1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pentateuch

For works with similar titles, see Pentateuch.

PENTATEUCH, the name found as early as in Tertullian and Origen corresponding to the Jewish תםשה חזםש׳ החזדה (the five-fifths of the Torah, or Law), and applied to the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). The several books were named by the Jews from their initial words, though at least Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy had also titles resembling those we use, viz. הםש הפקזד׳ם ,הזדח בהנ׳ם (Αμμεσφεκωδειμ, Origen, in Eus., H. E. vi. 25), and םשנה חזדה. The Pentateuch, together with Joshua, Judges and Ruth, with which it is usually united in Greek MSS., makes up the Octateuch; the Pentateuch and Joshua together have recently been named the Hexateuch. On the critical questions arising from the Pentateuch or Hexateuch, see Bible and the articles on the several books.