View source for Torah


[[Image:altarabel.jpg|link=Altars|280px|right|thumb|Does the Torah mean what the authors meant or what the [[Pharisees]] said it meant. Were the [[Altars]] of [[Clay and Stone]] an [[allegory]] describing a social structure through [[freewill offerings|freewill sacrifice]] to bind society through the practice of [[faith]], [[hope]] and [[charity]] according to the [[perfect law of liberty]]?<Br>Have we been deceived again through [[Sophistry]]? ]]

== Torah the books ==


Torah as the name of the old Testament book is (in Judaism) the law of God as revealed to [[Moses]] and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch). In the [[Hebrew]] we see תּוֹרָה [[Tav]][[Vav]][[Reish]][[Hey]] we read as Torah<Ref name="torah">{{08451}}</Ref>  which can include the connection of faith and authority or power which gives us "Instruction", "Teaching" and "Law" through the [[Holy Spirit]].

Torah was a scroll containing these five books.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; color: green;"
|colspan="3"|Torah
|-
|[[Genesis]]
|''origin'' "In [the] beginning"   
|בְּרֵאשִׁית‎‎, Bərēšīṯ, 
|-
|[[Exodus]]
| “departure.”
| שְׁמוֹת‎, Shəmōṯ, "Names" 
|-
|[[Leviticus]]
| "pertaining to Levites" 
| וַיִּקְרָא‎ Vayikra/Wayyiqrā
|-
|[[Numbers]]
|"In the desert [of]" 
|בְּמִדְבַּר‎, Bəmiḏbar, 
|-
|[[Deuteronomy]]
|"[spoken] words"  
| דְּבָרִים‎, Devārīm,  
|}

We see the word for Torah for the first time in [[Genesis 26]]:5 "Because that [[Abraham]] obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments<Ref name="mitsvah"> מִצְוֺתַ֖י miṣ-wō-ṯay MemAynVavTavYod {{04687}}</Ref>, my statutes<Ref name="chuqqah">{{02708}}</Ref>, and my laws.<Ref name="towrah">Torah וְתוֹרֹתָֽי׃ wə-ṯō-w-rō-ṯāy. '''Vav'''TavReishVavTav'''Yod''' which we also see in [[Exodus 16]]:28<Br>{{08451}}</Ref>"


== Torah the word ==


The word "Torah"<Ref name="torah">{{08451}}</Ref> in [[Hebrew]] is derived from the root ''Yarah'', ירה,<Ref name="yarah">{{03384}}</Ref>  which in the hif'il conjugation means "to guide/teach". Christians refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the "Pentateuch", "five scrolls".

The Torah has been translated by religious scholars into most of the major European languages, including English, German, Russian, French, Spanish and others. But for a true understanding the unique nature of the [[Hebrew]] language offers some aid to its understanding which requires humility and the Holy Spirit.

: "The Torah, held to be the most ancient of histories, exists today in three separate versions: the Hebrew, considered authentic by the Jews and the Protestant clergy; the Greek Septuagint, which was used as authoritative in the Greek and other eastern churches; and the Samaritan Torah, the standard authority for that people. These three versions differ greatly, one from another, even with regard to the lifetimes of the most celebrated figures. In the Hebrew Torah, it is recorded that from Noah's flood until the birth of Abraham there was an interval of two hundred and ninety-two years. In the Greek, that time span is given as one thousand and seventy-two years, while the Samaritan, the recorded span is nine hundred and forty-two years. Refer to the commentary by Henry Westcott for tables are supplied therein which show the discrepancies among the three Torahs as to the birth dates of a number of the descendants of Shem, and thou wilt see how greatly the versions differ from one another. Moreover, according to the text of the Hebrew Torah, from the creation of Adam until Noah's flood the elapsed time is recorded as one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years, while in the Greek Torah the interval is given as two thousand two hundred and sixty-two years, and in the Samaritan text, the same period is said to have lasted one thousand three hundred and seven years. Reflect now over the discrepancies among these three Torahs. The case is indeed surprising. The Jews and Protestants belittle the Greek Torah, while to the Greeks the Hebrew version is spurious, and the Samaritans deny both the Hebrew and the Greek versions."   Sir ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ Abbas K.B.E. 1906


== Versions of the Law ==



== Torah keepers ==

Torah keepers seek to obey God by doing what they think is keeping the Torah. Of course, no one can keep the Torah by his or her own personal will and knowledge of it. 

When Paul talks about the law being done away, he is speaking of the law as interpreted by the [[Pharisees]] and the [[nailing it to His cross|hand written ordinances]] of men like [[Herod]] and the obligations imposed by their civil system, [[Corban]]. 

Paul did not mean the principles and precepts of God expressed in the text were done away.

The Torah must be written in you by God and His [[Holy Spirit]].  The [[Bible]] and especially the Hebrew language is full of [[Allegory|Allegories]] and [[metaphor|metaphors]] and without the [[Holy Spirit]] we may unmoor the actual spiritual instructions from the physical symbols. The symbols and ritual do not justify anyone before God. 

To think so in anyway would be a form of [[idolatry]]. 

No one should imagine that by wearing [[fringes]] or sowing [[Breeches]] or keeping the [[Sabbath]] on a special calculated day or even having [[Feasts]] we can be justified. If we're clinging to the outward form in any way, we will drift away from the message and its purpose and fail to bloom in the light of the [[Holy Spirit]].



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== Footnotes ==

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