According to an ancient tradition, the Torah existed in heaven even before the world was created. The concept of the pre-existence of the Torah is shown in the works of Philo, a Jewish philosopher in
There
are a whole lot more than only 10 Commandments found in the Old Testament,
there are 613 Commandments! In studying the Torah, the Five Books of Moses,
intensely, the Jewish Rabbis have found a total of 613 laws and commandments
given to Israel .
We read in the Talmud, the compendium of ancient Jewish religious knowledge and
history: Says Rabbi Simlai: “Six hundred and thirteen commandments were
transmitted to Moses on Mount Sinai . Three
hundred and sixty five of them are negative commandments [prohibitions],
corresponding to the number of days in the solar year. The remaining two
hundred and forty eight and positive commandments [i.e.. injunctions],
corresponding to the number of limbs in the human body” (Makkot 23, Judaism,
Arthur Hertzberg, page 86).
In
Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holidays Handbook, by Lesli Koppelman Ross, we read that at Mt. Sinai
the Ten Commandments were followed up by 603 other laws, both ethical and ritual,
that encompassed a total of 613 mitzvot and commands. The author states, “The 248 positive
mitzvoth were said to correspond to what the rabbis believed were the number of bones
in the body, and the 365 negative mitzvot were said to correspond to the days of the
year. Together they suggest that we devote every part of our bodies, every day of our
lives, to following God’s Word”.
Therefore,
there are both "positive" and "negative" mitzvot (do's and
don'ts) which can be divided into 365 Negative Mitzvot (to remind us not to do
bad things every day of the year) plus 248 Positive Mitzvot (the number of
bones in the human body - for a total of 613. In this way, Hebrews and Jewish
people are able to obey the mitzvot with their entire body. (mitzvot is plural,
mitzvah is singular).
The
Law is God’s Divine Instructions in Righteousness without which man would have
NO blueprint for moral, holy living. Jesus Christ attempted to abolish the
rabbinical, man-made opinions and traditions that kept people in bondage.
Neither He nor His apostles ever spoke against the Law nor suggested that after
Jesus’ death the Torah was to become null and void. The Apostle Paul said, “Do
we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we
establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31)
Where
does one find those original 613 commandments? They come straight from the
Torah. You can see them sprinkled throughout the Torah in places such as Gen
26:2-5; Ex 15:25-27; Ex 16; Ex 20:6; Lev 22, 26, 27; Num 15, 36; Deut 4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31. There are more, but you get the picture.
Here is the whole list of them: