Pentateuch

American  

[pen-tuh-took, -tyook] / ˈpɛn təˌtuk, -ˌtyuk /

noun

Chiefly Christianity.

1. Usually the Pentateuch the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

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Pentateuch British  

/ ˈpɛntəˌtjuːk /

noun

1. the first five books of the Old Testament regarded as a unity

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Other Word Forms

• Pentateuchal adjective

Etymology

Origin of Pentateuch

First recorded in 1375–1425; from Late Latin Pentateuchus, from Late Greek pentáteuchos, from Greek penta- penta- + teûchos “tool, vessel” (in Late Greek: “scroll case book”)

Example Sentences

The Hebrew Bible contains 24 separate books organized into three parts — the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings.

From Reuters

The Hebrew Bible comprises 24 books divided into three parts: the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings.

From BBC

The Hebrew Bible contains 24 separate books organized into three parts — the Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Writings.

From Reuters

Leviticus 25:9–36, from the first five books of the Old Testament — the Torah in Judaism, Pentateuch in Christianity and Tawrat in Islam — offers perhaps the world's earliest written social justice and welfare document.

From Salon

“A Fence Around the Torah,” which opens this week and runs through March 29, features an ancient Pentateuch — a text of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

From Washington Post