You're listening to Tim Bulkeley's 5 minute Bible Introducing the Torah
all the pent took boron meant you could two names
from two traditions the same collection of books
they also have another common name five books of Moses
all the books of Moses but those names are common to both traditions and we'll
come back to them later
during Torre word that means
instruction teaching all base focus on the role of these books
cents judaism became so centered on
its Fort rules meaning lost her to predominate
probably in ancient times the meaning instructional teaching was the
one was uppermost in people's minds the Greek name
had talked to her simply means five books
the Penta to cause and
the talk how the picture as far as we tell always be enough I book
unit night school early speculation with suggestions or
executing putting Joshua or Petra took knocking off
pitcher on me and both of those suggestions
have some merit to the mentality terms neither of them have any evidence
historically to support them
and the five books of eighty clearly a unit
the block lead on from one to the next in fact
times you wonder whether the divisions between them are somewhat arbitrary
if it scrolls except perhaps in the case a cuter on me
which restart said recapitulates
what's been said before. Yet going back to that suggestion of a 4 book unit
a Tetrateuch
could such a unit end with the end of Numbers
wouldn't that lay far too much stress on the importance of law
to the torah? Certainly a Hexateuch, a six book unit
could end quite nicely with the end of Joshua. But,
that wasn't what the authors of the Bible wanted
the ending of Joshua
is perhaps altogether
too triumphal and didn't suit the writers of the Bible
"The bones of Joseph which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt
were buried at Shechem, in a portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of
Hamor
father of Shechem for 100 pieces of money
and became an inheritance for the descendants of Joseph
with the slight anticlimax of the waffle about Eliazer
son of Aaron in the next sentence by the way couldn't last
and about as the Bible make sure that we had judges to follow disabuse assume any
notions of triumphal
heroes be be issued
is the pen to choose ok which ends with the death of Moses
this underlines but how central Moses to this work
and as declines noticed many
decades ago now other promises to the patriarchs
though on the way to fulfilment I still at the independent took
not yet and two
ending with recapitulation of the law stratos also its importance
over against many Christian Ising readings try to minimize the
significance of law
so what he is the talk
well Institute I wonder if the best
to starting point for thinking about that isn't the Maori concept of a copper
the sort genealogy that tells you who you are
by telling you where you came from public
the frame and much of the contents of the torah his narrative
it's a story that begins creation and ins with the death of Moses on the
merger Jordan
and in between we hear about ancestors about calling
a promise fulfillment we hear a broken world of oppression
and obliteration amoxil we hear a flaw
commands mitzvot to be obeyed and asking what's
tore is we Christian Church certainly not too quickly
run past the law rules to live by
which generate habits of holiness to use Conrad control useful phrase
are really significant in defining a people
appear again Maori culture with its concept to top 100
and perhaps you get a glimpse of the significance and importance
of all those lists to clean and unclean
animals in the projects and the like and that's
but the page two keys 25 book unit
which look like a paper tells us who we are where we came from
had which tells us
the rules which goes people obeyed
in order to be in to become holy people
people set apart for god almighty Christians are never quite worked out
what to do with the torah
but Jesus was quite clear not one word
not one letter but one stroke of a pen will pass away
what we do with that is a really interesting theological puzzle for 21st
century christians
but then disliked leaving us with puzzles to think about
I for now