Page 3 - Pentateuch

Pentateuch

By Richard Laugher, Th.M.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Connect…

The “Pentateuch” (Greek for “having five books”) refers to the first five books of the Old Testament:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books are also called the Law or Torah. They
tell us about the creation of the world, sins entrance into human life, God’s promise of a Savior, his laws
showing the right way to live, and the first part of his dealings with his people. Other Old Testament and
New Testament books often refer to verses or events in the Pentateuch. These five books are the
foundation for all the rest of God’s revelation to us.

The books in the Hebrew OT (Masoretic Text) are often divided into several groups: 1.) the Torah; 2.) the
prophets, including the former prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the latter prophets (Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, twelve minor prophets); and 3.) the writings including poetry (Psalms, Proverbs, Job),
rolls (Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther), and history (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and
1 and 2 Chronicles). The total count was twenty-four books, with Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and the minor
prophets listed as one each, Ezra and Nehemiah as one, Ruth with Judges, and Lamentations with Jeremiah.
The last book, Malachi, was written around 424 B.C.

The Lesson ...

Introduction

Written primarily in Hebrew, the Old Testament had been
translated into Greek by the time of Jesus. This version, called
the Septuagint, was written around 250 – 150 B.C. Jesus had a
copy of the OT in either Greek or Hebrew that was substantially
like our Bibles today. From time to time, other books have been
suggested for inclusion, such as the fourteen books of the
Apocrypha. Yet none of these books were ever part of the
Hebrew OT. The NT quotes none of these books, while it refers
to all the OT books. Figure 1 is the oldest complete copy of the
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Pentateuch, an illustration of how scripture was written.

The New Testament affirms the inspiration of the entire Old
Testament, including the Pentateuch. “Not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Fig. 1: Oldest Torah scroll, c. 1200
Law until everything is accomplished,” said Jesus (Matt. 5:18). “The

1 F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 1988), 51.
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