Editing Bible (section)

==== Torah ====
{{Main|Torah}}
{{See also|Oral Torah}}
[[File:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG|thumb|A [[Torah scroll]] recovered from [[Glockengasse Synagogue]] in [[Cologne]]]]
[[File:Samaritan Inscription containing portion of the Bible in nine lines of Hebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Samaritan Inscription containing a portion of the Bible in nine lines of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] text, currently housed in the [[British Museum]] in London]]
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of [[Moses]]" or the [[Pentateuch]], meaning "five scroll-cases".{{sfn|Barnstone|2009|p=[[iarchive:isbn 9780393064933/page/647|647]]}} Traditionally these books were considered to have been [[Mosaic authorship|dictated to Moses]] by God himself.{{sfn|Robinson|2006|p=97}}{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=1072}} Since the 17th century, scholars have viewed the original sources as being the product of multiple anonymous authors while also allowing the possibility that Moses first assembled the separate sources.{{sfn|Nahkola|2007|pp=vii, xvi, 197, 204, 216–217}}{{sfn|Baden|2012|p=13}} There are a variety of hypotheses regarding when and how [[Composition of the Torah|the Torah was composed]],{{sfn|Greifenhagen|2003|p=206}} but there is a general consensus that it took its final form during the reign of the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] (probably 450–350 BCE),{{sfn|Greifenhagen|2003|pp=206–207}}{{sfn|Newsom|2004|p=26}} or perhaps in the early [[Hellenistic period]] (333–164 BCE).{{sfn|Greifenhagen|2003|p=224 n. 49}}

The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts. The Torah consists of the following five books:
* [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ''Bereshith'' (בראשית)
* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)
* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)
* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)
* [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]], ''Devarim'' (דברים)

The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's [[biblical covenant|covenant]] with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarchs]] [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel (name)|Israel]]) and Jacob's children, the "[[Children of Israel]]", especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur of the Chaldees|Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt.

The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in [[ancient Egypt]] to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[Mount Sinai (Bible)|Mount Sinai]] and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.{{sfn|Rossel|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&pg=PA355 355]}}

The commandments in the Torah provide the basis for [[Halakha|Jewish religious law]]. Tradition states that there are [[613 commandments]] (''taryag mitzvot'').