Section 1 Titles, Divisions, Contents- The Pentateuch or the “Torah” (“The Law” to the Jewish) is the first five books of the Bible made up of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Genesis details the history of the ancestors of humanity; Exodus contains the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt and the Sinaitic covenant; Leviticus is concerned with legislation, interrupting the flow of the current narrative; in Numbers the narrative is continued, it follows the journey of the Israelites in the desert; and finally, Deuteronomy states a code of civil and religious laws through conversation with Moses.
Section 2 How the Pentateuch came to be written- The author of the Pentateuch is unknown to this day, and the writing process was long and uncertain. Initially, Moses was credited with writing the Pentateuch, but this was disproven by the the variance of writing styles within the Pentateuch. The “document theory” is an alternate idea, stating that the Pentateuch is made up of a mixture of four documents including Yahwistic, Elohistic, Deutoronomic, and Priestly Code narrative sources.
Section 3 Relation of the narratives to history- The first eleven chapters of Genesis describe the origin of the human race in an anecdotal way which cannot be historically proven, but the rest of the Pentateuch is a historical narrative of Isreal. The person of Moses and his journey out of Egypt makes up the history of Isreal, yet is it still unknown whether Moses was a real person or a figurehead with which to frame the origins of Isreal.
Section 4 The Laws- The Pentateuch embodies the laws concerning the moral, social, and religious aspects of the Israelites. The multitude of codes of laws within the Pentateuch; including the Decalogue, Code of the Covenant, Deuteronomic Code, and the Law of Holiness; reflect the necessity for laws to evolve with the times.
Section 5 Religious Significance- The Pentateuch follows God’s divine revelation to His Chosen people and the promises and covenants God made with these patriarchs. Although, the Pentateuch is not complete in and of itself because it does not detail the fulfillment of the promises made in the Pentateuch. The stages of detachment, trial, and purification through which the Chosen People had to pass through in the book of the Pentateuch are the similar to the stages our souls must pass through to live out God’s will and reach Paradise.
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