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Talmud

TALMUD (tăl'mŭd). A collection of Jewish writings of the early Christian centuries. There is a Palestinian Talmud and a later, more authoritative, much longer Babylonian Talmud. Each consists of Mishnah and Gemara. Mishnah grew out of oral tradition, whose origin is obscure. The Mosaic Law did not cover all the needs of a developing society, and the defect was supplied by oral rabbinical decisions. When the Jewish leaders felt the need to preserve them, they wrote them down; later they felt a need for a commentary on them. This function the Gemara fulfills. The scope of the Talmud may be seen in the titles of the six parts of the Mishnah: Seeds, Relating to Agriculture; Feasts; Women and Marriage; Civil and Criminal Law; Sacrifices; Clean and Unclean Things and Their Purification.



TALMUD tăl’ mud (Heb. תַּלְמוּד, proper name derived from the Heb. verb, לָמַד, H4340, cognate to Akkad. lamādu, Ugaritic lmd, “to learn,” “to study,” noun form, Heb. לִמֻּד, H4341, “disciple”), the collection of rabbinical laws, law decisions and comments on the laws of Moses were called the Talmud.

The origins and development of the oral law.

The message of the great prophets of the 8th cent. b.c. made very clear that the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel to the heathen Gentile nations and the impending captivity of Judah were the direct result of idolatry. The promised return of the children of Abraham to the land of the covenant was upon the condition that they seek Jehovah with their whole heart and repudiate the gods of the Canaanites (Jer 29:13). The gradual cessation of prophecy and the development of new and more complex social relationships both within and without Israel called for continuing progressive elaboration of the pentateuchal laws. The leaders and the generation which returned from Babylon in 538 b.c. were acutely aware of the necessity of assuring the continuation of Israel’s national obedience to the law of Moses. Ezra himself is styled as “a scribe versed in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6 JPS). The popular desire to study and learn the law as expressed in Nehemiah 8:1-18, was such that the “Great Synagogue” as it was subsequently called, was thus founded. This historic development brought forth a new social institution among the Jews, the office and service of the “Teacher of the Law,” the rabbinate. In effect, the local synagogue was nothing more than a Torah study. In recent decades the general acceptance of elaborate fragmentary, literary, and documentary hypotheses concerning the origin and development of the OT, have been adopted by some Jewish scholars to explain the rise of the Talmud, but there is little evidence to support this construction. No doubt there were commentaries, legends and sagas about the patriarchs, some parts of which appeared in the later Apoc. and Pseudep. The notion that there had been a long-standing oral tradition handed down fr om generation to generation throughout the millennia of Jewish history only to be written down in the era of the “Great Synagogue” is without foundation. It is necessary to observe that there were many customs, rites and procedures which grew up among the Jews which are mentioned occasionally in the NT, and specifically enjoined in the DSS but not directly or definitely commanded in the OT. The Talmud itself assumes its early origin from great antiquity and Pirke Abhoth, I, 1 states that it is to be attributed to Moses at Sinai. Most important is the Talmudic position as a “hedge” about the sacred canon revealed by God. This maxim is supposed to have been stated by the scholars of the “Great Synagogue” to render sufficient insulation about the revealed moral and ceremonial commandments that Israel would never again lapse into ignorance and idolatry.

The antecedents to the Talmud.

There is no doubt that the rise of the sect of the Pharisees (q.v.) initiated the writing and study of the Jewish traditions which led to the production of the Talmud. Josephus mentions that “the Pharisees had passed on to the people certain regulations handed down by former generations and not recorded in the Laws of Moses” (Jos. Antiq. XIII, 297, Loeb Lib. tr.). However this does not suggest that written records were involved. On the other hand, the elaborate rituals demanded by the Qumran sect’s Manual of Discipline (1QS), and the precise layout of the ceremonial bathing pool at Masada, tend to support the notion that it was during this period of the last cent. b.c. that the initial categories of the Talmud were being formed. The collection took two distinctive literary forms:

Mishna

mĭsh’ nə, Heb. מִשְׁנָה, derived from the verbal form, שָׁנָה, H9101, “to repeat,” it is the oral conversation of the rabbis as they discussed the proper interpretation and course of action requisite upon Jews in regard to the Mosaic law. There is no presentation of evidence but a continual appeal to authority hallowed by age or scriptural foundation. Essentially then, the Mishna is a complex, verbal and continuous commentary, explaining but objective to the Torah of Moses. If the commentary produces legal instruction it is known as Halachah. Although the Mishnaic presentation of laws became dominant in Jewish teaching and its teachers or Tannaim (derived from Aram. תּנָא, “Those who hand down”) were greatly reverenced, it grew up after the older and more specifically commentary mode had become established.

Midrash


The major and minor divisions of the Talmud.

The Talmud or, more strictly speaking, the Mishna and Talmud, is divided into six major divisions or Orders (Aram. סְדָרִים), which are subdivided into Tractates (Aram. מַסֶּכְתּוֹת), sixty-three in number, each of which is divided in turn into chapters (Aram. פְּרָקִים), of varying length. Following are analyses of the major and minor divisions. Order Zera’iym (Aram. זְרָעִים), “seeds.”

(1) Tractate Beraḥoth (Aram. בְּרָכוֹת, “Blessings”). Chapters: 1. Time of recitation of the S̆ema prayer (Deut 6:4), position of the suppliant and benedictions. 2. The divisions of the S̆ema prayer and the praying voice. 3. Exemptions from praying the S̆ema. 4. Time of prayer and additional prayers. 5. Positions, specific and congregational prayers. 6. Blessings for vegetable foods and fruits. 7. Groups of people, types and numbers saying prayers and the prayers to be said. 8. Washing of hands and blessings at meals, the differences between Shammai and Hillel. 9. Miscellaneous occasions of prayers.

(2) Tractate Pe’ah (Aram. פְּאָה, “Corner of a field”). Chapters: 1. The size of field corners, exemption from tithes. 2. Field corners and trees. 3. The size of fields necessary for field corners. 4. How the produce of field corners must be yielded. 5. Rights of the poor and forgotten produce. 6. Distinction of forgotten produce. 7. Olive trees and the rights of the poor in vineyards. 8. Determination of the poor and the length of their rights.

(3) Tractate Dema’iy (Aram. דְּמַאי, “Uncertain [fruits]”). Chapters: 1. The Demaiy tithe. 2. The strict Jew and who pays the Demaiy. 3. Who may reserve Demaiy. 4. Statements by individuals about Demaiy and how paid. 5. Rented fields, fields under certain exceptions. 6. Separating specific cases of tithes.

