OK, my bad, I missed your previous post.
However, Torah is generally defined as the Law of Moses and is considered to include the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is considered to be the oldest portion of the Bible (Old Testament) with the exception of the Book of Job. Are you arguing that the content of the Law existed and was being followed prior to being put into writing? If so, I would state that Exodus itself implicitly demonstrates that the Law was first implemented, and then the events surrounding its inception were later recorded for posterity. How much lag time existed between these two events? I'm not sure that we will ever establish that with any degree of certainty. Another way of looking at it would be to state that the Bible is the first written record of Torah Law (other than perhaps two sets of stone tablets, one set reportedly destroyed and the other set which will probably be found when we find the Lost Ark). Either way, do you have an older written example of the Mosaic Law outside of the Bible?
The Talmudic Law is clearly NOT pre-biblical! The Talmud is a collection of rabbinical discussions based on the biblical or Mosaic Law revealed at Sinai...It was not published until 200 AD (Mishnah) and 500AD (Gemara). In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus (Yeshua) refers to the as yet unwritten Talmud as the Traditions of the Elders which he stated made the (Mosaic) law of "none effect". Talmud can properly be viewed as a much belated and codified collection of legal responses to the biblical laws of Moses.
To this day, a branch of Jews known as Karaites do not accept the Talmud, but only follow the written Torah (Mosaic Law). Orthodox Jews, however, refer to Talmud as "Oral Torah" and Torah (five Books of Moses) as "Written Torah". This practice may have created some confusion around the use of terminology and led some to conclude that Talmud predates Torah which is emphatically not true an completely anachronistic.
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OK, my bad, I missed your previous post. However, Torah is generally defined as the Law of Moses and is considered to include the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This is considered to be the oldest portion of the Bible (Old Testament) with the exception of the Book of Job. Are you arguing that the content of the Law existed and was being followed prior to being put into writing? If so, I would state that Exodus itself implicitly demonstrates that the Law was first implemented, and then the events surrounding its inception were later recorded for posterity. How much lag time existed between these two events? I'm not sure that we will ever establish that with any degree of certainty. Another way of looking at it would be to state that the Bible is the first written record of Torah Law (other than perhaps two sets of stone tablets, one set reportedly destroyed and the other set which will probably be found when we find the Lost Ark). Either way, do you have an older written example of the Mosaic Law outside of the Bible?
The Talmudic Law is clearly NOT pre-biblical! The Talmud is a collection of rabbinical discussions based on the biblical or Mosaic Law revealed at Sinai...It was not published until 200 AD (Mishnah) and 500AD (Gemara). In the New Testament Gospels, Jesus (Yeshua) refers to the as yet unwritten Talmud as the Traditions of the Elders which he stated made the (Mosaic) law of "none effect". Talmud can properly be viewed as a much belated and codified collection of legal responses to the biblical laws of Moses. To this day, a branch of Jews known as Karaites do not accept the Talmud, but only follow the written Torah (Mosaic Law). Orthodox Jews, however, refer to Talmud as "Oral Torah" and Torah (five Books of Moses) as "Written Torah". This practice may have created some confusion around the use of terminology and led some to conclude that Talmud predates Torah which is emphatically not true an completely anachronistic.