Etymologically
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תורה

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Pronunciation

  • Tiberian: tôrâ[1]
  • Samaritan reading tradition: tūra, construct tūråt[2][3]

Forms

תּוֹרָה (tôrâ) noun, feminine, plural תּוֹרוֹת[1][4] Construct תּוֹרַת, with suffix תּוֹרָתִי, תֹּרָתוֹ, plural תּוֹרֹת, with suffix תּוֹרֹתַי.[3][5]

Etymology

It is a noun with the prefix ⟨t-⟩, from Biblical Hebrew הוֹרָה (hôrâ, “to point out, teach”), the hiphil of the verb.[6][3] HALOT notes that it is not certain which of the homonymous roots ⟨yrh⟩ it comes from: “to throw, cast” or “to point out”.[3] HALOT finds most likely the sense of stretching out the finger or the hand to show the way, as in מוֹרֶה בְאֶצְבְּעֹתָיו (mōrê ḇəʾeṣbəʿōṯāw), “pointing with his fingers” (Proverbs 6:13); BDB reports an older view that it began with the casting of lots.[3][5] Wiktionary reconstructs it as ⟨*tawrawat-⟩, from Proto-West Semitic *waraw- (“to throw, cast, lead, guide”).[4]

The uncertainty has also suggested a loan from Akkadian têrtu (“instruction, directive”),[3][7][8] a view HALOT mentions without adopting;[3] Tawil treats the Akkadian noun as an equivalent in usage, for instructions given by an authority.[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Two of the 220 occurrences are in the Blessing of Moses, one of the archaic poems.[1][10] tôrâ ṣiwwâ-lānû mōšê, “Moses commanded us a law” (Deuteronomy 33:4), and of the Levites: yôrû mišpāṭêḵā ləyaʿăqōḇ wəṯôrāṯəḵā ləyiśrāʾēl, “they teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law” (33:10), where HALOT sees the instruction given by priests.[1][3][10]

Semantic evolution

HALOT distinguishes instruction in general from its religious uses.[3] Proverbs speaks of the teaching of a father, a mother or the wise (Proverbs 1:8; 13:14).[3] The priests gave tôrâ, direction on a ritual question (Haggai 2:11, Malachi 2:6–9), and the prophets brought tôrâ as God's word (Isaiah 1:10).[3] In the Priestly laws a tôrâ is a particular rule: tôraṯ hāʿōlâ, “the law of the burnt offering” (Leviticus 6:2).[3] Finally it is the whole body of instruction, tôraṯ YHWH or tôraṯ mōšê, and in the late books a written book, sēp̄er tôraṯ mōšê.[3][5] 47 occurrences are in the late books.[1]

The Septuagint translated it almost always as Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos), “law”, which HALOT ties to the later sense.[1][3] The Dead Sea Scrolls use it 353 times, especially in the Damascus Document and the Community Rule.[11] Philo of Byblos names a Phoenician god Thouro, which Krahmalkov explains as the Hebrew word in Phoenician pronunciation.[12] In Rabbinic Hebrew tôrâ is the Pentateuch and the Jewish law in general.[13] The English word Torah came from it in the 1570s.[14]

Timeline

  • Archaic Hebrew poetry – tôrâ ṣiwwâ-lānû mōšê (Deuteronomy 33:4).[10][1]
  • Classical Biblical Hebrew – tôraṯ hāʿōlâ “the law of the burnt offering” (Leviticus 6:2).[3]
  • Late Biblical Hebrew – sēp̄er tôraṯ mōšê, the book of the law of Moses.[3]
  • 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it as Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos).[15][1]
  • 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – 353 occurrences in the Dead Sea Scrolls.[16][11]
  • Rabbinic Hebrew – the Pentateuch; the Jewish law.[13]
  • 1570s – borrowed into English as Torah.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. instruction, teaching: of parents or the wise.[3][5]
  2. (cultic) a priestly direction or ruling.[3]
  3. instruction from God through a prophet.[3][5]
  4. a particular rule or regulation: tôraṯ hāʿōlâ.[3]
  5. the law of God or of Moses as a whole;[4] (late) the book of the law.[3][5]

Word family

  • יָרָה (yārâ)
  • מוֹרֶה (môrê)

Descendants

  • Aramaic אוֹרַיְתָא (ʾôraytā)[3][6]
  • Ge'ez ኦሪት (ʾorit)[6][3]
  • Arabic تَوْرَاة (tawrāh), perhaps blended with the Aramaic form[6]
  • Yiddish תּורה (toyre)[4]
  • Modern Hebrew תורה (torá)[4]
  • English Torah[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
  2. ^ Højgaard, Christian Canu; Naaijer, Martijn; Schorch, Stefan (2023), Text-Fabric Dataset of the Samaritan Pentateuch, Zenodo, doi:10.5281/zenodo.7734632
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. תּוֹרָה
  4. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. תּוֹרָה
  6. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. תּוֹרָה
  7. ^ Black, Jeremy; George, Andrew; Postgate, Nicholas (2000), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. s.v. tērtu
  8. ^ von Soden, Wolfram (1965–1981), Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 1350
  9. ^ Tawil, Hayim ben Yosef (2009), An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents, Jersey City: Ktav, p. 430
  10. ^ a b c Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 69
  11. ^ a b Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
  12. ^ Krahmalkov, Charles R. (2000), Phoenician-Punic Dictionary, Leuven: Peeters (OLA 90), p. s.v. twrh
  13. ^ a b Jastrow, Marcus (1886–1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London: Luzac; New York: Putnam, p. s.v. תּוֹרָה
  14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  15. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
  16. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143