At its inaugural moment, the Law of Moses—or Mosaic Law—referred to the law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, shortly after he freed the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. However, as Biblical history unfolded, the Law of Moses came to encompass more than just the Ten Commandments or the laws contained in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.
To speak of the Law of Moses is to speak of the Torahfor his writing in Hebrew. Torah means: instruction, opinion, decision, prescription, rule, precept, rite, law, and lay the foundations. That is why Torah alludes to the fundamental doctrine that upholds all the religion that is revealed in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament, and is the oldest and most specific title to refer to the first major section of the Bible.
Torahin Greek nomos, alludes to the first five books of the Bible traditionally associated with Moses, known in Christian circles as the Pentateuch (Mt. 5:17). Later in history, both Diaspora Jews in their synagogues and Christians in churches began to identify the books of the Torah either nomos with its Greek name: Pentateuch. This new term refers to the “scrolls contained in five cases”, since each book in ancient times was arranged in scrolls.
In its current usage, Torah—or Mosaic Law—designates:
- The specific revelation given by God to Moses on Sinai (Ex. 20).
- The set of divine commandments revealed in Leviticus (cf. Lev 17-24).
- The Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).
- The Old Testament in general (known as Tanak either miqra).
From this we infer that the Law of Moses or Mosaic Law will adopt one of these meanings according to the context where it appears in the Bible.
Being such an important portion of Scripture, believers need to know in the light of the gospel and understand its correct application for our days. As we do so, it is important to remember that our salvation is not by obedience to the law (for we are sinners who cannot perfectly obey) but only by faith in the Savior (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10). all the law and his redemptive work for us and for the glory of God (Lk. 24:25-27; Ro. 3:21-22).
K. Elliger and W. Rudolph, eds., hebraic bible stuttgartensia (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997) p. 395.
In the same Bible there are some compound expressions that use the term Torah, for instance: sefer ha-Torah, which means “the book of the Law” (Neh. 8.3); Torat Moshe, or the “Law of Moses” (2 Cr. 23.18; 30.16); either Sefer Torat Moshe, which translated is: “the book of the Law of Moses” (2 R. 14.6; Neh. 8.1). In Samuel Pagan, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Clíe, 2012) p. 130.
Luis Alonso Schökel, “Torah”, Hebrew Bible Dictionary—English (Madrid, Spain: Editorial Trotta, 1999) p. 796.
Samuel Pagan, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Page 129.
The Greek version, called the Septuagint (LXX), records the phrase as Nómou Môuse (law of Moses). In Rahlfs-Hanhart, septuagint (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006) p. 401.
Natalio Fernandez Marcos, Septuagint, the Greek Bible of Jews and Christians (Salamanca, Spain: Ediciones Sígueme, 2008) pp. 89-96.
Samuel Pagan, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Page 130.