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Torah (; , "Instruction, Teaching"), or the Pentateuch (), is the central reference of the religious Judaic tradition. It has a range of meanings. It can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. The term Torah means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it; it can mean the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh, and it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice.〔''The Emergence of Judaism'', Jacob Neusner, 2004, p. 57〕 Common to all these meanings, Torah consists of the foundational narrative of the Jews: their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obligations and civil laws (halakha). In rabbinic literature the word "Torah" denotes both the five books, ''Torah Shebichtav'' (תורה שבכתב, "Torah that is written"), and an Oral Torah, ''Torah Shebe'al Peh'' (תורה שבעל פה, "Torah that is spoken"). The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash.〔Birnbaum (1979), p. 630〕 According to rabbinic tradition, all of the teachings found in the Torah, both written and oral, were given by God through Moses, a prophet, some of them at Mount Sinai and others at the Tabernacle, and all the teachings were written down by Moses, which resulted in the Torah we have today. According to a Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and was used as the blueprint for Creation.〔Vol. 11 Trumah Section 61〕 The majority of Biblical scholars believe that the written books were a product of the Babylonian exilic period (c. 600 BCE) and that it was completed by the Persian period (c. 400 BCE).〔page 1, 〕 However, it is worth noting that the 2004 discovery of fragments of the Hebrew Bible at Ketef Hinnom dating to the 7th century BCE, and thus to before the Babylonian captivity, suggests that at least some elements of the Torah were current before the Babylonian exile.〔Davila, James, ("MORE ON THE KETEF HINNOM AMULETS in Ha'aretz )," ''Paleojudaica'', Sept. 2004.〕〔Barkay, Gabriel, et al., ("The Challenges of Ketef Hinnom: Using Advanced Technologies to Recover the Earliest Biblical Texts and their Context" ), ''Near Eastern Archaeology'', 66/4 (Dec. 2003): 162-171.〕〔(Solving a Riddle Written in Silver )〕〔('Silver scrolls' are oldest O.T. scripture, archaeologist says )〕 Traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a ''sofer'' on parchment in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days, in the halachically prescribed tune, in the presence of a congregation.〔Babylonian Talmud Bava Kama 82a〕 Reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. ==Meaning and names== The word "Torah" in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, which in the ''hif'il'' conjugation means "to guide/teach" (cf. ). The meaning of the word is therefore "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction"; the commonly accepted "law" gives a wrong impression.〔Rabinowitz, Louis Isaac and Harvey, Warren. "Torah". ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 20. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. pp. 39–46.〕 Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance,〔Philip Birnbaum, ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts'', Hebrew Publishing Company, 1964, p. 630〕 or system.〔p. 2767, Alcalay〕 The term "Torah" is used in the general sense to include both Rabbinic Judaism's written law and oral law, serving to encompass the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash and more, and the inaccurate rendering of "Torah" as "Law"〔pp. 164–165, Scherman, Exodus 12:49〕 may be an obstacle to understanding the ideal that is summed up in the term ''talmud torah'' (תלמוד תורה, "study of Torah").〔 The earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been "The Torah of Moses". This title, however, is found neither in the Torah itself, nor in the works of the pre-Exilic literary prophets. It appears in Joshua (8:31–32; 23:6) and Kings (I Kings 2:3; II Kings 14:6; 23:25), but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus (according to academic Bible criticism). In contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works (Mal. 3:22; Dan. 9:11, 13; Ezra 3:2; 7:6; Neh. 8:1; II Chron. 23:18; 30:16) was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were "The Book of Moses" (Ezra 6:18; Neh. 13:1; II Chron. 35:12; 25:4; cf. II Kings 14:6) and "The Book of the Torah" (Neh. 8:3), which seems to be a contraction of a fuller name, "The Book of the Torah of God" (Neh. 8:8, 18; 10:29–30; cf. 9:3).〔Sarna, Nahum M. ''et al.'' "Bible". ''Encyclopaedia Judaica.'' Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. pp 576–577.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「torah」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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