(4) Tractate Kila’iym (Aram. כִּלְאַיִם, “Mixtures”). Chapters: 1. Kilaiym defined. 2. The case of mixed grains. 3. Divisions of garden beds. 4. Kilaiym of vineyards. 5. Types of vines. 6. Extent of vines. 7. Kilaiym and animals. 8. Kilaiym in textiles.

(5) Tractate Shevi’ith (Aram. שְׁבִיעִית, “The Sabbatical Year”). Chapters: 1. Cultivation in the sixth year. 2. The seventh year and fallow fields. 3. Work about the fields. 4. Seventh year pruning. 5. Figs, leeks, and farm equipment. 6. The seventh year in various countries. 7. Seventh year rights. 8. Self productive fruits. 9. Sale and storage of fruits. 10. Release of debts.

(6) Tractate Terwuwmoth (Aram. תְּרוּמוֹת, “Heave Offering Oblation”). Chapters: 1. Teruwmoth. 2. Substitution for another’s Teruwmoth. 3. Second Teruwmoth. 4. Quantity. 5. Restitution of Teruwmoth. 6. Intentional consumption of Teruwmoth. 7. Preparing. 8. Sowing the Teruwmoth. 9. Tasting. 10. Using the oil from Teruwmoth.

(7) Tractate Ma’sserowth (Aram. מַעַשְׂרוֹת, “Tithes”). Chapters: 1. Tithes of fruit, when due. 2. Exceptions. 3. Location of fruit for tithes. 4. Exemptions. 5. Untithable plants and seed.

(8) Tractate Ma’aser Sheniy (Aram. מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי, “Second Tithe”). Chapters: 1. Disposal of the Ma’aser Sheniy. 2. Proceeds of the Ma’aser Sheniy. 3. Fruits in Jerusalem. 4. Proceeds and price. 5. Fourth year vineyards.

(9) Tractate Ḥallah (Aram. חַלָּה, H2705, “Dough”). Chapters: 1. Fruits. 2. Special cases. 3. Quantity. 4. Variations in Ḥallah.

(10) Tractate ’Orlah (Aram. עָרְלָה, H6889, “Forbidden”). Chapters: 1. Subject trees. 2. Mixed fruits. 3. Colors and Fires.

(11) Tractate Bikuwriym (Aram. בִּכּוּרִים, H1137, “First Fruits”). Chapters: 1. Exceptions. 2. Differentiations. 3. Ceremonies. 4. Exceptional cases. Order Seder Mo’ed (Aram. סֵדֶר מוֹעֵד, “High Holidays”).

(12) Tractate Sabbath (Aram. שַׁבָּת, H8701, “Sabbath Day”). Chapters: 1. Work to be shunned, differences between Shammai and Hillel. 2. Lighting Sabbath evening lamp. 3. Ovens and cooking. 4. Covering of pots. 5. Leading of beasts. 6. Departure of men and women and dress. 7. Responsibility for breaking the Sabbath, thirty-nine types of work. 8. Measures of portable objects. 9. Impurity through carrying. 10. Throwing of objects. 11. Building, pruning, and writing. 12. Weaving, washing. 13. Miscellaneous labors. 14. Actions in fires. 15. Moving of containers. 16. Moving objects, people out of the way. 17. Circumcision. 18. Straining, cleaning and pressing. 19. Miscellaneous carrying. 20. Miscellaneous necessities. 21. Business arrangements and burials. 22. Those overtaken by darkness on a journey, actions permitted on the Sabbath.

(13) Tractate ’Eruwbiyn (Aram. עֵירוּבִין, “Incorporating”). Chapters: 1. Entry ways. 2. Holiday or its evening. 3. Going beyond the “Eruwbiyn” (incorporated or extended), Sabbath limit. 4. Expanding the ’Eruwbiyn. 5. Further sub-divisons. 6. Still further subdivisions. 7. A yard. 8. Roofs. 9. Miscellaneous Sabbath laws.

(14) Tractate Pesaḥiym (Aram. פְּסָחִים, “Passovers”). Chapters: 1. Searching for leaven. 2. Disposal of leaven. 3. Leaven in its various forms passover cake and bitter herbs. 4. Work beforehand. 5. Killing and butchering the paschal lamb. 6. Passover labors supersede Sabbath prohibitions. 7. Methods for cooking the passover. 8. Persons permitted to partake. 9. Communities and persons unable to partake. 10. Unusual circumstances. 11. Order for eating the passover.

(15) Tractate Sheqaliym (Aram. שְׁקָלִים, “Shekels”). Chapters: 1. Seating of moneychangers. 2. Exchanging money. 3. Removal of coins from the cache. 4. Spending the Temple tax. 5. Ecclesiastical offices. 6. Numerology of the number thirteen. 7. Possessions of unknown owners. 8. Miscellaneous difficulties.

(16) Tractate Yowma’ (Aram. יוֹמָא, “Day of Atonement”). Chapters: 1. High priestly preparations. 2. Offerings and lot casting. 3. Preparing for the Atonement services. 4. The scapegoat. 5. Holy of Holies. 6. Expulsion of the scapegoat. 7. The high priest’s duties. 8. Fasting and forgivness.

(17) Tractate Suwkkah (Aram. סוּכָּה, “Feast of Booths/Tabernacles”). Chapters: 1. Dimensions of the booths. 2. Exemptions. 3. Boughs to use as coverings. 4. Duration. 5. Division of offerings.

(18) Tractate Yowm Ṭowv (Aram. יוֹם טוֹב, “Good Day,” also known as Beyṩah, “Egg”). Chapters: 1. Partaking of eggs on holidays. 2. Sabbath meals. 3. Prohibited activities. 4. Time of the feasts. 5. Flute playing.

(19) Tractate Ro’sh ha-shanah (Aram. רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, “New Year”). Chapters: 1. When four New Years occur. 2. Questioning the witnesses to the new moon. 3. Groups of witnesses. 4. New Years falling on Sabbaths.

(20) Tractate Ta’aniyth (Aram. תּעֲנִית, “Fasting”). Chapters: 1. Prayers for rain. 2. Festival prayers. 3. Miscellaneous fasting regulations. 4. The twenty-four elders, their fastings.

