What Is The Law (Torah)?
The Law renders the Hebrew 'Torah', whose root meaning is 'instruction, guidance'; narrowly it names the commandments given to Moses, and broadly the first five books of the Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy). The Law is given at Sinai as the content of the covenant, and its summary is the Ten Commandments. Its scope is not merely ceremonial: the rights of the neighbor, protection of the poor, honest trade and justice are woven through it. The Psalms praise the Law not as burden but as a source of joy: 'on his law he meditates day and night.' Jesus says he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and gathers its heart into two commands: love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. Paul teaches that the Law is holy and good yet cannot justify: it exposes sin and points to Christ. Christian reading receives the Law, in the light of the gospel, as abiding words that teach God's character.