TÓRÁH. — A Hebrew term which in the Bible signifies an authoritative directive (from God, the priest, the prophet, the king, or the sage), and which, after the Babylonian exile, became the customary designation of the Mosaic Law, primarily of the writings of the Pentateuch (v.).
The noun t. occurs 219 times in the Hebrew Bible. Much has been discussed regarding its origin and semantic evolution. The theory of D. H. Müller (1850–1922), who derived t. from the Akkadian *tertu* (instruction, divine oracle, commandment, law), has been discarded; the view of W. Gesenius (1786–1842), reaffirmed by S. R. Driver and later by G. Östborn, remains: t. derives from the verb *hôrâh* (hiph'il of *yârâh* “to throw”), which occurs 53 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its primitive sense would be “to stretch out the hand or finger to show the way,” hence “to indicate” (Gen. 46:28) or “to direct” (Judg. 13:8). The explanation of J. Wellhausen, followed by W. Nowack, I. Benzinger, that t. comes from the specific meaning of *yôrâh* and *hôrâh* “to cast” lots (Josh. 18:6; arrows: 1 Sam. 20:20, 36)—a usage linked to consultation with the ephod or the *’ûrîm wĕtummîm*—so that t. originally denoted the “directive” obtained by the priest through the casting of sacred lots, has today been rejected as unfounded by J. Begrich and G. Östborn. T. may be connected with the participle *môrêh* “teacher” (Job 26:22), which survives in some localities that were perhaps seats of ancient oracles (Gen. 12:6; Deut. 11:30; Judg. 7:1).
There is a close connection between t. and the idea of “path, way” (*derek*), as implied by the etymology intuited by Gesenius: “to show the way.” Starting from this fundamental meaning (“indication” of the path to follow), t. passes through three semantic stages: “directive,” “instruction,” “law” (Lev. 13:9; 16:4; 18:16, 20; 24:12); it becomes frequent in Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and other so-called priestly documents, “up to Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah,” and increasingly in the more recent prophetic writings and psalms. In Ex. 18:6, 20 (E), the secular decisions on disputes between neighbors given by Moses after “consulting God” are called God’s “statutes” (*ḥuqqîm*) and His “directives” (*tôrôth*). The *tôrôth* were authoritative decisions imposed by the leader or judge; they formed precedents for similar cases in the future, especially those concerning difficult matters; thus, perhaps even before Moses, a progressive body of civil and penal laws was formed, preserved and transmitted by tradition. The “directives” were sometimes given in the form of a “divine response,” through the priestly oracular procedures or the inspiration of the prophets. Among the prophets, t. (usually in the singular) is “moral and spiritual teaching” (Amos 2:4); “the t. of our God” encompasses the norms of morality that constitute true service to God (Isa. 1:10; 5:24; 8:16, 20; 30:9). The prophet is called *môrêh* (“teacher”), from the same root as t. (Isa. 9:14; 30:20). In Jer. 6:19; 9:13; etc., t. designates both the preaching of the prophets and the Mosaic tradition. The generic sense of “teaching” also appears in the didactic books: t. is given by God to His faithful (Job 22:22; Ps. 78:1 [Heb.]), by the sages (Prov. 3:1; 4:2; 6:23; 7:2; 13:14), by the mother (ibid. 1:8; 6:20; 31:26); Yahweh (or His representative) will give it in the messianic kingdom (Isa. 2:3 = Mic. 4:2; Jer. 31:33; Isa. 42:4; 51:4). In this second semantic stage, t. as “instruction,” “admonition” has as its aim and effect *da‘ath* (“knowledge”). The t. dispensed by the priest has as its object worship and rites, but also the religion of Yahweh in general; the t. of the prophet is more directly an ethical-spiritual exhortation; the t. of the sage, to which may be linked the t. that parents give to their children, is the instruction-education of the inexperienced, and to the t. of “wisdom” relating to practical life and trades seems to be connected Ezek. 43:10–15, where t. (well rendered by the LXX as *diagraphē*) is the plan of the temple.
