The Torah

The Torah, meaning “teaching,” “instruction,” or “law,” is the foundational sacred text of Judaism. As law, the Torah refers to the commandments and covenant teachings given to Moses and the people of Israel, beginning at Mount Sinai after the Exodus and continuing through the wilderness period. It established Israel’s relationship with God through commandments, moral laws, civil laws, priestly laws, festivals, purity rules, sacrifices, and the covenant that shaped the people of Israel as a holy nation.

The Five Books of Moses — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — are the written form of the Torah. They tell the story from creation and the patriarchs to the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, the wilderness journey, and Moses’ final speeches before Israel entered the Promised Land. Since the Torah includes events after Sinai, including the death of Moses, its completion is best placed around −1406, at the end of the forty-year wilderness period.