(21) Tractate Megiyllah (Aram. מְגִילָּה, “Scroll [of Esther]”). Chapters: 1-4. The reading of Esther at Purim.

(22) Tractate Mow’ed Qaṭon (Aram. מוֹעֵד קָטָן, “Lesser Holidays”). Chapters: 1-3. Halfdays or lesser feasts and their regulation.

(23) Tractate Ḥagiyga (Aram. חֲגִיגָה, “Festival Offering”). Chapters: 1-3. Miscellaneous decisions about offerings. Order Seder Nashiym (Aram. סֵדֶר נָשִׁים, “Women”).

(24) Tractate Yebamowth (Aram. יְבָמוֹת, “Levirate Obligations”). Chapters: 1-16. Acceptance and refusal of levirate obligation.

(25) Tractate Ketuwbowth (Aram. כּתוּבּוֹת, “Marriage Contracts”). Chapters: 1-13. Marriage contracts and marriage duties.

(26) Tractate Nedariym (Aram. נְדָרִים, “Vows”). Chapters: 1-11. Vows and annulments.

(27) Tractate Naziyr (Aram. נָזִיר, H5687, “Nazirite Vow”). Chapters: 1-9. Laws of the Nazirite vows.

(28) Tractate Sowṭah (Aram. סוֹטָה, “Defiled Woman”). Chapters: 1-9. Expansions of Numbers 5:12-31.

(29) Tractate Giyṭiyn (Aram. גִּיטִּין, “Bills of Divorce”). Chapters: 1-9. Writing of bills of divorce.

(30) Tractate Qidduwshiyn (Aram. קִידּוּשִׁין, “Engagements”). Chapters: 1-4. Manner of engagements. Order Seder Neziyqiyn (Aram. סֵדֶר נְזִיקִין, “Damages”).

(31) Tractate Baba’ Qama’ (Aram. בָּבָא קַמָּא, “First Gate”). Chapters: 1-10. Damages, injuries, and indemnities.

(32) Tractate Baba’ Meṩiy’ə' (Aram. בָּבָא מְצִיעָא, “Middle Gate”). Chapters: 1-10. Claims from trusts, buying, and selling.

(33) Tractate Baba’ Batra’ (Aram. בָּבָא בַּתְרָא, “Last Gate”). Chapters: 1-10. Real estate laws and regulations.

(34) Tractate Sanhedriyn (Aram. סַנְהֶדְרִין, “Courts”).

(35) Tractate Makkowth (Aram. מַכּוֹת, “Lashes”). Chapters: 1-3. Corporal punishment.

(36) Tractate Shebuw’owth (Aram. שְׁבוּעוֹת, “Oaths”). Chapters: 1-8. Various types of oaths.

(37) Tractate ’Eduyowth (Aram. עֵדֻיּוֹת, “Witnesses”). Chapters: 1-8. Traditional legal sayings.

(38) Tractate ’Abowdah Zorah (Aram. עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, “Idolatrous Worship”). Chapters: 1-5. Idols and idol worshipers.

(39) Tractate ’Abowth (Aram. אָבוֹת, “Fathers”). Chapters: 1-6. The sayings of the elders.

(40) Tractate Howrayowth (Aram. הוֹרָיוֹת, “Judgments”). Chapters: 1-3. Rules for the making of judges’ decisions. Order Seder Qodoshiym (Aram. סֵדֶר קָדָשִׁים, “Consecrated Things”).

(41) Tractate Zebaḥiym (Aram. זְבָחִים, “Sacrifices”). Chapters: 1-14. Sacrifices, offerings, and sprinklings.

(42) Tractate Menaḥowth (Aram. מְנָחוֹת, “Offerings [Mincha]”). Chapters: 1-13. Cereal, meat, and drink offerings.

(43) Tractate Ḥuwliyn (Aram. חוּלִּין, “Unconsecrated Things”). Chapters: 1-12. Unlawful animals, slaughtering.

(44) Tractate Bekowrowth (Aram. בְּכוֹרוֹר, “First-born”). Chapters: 1-9. Regulations of first-born animals and men.

(45) Tractate ’Erakiyn (Aram. עֲרָכִין, “Estimates”). Chapters: 1-9. Estimation of objects dedicated by vow.

(46) Tractate Temuwra (Aram. תְּמוּרָה, H9455, “Exchanges”). Chapters: 1-7. Exchanges of dedicated objects.

(47) Tractate Keriytuwth (Aram. כְּרִיתוֹת, “Outcastings”). Chapters: 1-7. Excommunication of sinners from the congregation.

(48) Tractate Me’iylah (Aram. מְעִילָה, “Trespasses”). Chapters: 1-6. Sacrilegious objects.

(49) Tractate Tamiyd (Aram. תָּמִיד, H9458, “Daily Offerings”). Chapters: 1-7. Morning and evening sacrifices.

(50) Tractate Middowth (Aram. מִדּוֹת, “Measurations”). Chapters: 1-5. Descriptions of the Temple and its servants.

(51) Tractate Qenniym (Aram. קִנִּים, “Nests [Birds]”). Order Seder Ṭaharowth (Aram. סֵדֶר טְהָרוֹת, “Purifications”).

(52) Tractate Keliym (Aram. כֵּלִים, “Containers”). Chapters: 1-30. The containers which convey impurity.

(53) Tractate ’Ohalowth (Aram. עֹהָלוֹת, “Tents”). Chapters: 1-18. Retention of impurity in dwellings.

(54) Tractate Neg’aiym (Aram. נְגָעִים, “Leprosies”). Chapters: 1-14. Leprous men, garments, and dwellings.

(55) Tractate Parah (Aram. פָּרָה, “Heifer”). Chapters: 1-12. Red heifers for sacrifice.

(56) Tractate Ṭaharowth (Aram. טְהָרוֹת, “Purifications”). Chapters: 1-10. Methods of purifications.

(57) Tractate Miqvo’awth (Aram. מִקְוָאוֹת, “Ceremonial Waters”). Chapters: 1-10. The ritual purification of the water.

(58) Tractate Niddah (Aram. נִדָּה, H5614, “Separation of Women in Menstruation”). Chapters: 1-10. Cleanliness of women before and after childbirth.

(59) Tractate Makshiyriyn (Aram. מַכְשִׁירִין, “Preparations”). Chapters: 1-6. Liquids used for purification.

(60) Tractate Zabiym (Aram. זָבִים, “Excretions”). Chapters: 1-5. Exudates of the body and their purification.

