entire
Pentecost - Still the feast is celebrated in the synagogue for one day or two, but all that links it to the festival of the Pentateuch is the counting of the omer (though no omer has been ‘waved’), and such dim recollections of a harvest festival in Palestine as can be secured by dressing the synagogue with flowers
Pentecost - Still the feast is celebrated in the synagogue for one day or two, but all that links it to the festival of the Pentateuch is the counting of the omer (though no omer has been ‘waved’), and such dim recollections of a harvest festival in Palestine as can be secured by dressing the synagogue with flowers
Mss - The earliest with an actual date (which is also the earliest dated Biblical MS in existence) is a copy of some books of the Pentateuch, written in 464 (now in the British Museum; and the two earliest NT MSS may be assigned to about the same date
Science (2) - in so expanding the compass of legal precept beyond what was laid down in the Pentateuch and in the oldest form of tradition, that it might be impossible for a man, if he observed all their traditional rules, to be even tempted to transgress the Law’ (see art
Canon of the New Testament - (1) The Pentateuch and the 4 Gospels, as being ‘the clearest luminaries of the whole Divine truth’; (2) The Prophets ‘of Hebrew reckoning’ and the acknowledged Epistles of the NT, viz
English Versions - In the way of vernacular versions, a French Bible was printed at Lyons about 1478, and another about 1487; a Spanish Pentateuch was printed (by Jews) in 1497; a German Bible was printed at Strassburg by Mentelin in 1466, and was followed by eighteen others (besides many Psalters and other separate books) between that date and 1522, when the first portion of Luther’s translation appeared
Israel - If the oldest source in the Pentateuch dates from the 9th cent. ) has pointed out, the firm and constant tradition of the Egyptian bondage, running as it does through all four of the Pentateuchal documents and forming the background of all Israel’s religious and prophetic consciousness, must have some historical content
Koran - The Koran is divided into one hundred and fourteen larger portions of very unequal length, which we call chapters, but the Arabians Sowar, in the singular Sura; a word rarely used on any other occasion, and properly signifying a row, or in building, or a rank of soldiers in an army, and is the same in use and import with the Sura, or Tora, of the Jews; who also call the fifty three sections of the Pentateuch Sedarim, a word of the same signification
Moses - ...
To Moses we owe that important portion of Holy Scripture, the Pentateuch, which brings us acquainted with the creation of the world, the entrance of sin and death, the first promises of redemption, the flood, the peopling of the postdiluvian earth, and the origin of nations, the call of Abraham, and the giving of the law
Vulgate - Jerome’s correspondence and the prefaces attached by him to the several books of his translation (notably those prefixed to the Pentateuch, Joshua, Ezra and Nehemiah, Job, Isaiah, and the Gospels) sufficiently show the reception given to his work by his contemporaries
Gnosticism - ) Further the Ebionite sects which sprang out of Essenism while they professed the strongest attachment to the Mosaic law not only rejected the authority of the prophetical writings but dealt in a very arbitrary manner with those parts of the Pentateuch which conflicted with their peculiar doctrines
Law (2) - The Pentateuch itself exhibits more than the usual tendency to casuistry in this matter, but the tradition left the Law out of sight in the elaborateness of its regulations
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons - fragments found in various catenae, containing expositions of various passages of the Pentateuch and the historical books of O
Theodorus, Bishop of Mopsuestia - The catenae contain fragments attributed to Theodore upon the remaining books of the Pentateuch and of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings (Mai, Scr