Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§9.5 The Historical Context
d. Torah
Finally we must speak of the Torah (the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch),
which is as fundamental to Israel's self-understanding as God, Temple, and election.
It was the Torah which justified and explained the importance of the Temple
and its cult, and which proved the more foundational and durable when rabbinic
Judaism was able to transform itself from a religion of Temple and priest to one of
Torah and rabbi in the centuries following the disasters of the two Jewish revolts.
It was the Torah which had been given to Israel as a mark of the one God's favour
to and choice of Israel, an integral part of his covenant with Israel, to show Israel
how to live as the people of God (Deuteronomy), its significance classically expressed
in the claim that universal divine Wisdom is now embodied therein. 153
And it was the Torah which served as boundary and bulwark separating Israel
from the other nations by its insistence on their maintenance of the purity code. 154
Since the Torah was both school textbook and law of the land we may assume a
substantial level of respect and observance of its principal regulations within common
Judaism. 155 At any rate, it is important not to think of the Torah as exclusively
religious documents and to recognize here not least the interlocking nature
of Israel as a religio-national entity. The Torah, of course, was part of a larger concept
of 'the Scriptures', 156 consisting of 'the Law and the Prophets', 157 or 'the
Law, the Prophets and the Writings' (Tanak). 158 Josephus speaks of twenty-two
books of sacred Scripture (Ap. 1.37-43). But the Torah was undoubtedly regarded
as the definitive element, on which the rest was commentary.
Because of the Torah's centrality in determining what it meant to be the
people of God in daily living, devotion to Torah was bound to be a feature in the
divisions within Judaism. Again, not because the different groups disputed its
importance, but for precisely the opposite reason. It was desire to meet the obli-
153. Sir. 24.23; Bar. 3.36-4.4.
154. E.g., Lev. 20.24-26; Dan. 1.8-16; Ep. Arist. 139, 142. See also n. 97 above, and further
Dunn, Partings 23-31.
155. Following his treatment of the Temple and associated features Sanders devotes two
chapters to the theme of 'observing the law of God' {Judaism 190-240).
156. The term is attributed to Jesus — Mark 12.10 pars.; 12.24 par.; 14.49 par.; Matt.
26.54; Luke 4.21.
157. Matt. 11.13/Luke 16.16; Matt. 5.17-18; 7.12; 22.40; John 1.45.
158. Luke 24.44. The threefold collection making up the Scriptures was already well established
by the time of Jesus, as we see from the prologue of ben Sira and 4QMMT C 10, and
from references to David as an inspired and authoritative writer (as in Mark 2.25 pars, and
12.36 pars.), though the third element (the writings) was not yet delimited. For discussion see,
e.g., R. T. Beckwith, 'Formation of the Hebrew Bible', in M. J. Mulder, ed., Mikra (CRINT
II. 1; Assen: Van Gorcum, 1988) 39-86; and on the text(s) of Scripture current at the time of Jesus
see M. J. Mulder, 'The Transmission of the Biblical Text', Mikra 88-104.
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