(61) Tractate Ṭebuwl Yowm (Aram. טְבוּל יוֹם, “Dipping on [the Day”]). Chapters: 1-4. Immersion on the day of impurity.

(62) Tractate Yadaiym (Aram. יָדַיִם, “Hands”). Chapters: 1-4. Ritual washings.

(63) Tractate ’Uwqṩiyn (Aram. עֻקְצִין, “Stalks of Fruit”). Chapters: 1-3. Stalks of fruit conveying impurity.

The above outline follows that of H. Silverstone, A Guide to the Talmud (1942), which excludes the details of the minor tractates and their subdivisions. Any given section contains the earlier Mishna and the longer and much later Gemara. This organization gives the whole an elaborate and very complicated appearance which has necessitated the formulation of extensive indices and helps to locate similar passages.

The Palestinian and Babylonian Talmud.

Although frequently referred to as the Talmud Yerushalmi (Heb. יְרוּשַׁלְמִי), this VS was the product of the Northern towns of Israel and their rabbinical schools and sages. It was hastily assembled and edited during the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Christian centuries and is about a third of the length of the Babylonian ed. From the original only, the Gemara of the first four Orders is extant. The language is a dialect known as Western Aram. and demonstrates the peculiarities of orthography and lexica clearly separating it from the Babylonian. The antiquity of its Halachah and the great age and Palestinian origin of the even more extensive Haggadic material render it invaluable for the study of the Rabbinate and the history of exegesis in the Judaism of this period. It is supposed to have been ed. by the Amoraim, Johanan ben Nappaha (c. a.d. 270), but material from later periods was incorporated and the closing date is set at c. a.d. 425 when the Tiberian School ended. The Babylonian Talmud developed in the areas under relative Jewish control in Mesopotamia. Its origins were partly Palestinian as many of its progenitors had studied in the schools of the Amoraim. The initiator of the Babylonian VS was Rab Abba Arika, the founder and head of the great Sura Academy. Following him in the 3rd Christian cent. were such eminent scholars and jurists as Mer Samuel, a member of the first group of Babylonian Amoraim. The third generation boasted such authorities as Abbaye (c. a.d. 300) and Raba (c. 340). In the time of Rabina bar Huna (c. a.d. 495) the period of Talmudic expansion came to a close. The work of the next group of scholars, the Saboraim, Aram. סַבוֹרָאִים, “redactors,” brought the work to its full and extant form. The dialect of the Babylonian VS was an Eastern Aram. more fully in fluenced by Akkado-Babylonian and written with its own peculiarities of orthography and lexica. Of the sixty-three tracts, twenty-six lack the Babylonian Gemara. The initial mention of the whole of the written Babylonian Talmud was made in the 8th Christian cent. It is necessary to note that the completion of this vast amount—nearly fifty volumes—of detailed and succinct legal commentary at the beginning of the Dark Ages when the Rom. empire was dissolving into the inflexible discreteness of feudalism, gave to the Jews an intellectual treasure which helped them endure the Medieval period and survive to attend the coming of the Renaissance. Even under the spread and domination of Islam, the Talmud survived. In the W, however, the mystical frenzy which shook Europe after the collapse of the crusading spirit vented the wrath of Christendom upon the Jewish writings and there were numerous destructions of the Talmud and proscriptions against its study and publication. The Talmud became in the Late Middle Ages one of the few accurate sources of information about antiquity, and such scholars as Petaḥia of Ratisbon (a.d. 1140-1200) rediscovered the lost cities of antiquity through their intimate knowledge of the Talmud.

The literary history of the Talmud.

Soon after the compilation of a full Talmudic corpus, divergences in textual families must have appeared. Sa’adia ben Joseph (Gaon) who flourished in the 10th cent. a.d. stated frequent disagreements in the textual traditions. Unfortunately the Talmud is not presently represented by many truly ancient MSS. The only extant MSS of the whole of the Babylonian Talmud is that produced in a.d. 1343, presently in Munich. It was edited by H. L. Strack, Talmud Bab. codicis Hep. Monacensis 95 phototypice depictus (1912). The first printed ed. of both Palestinian and Babylonian Talmud were published by the Christian printerscholar, D. Bomberg, in Venice, 1523 and 1524 respectively. The only complete Palestinian Talmud MS is that in Leiden which has been edited by L. Ginsberg (1909). Numerous difficulties have beset the preparation of any complete variorum edd. as numerous censored portions were omitted during the periods of intense persecution of the Jews so as not to include anything which might be interpreted as anti-Christian. However, the most extensive edd. were those produced in Vilna beginning in 1886, and frequently reproduced with a large number of additional commentaries such as the additions of the Medieval French rabbis. Commentaries, introductions and special studies have appeared in vast numbers particularly from the large and erudite Jewish communities of E Germany, Poland and European Russia. With the tragic destruction of these centers of Hebraic scholarship, the centers of Jewish learning moved to the New World and thence to Israel. The mastery of the language, meaning, detail and sweep of the Talmud is a lifetime avocation. However, it is the most compact and continuous set of documents revealing the piety of a people extant in modern times.

The significance of the Talmud.

Among the schools of European Jewry the Talmud represented the highest and most complete mastery and challenge to which the pious Jew could apply. The knowledge of the Talmud was held in higher esteem than that of the Scripture itself, which had become in the 19th cent. the special province of thoroughly anti-Jewish scholars. While the reconstruction of the rise of the OT text according to the theories of Graf-Kuenen-Wellhausen were eroding away confidence in the historicity of the OT orthodox and conservative Judaism found refuge in the Talmud. The age of romanticism found little to attract it in the bewildering rationalism and endless casuistry of the Talmud. In its place an overwhelmingly Kantian philosophy of Judaism has been developed. With the rise of the Jewish state of Israel, a new renaissance of Talmudic studies may be at hand. For the Christian scholar the Talmud offers first-hand insights into the state of Jewish religion and life in the 1st cent. and the development of that world view in later ages. Almost every mention and allusion to Jewish custom and culture found in the Gospel narratives can be discovered in detail in the Talmudic tradition or one of its manifold explanations. Of major importance in this last regard is the work of Strack and Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrash. The recovery of many new Talmudic fragments from excavations and the archeological reconstruction of many previously obscure eras of Israel’s history has necessitated fresh studies of both Mishnaic and Talmudic texts.

