The Telos of the Torah

Blaine Robison, M.A.

18 April 2022

Sources: Bibliographic data for sources cited may be found at the end of the article. Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB Updated Edition (1995). Click here for Abbreviations of Bible Versions. Scripture quotations marked with the initials "BR" indicate the translation of the author.

Syntax: Unless otherwise noted the meaning of Greek words is from F.W. Danker, The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (2009), and the meaning of Hebrew words is from The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (1981), abbreviated as "BDB."

Terminology: In order to emphasize the Jewish nature of the apostolic canon and its central figure I use the terms Tanakh (Old Testament), Besekh (New Testament), Yeshua (Jesus), and Messiah (Christ).

"For the goal of Torah is Messiah, unto righteousness to everyone trusting." (Rom 10:4 BR)

The simple assertion of Paul in Romans 10:4 has become very controversial. While all interpreters acknowledge the background meaning of the Greek word telos ("end" or "goal"), interpretation is nevertheless divided among commentators that (1) Yeshua terminated the Law (so Harrison); (2) Yeshua is the goal of the Law (so Shulam, Stern and TLV); and (3) Yeshua was both goal and terminator (so BAG and Edwards). Few Christian commentators view Yeshua as the goal of the Law. However, there is not unanimity on what these terms mean. What does "goal" mean in the context of the Yeshua's identity? If there was a termination, what exactly was ended? Commentators give incomplete answers to these questions. Below is a summary of the respective positions.

Three Viewpoints

Messiah as Terminator

This interpretation reflects the historic position of rejection-replacement theology (or Supersessionism) in Christianity. Commentators who advocate this point of view use "Law" to mean the commandments given to Moses, but they are not always clear in explaining what was terminated. The practical meaning expressed by many Christians is that Yeshua terminated the authority of the Torah and this is certainly the point of view advanced by some Bible versions in their translation of this verse (CEV, ERV, EXB, GNB, ICB, NEB, NCV, NJB). Just how many of the commandments in Torah no longer have authority?

Christian commentators do not adequately explain the inherent contradiction of their interpretation with what the Scripture actually says. Harrison suggests that the Law still has application to non-believing Jews, inferring that the Law of God has no application to Christians. Little considered by advocates of this view is that the only verb in this verse is "trusts." Paul simply does not say "Yeshua ended the law." Indeed, the false translation of "Christ ended the Law" flies in the face of Yeshua's own claim that he did not come to annul the Torah (Matt 5:17-19). The terminator viewpoint ignores the word order of the Greek text and thus is patently in error and obviously alien to Paul's message.

Messiah as Goal

For Stern the aim of the Torah is to provoke acknowledgement and trust in the Messiah, who offers on the ground of this trusting the very righteousness sought by the Jews. The righteousness which the Torah offers is offered only through him and he offers it to everyone who trusts—to the Jews and to Gentiles as well. Shulam explains "goal" similarly by noting Paul's statement that the Torah witnesses to the righteousness of God (3:21). This "witness" is the "goal" of the Torah, i.e., God's gift of righteousness in the Messiah not only to the people of Israel but also the Gentiles. Verse 4 then sums up Paul's argument from 9:19-24 that God manifested great patience with disobedient Israel in order to call forth his remnant in which he would incorporate the Gentiles. As admirable as this interpretation is, Paul is quite capable of using telos in all senses of the word at the same time. We need to consider how those other meanings would be applied.

Messiah as Goal and Terminator

BAG suggests that Romans 10:4 should be taken in the sense that "Christ is the goal and the termination of the law at the same time, somewhat in the sense of Gal 3:24f" (819). For many interpreters, as Edwards and Robertson, Yeshua as telos means he completed the Law and therefore dispensed with it as the way of salvation. In other words, Yeshua confirmed the Torah as the just expression of God's moral purpose for humanity, but superseded the Torah by offering forgiveness and salvation when that moral purpose is transgressed.

