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What is Torah Class?
Torah Class is a free Bible-study website built around in-depth, verse-by-verse teaching of both the Old and New Testaments, presented by Tom Bradford. Its stated aim is to help readers "rediscover the Hebraic heritage of the Bible" by examining the history, culture and original languages behind the text, rather than relying on later doctrines and traditions. Lessons are organised by category (Old Testament, New Testament, Topical Teachings), offered in several languages including English, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Russian and Chinese, and supported by an app, a podcast, a Hebrew audio Bible, a commentary and a reading list.
What you actually get
- Structured teaching: chapter-by-chapter lessons suited to steady, sequential study rather than one-off reference lookups.
- A search tool called "Solomon": described as answering Bible questions with lesson summaries, contextual explanations and links to relevant lessons. The site's own example prompts ("What is Pesach?", "Explain the Shema", "Who was King David?") show the intended use: quick orientation before diving into a full lesson.
- Self-paced access: no enrolment described; you work through material on your own schedule.
- Supplementary resources: the app and podcast for listening on the move, plus a Holyland Marketplace section for purchasing materials.
Who it suits, and the trade-offs
It fits a reader who wants the historical and Hebrew context behind a passage and is willing to commit to long-form study — for example, someone preparing a small-group series on Habakkuk who wants background before each session. The trade-off is that this is one organisation's interpretive lens, not a neutral reference work; the explicit rejection of "man-made doctrines and traditions" signals a particular stance, so compare with other perspectives where a passage is contested. If you only need a quick definition, a general Bible dictionary or encyclopedia will be faster; if you want a different contextual approach, BibleProject covers biblical theology and literary structure, and Blue Letter Bible offers original-language tools and commentaries.
Next step: open the Old Testament or New Testament category, pick a book you are already reading, and start with its first lesson; use Solomon beforehand to see how the site frames your question, then check the lesson it links to for the fuller argument.
How does the verse-by-verse teaching style differ from a typical topical Bible study?
A verse-by-verse study works straight through a book of the Bible, chapter by chapter and line by line, letting the text set the agenda. A topical study starts from a theme—baptism, the Sabbath, faith and works—and gathers passages from across Scripture to address it. Torah Class describes its approach as in-depth, verse-by-verse teaching of both Testaments through history, culture and original languages, so the sequence of the biblical book, not a chosen subject, determines what gets covered each session.
How the two formats differ in practice
| Dimension | Verse-by-verse | Topical |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | The next verse in the book | A question or theme |
| Scope per session | Whatever the passage raises | Selected verses from many books |
| Main risk | Slow pace; hard passages can stall momentum | Verses lifted out of their literary and historical setting |
| Best for | Building a full picture of a book and its context | Quick answers to a specific question or a short series |
What each suits
Verse-by-verse teaching rewards listeners who want the historical and linguistic background behind a passage and are willing to stay with a book for many sessions. It also makes it harder to skip awkward verses. Topical study suits newcomers with a pressing question, a class with a fixed number of weeks, or a group comparing what different parts of Scripture say about one subject. The trade-off is that a theme can be shaped by which verses are chosen, while a sequential study can lose listeners who want a direct answer to their question.
A practical next step
Choose by your goal. If you want to understand a whole book in its setting, follow the sequential lessons for that book. If you have one question, use the site's "Ask Solomon" search, which returns lesson summaries, contextual explanations and links to relevant lessons—for example, prompts like "What is Pesach?" or "Who was King David?"—and then read the linked lessons in full rather than relying on the summary alone. For a group, a workable pattern is to run a short topical series first and follow it with a sequential book study, so members see both how a theme runs through Scripture and how a passage reads in its own context.
What is the Shema and why is it significant in the Hebrew context of Scripture?
The Shema is the central Jewish declaration of God's oneness, drawn from Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one." The name comes from the first Hebrew word, shema ("hear" or "listen"), and in Jewish practice it extends into a short set of passages—Deuteronomy 6:4–9, Deuteronomy 11:13–21, and Numbers 15:37–41—recited morning and evening. Its significance in the Hebrew context is threefold: it defines Israel's faith as exclusive loyalty to one God in a world of many deities; the command to "hear" frames obedience as attentive listening rather than mere mental agreement; and the surrounding verses tie that confession to daily life—teaching children, wearing reminders, and marking doorposts with the mezuzah.