Bibliography

The bibliography of works on and about the Talmud is vast and involved. There are several good bibliographies available. The following are general works, editions, and helps: J. Levy, Neuhebräisches und chaldäisches Wörterbuch, 4 vols. (1876-1889); M. Schwab, Le Talmud de Jérusalem traduit pour la première fois (French tr.), 11 vols. (1878-1890); M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi and Midrashic Literature, 2 vols. (1886-1903); L. Goldschmidt, Der Babylonische Talmud—, 15 vols. (German tr.) (1897-1909); S. Krauss, Talmudische Archaeologie, 3 vols. (1910-1912); G. F. Dalman, Aramaisch-Neuhebräisches Handwörterbuch zu Targum, Talmud und Midrasch, 2nd. ed. (1933); G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era. Vol. I (1927); H. Malter, The Treatise Ta’anit of the Babylonian Talmud (1928); S. Zeitlin, “Critical Edition of the Talmud,” JQR XXI, Nos. 1 and 2 (1930), and numerous other articles in the same journal. H. L. Strack, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (1931); H. Danby, The Mishnah (1933); J. Kaplan, The Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud (1933); ed. I. Epstein, The Babylonian Talmud, Soncino Edition 36 vols. (1935-1948), a new edition of this standard Eng. tr. is appearing with facing page Aram. and Eng. texts; I. Herzog, Main Institutions of Jewish Law, 2 vols. (1936-1939); I. Epstein, Judaism (1939); H. L. Strack, “Talmud,” ISBE vol. V (1939), 2904-2907, with excellent bibliography of the older sources; L. Ginzberg, Commentary on the Palestinian Talmud, 3 vols. (1941).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

(talmudh):

I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND VERBAL EXPLANATIONS

II. IMPORTANCE OF THE TALMUD

III. THE TRADITIONAL LAW UNTIL THE COMPOSITION OF THE MISHNA

IV. DIVISION AND CONTENTS OF THE MISHNA (AND THE TALMUD)

1. Zera`im, "Seeds"

2. Mo`edh, "Feasts"

3. Nashim, "Women"

4. Neziqin, "Damages"

5. Kodhashim, "Sacred Things"

6. Teharoth, "Clean Things"

V. THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD

VI. THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD

VII. THE NON-CANONICAL LITTLE TREATISES AND THE TOSEPHTA’1. Treatises after the 4th Cedher

2. Seven Little Treatises

LITERATURE

The present writer is, for brevity’s sake, under necessity to refer to his Einleitung in den Talmud, 4th edition, Leipzig, 1908. It is quoted here as Introduction.

There are very few books which are mentioned so often and yet are so little known as the Talmud. It is perhaps true that nobody can now be found, who, as did the Capuchin monk Henricus Seynensis, thinks that "Talmud" is the name of a rabbi. Yet a great deal of ignorance on this subject still prevails in many circles. Many are afraid to inform themselves, as this may be too difficult or too tedious; others (the anti-Semites) do not want correct information to be spread on this subject, because this would interfere seriously with their use of the Talmud as a means for their agitation against the Jews.

I. Preliminary Remarks and Verbal Explanations.

(1) Mishnah, "the oral doctrine and the study of it" (from shanah, "to repeat," "to learn," "to teach"), especially

(a) the whole of the oral law which had come into existence up to the end of the 2nd century AD;

(b) the whole of the teaching of one of the rabbis living during the first two centuries AD (tanna’, plural tanna’im);

(c) a single tenet;

(d) a collection of such tenets;

(e) above all, the collection made by Rabbi Jehudah (or Judah) ha-Nasi’.

(2) Gemara’, "the matter that is leaned" (from gemar, "to accomplish," "to learn"), denotes since the 9th century the collection of the discussions of the Amoraim, i.e. of the rabbis teaching from about 200 to 500 AD.

(3) Talmudh, "the studying" or "the teaching," was in older times used for the discussions of the Amoraim; now it means the Mishna with the discussions thereupon.

(4) Halakhah (from halakh, "to go"): (a) the life as far as it is ruled by the Law; (b) a statutory precept.

(5) Haggadhah (from higgidh, "to tell"), the non-halakhic exegesis.

II. Importance of the Talmud.

Commonly the Talmud is declared to be the Jewish code of Law. But this is not the case, even for the traditional or "orthodox" Jews. Really the Talmud is the source whence the Jewish Law is to be derived. Whosoever wants to show what the Jewish Law says about a certain case (point, question) has to compare at first the Shulchan `arukh with its commentary, then the other codices (Maimonides, Alphasi, etc.) and the Responsa, and finally the Talmudic discussions; but he is not allowed to give a decisive sentence on the authority of the Talmud alone (see Intro, 116, 117; David Hoffmann, Der Schulchan-Aruch, 2nd edition, Berlin, 1894, 38, 39). On the other hand, no decision is valid if it is against the yield of the Talmudic discussion. The liberal (Reformed) Jews say that the Talmud, though it is interesting and, as a Jewish work of antiquity, ever venerable, has in itself no authority for faith and life.

For both Christians and Jews the Talmud is of value for the following reasons:

(1) on account of the language, Hebrew being used in many parts of the Talmud (especially in Haggadic pieces), Palestinian Aramaic in the Palestinian Talmud, Eastern Aramaic in the Babylonian Talmud (compare "Literature," (7), below). The Talmud also contains words of Babylonian and Persian origin;

(2) for folklore, history, geography, natural and medical science, jurisprudence, archaeology and the understanding of the Old Testament (see "Literature," (6), below, and Introduction, 159-75). For Christians especially the Talmud contains very much which may help the understanding of the New Testament (see "Literature," (12), below).

III. The Traditional Law until the Composition of the Mishna.

The Law found in the Torah of Moses was the only written law which the Jews possessed after their return from the Babylonian exile. This law was neither complete nor sufficient for all times. On account of the ever-changing conditions of life new ordinances became necessary. Who made these we do not know. An authority to do this must have existed; but the claim made by many that after the days of Ezra there existed a college of 120 men called the "Great Synagogue" cannot be proved. Entirely untenable also is the claim of the traditionally orthodox Jews, that ever since the days of Moses there had been in existence, side by side with the written Law, also an oral Law, with all necessary explanations and supplements to the written Law.

What was added to the Pentateuchal Torah was for a long time handed down orally, as can be plainly seen from Josephus and Philo. The increase of such material made it necessary to arrange it. An arrangement according to subject-matter can be traced back to the 1st century AD; very old, perhaps even older, is also the formal adjustment of this material to the Pentateuchal Law, the form of Exegesis (Midrash). Compare Introduction, 19-21.

