Exploring the Commandments Part 6-Torah

For the backstory of what this blog series is on and why it has been written, check out part 1 and part 2 of the series. The original list of all 613 commandments in their textual order that I used came from the site Hebrew4Christians. <http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Taryag/taryag.html> 

I found the laws about the Torah to be particularly interesting. We are to study, respect, and not add/take away from the Torah. We are to hang out with Torah-students and elect a Torah-obeyer. When I read the commandments concerning kings, I thought of Solomon-who owned lots of property, got stuff from Egypt, had many wives, and many riches. I can’t help but wonder if he recopied the Torah and then never studied it, for our wisdom king sure missed a lot of commandments. We are to treat the Torah lovingly, not ignore its interpretations/rulings, show respect for Torah teachers, and keep a copy of it. If we actually handwrote the Torah, would we treasure it more?

# 5 Commandments Concerning Torah and Leaders: When I sorted the commandments, I came up with 18 about the Torah and Leaders.

1.    We are to respect the Torah and its teachers, and treat it well (Lev. 19:32, Deut. 6:16, Deut. 28:9)

2.    We are to own the Torah, study it, and teach it (and not ignore its interpretation/ruling) (Deut. 6:7, Deut. 31:19, Deut. 17:11)

3.    We aren’t to add to or subtract from the Torah (Deut. 13:1)

4.    We are to spend time with those who study the Torah (Deut. 10:20)

5.    Our leader should obey the Torah (Deut. 17:15)

6.    Solomon’s Faults: too much property, interact with Egypt, many wives, riches, didn’t write/keep the Torah (Deut. 17:16-18)

Parsons, John J.. "Taryag Mitzvot 613 Commandments of Torah." Hebrew4Christians. Web. 2004. <http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Taryag/taryag.html>.