Factoid: Torah

The word ‘Torah’ refers to a number of things.

Firstly, the word ‘Torah‘ comes from the Hebrew root ‘yarah‘ meaning ‘to throw, or shoot‘ which was an archery term in which one hits the intended target. In a biblical sense, the word Torah means ‘direction, instruction, or law‘. Torah is also what the first five book of the Bible are referred to as they contain God’s ‘direction’ or law for the Hebrews. In Greek these books are referred to as the ‘Pentateuch‘. Since God instructed the Hebrews to publicly read the Torah aloud throughout the year, they divided the scripture into ‘Parashot‘ or portions to enable them to do just that. These are read from each new Sabbath throughout the year with some specific portions being read at the times of the feasts like Passover etc…