A comprehensive collection of traditional laws was made by Rabbi Aqiba circa 110-35 AD, if not by an earlier scholar. His work formed the basis of that of Rabbi Me’ir, and this again was the basis of the edition of the Mishna by Rabbi Jehudah ha-Nasi’. In this Mishna, the Mishna paragraph excellence, the anonymous portions generally, although not always, reproduce the views of Rabbi Me’ir.

See Tiberias.

The predecessors Rabbi (as R. Jehudah ha-Nasi’, the "prince" or the "saint," is usually called), as far as we know, did not put into written form their collections; indeed it has been denied by many, especially by German and French rabbis of the Middle Ages, that Rabbi put into written form the Mishna which he edited. Probably the fact of the matter is that the traditional Law was not allowed to be used in written form for the purposes of instruction and in decisions on matters of the Law, but that written collections of a private character, collections of notes, to use a modern term, existed already at an early period (see Intro, 10 ff).

IV. Division and Contents of the Mishna (and the Talmud).

The Mishna (as also the Talmud) is divided into six "orders" (cedharim) or chief parts, the names of which indicate their chief contents, namely, Zera`im, Agriculture; Moe`dh, Feasts; Nashim, Women; Neziqin, Civil and Criminal Law; Qodhashim, Sacrifices; Teharoth, Unclean Things and Their Purification.

The "orders" are divided into tracts (maccekheth, plural maccikhtoth), now 63, and these again into chapters (pereq, plural peraqim), and these again into paragraphs (mishnayoth). It is Customary to cite the Mishna according to tract chapter and paragraph, e.g. Sanh. (Sanhedhrin) x.1. The Babylonian Talmud is cited according to tract and page, e.g. (Babylonian Talmud) Shabbath 30b; in citing the Palestinian Talmud the number of the chapter is also usually given, e.g. (Palestinian Talmud) Shabbath vi.8d (in most of the editions of the Palestinian Talmud each page has two columns, the sheet accordingly has four).

1. Zera`im, "Seeds":

(1) Berakhoth, "Benedictions": "Hear, O Israel" (De 6:4, shema`); the 18 benedictions, grace at meals, and other prayers.

(2) Pe’ah, "Corner" of the field (Le 19:9 f; De 24:19 ).

(3) Dema’i, "Doubtful" fruits (grain, etc.) of which it is uncertain whether the duty for the priests and, in the fixed years, the 2nd tithe have been paid.

(4) Kil’ayim, "Heterogeneous," two kinds, forbidden mixtures (Le 19:19; De 22:9 ).

(5) Shebhi`ith, "Seventh Year," Sabbatical year (Ex 23:11; Le 25:1 ); Shemiqqah (De 15:1 ).

(6) Terumoth, "Heave Offerings" for the priests (Nu 18:8 ff; De 18:4).

(7) Ma`aseroth or Ma`aser ri’shon, "First Tithe" (Nu 18:21 ).

(8) Ma`aser sheni, "Second Tithe" (De 14:22 ).

(9) Challah, (offering of a part of the) "Dough" (Nu 15:18 ).

(10) `Orlah, "Foreskin" of fruit trees during the first three years (Le 19:23).

(11) Bikkurim, "First-Fruits" (De 26:1 ff; Ex 23:19).

2. Mo`edh, "Feasts":

(1) Shabbath (Ex 20:10; 23:12; De 5:14).

(2) `Erubhin, "Mixtures," i.e. ideal combination of localities with the purpose of facilitating the observance of the Sabbatical laws.

(3) Pesachim, "Passover" (Ex 12; Le 23:5 ff; Nu 28:16 ff; De 16:1); Numbers 9, the Second Passover (Nu 9:10 ). (4) Sheqalim, "Shekels" for the Temple (compare Ne 10:33; Ex 30:12 ff).

(5) Yoma’, "The Day" of Atonement (Le 16).

(6) Cukkah, "Booth," Feast of Tabernacles (Le 23:34 ff; Nu 29:12 ff; De 16:13 ).

(7) Betsah, "Egg" (first word of the treatise) or Yom Tobh, "Feast," on the difference between the Sabbath and festivals (compare Ex 12:10).

(8) Ro’sh ha-shanah, "New Year," first day of the month Tishri (Le 23:24 f; Nu 29:1 ).

(9) Ta`anith, "Fasting."

(10) Meghillah, "The Roll" of Esther, Purim (Es 9:28).

(11) Mo`edh qatan, "Minor Feast," or Mashqin, "They irrigate" (first word of the treatise), the days between the first day and the last day of the feast of Passover, and likewise of Tabernacles.

(12) Chaghighah, "Feast Offering," statutes relating to the three feasts of pilgrimage (Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles); compare De 16:16 f.

3. Nashim, "Women":

(1) Yebhamoth, "Sisters-in-Law" (perhaps better, Yebhamuth, Levirate marriage; De 25:5 ff; compare Ru 4:5; Mt 22:24).

(2) Kethubhoth, "Marriage Deeds."

(3) Nedharim, "Vows," and their annulment (Nu 30).

(4) Nazir, "Nazirite" (Nu 6).

(5) Gittin, "Letters of Divorce" (De 24:1; compare Mt 5:31).

(6) Cotah, "The Suspected Woman" (Nu 5:11 ).

(7) Qiddushin, "Betrothals."

4. Nezikin, "Damages":

(1) (2) and (3) Babha’ qamma’, Babha’ metsi`a’, Babha’ bathra’, "The First Gate," "The Second Gate," "The Last Gate," were in ancient times only one treatise called Neziqin: (a) Damages and injuries and the responsibility; (b) and (c) right of possession.

(4) and (5) Sanhedhrin, "Court of Justice," and Makkoth "Stripes" (De 25:1 ff; compare 1Co 11:24). In ancient times only one treatise; criminal law and criminal proceedings.

(6) Shebhu`oth, "Oaths" (Le 5:1 ff).

(7) `Edhuyoth, "Attestations" of later teachers as to the opinions of former authorities.

(8) `Abhodhah zarah, "Idolatry," commerce and intercourse with idolaters.

(9) ’Abhoth, (sayings of the) "Fathers"; sayings of the Tanna’im.

(10) Horayoth, (erroneous) "Decisions," and the sin offering to be brought in such a case (Le 4:13 ff).

