What is Torah and how did the israelites obtain it?

Answer 1

The Torah is the Holy Book of Judaism. The Torah is the Five Books of Moses and the teachings that Jewish people follow. Christians call the Torah the Old Testament. There are actually some differences between the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Torah due to mistranslations in the Christian book, though. The Torah is said to have been given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai as the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians.

Answer 2

The Torah is the Holy Book of Judaism. The Torah is the Five Books of Moses and the teachings that Jewish people follow. Christians call the Torah the Old Testament. There are actually some differences between the Christian Old Testament and the Jewish Torah due to mistranslations in the Christian book, though. The Torah is said to have been given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai as the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians.

Answer 3

• What the Torah is:

The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch, or The Five Books of Moses. Its books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, all in the original Hebrew. It is the first third of the Hebrew Bible.

The Torah contains the origins of the Israelites; morals, laws and beliefs. The Torah was given by God (Exodus 24:12) to the Israelites on Mount Sinai (Exodus ch.19-20), shortly after God took them out of Egypt (Exodus ch.12).

The Torah increases our reverence towards God; crystallizes, strengthens and codifies our beliefs; insures our awareness and knowledge of our history; and provides powerful impetus to be ethical.

It makes us stand in awe of God, while also providing optimism and comfort through the prophecies of redemption. It inspires us to strive for holiness and informs us how to pray and to approach God's presence.

It gives us a great deal of general information, guidance and advice.

And it sets detailed laws, practices and traditions for us.

The laws themselves have various reasons. Some (such as the Passover) serve to reenact or remember events of our history.

Some (such as saying the Shema prayer) serve to reiterate our belief in God.

Some of the laws (such as those of ritual purity and kosher food) serve to sanctify us.

Some (such as the laws of torts) serve to maintain an orderly society.

Some (such as the law against breaking a vow) serve to prevent bad character traits.

Some (such as the command to offer help) serve to engender good character traits.

And all of the commands serve to subjugate us to God's will (especially those commands for which no explanation is easily apparent).

• How the Israelites obtained the Torah:

The Torah was given by God to Moses (Exodus 24:12) in 1312 BCE. Moses taught it to the people (Exodus ch.34), and put it in writing shortly before his death (Deuteronomy 31:24) in 1272 BCE.

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 later penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24).

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.

• Is the Torah genuine?

"Although critics contended that the Hebrew Bible is unhistorical and untrustworthy, time and time again, the archaeological record supports places, times, and events mentioned in Scripture. We now have archaeological information about a number of patriarchal towns mention in Scripture, including Bethel, Shechem, Jerusalem, Mamre, Gerar, Beer-sheba, and Dothan" (Professor John Arthur Thompson, The Bible and Archaeology). The personal names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are names of the time and area mentioned in the Bible (ibid).
"One city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, have been restored to their proper places in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists" (Prof. Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction).
No parchment, scroll, or inscription has ever been found that would support the Bible-critics' JEPD (different sources) hypothesis, which remains a set of postulates. And those ancient writers who mention, describe, summarize or translate the Torah (Josephus, Samaritans, Targum, Septuagint etc.), describe it in its complete form.
Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

Answer 4

The Torah is the Five Books of Moses (the Pentateuch): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All only in the original Hebrew. The Israelites received the Torah from Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) who wrote it at God's dictation (Exodus 24:12).

For more:

What_is_the_purpose_of_the_Torah

What_are_facts_about_Torah_scrolls

Answer 5

What the Torah is:

The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch, or The Five Books of Moses. Its books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, all in the original Hebrew. It is the first third of the Hebrew Bible.
The Torah contains the origins of the Israelites; morals, laws and beliefs. The Torah was given by God (Exodus 24:12) to the Israelites on Mount Sinai (Exodus ch.19-20), shortly after God took them out of Egypt (Exodus ch.12).

The Torah increases our reverence towards God; crystallizes, strengthens and codifies our beliefs; insures our awareness and knowledge of our history; and provides powerful impetus to be ethical.
It makes us stand in awe of God, while also providing optimism and comfort through the prophecies of redemption. It inspires us to strive for holiness and informs us how to pray and to approach God's presence.
It gives us a great deal of general information, guidance and advice.
And it sets detailed laws, practices and traditions for us.
The laws themselves have various reasons. Some (such as the Passover) serve to reenact or remember events of our history.
Some (such as saying the Shema prayer) serve to reiterate our belief in God.
Some of the laws (such as those of ritual purity and kosher food) serve to sanctify us.
Some (such as the laws of torts) serve to maintain an orderly society.
Some (such as the law against breaking a vow) serve to prevent bad character traits.
Some (such as the command to offer help) serve to engender good character traits.
And all of the commands serve to subjugate us to God's will (especially those commands for which no explanation is easily apparent).

• Link: Refuting the Bible-critics
  

How the Israelites obtained the Torah:

The Torah was given by God to Moses (Exodus 24:12) in 1312 BCE. Moses taught it to the people (Exodus ch.34), and put it in writing shortly before his death (Deuteronomy 31:24) in 1272 BCE.

• Link: More about Moses

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 later penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24).

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.Link: What is the history of the Hebrew Bible?

Answer 6

Although it is said to have been written by Moses during the Exodus from Egypt, scholars say the Torah, which corresponds to the Christian Pentateuch (the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), was really written by the Jews themselves over a period of several hundred years in the first millennium BCE.