In current usage, most Jews designate the books by titles that are derived from their opening words. These are the titles that are employed in all Jewish Bibles, including ther Mikra'ot Gedolot.
In ancient times, each of the five books had an actual titles that describde its principal contents, as indicated in the following table:
| Current Title and translation | Original Hebrew Title and translation | Greek-Latin-English Title |
|---|---|---|
| B'reshit ("In the beginning") | Ma'aseh B'reshit (the account of the beginning) | Genesis |
| Sh'mot ("the names of") | Yesi'at Misrayim (the going out from Egypt) | Exodus |
| Vayyikra ("...called") | Torat Kohanim (the law of the priests; the priestly code) | Leviticus |
| Bemidbar ("in the wilderness") | Pekuddim (counting, census) | Numbers |
| D'varim ("the words") | Mishneh Torah (the repeated/second law [see Deuteronomy 17:18: "a copy of this law"]) | Deuteronomy |
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