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Torah
Torah Hebrew for ‘instruction’ or ‘teaching’. The translation ‘Law’ is too restrictive: there is a body of legal enactments but it is within a corpus of divine revelation and teaching—the whole being known as Torah. In addition to the statutes (Exod. 18: 16) the Torah contains instructions for worship (Lev. 6: 14), sacrificial procedure, right conduct, and precautions to preserve purity (Lev. 10: 10; 14: 57; Deut. 4–7; 11–15; 23). In Deut. the Torah refers to the whole book, all that went to maintain Israel's cultural and religious identity, based on the law book that was allegedly found in the Temple (2 Kgs. 22: 8). Josiah's contemporary, Jeremiah, uses Torah in a wide sense as in Deut., and in the psalms (e.g. Ps. 1: 2) the study of Torah is praised as being the whole point and purpose of existence. Disobedience or neglect would bring exile, disaster, and death, even for kings (Deut. 17: 18–20). In later Judaism the Pentateuch came to be known as the written Torah, while the oral Torah consisted of the traditions that were eventually written in the Mishnah, forming the basis of the Talmud.
Moses is credited with enunciating the Torah (Deut. 4: 44) but subsequently Torah in its widest sense was promulgated by kings, priests, and wise men (Prov. 6: 20). It was a divine revelation and responding to it was the devout Israelite's greatest joy (Ps. 119). In the NT Jesus warns his followers that the precepts of the Law take them only to the threshold of the kingdom: the Law forbade murder; within the kingdom there cannot even exist anger (Matt. 5: 22). Paul regards observance of the Law as the badge of Judaism, from which Christians are released, for Christ alone is the agent of salvation. |
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "Torah." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "Torah." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-Torah.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "Torah." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-Torah.html |
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Torah
Torah (Heb., ‘teaching’). The teachings of the Jewish religion. In the Pentateuch, the term ‘Torah’ can mean all the laws on a particular subject (e.g. Leviticus 7. 2) or the summation of all laws (e.g. Deuteronomy 4. 44). It is also used to refer to the Pentateuch in contrast to the Prophets and Hagiography (as in Tanach), and later a distinction was made between the written and the oral law. The purpose of Torah is to make Israel ‘a kingdom of priests, a holy nation’ (Deuteronomy 33. 4). In a famous exchange Hillel summarized Torah in the maxim, ‘What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow’ (B. Shab. 31a), and Akiva maintained that its overriding principle was ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19. 18). Maimonides laid down in his thirteen principles of the Jewish faith that Torah is immutable and that it was given in its entirety to Moses. The belief in the divine origin of both the written and oral Torah remains the touchstone of Orthodox Judaism. The Karaites accepted the written, but not the oral law, while the Progressive movements tend to distinguish between the moral and ritual law.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Torah.html JOHN BOWKER. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Torah.html |
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Torah
Torah [Heb.,=teachings or learning], Hebrew name for the five books of Moses—the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. The Torah is believed by Orthodox Jews to have been handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai and transmitted by him to the Jews. It laid down the fundamental laws of moral and physical conduct. The Torah begins with a description of the origin of the universe and ends on the word Israel, after the story of the death of Moses, just before the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. In a wider sense the Torah includes all teachings of Judaism, the entire Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. |
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"Torah." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Torah." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Torah.html "Torah." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Torah.html |
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Torah
To·rah / ˈtōrə; ˈtô-; tôˈrä/ • n. (usu. the Torah) (in Judaism) the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch). ∎ a scroll containing this. ORIGIN: from Hebrew tōrāh ‘instruction, doctrine, law,’ from yārāh ‘show, direct, instruct.’ |
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"Torah." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Torah." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-torah.html "Torah." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-torah.html |
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Torah
Torah. The English equivalent of a Hebrew word usually translated ‘Law’. It was preeminently the function of the priests to give ‘torah’ or instruction on the Will of God, and the word came also to be used of written collections of such priestly decisions, and so of the Pentateuch as containing the Mosaic legislation, as well as of individual laws within that legislation.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Torah.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Torah.html |
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Torah
Torah (Hebrew, law) Hebrew name for the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. The Torah is the body of written Jewish laws contained within these five books. The Torah also describes the complete Jewish Bible.
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"Torah." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Torah." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Torah.html "Torah." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Torah.html |
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Torah
Torah in Judaism, the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Torah." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Torah." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Torah.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Torah." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Torah.html |
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Torah
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T. F. HOAD. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Torah.html T. F. HOAD. "Torah." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-Torah.html |
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Torah
Torah
•abhorrer, adorer, Andorra, angora, aura, aurora, bora, Bora-Bora, borer, Camorra, Cora, corer, Dora, Eleonora, Eudora, explorer, fedora, flora, fora, ignorer, Isadora, Kia-Ora, Laura, Leonora, Maura, menorah, Nora, pakora, Pandora, pourer, roarer, scorer, senhora, señora, signora, snorer, soarer, Sonora, sora, storer, Theodora, Torah, Tuscarora, Vlorë
•goalscorer • cobra • okra • Oprah
•Socotra • Moira • Sudra
•chaulmoogra • supra
•Brahmaputra, sutra
•Zarathustra • Louvre • fulcra
•Tripura
•borough, burgh, Burra, curragh, demurrer, thorough
•Rubbra
•penumbra, umbra
•tundra • chakra • ultra • kookaburra
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"Torah." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Torah." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Torah.html "Torah." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Torah.html |
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