On Torah Class, the Shema is offered as one of the sample questions for its "Ask Solomon" search tool, which returns lesson summaries, contextual explanations, and links to relevant teachings. That makes it a practical entry point if you want a verse-by-verse, historically grounded walkthrough rather than a short definition. A reader preparing a Bible study on Deuteronomy 6, or a Christian curious about the Jewish roots of Jesus' answer about the greatest commandment (where he quotes the Shema), would get the most from following that trail into the Deuteronomy lessons.
For your own study, read Deuteronomy 6:4–9 slowly and note each imperative—hear, love, teach, bind, write—then compare Mark 12:28–34 to see how the Shema is echoed in the New Testament.
Who was King David according to Torah Class's teachings?
Torah Class treats King David as a central figure in the Hebrew Bible, taught through its verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter approach and read in historical and Hebrew context rather than through later doctrinal traditions. The site's own search prompt offers "Who was King David?" as a sample question, and its "Ask Solomon" tool is described as returning lesson summaries, contextual explanations and links to the relevant Torah Class lessons. That means the most precise answer to "who was David according to Torah Class" is spread across its Old Testament lessons, especially in Samuel and Chronicles, rather than condensed into a single statement on the homepage.
For a reader who wants that specific answer, the practical next step is to use the Ask Solomon search with "Who was King David?" and then follow the linked lessons; the pages themselves show that this is how the site intends the question to be answered. As general advice, when studying David, expect the lessons to work through the narrative in order — shepherd and musician, his conflict with Saul, his reign in Hebron and Jerusalem, the ark, the covenant promise, and his failures with Bathsheba and Absalom — and to weigh the text's own presentation of him as both chosen king and flawed man.
To compare how other study sites frame David, Bible Project and Got Questions cover the same figure with different formats and emphases.
How can I use the Ask Solomon search tool to find lessons on a specific Bible question?
Enter your question in plain, natural language in the "Ask Solomon" search box and submit it. According to the site, the tool returns lesson summaries, contextual explanations, and targeted links to relevant Torah Class lessons in one search experience, so it is designed to take you from a question straight to the lessons that address it. The page itself suggests phrasings such as "What is Pesach?", "Explain the Shema", and "Who was King David?", which shows the expected style: a named topic or passage plus a short question or instruction.
A practical way to search
- Name the topic or passage first. "Explain the Shema" or "Who was King David?" gives the tool a clear anchor.
- Add the angle you want. If you are preparing a study session, phrases like "context of Habakkuk 3" or "meaning of Pesach in the Old Testament" point to explanation rather than a general overview.
- Keep it to one question at a time. A single focused question is easier to match to a lesson than a bundle of unrelated topics.
- Use the results as a starting point. The summaries and explanations are meant to lead you into the linked lessons, where the verse-by-verse teaching does the deeper work.
If a first search returns lessons that are too broad, narrow it by adding the book, chapter, or specific term you are studying. If it returns little, try the wording the site uses elsewhere—book names, biblical names, and Hebrew terms such as Pesach or Shema—rather than a long descriptive sentence.
For a reader preparing a small-group discussion, a useful sequence is to search the central term, read the summary to confirm the lesson covers the right passage, then open the linked lesson and work through it at your own pace. The site presents its teaching as verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter study with historical and Hebrew context, so the search works best as a finding aid for that lesson library rather than as a standalone commentary. Lessons are offered in several languages, including English, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, and Chinese, which helps if your group reads in more than one language. Torah Class
What languages are the Torah Class lessons available in?
Torah Class presents its lessons in six languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, Hindi, Russian and Traditional Chinese. The site's language selector lists them as English, العربية, Español, हिन्दी, हिंदी, Русский and 繁體中文, and the same set appears under "Select a Language" for the lessons section.
What this means in practice
- Lesson content, not just the interface: the language options sit alongside the lesson browsing by category (New Testament, Old Testament, Topical Teachings), so they appear to apply to the teachings themselves rather than only to menus.
- Self-guided study: combined with the stated "learn at your own pace" approach, a reader can work through a series in their preferred language without following a fixed schedule.
- Mixed-language households or study groups: a group could use the English lessons as the reference while individual members follow along in Spanish, Russian or another listed language.
Choosing a language
If your main goal is depth of detail, start with the language you read most fluently, since verse-by-verse teaching depends on close reading. If you are studying with others, check that the specific book or topic you want is offered in each person's language before committing to a series.
For a broader set of perspectives on the same texts, you might compare with BibleProject or Blue Letter Bible.
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