Vikra

Leviticus (Greek: Λευιτικός, "relating to the Levites") or Vayikra (Hebrew: ויקרא‎, literally "and He called") is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah/Pentateuch.

Leviticus contains laws and priestly rituals, but in a wider sense is about the working out of God's covenant with Israel set out in Genesis and Exodus—what is seen in the Torah as the consequences of entering into a special relationship with God (specifically, Yahweh). These consequences are set out in terms of community relationships and behaviour.

The first 16 chapters and the last chapter make up the Priestly Code, with rules for ritual cleanliness, sin-offerings, and the Day of Atonement, including Chapter 12, which mandates male circumcision. Chapters 17–26 contain the Holiness Code, including the injunction in chapter 19 to "love one's neighbor as oneself" (the Great Commandment). The book is largely concerned with "abominations", largely dietary and sexual restrictions. The rules are generally addressed to the Israelites, except for several prohibitions applied equally to "the strangers that sojourn in Israel."

According to Jewish tradition, God dictated the Book of Leviticus to Moses, letter by letter, as He did the other books of the Bible.^[1]

The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911., "The voice of tradition, both Jewish and Christian, is so unanimous and constant in proclaiming the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch that down to the seventeenth century it did not allow the rise of any serious doubt." However, modern biblical scholars believe Leviticus to be almost entirely from the priestly source (P), marked by emphasis on priestly concerns, composed c 550–400 BCE, and incorporated into the Torah c 400 BCE.^[2]

Shmot

Exodus (Greek: ἔξοδος, exodos, meaning "departure") or Shemot (Hebrew: שמות‎, literally "names") is the second book of the Hebrew Bible, and the second of five books of the Torah/Pentateuch.

Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God: Mount Sinai. There Yahweh, through Moses, gives the Hebrews their laws and enters into a covenant with them, by which he will give them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. The book ends with the construction of the Tabernacle.

According to tradition, Exodus and the other four books of the Torah were written by Moses. Modern biblical scholarship places its final textual form in the mid 5th century BCE, although a minority but important view would

Bereshit

The Book of Genesis (Greek: Γένεσις, "birth", "origin," from Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית, Bereishit, "in the beginning")^[1] is the first book of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of five books of the Torah, called the Pentateuch in the Christian Old Testament.

Genesis contains some of the best known biblical stories, including the Hebrew account of the creation of the world, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, the Call of Abraham, Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, the marriage of Jacob, Jacob and Laban, Sarah and Pharaoh, Sarah and Abimelech, the battle of the Vale of Siddim, Sodom and Gomorrah, Jacob's wrestling with the angel at Peniel, Joseph and his coat of many colours, Joseph and the interpretation of Pharaoh's dreams, Onan and his sin, the seduction of Lot by his daughters, the Blessing of Jacob, the purchase of the cave of Machpelah, and others. Structurally, it consists of the "primeval history" (chapters 1–11) and cycles of Patriarchal stories (chapters 12–50)—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (renamed, Israel), and concluding with Joseph. Modern critical scholarship believes that the Book of Genesis reached its final form in the 5th century BC, with a previous history of composition reaching back into the 6th and 7th centuries.

For Jews the theological importance of Genesis centers on the Covenants linking Yahweh (God) to his Chosen People and the people to the Promised Land. Christianity has interpreted Genesis as the prefiguration of certain cardinal Christian beliefs, primarily the need for salvation (the hope of all Christians) and the redemptive act of Christ on the Cross as the fulfillment of covenant promises as the Son of God. Even the rebellion by Adam and Eve has been seen as a prefiguration of original sin.^[2]