Alongside this broad use of the term, there was t. in the strict sense, the legislation administered by the priesthood. The older prophets attest the existence of a t. obligatory for all, based on morality (cf. Ex. 23:1–9; Lev. 19:1–37), which was to bring about in Israel the “knowledge of God.” The priesthood was to apply and inculcate it; the crimes of Israel are due to the priests’ neglect of t. (Hos. 4:1–6). Particularly associated with the priesthood, t. (like the related verb *hôrâh*) denotes the (oral) directive that the priests gave in the name of Yahweh, especially regarding ritual observance (various sacrifices and their modalities, conditions of purity, criteria for leprosy, etc.), to those who consulted them; cf. Hag. 2:11; Mal. 2:6–9. The repositories and dispensers of t. were the priests (Mic. 3:11; Jer. 2:8; 18:18; Zeph. 3:4; Ezek. 7:26; 22:10; 44:23 [cf. Lev. 14:57]; cf. Hab. 1:2–4 and Lam. 2:9). Entrusted to the priesthood (cf. 2 Kgs. 17:27–28; 2 Chron. 15:3), t. demanded absolute fidelity to certain principles of moral and ritual purity, individual and collective, whose neglect or violation constituted the ruinous crime of unfaithful priests for Israel. Ceremonial t. was predominant; yet no less real was the judicial and moral t. There can be no doubt that this t., in all its aspects, originated with Moses (S. R. Driver [V. BIBLICA.], p. 66 n.); the task of the priests was merely to preserve and guard what Moses had left (Deut. 33:4–9). Critics such as J. Wellhausen trace t. back to Moses, but only as a principle, as an initial oral tradition; the later written t. would be the very late fixation of this tradition.
The sense of “law,” as old as that of “directive” and “teaching,” since t. implied an obligation for the one who received it (Deut. 17:11): “act according to the t. [directive] that they will give you” the Levitical priests and the tribunal; 24:8: “carry out all that the Levitical priests teach you [yôrâh]”; 30:10, where *mišpāṭîm* [cf. Ex. 21:1] is a synonym of t.), became prevalent in the Deuteronomic period (c. 622 B.C.) and even more so during and after the exile (6th cent. B.C.). In Deuteronomy, especially in the formula “this t.” (Deut. 1:5 to 32:46: 19 times), the term sometimes indicates the code of laws incorporated in Deuteronomy, and sometimes more generally the parenetic and legal exposition of Israel’s duties, and in this latter sense t. occurs (the book of t. “the t. of Moses,” etc.) in the “Deuteronomic” sections of Joshua and Kings (Josh. 1:7–8; 8:31–34; 22:5; 23:6; 1 Kgs. 2:3; 2 Kgs. 10:31 to 23:24–25: 10 times).
In the course of time, t. denoted a complex of technical directives on a given subject; this sense is common in the Priestly Code (P), especially in the formula “this is the t.” (“body of norms or laws”) of the burnt offering, the cereal offering, the leper, the nazirite, etc. (Lev. 6:9–25 to 26:46: 15 times; Num. 5:29–30 to 31:21: 7 times). Even here the primitive sense of t. must have been directives given to the laity, and not (as in Lev. 6–7) rules governing priestly practice. In the Psalms, t. often indicates the legislative parts of the Pentateuch in general (Ps. 1:2; 19:7; 37:31; 40:8; 94:12; 119:1–18 [Heb.], etc.). Thus it is explained that t. was called *dāṯ* “law” in Aramaic (Ezra 7:12–26; cf. Esth. 1:13; 3:8; etc.), and then by the LXX (3rd–2nd cent. B.C.) almost always (191 out of about 212 cases) *nomos* (Vulgate *lex*), even when t. means “directive” or “teaching.”
After the time of Ezra, t. denotes, even more generally, the Pentateuch as a whole. The priest Ezra, “a scribe skilled in the t. of Moses” (Ezra 7:6), was regarded by later generations as the restorer of the Mosaic t. The collection of the five Mosaic books was already called t. in the 5th century B.C. The entire Pentateuch is designated as hat-tôrâh or sēpher hat-tôrâh or sēpher hôrāh Mōsheh in 1 Chron 16:40; 2 Chron 31:3; etc.; Ezra 3:2; Neh 8:1–3. In the time of Christ, t. designated the five Mosaic books (ὁ νόμος; Luke 10:26; ὁ νόμος Μωυσέως; Luke 2:22) and sometimes, by metonymy, all the ancient Scriptures (ὁ νόμος; 1 Cor 14:21).
Codex, testimony (Deut 31:26), synthesis, and foundation of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel, the t. of Moses—that is, the first five books of the Bible—revolves around a unifying general theme that may be expressed in the following thesis: there exists an eternal divine plan (cf. Eph 1:10; 3:9: “dispensation”) that is progressively realized despite all obstacles, and whose end is the creation of the chosen people as a theocratic nation, with the Mosaic law as its directive and the Promised Land as its reward. Essentially a religion based on Revelation, Judaism holds that Revelation is contained in the T., in which everything is comprehended, including the subsequent prophetic Scriptures. Of unique and transcendent importance, the supreme gift of God (“the gift of the t.” [mattēn t.] in the dazzling theophany of Sinai is the pivotal event in the history of Israel). The T. is the direct and exclusive bond between Yahweh and his people. As the revelation of God’s will to Israel, it is the absolute objective rule of individual and social life: all life is reduced to “keeping the divine T.,” as the pious Psalmist never ceases to repeat (Ps 118 [119]).
