None of the above, at least not with certainty.

 

The commonly cited number 613 commandments does not come from the Torah itself. It originates in the Talmud, specifically Makkot 23b, where Rabbi Simlai taught: “613 commandments were communicated to Moses: 365 negative commandments, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and 248 positive commandments, corresponding to the members of the human body.”

 

This means the number 613 is a rabbinic proposal, not a biblical statement. Moreover, it was not universally accepted, even among rabbis. About 150 years earlier, Ben Azzai (Sifrei Deuteronomy 76) suggested there were 300 commandments. In the 12th century, Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) argued that if one counted all divine commandments in Scripture, the total would exceed 1,000. Around the same time, Nachmanides (1194–1270) explicitly stated that the number 613 was disputed. Although Maimonides compiled a formal list of 613 commandments, many scholars rejected parts of his enumeration.

 

Conclusion: The number 613 represents one influential rabbinic tradition, not a definitive or divinely revealed total. The precise number of commandments in the Torah remains a matter of debate, and the challenge of counting them accurately remains unresolved.