5. Qodhashim, "Sacred Things":

(1) Zebhahim, "Sacrifices" (Le 1 ff).

(2) Menachoth, "Meal Offerings" (Le 2:5,11; 6:7; Nu 5:15, etc.).

(3) Chullin, "Common Things," things non-sacred; slaughtering of animals and birds for ordinary use.

(4) Bekhoroth, "The Firstborn" (Ex 13:2,12; Le 27:26,32; Nu 8:6, etc.).

(5) `Arakhin, "Estimates," "Valuations" of persons and things dedicated to God (Le 27:2).

(6) Temurah, "Substitution" of a common (non-sacred) thing for a sacred one (compare Le 27:10,33).

(7) Kerithoth, "Excisions," the punishment of being cut off from Israel (Ge 17:14; Ex 12:15, etc.).

(8) Me`ilah, "Unfaithfulness," as to sacred things, embezzlement (Nu 5:6; Le 5:15).

(9) Tamidh, "The Daily Morning and Evening Sacrifice" (Ex 29:38; Nu 38:3).

(10) Middoth, "Measurements" of the Temple.

(11) Qinnim, "Nests," the offering of two turtle-doves or two young pigeons (Le 1:14 ff; 5:1 ff; 12:8).

6. Teharoth, "Clean Things":

This title is used euphemistically for "unclean things":

(1) Kelim, "Vessels" (Le 6:20 f; 11:32 ff; Nu 19:14 ff; 31:20 ).

(2) ’Oholoth, "Tents," the impurity originating with a corpse or a part of it (compare Nu 19:14).

(3) Negha`im, "Leprosy" (Le 13; 14).

(4) Parah, "Red Heifer"; its ashes used for the purpose of purification (Nu 19:2 ).

See Red Heifer.

(5) Teharoth, "Clean Things," euphemistically for defilements.

(6) Mikwa’oth, "Diving-Baths" (Le 15:12; Nu 31:33; Le 14:8; 15:5 ff; compare Mr 7:4).

(7) Niddah, "The Menstruous" (Le 15:19 ff; 12).

(8) Makhshirin, "Preparers," or Mashqin, "Fluids" (first word of the treatise). Seven liquids (wine, honey, oil, milk, dew, blood, water) which tend to cause grain, etc., to become defiled (compare Le 11:34,37 f) .

(9) Zabhim, "Persons Having an Issue," flux (Le 15).

(10) Tebhul yom, "A Person Who Has Taken the Ritual Bath during the Day," and is unclean until sunset (Le 15:5; 22:6 f).

(11) Yadhayim, "Hands," the ritual impurity of hands and their purification (compare Mt 15:2,20; Mr 7:22 ff).

(12) `Uqtsin, "Stalks," the conveyance of ritual impurity by means of the stalks and hulls of plants.

V. The Palestinian Talmud.

Another name, Talmudh Yerushalmi ("Jerusalem Talmud"), is also old, but not accurate. The Palestinian Talmud gives the discussions of the Palestinian Amoraim, teaching from the 3rd century AD until the beginning of the 5th, especially in the schools or academies of Tiberias, Caesarea and Sepphoris. The editions and the Leyden manuscript (in the other manuscripts there are but few treatises) contain only the four cedharim i-iv and a part of Niddah. We do not know whether the other treatises had at any time a Palestinian Gemara. "The Mishna on which the Palestinian Talmud rests" is said to be found in the manuscript Add. 470,1 of the University Library, Cambridge, England (ed W.H. Lowe, 1883). The treatises `Edhuyoth and ’Abhoth have no Gemara in the Palestinian Talmud or in the Babylonian.

Some of the most famous Palestinian Amoraim may be mentioned here (compare Introduction, 99 ff): 1st generation: Chanina bar Chama, Jannai, Jonathan, Osha’ya, the Haggadist Joshua ben Levi; 2nd generation: Jochnnan bar Nappacha, Simeon ben Lackish; 3rd generation: Samuel bar Nachman, Levi, Eliezer ben Pedath, Abbahu, Ze`ira (i); 4th generation: Jeremiah, Acha’, Abin (i), Judah, Huna; 5th generation: Jonah, Phinehas, Berechiah, Jose bar Abin, Mani (ii), Tanhuma’.

VI. The Babylonian Talmud.

The Babylonian Talmud is later and more voluminous than the Palestinian Talmud, and is a higher authority for the Jews. In the first cedher only Berakhoth has a Gemara; Sheqalim in the 2nd cedher has in the manuscripts and in the editions the Palestinian Gemara; Middoth and Qinnim in the 5th cedher have no Babylonian Gemara. The greatest Jewish academies in Babylonia were in Nehardea, Cura, Pumbeditha and Mahuza.

Among the greatest Babylonian Amoraim are the following (compare Introduction, 99 ff): 1st generation: Abba Arikha or, shortly, Rab in Cura (died 247 AD). Mar Samuel in Nehardea (died 254 AD). 2nd generation: Rab Huna, Rab Judah (bar Ezekiel). 3rd generation: Rab Chisda, Rab Shesheth, Rab Nachman (bar Jacob), Rabbah bar Chana, the story-teller, Rabbah bar Nahmai, Rab Joseph (died 323 AD). 4th generation: Abaye, Raba’ (bar Joseph). 5th generation: Rab Papa. 6th generation: Amemar, Rab Ashi.

VII. The Non-canonical Little Treatises and the Tocephta’.

In the editions of the Babylonian Talmud after the 4th cedher we find some treatises which, as they are not without some interest, we shall not pass over in silence, though they do not belong to the Talmud itself (compare Introduction, 69 ff).

1. Treatises after the 4th Cedher:

(1) ’Abhoth deRabbi Nathan, an expansion of the treatise ’Abhoth, edition. S. Schechter, Vienna, 1887.

(2) Copherim, edition Joe Muller, Leipzig, 1878.

(3) ’Ebhel Rabbathi, "Mourning," or, euphemistically, Semachoth, "Joys."

(4) Kallah, "Bride."

(5) Derekh ’erets, "Way of the World," i.e. Deportment; Rabba’ and Zuta’, "Large" and "Small."

2. Seven Little Treatises:

Septem Libri Talmudici parvi Hierolymitani, edition. R. Kirchheim, Frankfurt a. Main, 1851: Cepher Torah, Mezuzah, Tephillin, Tsitsith, `Abhadhim, Kuthim (Samaritans), Gerim (Proselytes).

