Chapter 2: The Five Books of

the Pentateuch
Its Content and Structure
Ska, pp. 16-39
A. The Division into Five Books
• 1. The Physical Reasons
– Whole Pentateuch in one scroll (ca. 33
meters) is too impractical.
– Two scrolls possible.
– “The division between the different books
seems totally arbitrary and artificial” (p. 17).
 The Temple Scroll,
the longest of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(8.75 meters)
Parchment scroll (Vatican
Archives)
• 2. Theological Considerations
– Genesis
• Begins with creation of the world
• Ends with the death of Jacob and Joseph
– Note: Gen 50:24
– Exodus
• Begins with a synopsis of Joseph Story (Exod 1:1-
7)
• Ends with the account of the´öºhel mô`ëd covered
by the kübôd yhwh(´ädönäy)
– Leviticus
• Begins with wayyiqrä´ ´el-möšè wayüdaBBër
yhwh(´ädönäy) ´ëläyw më´öºhel mô`ëd lë´mör
• Ends in *Lev 26:46.
• Numbers
– Similar beginning as in Leviticus
– Ends as in Leviticus
for the importance of the “plains of Moab”
see Deut 28:59
– Deuteronomy
• Begins with the place where Moses spoke (Deut
1:1-3)
• Ends with the death of Moses (Deut 34:1-12)
The Plains of
Moab
• Conclusion: A well-structured Pentateuch
– 1) The Death of Joseph and the Death of
Moses.
– 2) The Blessing of Jacob (Gen 49) and the
Blessing of Moses (Deut 33).
– 3) Legislative texts (Lev-Num-Deut)
*Sinai/Horeb and plains af Moab
“loci teologici” (theological sites) of the law.