 the law in ancient israel refers primarily to the law preserved in the hebrew bible, in the light of archeological and comparative evidence from the ancient near east. ==terminology "law of moses"== the law of moses or torah of moses (hebrew torat moshe ×ªÖ¹Ö¼××¨Ö·×ª ×Ö¹×©Ö¶××, septuagint greek nomos moyse Î½ÏÎ¼Î¿Ï ÎÏÏÏá¿) is a biblical term first found in the book of joshua 8:31-32 where joshua writes the words of "the law of moses" on the altar at mount ebal. the text continues "and afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law." (joshua 8:34).kristin de troyer, armin lange reading the present in the qumran library 2005 p158 "both at the beginning and at the ending of the gibeonites' story there is now a reference to the law of moses and to the fact that ... the building of the altar happens on mount ebal, not in gilgalâjoshua gets to gilgal only in 9:6. " the term occurs 15 times in the hebrew bible, another 7 times in the new testament, and repeatedly in second temple period, intertestamental, rabbinical and patristic literature. the usage of the hebrew term torah (which was translated into greek as "nomos" or "law") as equivalent to the english term "pentateuch" (from latinised greek), meaning the "five books of moses" of the hebrew bible, is clearly documented only from the 2nd century bce.frank crÃ¼semann, allan w. mahnke the torah: theology and social history of old testament law p331 1996 " there is only clear evidence for the use of the term torah to describe the pentateuch as a ..." in modern hebrew the term torah (typically translated into english as "instruction") refers to both the first section of the tanakh and to the "law of moses" itself, the actual regulations and commandments found among the 2nd to 5th books of the hebrew bible. rarely in english "the law" can also refer to the whole pentateuch including genesis, but this is generally in relation to new testament uses where nomos "the law" sometimes refers to all five books, including genesis. this use of the term torah for the first five books is considered misleading by some scholars since the pentateuch consists of about one half law and one half narrative.john van seters the pentateuch: a social-science commentary 2004 p16 "furthermore, the hebrew term torah, 'law', is a little misleading as a description of the content of the pentateuch, since it consists of about one half law and the other half narrative. " the adjective "mosaic&
Ancient_Israel_and_Judah Ancient_Levant Ancient_Near_East_law Biblical_phrases Christian_terminology Jewish_history Law_in_the_Bible Law_of_Moses