276°
Posted 20 hours ago

The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

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 Hebrew Scriptures name the book from its first words, “In the wilderness” ( Numbers 1:1); but its English name originates from the Septuagint. Numbers is so named because a census of Israel is taken twice: first at Sinai, then at the end of the years of wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 1 and 26).

the meaning of the Pentateuch? – Sage-Advices What is the meaning of the Pentateuch? – Sage-Advices

The 10 Commandments: At Sinai, God gave the nation of Israel the 10 Commandments, His eternal spiritual law, as a blessing and a great benefit for all humanity. The 10 Commandments show the way to a right and proper relationship with God, leading to a life that is happy and fulfilled. In addition, there are some problems associated with the biblical data and external evidence as well. For example, Kitchen (1966:36) has observed that the time covered by the genealogies from Adam to Abraham, if taken to be continuous, is not nearly long enough when compared with external data. If the birth of Abraham is taken to be about 2000 B.C., as is generally argued for, then on the basis of the biblical chronological data the Flood would have occurred some 290 years earlier, at about 2300 B.C. However, on the basis of Mesopotamian evidence this date is excluded because it would fall some 300 or 400 years after the period of the Gilgamesh of Uruk for whom (in both Epic and Sumerian King List) the Flood was already an event of distant past. Wolf (1991:51) has noted that few subjects in Old Testament studies have generated more discussion and more disagreement than the question of who wrote the Pentateuch. Opinions range widely with some arguing that every word was written by Moses, while others insist that Moses had nothing whatever to do with the writing of the Pentateuch. Instead it is claimed that certain ancient sources, labeled J, E, P, and D, were the original documents from which the Pentateuch was formed, and that the writers of these alleged documents, the so-called Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly Code writer, and the Deuteronomist, are regarded as the true authors of the Pentateuch. (See, Archer 1985:83-108, and Wolf 1991:62-70, for a detailed discussion of the documentary hypothesis of the Pentateuch.) Christ warns true Christians that they should “take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with … cares of this life, and that Day [His return] come on you unexpectedly” (Luke 21:34). Don’t allow the cares of this life to crowd out the time you should devote to the study of the Bible. David stated that those who “delight … in the law of the LORD” and meditate on His law day and night will be blessed ( Psalm 1:1-2). The law” can refer to the covenant in general, but you’ll also find references to “laws” within the law. These are the “thou shalts” and the “thou shalt nots.” They’re the rituals for observing feasts and offering sacrifices. They’re the rules about food, sex, clothing, and justice. They’re the directions for setting up an acceptable place of worship. That kind of stuff.As Livingston (1974:2) points out the king lists permit a largely relative chronology within Egyptian history, providing us with the knowledge that a certain king and the events of his reign preceded or followed some other king. What is not known from this information, however, is when these things occurred with respect to an absolute reference point, which for the West is the birth of Christ. Help in such cases can come from astronomical data.

The Meaning of the Pentateuch - The Gospel Coalition

The following is a summary of the types of Christ revealed in the Pentateuch. Adam as a type of Christ Adam is recognized as a type of Christ in as much as the NT explicitly designates him as such; “. . . as did Adam, who was a pattern (type/ typos) of the one to come” (Rom 5:14). Both entered the world through a special act of God as sinless men. Adam is the head of the old creation; Christ is the Head of the new creation. Through Adam's one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men; through Christ's one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all who believe in Him (Rom 5:15-19). Melchizedek as a type of Christ Numbers contains the history of the Israelites from the time of their departure from Sinai, in the second month of the second year after the exodus from Egypt, until their arrival at the plains of Moab in the 10th month of the 40th year of their wanderings. Archaeological data (accumulated in the late 1930's) suggests that the presence of strong opposition to the Israelites from the Edomites (Num 20:20-21) was impossible before 1300 B.C. because the region of the southern Transjordan was unoccupied from 1900-1300 B.C.

From a Jewish perspective, the dominant figure of the Pentateuch and, to a certain extent, of the entire OT is Moses. Abraham plays a key role in Genesis, but his stature and accomplishments do not match those of Moses. Although Abraham was the founding father of Israel, Moses was the one who organized the nation, promulgated their laws, and, under God, led them for forty years through the wilderness. Throughout this time he was a prophet, a priest, and, in effect, a king/ruler as he directed every facet of Israel's national life. The NT highly praises both Abraham and Moses, but it was Moses who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, along with Elijah, to talk with Jesus (Matt 17:3-8). Wolf (1991:53) has observed that a number of passages in the Pentateuch assert that Moses wrote at least part of it. In Exodus 17:14, for example, the Lord told Moses to write an account of the battle with the Amalekites. Then also, as recorded in Exodus 24:4, Moses, at Mount Sinai, wrote down all the words and laws spoken by the Lord and repeated to the people. Numbers 33:1-2 says that at the Lord’s command, Moses recorded the stages of the Israelites’ journey from the time they came out of Egypt. In Deuteronomy 31:9 the text says that Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests and commanded them to read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing at the end of every seven years when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord. The literal understanding of this text requires that a written copy of the Law must have been in existence. The most comprehensive statement of Mosaic authorship in the Pentateuch is found in Deuteronomy 31:24, where it states that after Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end he commanded the Levites to “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord.” Statements found in the rest of the Old Testament

