The Study of the Pentateuch

PENTATEUCH, TORAH, AND LAW

The Pentateuch (that is, a book in five parts) has been a designation for the first five books of the Old Testament (and Hebrew Bible) since the second century CE at least. When it assumed this five-part form is not known. Though it may always have had such a form (the division is known to Philo and Josephus and probably earlier), the flow of the Sinai narrative from Exodus 19 through Leviticus to Numbers 10 suggests a later division. The five-part division may have been a formal move dictated by convenience in scroll handling (Exodus and Numbers are similar in length; Genesis and Deuteronomy are more independent in character). Yet, the shorter length of Leviticus, its particular content, and its place midpoint in the Pentateuch suggests that it was separated for religious purposes, reflecting the centrality of its concerns for the implied audience (see below).

The biblical texts make no reference to this five-part form. They do refer to "(the book of) the law" (Ezra 10:3; Neh 8:3), but it is unclear whether this wording refers to the laws or to the entire Pentateuch (completed by 400 BCE or so). Moses is associated with "the law" from early in the postexilic era (2 Chron 23:18; 30:16), but its scope is again uncertain. The New Testament references to (the law of) Moses (cf. Luke 24:27, 44) assume this association (see Sir 24:23). Such references are likely a shorthand reference to the Pentateuch, as also in the phrase "the law and the prophets" (see Matt 5:17; Acts 13:15; Rom 3:21), and probably many other NT references to "the law" (e.g., Rom 7:1).

To the extent that these recurrent allusions to "the law" refer to the entire Pentateuch, they are misleading, whether they refer to its literary form or its most basic content. The basic form of the Pentateuch is not law, but narrative, moving from the creation to the eve of Israel's settlement in the promised land; laws have been woven into this narrative structure at various points. Moreover, the basic content of the Pentateuch is not legal in character; it is the story of God and (primarily) a people called Israel, often in interaction with each other. While a theological use of law, as revealing of Israel's sin, is present throughout the Pentateuch (see Deut 31:26), liberating words about God's gracious actions also punctuate the narrative. The Hebrew word torah can be more properly used if it is broadly defined as instruction, and hence could include both law and narrative. But, given the usual meanings of the word "law," it should not be used as a shorthand reference to the Pentateuch in its entirety.

THE PENTATEUCH AS BOOK OF FAITH

Interpreters through the centuries have found a home in the Pentateuch at several points. From the number of citations, Jesus and the New Testament authors seem especially attracted to Deuteronomy, perhaps because of its hortatory character. The preeminence of the law in early Judaism has long been noted. In more modern times, Genesis is the favorite, probably because of the creation texts and the family stories. This has been less true in scholarly circles, which have tended to lift up the book of Exodus, because of historical interests, a particular understanding of "salvation history," and a recognition of the constitutive character of the exodus and accompanying events for Israel as the people of God.

In the church, the Pentateuch has had more than a preparatory function for the Christian gospel; it has actually spoken an effective Word of God to ongoing communities of faith by calling, warning, exhorting, judging, redeeming, comforting, and forgiving. Because the church through the years has experienced the Pentateuch as Word of God in these ways, its liturgies, its preaching, and its catechetics have been filled with references to these texts.

Young Christians have been reared on the Pentateuch stories in particular, from the creation to Noah's ark with its parade of animals to the tower of Babel; from the near-sacrifice of Isaac to Jacob's wrestling to Joseph's coat of many colors; from the baby Moses set adrift on the Nile to Israelites walking through the sea on dry land to the gifts of water and manna in the wilderness. Catechisms that include the Ten Commandments have been impressed upon their memories and have given shape to their speech and action. Liturgies have had built into their very center the themes of Passover and unleavened bread, and Exodus 15 has been appointed as a text for Easter Sunday, so cosmic is the victory of God seen to be.

The New Testament discerns many continuities between the Pentateuch and the experience of the early church, with texts cited as warning (1 Cor 10:6-11), apologia (Acts 7:17-44), instruction (1 Cor 9:8-12; 10:11; 2 Cor 8:14-15), specifications of what love requires (Rom 13:8-10; Matt 19:16-22), paradigms of sin and failure (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22), examples of faith and faithfulness (Romans 4; Galatians 3; Hebrews 11), reminders of its missional purpose (1 Pet 2:9-10; Rev 1:5-6; 5:10), and resources for an eschatology (Rev 8:6–9:21; 15:1-5; 21:1-3; 22:4).

The Christian understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been shaped decisively by these Pentateuchal texts. Abraham's response to God's command to sacrifice his "only son" is echoed in the Passion narratives of the Gospels. Jesus, like Israel, is called "out of Egypt" and tempted in the wilderness (Matt 2:15; 4:1-11). His being "lifted up" recalls Moses' lifting up the snake in the wilderness, which brought healing to the community of faith (John 3:14). He not only celebrates the Passover (Mark 14:12-25; Matt 26:28) but, in a radical theological extension, is himself identified as the "paschal lamb" (1 Cor 5:7; 11:25) and the "spiritual rock" who followed Israel in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:4). He assumes the role of a new Moses as he teaches his disciples from the mountain (Matthew 5–7). And, in the most remarkable move of all, Israel's God "tabernacles" in his very person (John 1:14). Drawing upon all sorts of existing interpretive vehicles, the New Testament writers use the Pentateuch to interpret and proclaim God's act in Jesus.

Theologies of various sorts have drawn on these Pentateuchal texts with abandon, from understandings of creation and human sinfulness to theories of atonement and the sacraments to issues of divine agency and human responsibility to ethical systems to more recent theologies of liberation from communities that know what oppression is all about. Christians understand their sinfulness in terms not unlike those mentioned in Genesis 3, know deeply in their own being the meaning of the cry, "Let my people go," and make their confession of faith in Abrahamic terms, "And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness" (Gen 15:6). In view of such experience, the...