REVISED EDITION
POSTED 07 AUGUST, 2005

Torah As Constitution

by J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net

Many Believers are awakening to the deep truths of the Torah. Each of us as Believers must develop his or her own halachah and how we apply the mitzvot (twcm) or commandments of God to our lives. We must seek to become Sola Scriptura, Genesis to Revelation—not just Matthew to Revelation. But issues will still arise.

One area that has received some discussion is whether or not the five books of Moses, which we usually refer to as the Torah, should be called “the Law.”[1] An observation that can be made is the idea that the Torah should never be called “Law.” Rather it is said that “Torah” just means “Teaching” or “Instruction” and should never be referred to by this term.

We should all agree with the fact that torah (hrAT)[2] must, as far as our individual selves are concerned, be viewed as personal teaching or instruction. Was it God’s intention to codify a listing of “rules and regulations” that we would follow legalistically out of “obligation”? No. He tells us in Jeremiah 31:33, “But such is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel after these days—declares the Lord: I will put My Teaching into their inmost being and inscribe it on their hearts. Then I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (NJPS).[3]

However, even when we believe that the Torah is Teaching or Instruction, there is still one issue that remains: Why is the Torah referred to as the Law in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament)?

In the Greek Scriptures, the word nomos (nomoß) was used to communicate the idea of torah. Nomos is a term that in its strictest sense means “law,” but not always Biblical instruction. It can also be representative of extra-Biblical Jewish Talmudic rulings, Greek or Roman civil code, and can be indicative of laws of nature that govern the universe.[4] Nomos can also be used in speaking of spiritual laws, more clearly defined as spiritual constants, such as the law of sin and death or the law of the spirit of life (cf. Romans 7:6; 8:2).

Many Christians’ apprehension to following the Torah as we Messianics see it is based in a misunderstanding of “law.” The problem can be compounded by some Messianics who say that nomos was an improper rendering of torah because it does not mean “Teaching” or “Instruction.” Certainly, one can recognize the fact that “law” has a bad connotation among many today. But then again, being called “lawless” is not a compliment that most Christians like having directed at them.

The usage of nomos for torah dates back to three centuries before Yeshua with the Rabbis who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek and created what we now call the Septuagint. According to tradition, seventy translators were split up in separate rooms and they each translated the entire Torah into Greek. When they compared their translations, it is said that they were all the same—and many believed that this translation was inspired of God. Whether what we now call the Septuagint is inspired or not is unimportant here. What is important here is that these Rabbis rendered the Hebrew term torah, teaching or instruction—as nomos, or law. The usage of nomos was carried over into the Greek Apostolic Scriptures, which many, Messianic and Christian alike (especially me), believe is inspired of the Holy Spirit.

Was this rendering of nomos for torah a mistake? Some would say yes. Some would say that nomos brings with it the idea of strict law, rules and regulations, and it presents a God who is more concerned about strict obedience by His subjects rather than delivering loving instructions to His children. However, the historical background behind this suggests otherwise. EJ, under its entry for “Torah,” states “The Septuagint rendered the Hebrew torah by the Greek nomos (‘law’) probably in the sense of a living network of traditions and customs of a people.” However, this same entry goes on and says, “The designation of the Torah by nomos, and by its Latin successor lex (whence, ‘the Law’), has historically given rise to the sad misunderstanding that Torah means legalism.”[5]

The term “law” has never had a negative connotation within Judaism. While the terms “Torah” or “Teaching” may be preferable, you will find the term “law” used in Jewish translations of the Tanach, as well as many Jewish commentaries.

As the Lord regathers and restores all Israel, He is gathering an assembly of every kindred, tribe, and tongue, into one composite nation of Israel. We are going to be a very unique “melting pot” of ethnicities from all over the globe that make up the Commonwealth of Israel. Yet at the same time, this restoration will one day consummate in the return of Messiah Yeshua, where He will establish His eternal government:

“There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).

We mention this important point because in Ephesians 2:12 the Apostle Paul writes the non-Jews that prior to faith, that they “at that time [were] separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” The Complete Jewish Bible translates this admonition as “You were estranged from the national life of Isra’el.”

The Greek word translated as “commonwealth,” “national life,” or possibly even “state,” is politeia (politeia) and is of extreme interest. BDAG tells us politeia means “the right to be a member of a sociopolitical entity, citizenship.”[6] A proper historical understanding of politeia may unlock the key as to why torah was rendered as nomos in the Septuagint.

