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§ 10

The Center of 's Life: the

1. The -given Torah

God gave Israel the Torah. Nothing surpasses this in importance for Israel: the Torah forms the center of Israel's life. In the Hebrew the Torah forms an essential part of the Pentateuch, which taken as a whole might be called Israel's "founding document." Here the gift of the Torah takes place in the middle of Israel's path from liberation from Egyptian slavery into the land promised by God to the forefa• thers ofIsrael. In Sinai Israel is "with God" (Ex 19.4) [-+52] and God sets up his residence in the midst of Israel (Ex 29.46) [-+65]. Thus fi• nally the first main part of the canon of the , the Penta• teuch, is given in its totality the label of "Torah." Sinai (or Horeb), where Israel receives the Torah, is a "utopian place" (Criisemann 1992, 75), far removed in time and space from the of Israel's life. So the Torah is not dependent on a change in circumstances either, but remains valid just as Israel received it there. Israel takes it with it into the land promised by God. After the con• quest of the land has been completed commits the people again to "keeping everything and to doing what is written in the of the Torah of , not departing from it to the right or the left" Gosh 23.6) [-+100]. This understanding of the Torah is the result of a long process of . This applies to the fundamental significance of the term torah as well as to the variety of texts and collections of texts collected in the of Exodus through Deuteronomy. To elucidate and describe the history of this process is an interesting and important task, which can open up many kinds of insight into the 's and its social structures. At the end of such research, however, there must be an effort to understand the Torah in its totality, as it stands, as the basis of Israel's life in its various areas and aspects. §10 The Center if Israel's Life: the Torah 479

In its comprehensive and fundamental meaning the word tarah sig• nifies the instruction that God gave to Israel through Moses. It can be called "Torah of Yhwh" (e.g. Pss 1.2; 19.8), "Torah of God" (Hos 4.6; Ps 37.31 etc.), "my Torah" (Isa 51.7;Jer 31.33; Hos 8.1,12 etc.) and also "Torah of Moses" (2 Kgs 23.25; Mal 3.22 etc.). In Deuteron• omy it is often called "the Torah" (Deut 4.44) or "this Torah" (1.5; 4.8 etc.) and there is mention of the writing down of the Torah (e.g. Deut 31.9,24) and of the "book of the Torah" (e.g. Deut 30.10; Josh 1.8). In other writings of the Hebrew Bible too the word tarah appears in an absolute usage in a comprehensive sense (e.g. Isa 2.3 par. Mic 4.2; Isa 42.4). This linguistic usage reveals two things: first, the word tarah is given its terminological impact in Deuteronomy in particular; here it refers in the first instance to the formulations of the divine instruction col• lected in this "book of the Torah." Second, however, its usage points far beyond the context of Deuteronomy and the other collections of commandments and describes in summary God's instructions as the expression of his will and of his special relationship with his people Israel. In the Hebrew Bible a more specialized use of the word tarah is also found. Thus it can describe the instruction of a mother (1.8; 6.20) or that of a wisdom teacher ("my tarah," 3.1; 4.2; 7.2). A 's in• struction to his disciples can also be described as "tarah of Yhwh" (Isa 30.9). The teaching of Torah is especially the task of the (c£ Hag 2.11-13); they can be described as those "who administer the tarah" Ger 2.8). In the cultic texts of the Hebrew Bible occasionally the expression "this is the tarah ... " appears as a superscription or subscrip• tion for individual regulations (Lev 6.2, 7, 18 etc.; 11.46f; 12.7 and passim). This variety of ways in which the word tarah is used makes it clear that its comprehensive meaning is the result of a quite particular, goal-oriented development.

2. The Decalogue as constitution

Israel received the Torah on Sinai. In a powerful appearance God spoke to Israel and declared to it the , the Deca• logue (Ex 20.1-17) [..... 53]. These commandments are the beginning of the Torah. But they are more than a beginning; for immediately after this first divine speech the people are seized by great terror and they