One of the major obstacles to Jews believing in Yeshua is their belief that the religion of Judaism is incompatible with the Messianic faith. And, in fact, it is… just not for the reasons they think. Among religious Jews, some have asserted that the incompatibility lies partly in believers’ rejection of the Oral Law—that this rejection is evidence of Yeshua-followers’ misunderstanding of the Scriptures, and that if not for such misunderstanding, they would reject Yeshua instead. The truth of this allegation therefore hinges upon one simple question: does the Oral Law carry the authority that Judaism asserts it has? Put another way, in order to determine whether or not the Oral Law should be accepted and adhered to, we first need to determine if it actually comes from God—if the Oral Law is actually biblical.

The Oral Law is a body of traditions and interpretations that Judaism believes were given by God to Moses at Sinai alongside the written Torah. It is said that the written Torah on its own is insufficient, and therefore requires the explanations of the Oral Law in order to be properly carried out. This “Oral Torah” is believed to have been passed down throughout the generations, and eventually codified—written down—after some 1800 years (around 200 years after Yeshua) in what is now known as the Talmud. The Oral Law, then, is deeply embedded in the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism and its religious observance of the Torah.

But despite its historically entrenched and long-established tradition, is there any biblical evidence for the institution of such an Oral Law? Judaism claims there is.

For example, they point to Leviticus 26:46, which speaks of “the laws, rules, and instructions that the LORD established, through Moses on Mount Sinai” (jps85). The “laws” (or “torahs”)—being plural—indicate not only one Torah, but two: the written Torah and the Oral Torah… says Judaism. They turn to Deu­teronomy 12:21, where God says through Moses that if it is too far for someone to travel to make a burnt offering, then “you may slaughter any of the cattle or sheep that the LORD gives you, as I have instructed you” (jps85). But since the written Torah contains no such instructions, then the laws for ritual slaughter had to have been transmitted to the people as part of God’s Oral Torah… says Judaism. And in Nehemiah 13:15-17, they look at Nehemiah admonishing the men of Judah for “profaning the sabbath day” by “treading winepresses on the sabbath” (jps85). Yet while the written Torah prohibits work on the Sabbath, it does not list specific activities such as treading winepresses. Nehemiah, then, must have known about the thirty-nine categories of forbidden Sabbath work as taught in the Oral Torah… says Judaism.

Yet each of these explanations, and those of other passages offered as evidence, do not actually prove a God-given Oral Law, but instead have much more plausible ex­planations (i.e. “as I have instructed you” does not imply specific detailed instructions but refers to earlier more general ones). In fact, they reveal a doctrine in search of a justification; they argue from silence, viewing Scripture through a retroactive, assumptive lens. Indeed, the talmudic interpretations of the Men of the Great As­sembly (Pirkei Avot 1:1) and the rabbinic sages are just that: the interpretations of men. They are not divine, but in actuality a later development, having evolved from post-exilic Judaism. For all rationalizations used to demand a God-given Oral Law, Judaism cannot overcome two indisputable facts: first, that the Scriptures make no obvious or explicit mention whatsoever of the existence of an Oral Law, and, second, that they state repeatedly in the clearest of terms that the Torah was written.

The Scripture says of the Torah that “the LORD said to Moses: Write down these commandments” (Ex. 34:27, jps85), so “Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law [Torah] in a book” (De. 31:24, jps17). God also instructed Israel to “observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book” (De. 28:58, jps17). And following the death of Moses, God commanded Israel’s new leader Joshua, “Let not this Book of the Teaching [Torah] cease from your lips, but recite it day and night, so that you may observe faithfully all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper” (Jos. 1:8, jps85). Indeed, the Scriptures do not speak at all of an Oral Torah given at Sinai alongside or in addition to what Moses wrote down in the “book of the law” (De. 29:20, jps17). On the contrary, Moses explicitly warns the people of Israel, “You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it” (De. 4:2, jps85).

There is no denying the long history of Judaism’s oral traditions, some of which could conceivably (though implausibly) have origins dating from the time of the giving of the Torah. But that is not the same thing as an Oral Torah with claims to divine origin and authority. And without that, it is not the critics of the Oral Torah whose biblical understanding is suspect, but its adherents.

Rabbinic Judaism is incompatible with biblical faith because it parses the word of God through the ideas of men. The claim of a God-given Oral Law is flawed. And if Ju­daism is wrong about that, perhaps it is wrong about a lot… especially the Messiah Yeshua.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!