The SCM Core Text The Pentateuch offers a comprehensive introduction to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, for students with some background in Biblical Studies. The Pentateuch is the foundation document (Torah) of the religious communities laying claim to the name 'Israel'; this includes both Jewish and Samaritan groups. Walter Houston provides a view, from several different angles, of the Pentateuch as a whole, as a literary work, as a foundational religious document, and in development, and of how it has been and is understood both by religious communities and by scholarly readers. This student-friendly textbook includes chapters on the Pentateuch in its development and as finished text, the theology of the Pentateuch and the question of the historicity of the Pentateuch. At the end of each chapter, there are suggestions or further reading and questions for reflection.