Little by little, in Judaism the T. replaced Wisdom. Already in Sirach, Wisdom—an emanation that is almost a divine hypostasis—is connected with or even identified with the T. (Sir 19:16; 24:22; 32:15; 33:2; 34:8; 39:8). Subsequently, the identification becomes more pronounced, and the T. assumes divine attributes, appearing beside the Creator, the firstborn of God and preexistent (the attributes of Prov 8:22 are applied to it): Jub. 3:10; Test. Asher 2:10. At the time of Jesus, the religious teacher was called a “man of the t.” or “teacher of the t.” (ὁ νομικός; Matt 22:35; Luke 7:30, etc.; ὁ νομικός διδάσκαλος; Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34). For the rabbis of the 1st century, wisdom consisted in the knowledge of the T. (Aboth 3:9); hence the rabbi is today called “the wise one” (hākām). The sayings of the earliest rabbis (Aboth) are mostly directed toward glorifying the study of the T. Eternal and immutable, the T. will remain in force in the messianic kingdom; the supreme holy work, the study of the T., will be the reward of the just in Eden; such rabbinic assertions echo the divine promise: “I will put my t. within them, and write it upon their hearts” (Jer 31:33 [Vulg. 33:32]; cf. Isa 54:13; Ps 37 [36]:31).
From the office, entrusted to the priests, of adapting the t. to life (Deut 17:8–12, 18; Jer 2:8; 18:18; Ezek 7:26; 22:26; Hos 4:6) there derived the oral t., connected with the activity of Ezra (5th century), and from the beginning of Pharisaism (2nd century B.C.) it was considered inseparable from the written T. When the scribes-rabbis arrogated this task to themselves, legislating even on priestly functions, the progressive adaptation of the t. through casuistry was called “oral t.” (tôrāh šē-bā-peh), an expression that goes back to Hillel (Sabbath 31a) or at least to Gamaliel II (Siphrē Deut. 33:10) and supplanted the term “traditions” (hā-ḥ^{a}kōth; Matt 15:2 = Mark 7:5; Matt 15:3–6; Gal 1:14). The oral t., presented as the will of God revealed to Moses and transmitted by Moses through an unbroken chain of teachers (Aboth 1:1–3), developed and imposed itself, especially in the juridical sphere, until it formed the Mishnah and then the two Talmuds; to it the geonim (q.v.) and later the posekim or decisors (q.v.) appeal. The double t. is seen in the biblical plural tôrōth (Siphrē Lev. 26:46), in the two blades of the sword of Ps 149:6 (Pesikta, ed. S. Buber, p. 102b). The oral t. is a dogma of Judaism from the time of the earliest tannaim (Aboth 1:1; 3:13): manipulated through halakhah (q.v.), which in the frequent controversies that were the subject of rabbinic synod deliberations restricted, expanded, or transformed the written t., this arbitrary oral t. led to the formalistic and inhuman monocracy of the Pharisees (Matt 23:1–37). Not content with attributing to the oral t. the same divine authority as to the written t. (Siphrē Lev. 19:340; Palestinian Berakoth 1:7), the zealots maintained that to violate or contradict the decisions of the scribes and rabbis was more serious than to violate or contradict the T. (Sanhedrin 10:3).
Materially, the T. in synagogue worship is a long strip of parchment, about 30 meters long, which is rolled and unrolled around two wooden rods. It is calligraphed by special copyists (sōph^{e}rîm) who perform this work wearing the insignia of prayer (tallith, tefillin) and pronouncing many blessings. Every synagogue prides itself on possessing in the “holy ark” (’ārôn haq-qōdhesh) several scrolls of the T., each in an elegant velvet or silk case; each scroll is carried in procession on the Feast of the T., “the crowned bride.” The faithful Israelite feels very deeply “the joy of the T.”
The T. (tawrāt) or Pentateuch also holds great importance in the Qur’an. It is often placed alongside the Gospel as a written source of faith (3:43, 58; 7:156; etc.). It contains the “decree” (ḥukm) or divine order: it is guidance and light, and the prophets (who were muslims) judged for the Jews according to the t.; “the Gospel, in which there is guidance and light, confirms the preceding t. and is a direction and a warning for the God-fearing” (5:47–50). “Those to whom the t. was entrusted and who then did not observe it are like the donkey that carries books” (62:5).