Against this view is that neither Paul nor Moses viewed the Torah in its totality as a means of salvation. Deliverance from the penalty of sin was accomplished by animal sacrifices (Heb 9:22), which were prescribed in the Torah. Furthermore, Paul began this line of argument in Romans 9:30 by talking about righteousness, which he insists from the time of Abraham has always been by trust and faithfulness (Chapter Four). While salvation and righteousness are related they are not the same thing. The concept of "working for salvation" is not Jewish. The Jews of Paul's time knew that salvation under the Torah was accomplished by sacrifices and the annual Yom Kippur offering provided atonement.

Other Considerations

There are other possible shades of meaning in Paul's declaration of Messiah being the telos of the Torah.

Fullness of the Torah

What commentators seem to miss is the essential nature of telos in common with the word-group: (a) teleios, derived from telos, "free of deficiency," i.e., complete or perfect; (b) teleioō, from teleios, "bring to a point at which nothing is missing," i.e., to complete; (c) teleiōsis, from teleios, "a bringing to full realization," i.e., fulfillment, perfection; and (d) teleō, from telos, "bring to completion, functioning in a manner that leaves nothing undone," do completely, achieve fully, perfect. The point of saying that Yeshua is the telos of the Torah is that he is the perfection of Torah, not the terminator of it.

Being the "perfecter" or "fulfiller," Yeshua explains or demonstrates the Torah's true meaning. The woman at the well acknowledged a common expectation of the time that when Messiah came "he will declare all things to us" (John 4:25; cf. Luke 24:32; John 7:17). In other words, the Messiah would explain the real intention and meaning of God's commandments. He makes the Torah "full." To illustrate, there is a usage in the LXX that conveys this idea. In Leviticus 27:23 telos is used to render Heb. mikhsah, "computation, assessment, worth" (BDB 493). In this legislation the priest is to calculate the full value of a field and the valuation would be "holy to the Lord."

The valuation of the field does not terminate the field. We need to hear again the words of Yeshua:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:17-19 NASB)

Even Yeshua's enemies admitted that he taught in accordance with Torah and not against it (Matt 22:16). The New Covenant, which Yeshua brought to fulfillment, could not end the Torah, since its very purpose was to enable God's people to obey his commandments (Jer 31:33). Yeshua's warning about annulling commandments should be taken to heart. To teach someone that commandments have been annulled when in fact they haven't been, can only foment rebellion against God with its ultimate judgment.

Interpretation should consider Paul's own discussion of Torah up to this point in Romans: (1) Torah defines sin, 4:15; 5:13; 7:7 (so how can it be canceled?); (2) the Torah is holy, righteous and good, 7:12; (3) Paul joyfully concurred in the Torah, 7:22; (4) the Torah is to be fulfilled in our lives, 8:4; and (5) the anti-Law mindset reflects the "flesh" or selfish nature, 8:7.

Preserver of the Torah

Telos is used in the LXX to translate the Heb. m'natsach, from natsach, found in 55 titles of the Psalms and translated in various Bible versions as "director," "chief musician," or "choir leader." The basic meaning of natsach is to be pre-eminent or enduring. In the Piel form natsach means to act as overseer, superintendent, or director (BDB 663). BDB suggests that these psalms originally comprised a Director's Collection, which served as the synagogue prayer book during the Greek period. The original directors served under King David and assisted in the development and preservation of the Psalter for worship.

In the much later writings of Chronicles and Ezra natsach was used to refer to those who were overseers or superintendents over the building of the temple. While telos does not occur in those contexts natsach still refers to a supervisory role. Whether Paul had this particular meaning in mind cannot be determined with any certainty, but the usage of telos in the Psalms, accounting for over a third of the usage of telos in the LXX, is certainly suggestive. Rather than terminating the Torah, Yeshua makes it permanent and oversees its application in the manner God originally intended. Yeshua is also the chief musician, directing the music of our lives to produce the rich melodies of righteousness envisioned in the Torah.

