Faith & RitualGreek → English
Pentateuch
/ˈpɛntətjuːk/noun
The first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy.
The Greek roots
πέντε
pénte
five
τεῦχος
teûchos
case, vessel; book
Literally: “five cases”
The story of the word
τεῦχος first meant a tool or vessel, then the leather cylinder a papyrus roll was stored in, then the roll itself, and the name preserves that container stage. Five separate scroll-cases, one work. Jewish tradition calls the same books the Torah, and the difference in name reflects a difference in what they are for: a Greek bibliographical label against a Hebrew word meaning instruction.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
pentagonpentathlonDeuteronomy
In a sentence
Authorship of the Pentateuch has been argued over since the seventeenth century.