First of all, we know the Septuagint did a substantial amount of good in spreading a message about the Holy One of Israel to the people of the Greek-speaking world before the Messiah. With the Tanach transcribed in Greek, many Greeks and Romans came to a knowledge of the One True God and it paved the way for the spread of the gospel message. This is self-evident by the fact that there were many Greek proselytes and God-fearers in the Jewish synagogues when the Apostle Paul went out on his missionary journeys as recorded in the Book of Acts.

Secondly, behind the translation of the Septuagint I believe the Jewish Rabbis truly wanted to show the heathen Greeks the awesomeness of the God of Israel and of His Torah. So, they would have used Greek terms that the Greeks were familiar with to communicate this idea. Such would have been the case of rendering torah as nomos. These Rabbis apparently saw “law” as a good thing.

Only in post-Apostolic Christianity will you find the idea that “law” was apparently something that was bad, such as in the context of the Torah being “rules and regulations” designed to bring bondage. But even the idea of the Torah being instructions or directions, or more specifically instructives or directives, can be viewed in a negative light. The same is also true with law. It can be viewed as “rules and regulations,” or it can be viewed as constitution: the ruling precepts of a national government.

Ancient Greece was made up of various city-states, each one known as a polis (poliß), a related term to politeia. Each polis had an official known as a nomothetēs (nomoqethß) or a “lawgiver,”[7] whose job it was to transcribe and enforce the nomos or “law” of that city-state.[8] This “law” or nomos would not be “rules and regulations,” but rather the statutes that would govern the city and thus establish an identity for the people. It would essentially be their constitution. Vine tells us “nomos became the established name for ‘law’ as decreed by a state and set up as the standard for the administration of justice.”[9]

In the Apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees we see a usage of politeia and nomimos (nomimoß), a related term, together:

“And the royal privileges granted special favour to the Jews by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went ambassador to Rome for amity and aid, he took away; and putting down the governments [politeias, politeiaß] which were according to the law [nomimous, nomimouß], he brought up new customs against the law” (2 Maccabees 4:11, LXE).

This chapter of 2 Maccabees tells us that a leader named Jason (4:10) was responsible for bringing in specific Greek customs and cultural practices (4:12-15) that later resulted in sacrifices to pagan gods and apostasy. The text itself of this verse indicates something very interesting—something that we must differentiate from the cultural practices that resulted in this apostasy from the Torah. 2 Maccabees 4:11 tells us that he put down the Biblically mandated form of government and brought in anti-Torah practices. The RSV translates it as “he destroyed the lawful ways of living and introduced new customs contrary to the law.”

It is clear from this instance that nomos does not communicate any negative idea of law whatsoever. Nomos, representative of the Torah, is designed to communicate the idea of government—one of constitution. This “constitutional” perspective of the Torah or Law of Moses is the one that I believe the Septuagint Rabbis wanted to communicate to the Greek-speaking world, and it is very important for us to understand today. We desire to see Messiah Yeshua return in His power and majesty to establish His Eternal Kingdom, and establish the Torah as the constitution or “law” of Planet Earth:

“And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3).

It seems that it was never the intention of the Septuagint Rabbis to render torah as nomos so as to imply that the Torah should be looked upon as “rules and regulations.” Rather, it was probably their intention, as given in the historical example, that the Torah should be looked upon as the constitutional “law” of the people of Israel—something to be looked at in a very positive sense. The Torah or constitution of Israel provides members of Israel with a national identity that separates them from the heathen of this world. The Torah on a very broad scope provides law and order for the society that the Lord wants.

For those of us who are American citizens, many of us have a great respect and reverence for our constitution. That constitution and way of life, very much based in the Torah, has been a positive model for other many countries of the world.

As citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel, how much more does this equate? Will we defend the Torah as the eternal constitution that governs the politeia that the Apostle Paul spoke of? If we can answer this question correctly, perhaps many of us will not see “law” in such a bad connotation as it is commonly perceived. Perhaps we might just see “law” as a good thing, as Yeshua is returning to this Earth to truly establish eternal justice.

J.K. McKee (B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A. Student, Asbury Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic apologist. He is author of several books, including: The New Testament Validates Torah, Torah In the Balance, Volume I, and When Will the Messiah Return?. He has also written many articles on the Two Houses of Israel and Biblical theology, and is presently focusing on Messianic commentaries on various books of the Bible.

NOTES

Torah As Constitution (PDF)