Pentateuch

Definition and Meaning

The Pentateuch is the collective name for the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In Korean it is called Moseo-gyeong, "the Five Books of Moses," a name that reflects the traditional view that Moses wrote them; it is also shortened to Ogyeong, "the Five Books." In Judaism these books are called the Torah, a Hebrew word meaning "teaching" or "law." The English term Pentateuch comes from a Greek expression meaning "five books."

Biblical and Historical Background

The five books of the Pentateuch form a continuous narrative:

• Genesis: the creation of the heavens and the earth and the accounts of the patriarchs
• Exodus: Israel's departure from Egypt and the covenant at Mount Sinai
• Leviticus: regulations concerning sacrifice and ritual purity
• Numbers: Israel's life in the wilderness
• Deuteronomy: Moses' farewell addresses, delivered before Israel entered the land of Canaan

The Ten Commandments appear in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. The New Testament sometimes refers to these books as "the law of Moses" (Luke 24:44).

Views differ on the question of authorship. Judaism and Christianity have traditionally held that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Since the nineteenth century, historical-critical scholarship has proposed the Documentary Hypothesis, which holds that several sources were combined over a long period. Julius Wellhausen is known as the scholar who systematized this theory. Some conservative scholars hold that Moses wrote the substance of the text and that certain portions, such as Deuteronomy 34, which records Moses' death, were added later.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korean churches the Pentateuch commonly serves as the starting point for reading through the Bible. Genesis and Exodus are frequently used in sermons and Sunday school curricula. By contrast, Leviticus and Numbers, with their many sacrificial regulations and census records, are often cited as the sections readers find most difficult during a read-through.

The question of authorship has also been a point of controversy in the history of Korean Presbyterianism. In the 1930s, a claim that Moses did not write Genesis reportedly became a matter of dispute at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Later conflicts over how Scripture should be understood became one of the factors behind the divisions of Korean Presbyterianism.

Teaching on the subject still varies by denomination today. Seminaries of conservative denominations such as the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) generally teach Mosaic authorship. Seminaries in traditions that accept historical-critical methods, such as the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, tend to cover scholarly theories, including the Documentary Hypothesis, as part of their instruction.

How the laws contained in the Pentateuch should be applied today also depends on one's interpretive framework. Covenant theology and dispensationalism are examples of such frameworks.