TR: tôwrâh → nomos (Torah/Law)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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תּוֹרָה (tôwrâh) → νόμος (nomos) → νόμος (nomos)
H8451, 213 verses 188x as translation 194x in NT
"instruction, teaching" of tôwrâh "law"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H8451 | תּוֹרָה (tôwrâh) | 213 | instruction, teaching, law, the Pentateuch |
| H3384 | יָרָה (yârah) | 84 | root verb: to direct, point out, teach (Hiphil) |
Key OT passages: - Deut 4:44 — "This [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel" — torah as Mosaic corpus - Psalm 1:2 — "his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" — torah as object of devotion - Isa 2:3 — "out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" — eschatological torah to nations
[See canonical study: H8451-towrah]
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| tôwrâh (H8451) | νόμος (G3551) | 188x | Primary — overwhelmingly dominant (PMI 6.45) |
| tôwrâh (H8451) | ἐντολή (G1785) | 23x | When torah emphasizes a specific precept |
| tôwrâh (H8451) | δικαίωμα (G1345) | 16x | When torah = righteous decree/statute |
Semantic shift in translation: Hebrew תּוֹרָה derives from יָרָה (to throw/direct/teach) — its fundamental sense is instruction or divine direction. Greek νόμος derives from νέμω (to distribute, apportion) — its sense is regulation or legal distribution. The LXX translation encoded torah's instructional character into a legislative frame. This shift became consequential in Paul's letters, where nomos carries legal weight that torah as "teaching" does not inherently require.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G3551 | νόμος (nomos) | 194 | law, the Mosaic code, the Pentateuch, a principle |
| G3544 | νομικός (nomikos) | 9 | expert in the law, lawyer |
| G459 | ἄνομος (anomos) | 10 | lawless, without law |
Key NT passages: - Matt 5:17 — "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" — nomos as the Mosaic Torah in continuity - John 1:17 — "the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" — the Mosaic origin highlighted - Rom 7:12 — "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" — Torah affirmed as divine gift - Gal 3:24 — "the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ" — torah's pedagogical function
[See canonical study: G3551-nomos]
Direct OT→NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Quotes OT | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gal 3:10 | Deut 27:26 | torah/nomos | "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law" — Paul quotes the covenant curse formula |
| Gal 3:12 | Lev 18:5 | torah/nomos | "The man that doeth them shall live in them" — life by torah-observance vs. faith |
| Rom 10:5 | Lev 18:5 | torah/nomos | Same citation — the righteousness that comes from the law |
| Matt 5:17 | — | nomos | Jesus positions himself relative to the whole Torah; fulfillment, not abolition |
| Luke 24:44 | — | nomos | "Written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms" — nomos as Pentateuchal canon |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Torah/nomos identifies the body of divine instruction given through Moses at Sinai - Both OT and NT treat it as holy, righteous, and good (Psalm 19:7; Rom 7:12) - It remains the covenant standard — faithfulness or violation is measured against it in both corpora - Priestly/Levitical teaching function carries into NT (Luke 10:26; Matt 22:36)
What shifts: - The LXX's choice of νόμος foregrounded the legal/regulatory aspect over the instructional/directional aspect of torah - Paul's letters push heavily on nomos as law-code (not teaching), enabling the law-vs-faith contrast that has no exact Hebrew parallel - NT expands nomos metaphorically: "law of faith", "law of the Spirit", "law of Christ", "law of sin" — usages with no direct OT torah parallel - Nomos in NT can refer to OT generally (including Psalms and Prophets), broader than the Pentateuch alone
Generated from: gather_word_data.py, G3551-nomos.md (Hebrew Source section) Last updated: 2026-04-01