Пятикнижие

The first five books of the Old Testament, having the same author - Moses, apparently at first represented one book, as can be judged from the testimony of Prince. Deuteronomy, which says: “Take this book of the law and put it at the right hand of the ark of the covenant” (Deut. 31.26). The same name “book of the law”, or simply “law”, was used to designate the first five books of the law in other places of the Old and New Testaments (1 Kings 2.3; 2 Kings 23.25; Ps 18.8; Isa 5.24; Matthew 7.12; Matthew 11.13; Luke 2.22, etc.). But the rabbis, since ancient times, had another, somewhat original designation for this “Torah” (law), as “five-fifths of the law,” which simultaneously proves both the unity of the Pentateuch and its composition of five different parts. This five-place division, apparently, was finally determined by the era of the translation of the LXX translators, where it already received full recognition. Our modern word "Pentateuch" represents a literal translation of the Greek - πεντάτευχος from πέντε - "five" and τεῦχος - "volume of the book". This division is quite accurate, since, indeed, each of the five volumes of the Pentateuch has its own differences and corresponds to different periods of theocratic legislation. So, for example, the first volume is, as it were, a historical introduction to it, and the last serves as an obvious repetition of the law; the three intermediate volumes contain the gradual development of theocracy, timed to certain historical facts, and the middle of these three books (Leviticus), differing sharply from the previous and subsequent ones (by the almost complete absence of the historical part), is an excellent line separating them. All five parts of the Pentateuch have now received the meaning of special books and have their own names, which in the Hebrew Bible depend on their initial words, and in Greek, Latin and Slavic-Russian - on the main subject of their content. The Book of Genesis contains a narrative about the origin of the world and man, a universal introduction to the history of mankind, the election and education of the Jewish people in the person of its patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Book The Exodus tells at length about the exit of the Jews from Egypt and the granting of the Sinai legislation. Book Leviticus is especially devoted to the exposition of this law in all its particulars that are most closely related to worship and the Levites. Book Numbers gives the history of wanderings in the desert and the number of Jews who were counted at that time. Finally, the book. Deuteronomy contains a repetition of the Law of Moses Due to the fundamental importance of the Pentateuch, St. Gregory of Nazianzus called it the true “ocean of theology.” Indeed, it represents the basic foundation of the entire Old Testament, on which all its other books rest. Serving as the basis of Old Testament history, the Pentateuch is the basis of New Testament history, since it reveals to us the plan of the divine economy of our salvation. That is why Christ himself said that He came to fulfill, and not to destroy, the law and the prophets (Matthew 5.17). In the Old Testament, the Pentateuch occupies exactly the same position as the Gospel in the New. The authenticity and integrity of the Pentateuch is evidenced by a number of external and internal evidence, which we will only briefly mention here. Moses, first of all, could write the Pentateuch, since he, even according to the most extreme skeptics, had an extensive mind and high education; Consequently, and regardless of inspiration, Moses was fully capable of preserving and transmitting the very legislation of which he was the mediator. Another compelling argument for the authenticity of the Pentateuch is the universal tradition, which continuously, over a number of centuries, starting with the book of Joshua (Joshua 1.7–8, 8:31, 23, etc.), passing through all other books and ending with the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ himself (Mk 10.5; Mt 19.7; Lk 24.27; Jn 5.45–46), unanimously claims that the writer of the Pentateuch was the prophet Moses. The testimony of the Samaritan Pentateuch and ancient Egyptian monuments should also be added here. Finally, the Pentateuch retains clear traces of its authenticity within itself. Both in terms of ideas and style, all the pages of the Pentateuch bear the stamp of Moses: the unity of plan, the harmony of parts, the majestic simplicity of style, the presence of archaisms, the excellent knowledge of Ancient Egypt - all this speaks so strongly of the Pentateuch belonging to Moses that it leaves no room for honest doubt. 7 For more on this, see Vigouroux, A Guide to Reading and Studying the Bible, trans. priest Vl. You. Vorontsova. – Moscow, 1897. – Volume I, p.277 et seq. You might be interested in: