Shamayim
It's the 5 books of Moses, most likely a combination of narratives of the birth of the world and the story of theJewish people passed down verbally through the centuries as it historically evolved, and then put to paper by various Jewish intellectuals and religious leaders finally ending up as a selected set of texts from a wide range on offer ( i.e.. Some texts were excluded for various political and sociological or cultural reasons).
A different answer: The tradition states that the Torah was given by God during the 40-year sojourn in the wilderness. It was written in its entirety before Moses died, as it states explicitly (Deuteronomy 31:24).
Short version, no one knows. There are a couple of references to the books of instruction within themselves, such as Deuteronomy 17:18, in which the king is instructed to make himself a copy of the law for himself.
There is also an obscure reference to the Tabernacle of meeting and the Ark in second Maccabees which says that Jeremiah hid them on the mountain where Moses saw the promised land. One would assume that the original Torah scroll was hidden at the same time.
But there is no proof document just like there is no proof document for the Christian Bible.
This was not the only time that a scroll was first hidden, then found, so as to disguise its authorship. Jeremiah chapter 36 even tells how just a few years later, the scribes hid another scroll in the Temple, to be found and read to the king. The Book of Jeremiah demonstrates that the religious authorities were well aware of the practice.
Tradition states that Moses wrote a scroll containing the narratives of Genesis, at God's command, before the formal Giving of the Torah (Rashi commentary, Exodus ch.24). It was this scroll which he read to the Israelites (Exodus 24:7) as an introduction to what God's covenant would entail. This was not a surprise to the Israelites, since they had carefully handed down the narratives and events of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 5:18 and 22).
The words of this scroll were soon incorporated in the complete Torah itself by God, including the ancient traditions of the Creation, the Flood etc. (These traditions had been known by mankind worldwide, except that among the other nations [the idolaters] they had become garbled with idolatrous drivel.)
At God's command and precise dictation (Deuteronomy 1:3), Moses penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24) immediately before his death, so that it included events that had happened in the preceding months (such as Numbers ch.20).
Tradition states that Moses wrote a scroll containing the narratives of Genesis, at God's command, before the formal Giving of the Torah (Rashi commentary, Exodus ch.24).The contents of this scroll included the ancient traditions of the Creation, the Flood, the early Israelites, etc. (These traditions had been widely known, except that among other nations [the idolaters] the Flood and Creation-narratives had become garbled with idolatrous drivel.)
It was this scroll (whose contents were soon incorporated in the complete Torah itself by God), which Moses read to the Israelites (Exodus 24:7) as an introduction to what God's covenant would entail. This was not a surprise to the Israelites, since they had carefully handed down the narratives and events of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 5:18 and 22).
When God gave the Ten Commandments (Exodus ch.19-20), He gave them in writing, inscribed on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18), while He taught the rest of the Torah to Moses orally, on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:12), without writing it.
At God's command and precise dictation (Deuteronomy 1:3), Moses penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24) immediately before his death, so that it included events that had happened in the preceding months (such as Numbers ch.20).
No Hebrew copy of the Torah has ever been found to differ with the others, worldwide. The Torah we possess today contains the exact wording written by Moses.See also the Related Links.
Link: The Israelite Patriarchs
According to Jewish tradition, the Torah came from Moses who received it from God on Mt. Sinai
Moses received it from God (Exodus 24:12) and put it in writing (Deuteronomy 31:24).
Jewish tradition states that the Torah originated from God (Exodus 24:12) and was written, in its entirety, by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24).
the Torah
The Torah was written in Hebrew and we certainly do still have it in the Hebrew language, although we do not have the original completed versions with the words exactly as then used.
The Jews received the Torah from God written in Hebrew, and significant numbers still read and study Torah in the original Hebrew to this day.
in jeruslam underneath the throne of Solomon
Yes, except the original format is in Hebrew.
Yes, they are mentioned from the 2nd to 4th chapters of Bereshit (Genesis).
The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah (teaching in Hebrew). Their original Hebrew names are, in this order:BereishitShmotVayikraBamidbarDevarim
The Torah is comprised of the five books which, in translation, comprise the first five booksof the "Old Testament", i.e. Genesis through Deuteronomy.
There is no "original version" of the Torah. The Torah which we possess today has not changed. It contains 79,976 words, which were written by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) at God's dictation (Exodus 24:12). The kabbalah has no further (or different) information on this point. The Torah has been vindicated hundreds of times by actual archaeological finds, while theories which claim change have produced zero physical evidence.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. All of these are only in the original Hebrew.
A Sefer Torah is the Torah text written by someone properly trained on a certain type of parchment and a certain kind of black ink. The Sefer Torah is hand written and costs tens of thousands of dollars.The Torah is the content that is written in the Sefer Torah. It is the original Hebrew version of the Bible.
The Torah scroll in its original form and language..plus people who have an unbroken tradition as to its meaning.