The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition, and The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition, and

The main narrative sections of the Pentateuch are concluded by poetic material sometimes followed by an epilogue (see, for example, Sailhamer 1990:7-8). For example, at the close of the patriarchal narratives stands the blessings of Jacob which are written in poetic form in Genesis 49 and an epilogue in chapter 50. The Exodus narratives are concluded by the song of Moses (Exodus 15) written in poetic form, and the wilderness wanderings are followed by Balaam's oracles (Num 23-24) written in poetic form. And at the end of the Pentateuch there is a double poetic section containing Moses' song of witness and blessing on the twelve tribes (Deut 32-33), followed by an epilogue (Deut 34). Continuity/unity in grammatical features These covenants usually included rules for the vassal to follow. If the vassal kept the rules, then they could enjoy being in the suzerain’s good graces. If the vassal broke the rules—and especially if the vassal betrayed the suzerain and helped the suzerain’s enemies—they would be punished and cursed. An additional link between the Patriarchal period and the time of Moses is found in Galatians 3:17 where Paul, in speaking of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, mentions that the Law came 430 years after the promises were given. Several explanations have been set forth concerning the 430 years noted by Paul (see Kitchen 1966:53). Some have suggested that it began with Abraham, in which case the 430 years included Israel's time of about 200 years in Canaan and about 200 years in Egypt. The Septuagint supports this view, but this conflicts with the clear statement in Exodus 12:40, 41 that the Egyptian sojourn was 430 years exactly. Another suggestion is that the period began with the confirming of the Abrahamic Covenant with Jacob (Gen 35:9-12). A third and perhaps best view is that the period began with the final confirmation of the Covenant to Jacob just prior to his moving to Egypt (Gen 46:1-4). According to this last view, the period of time noted in Galatians 3:17 corresponds to the period of the sojourn in Egypt and correlates exactly with Exodus 12:40.That covenant agreement is known throughout the rest of the Bible as “the law.” 2. The specific terms of that covenant 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 Demonstrating the literary unity of the Pentateuch does not prove Mosaic authorship. However if such unity can be shown for major portions of the Pentateuch an argument can be made for unity of authorship which can be used to support a claim for Mosaic authorship. Unity of composition for the Pentateuch is not argued for in detail here but only broadly from the perspective of continuity in the overall story, narrative structure, and grammatical features. Continuity/unity of narrative story James 2:12 makes the statement that we shall be judged by the “law of liberty.” By obedience to these laws, we are showing God that we love and respect Him. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). The authorship connection between Moses and the Pentateuch is even more direct in the New Testament (Wolf 1991:55) where there are numerous references to the "Law of Moses" or the "Book of Moses" (Mark 12:26), or just simply to "Moses" as in, “Moses and the prophets” (Luke 16:29, 31; 24:27; Acts 26:22). While the gospels contain many references to Moses and his writings, the most important ones are found in the gospel of John. In John 1:17 the gospel writer states that "the law was given through Moses." And in 1:45 he reports that Philip told Nathaniel he had “found the one Moses wrote about in the Law." In John 5:46-47, Jesus Himself declares that Moses wrote about Him, but the Jews did not believe that He was the Christ because they did not believe what Moses wrote. As His dispute with the Jews heated up, Jesus noted that Moses had indeed given them the Law but none of them kept it (John 7:19). In the ensuing dispute with the Jews, Jesus attributes the giving of circumcision to Moses. But John notes here that it actually did not come from Moses but from the Patriarchs. John’s clarification of this point supports the claim for Mosaic authorship. The institution of circumcision came through Abraham (Gen 17) as the sign of the covenant God made with him, yet it comes down to the Jews through the Law of Moses (John 7:22-23). Significantly, the reference to Moses' giving the Jews circumcision implicitly attributes the authorship of Genesis to Moses. Genesis is the most difficult of the five books to link to Moses, thus if some connection can be made between Moses and the Book of Genesis a case can be made for Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment