The Torah: a Quick Overview of
the Pentateuch
by Jeffrey Kranz | Aug 16, 2019 | Bible Books | 4 comments
The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy) form one unified group, which goes by several names.
You’ve likely heard them called:
The Torah, which comes from the Hebrew word for “law”
The Pentateuch, which comes from a means “five-book work,” or “five-fold
book”
The Books of Moses (also “the Book of Moses,” or simply “Moses”), who’s
traditionally credited as the primary source of these books
The Law of Moses, a blend of the first and third names
Summary of the Pentateuch
The Torah is a five-book work, each book serving its purpose to
make the whole. Here’s the primary contents of each book, and
how each contributes to the overall work of the Law of Moses.
1. Genesis
Genesis gives the general backstory of the Torah, setting up a few
key dynamics in the cosmos. The ancient Israelites believed that
their God called the world out of chaos, and filled it with plants,
animals, and people. This God was in charge of both the physical
and the metaphysical realms (earth and heaven) and their
inhabitants. At the start of the Bible, God, the humans, and the rest
of the spiritual beings are at peace with one another.
However, rebellion breaks out, and at least one spiritual rebel
(called “the serpent”) tempts humans to rebel against God’s order
—instead choosing what’s right and wrong for themselves. Things
get violent, and eventually God divides the human and spiritual
worlds into nations. (That’s the story of the Tower of Babel.) The
ancient Israelites believed that each nation was assigned their own
pantheon of spiritual beings (“gods”) to seek protection and
provision from.
However, the being above all the other gods (“God Most High”),
chooses to deal directly with a man we know as Abraham. He
promises to give Abraham’s descendants a land of their own. And
eventually, God plans to bless every nation through Abraham,
even the nations he’s not directly working with. The book of
Genesis closes with Abraham’s grandson, named Israel, moving
his family to Egypt to escape a famine.
2. Exodus
Exodus tells the story of how Israel exits Egypt (hence the name)
and enters a covenant with God. The descendants of Abraham
multiplied in Egypt, and so Pharaoh (part of the Egyptian
pantheon) puts them to work as slaves. God then rescues the
Israelites from both the oppressive Egyptian humans and their
oppressive Egyptian gods.
God brings the people of Israel to the foot of a mountain in the
wilderness, called Mount Sinai. Here, the people enter that
covenant we discussed earlier. Throughout this process, God
works with a prophet named Moses. He becomes the human go-
between for both God and Israel, tasked with calling the people to
follow God and also dealing with their complaints and disputes. He
represents God to the people, and mediates on behalf of the
nation when the people break God’s laws.
Exodus closes with Moses and the people constructing a portable
temple (called the tabernacle). God then comes down from the
mountaintop and fills the tabernacle—and just like that, the most
powerful being in the cosmos moves in to a migrant camp of
mortals.
3. Leviticus
Leviticus explores what the people of Israel can and should do
about being in such proximity to such a powerful being. It’s mostly
a book of rules and rituals for the people and priests to follow in
order to keep themselves and the tabernacle acceptable places for
such a powerful being.
The first half of this book focuses on expectations for the Israelite
priests: the people who maintained the tabernacle and performed
religious rituals to God on behalf of the rest of the people. These
priests all came from a subgroup of Israelites: the tribe of Levi. The
book gets its name from the Levitical priesthood.
4. Numbers
Numbers charts the journey from Mount Sinai to the very edge of
the promised land of Canaan … twice. The book gets its name
because at the beginning and end of the book, Moses numbers the
people in a census. After the first census, Moses and the people
move to the edge of the promised land. However, when a few
scouts report back that the people in the land are too strong to be
driven out, the people revolt against Moses and God—planning to
kill Moses and go back to serving Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
With this move, the whole generation of Israelites forfeits the
promised land. The people don’t want to take the land, but God
can’t let them undo his work and re-enslave their children in Egypt.
So instead God guides, protects, and disciplines the people in the
wilderness for the next 40 years, until the next generation replaces
the population. This generation comes back to the edge of
Canaan, almost ready to possess the land.
Throughout Numbers, we see a tension that builds for the rest of
the Old Testament: God finding ways to keep his end of the deal
even though Israel consistently doesn’t keep theirs. When the
people rebel against Moses and God, the Lord punishes them—
but there’s a always remnant of people whom God spares.
5. Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy is both a recap of the Torah and a preview of the
rest of the Old Testament. The name itself comes from the Greek
word for “second law,” because in Deuteronomy Moses again
presents God’s laws to the next generation of Israel. Moses
reviews all God’s generous and mighty deeds: how he rescued
them from Egypt, thundered from Mount Sinai, and provided for
them in the wilderness.
Moses then tells the people that when they enter the land, they will
need to choose whether or not they will serve the God who gave it
to them. They can choose to abide by the laws Moses gives them
and enjoy God’s blessings of protection and prosperity. Or, they
can abandon the Torah and choose what’s right and wrong for
themselves (like the rebellious humans in Genesis). If they make
themselves enemies of God by breaking the covenant, then God
will remove his protection, and Israel won’t be able to keep their
land.
Moses strongly advises that the people just stick with the Torah.
