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Religious Studies & Theology vocabulary · Scripture and Interpretation

Torah

Meaning in religious studies & theology, with examples

/ˈtɔːrə/nounCore term

In religious studies & theology, Torah means: The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, traditionally attributed to Moses; in a wider sense, the whole body of Jewish teaching and law.

In Turkish: Tevrat, Tora

How it is used

The five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy; scholars also call them the Pentateuch. A Torah scroll is kept in the synagogue and read in weekly portions. Rabbinic tradition speaks of a written Torah and an oral Torah.

Example sentences

  1. A portion of the Torah is read aloud in the synagogue every Sabbath.

  2. Rabbinic tradition holds that the oral Torah was given together with the written Torah.

Common collocations

  • Torah scroll
  • written Torah
  • oral Torah
  • study Torah
  • the Five Books of Moses
  • JudaismThe religion, culture and way of life of the Jewish people, based on the covenant with God described in the Hebrew Bible and developed in the Talmud and later teaching.
  • TalmudThe central text of rabbinic Judaism, which combines the Mishnah, an early code of Jewish oral law, with the Gemara, centuries of rabbinic discussion of it.
  • BibleThe sacred scriptures of Christianity, made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament; the Jewish Bible, or Tanakh, largely corresponds to the Old Testament.
  • halakhaJewish religious law, based on the Torah and developed in the Talmud and later legal codes, which guides daily life, worship, food and family matters.
  • synagogueA Jewish house of prayer, study and community gathering, where the Torah scrolls are kept in an ark and read during services.

More terms: Scripture and Interpretation

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