Gittin 60 – “I say, I have come, it was written about me in the Torah scroll”

Some say that the Torah was written and given to Jews scroll by scroll and later glued together. The proof comes from the words of David, "I say, I have come, it was written about me in the Torah scroll." What does David mean?

Initially, David doubted whether he could be a king since he was a descendant of Ruth, a Moabite, and the Torah said, "Moav should not enter the Jewish people." The loophole was that "Moav" was male, so females of Moav, such as Ruth, could enter – but not everyone agreed to it. However, later he found a hint in the angel's words, who says to Lot, "Take the daughters found with you." About David himself, God says, "I have found David, my servant." So David found a hint to himself in the Torah. But since he calls it a "scroll," it means that it was written and given to Jews scroll by scroll.

Others say it was written as a whole since God tells Moses, "Take this book of the Torah." What about the "scroll" proof? – The whole Torah is also called a scroll. But what about "this book" evidence? – That is after it was glued together.

Furthermore, even though the Torah was written down, a larger body of knowledge was only taught from teacher to student and never written down. What is the proof? "Write for yourself these words" means that some words are to be written down, but "Based on these words" alludes to portions to be guarded and transmitted orally. Later on, it was too hard for the people to remember everything, and even oral teaching was written down – and this is the Talmud.

Art: King David by Juan Correa de Vivar