Of course, just how permanent the Torah is remains to be seen. We might reasonably assume that Messiah's eternal kingdom has no need of Torah as an administrative authority since we will be like the angels (Matt 22:30), presumptively serving God without any external teacher (Jer 31:34). However, the millennial kingdom does continue the authority of Torah in that the Torah calendar of sabbaths and feasts is still to be observed (Lev 23:4; Isa 66:22-23; Ezek 46:1-11; Zeph 3:18; Zech 14:16; Matt 8:11; 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 13:29; Col 2:16-17).

The End of the Curse of the Law

Paul says in Romans 9:32 that Israel pursued righteousness by "works," that is, legalistic observance of Torah. However, this approach to producing righteousness brought a curse. As Paul says in Galatians,

"For everyone who depends on legalistic observance of Torah commands lives under a curse, since it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the Scroll of the Torah. Now it is evident that no one comes to be declared righteous by God through legalism, since "The person who is righteous will attain life by trusting and being faithful." Furthermore, legalism is not based on trusting and being faithful, but on [a misuse of] the text that says, "Anyone who does these things will attain life through them." The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, "Everyone who hangs from a stake comes under a curse." (Gal 3:10-13 CJB)

It is this argument that sets up Paul's point about the Torah being a tutor until Messiah would come. Taking this sense means that Yeshua is the end of the curse.

The End of Animal Sin Offerings

There is no doubt that by the teaching of Yeshua and his atoning sacrifice certain elements of the Torah were modified and thereby terminated. The blood of animals no longer expiates sin (Heb 9:11f; 10:4), and Yeshua replaced the descendants of Aaron as high priest. The destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 served notice in the most effective manner of this change and ended the means to carry out 143 commandments. However, the remainder of the Torah requirements that prescribe devotion to God, promote shalom in relationships and provide for a just community remain in force. Unfortunately, many Christians do not recognize the authority of these Torah commandments unless they are specifically repeated in the apostolic writings.

The End of Legalism

Since the issue is righteousness, then Messiah is also the end of the authority of the man-made traditions as definitive for determining righteousness. Yeshua generally followed practices acceptable to the Pharisees, but he sharply criticized the hypocritical twisting of the Torah by the legalists (Matt 6:1-12; 15:1-14; 23:1-23), and urged his disciples to keep the commandments God had given (Matt 19:17; John 14:15). Similarly, Paul remained observant of Pharisee traditions (Acts 16:3; 18:18; 20:16; 21:26; 23:6; 26:5), but he granted liberty in the practice of others (Col 2:16). The point is that only the written Word of God, not man-made rules, has authority to dictate the normative lifestyle for a disciple of Yeshua. See my article Law vs. Legalism.

Works Cited

BAG: Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. trans. W.F. Arndt & F.W. Gingrich. The University of Chicago Press, 1957.

BDB: The New Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. London: Oxford University Press, 1907. Reprinted by Associated Publishers and Authors, Inc., 1981.

Edwards: James R. Edwards, Romans, New International Biblical Commentary, Vol. 6. Hendrickson Publishers, 1992.

Harrison: Everett F. Harrison, Romans, Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, Software version 2.6. Zondervan Corp, 1989-1999.

LXX: The abbreviation "LXX" ("70") stands for the Septuagint, the Jewish translation of the Hebrew Tanakh into Greek, which was in use among Jews by the mid-2nd century BC. The original LXX included the Apocrypha. Online. See Barry Setterfield, The Alexandrian Septuagint History.

Robertson: Archibald Thomas Robertson, "Romans," Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. 4, Broadman Press, 1933. (Parsons CD-ROM Version 2.0, 1997)

Shulam: Joseph Shulam, A Commentary on the Jewish Roots of Romans, Lederer Books, 1997.

Stern: David Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary, Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996.