The Tocephta’, a work parallel to Rabbi’s Mishna, is said to represent the views of R. Nehemiah, disciple of R. Aqiba, edition. M. S. Zuckermandel, Posewalk, 1880. Zuckermandel tries to show that the Tocephta’ contains the remains of the old Palestinian Mishna, and that the work commonly called Mishna is the product of a new revision in Babylonia (compare his Tosephta, Mischna und Boraitha in ihrem Verhaltnis zu einander, 2 volumes, Frankfurt a. Main, 1908, 1909).

LITERATURE.

(1) Introductions:

Hermann L. Strack, Einleitung in d. Talmud, 4th edition, Leipzig, 1908, in which other books on this subject are mentioned, pp. 139-44.

(2) Manuscripts (Introduction, 72-76):

There are manuscripts of the whole Mishna in Parma, in Budapest, and in Cambridge, England (the latter is published by W.H. Lowe, 1883). The only codex of the Palestinian Talmud is in Leyden; Louis Ginsberg, Yerushalmi Fragments from the Genizah, volume I, text with various readings from the editio princeps, New York, 1909 (372 pp., 4to). The only codex of the Babylonian Talmud was published whole in 1912 by the present writer: Talmud Babylonian codicis Hebrew Monacensis 95 phototypice depictum, Leyden (1140 plates, royal folio). On the manuscripts in the Vatican see S. Ochser, ZDMG, 1909, 365-93,126, 822 f.

(3) Editions (Introduction, 76-81):

(a) Mishna, editio princeps, Naples, 1492, folio, with the commentary of Moses Maimonides; Riva di Trento, 1559, folio, contains also the commentary of Obadiah di Bertinoro. The new edition printed in Wilna contains a great number of commentaries

(b) Palestinian Talmud, editio princeps, Venice, 1523 f, folio; Cracow, 1609, folio. Of a new edition begun by Asia Minor Luncz, Jerusalem, 1908 ff, two books, Berakhoth and Pe’ah, are already published. Another new critical edition, with German translation and notes, was begun in 1912 by G. Beer and O. Holtzman (Die Mischna, Giessen). Compare also B. Ratner, Ahabath Tsijjon Wirushalayim, Varianten und Erganzungen des Jerusalem Talmuds, Wilna, 1901 ff.

(c) Babylonian Talmud, editio princeps, Venice, 1520-23. The edition, Bale, 1578-81, is badly disfigured by the censorship of Marcus Marinus, Amsterdam, 1644-48, Berlin 1862-66. Compare R. Rabbinowicz, Variae Lectiones in Mishna et in Talmud Babylonicum, Munich, 1868-86, Przemysl, 1897 (the cedharim 3, 6 and 5 in part are missing).

(4) Translations:

E. Bischoff, Krit. Geschichte d. Tal-mudubersetzungen, Frankfurt a. Main, 1899.

(a) Mishna, Latin: Gull. Surenhusius, Amsterdam, 1698-1703 (contains also a translation of Maimonides and Obadiah di Bertinoro); German.: J.J. Rabe, Onolzbach, 1760 ff; A. Saminter, D. Hoffmann and others, Berlin, 1887 ff (not yet complete); English: De Sola and Raphall, 18 Treatises from the Mishna, London, 1843; Josephus Barclay, The Talmud, a Translation of 18 Treatises, London, 1878 (but 7 treatises also in De Sola and Raphall; Fiebig, Ausgewahlte Mischnatractate, Tubingen, 1905 ff (annotated German translation).

(b) Palestinian Talmud, Latin: 20 treatises in B. Ugolini, Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum, volumes XVII-XXX, Venice, 1755 ff. French: M. Schwab, Paris, 1878-89 (in 1890 appeared a 2nd edition of volume I).

(c) Babylonian Talmud, German.: L. Goldschmidt, Berlin (Leipzig), 1897 ff; gives also the text of the 1st Venetian edition and some variant readings (cedharim 1, 2, and 4 are complete); A. Wunsche, Der Babylonian Talmud in seinen haggadischen Bestandteilen ubersetzt, Leipzig, 1886-89. English: M.L. Rodkinson, New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud .... Translated into English, New York, 1896 ff (is rather an abridgment (unreliable)).

(5) Commentaries (Introduction, 146-51):

(a) Mishna:

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), Obadiah di Bertinoro (died 1510), Yom-Tobh Lipmann Heller (1579-1654), Israel Lipschutz.

(b) Babylonian Talmud:

Rashi or Solomon Yitschaqi (died 1105); The Tosaphoth (see L. Zunz, Zur Geschichte und Literatur, Berlin, 1845, 29-60); Menahem ben Solomon or Me’-iri (1249-1306); Solomon Luria (died 1573), commonly called Maharshal; Bezaleel Ashkenazi (16th century), author of the Shittah Mequbbetseth; Samuel Edels (1559-1631) or Maharsha’; Meir Lublin (died 1616); Elijah Wilna (died 1797); Aqiba Eger (died 1837).

(6) Single Treatises (Compare Introduction, 151-55):

(a) Mishna:

The present writer is publishing: Ausgewahlte Misnatraktate, nach Handschriften und alten Drucken (Text vokalisiert, Vokabular), ubersetzt und mit Berucksichtigung des Neuen Testaments erlautert, Leipzig (J. C. Hinrichs); Yoma’, 3rd edition, 1912, `Abhodhah Zarah, 2nd edition, 1909, Pirqe ’Abhoth, 4th edition, 1914, Shabbath, 2nd edition, 1914, Sanhedhrin, Makkoth, 1910, Pecachim 1911, Berakhoth, 1914. This series is to be continued (H. Laible, e.g., is writing Nedharim); Ch. Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, in Hebrew and English, 2nd edition, Cambridge, 1897; W. A. L. Elmslie, The Mishna on Idolatry, with Translation, Cambridge, 1911.

(b) Gemara, Berakhoth, German:

E. M. Pinner, Berlin, 1842, fol; Pe’ah (Palestintan Talmud), German.: J. J. Rabe, Ansbach, 1781; Cukkah, Latin: F. B. Dachs, Utrecht, 1726, 4to; Ro’sh ha-shanah, German: M. Rawicz, Frankfurt a. Main, 1886; Ta`anith German.: Straschun Halle, 1883; Chaghighah, English: A. W. Streane Cambridge, 1891; Kethubhoth, German: M. Rawicz, 1891; Cotah, Latin: J. Chr. Wagenseil, Altdorf, 1674-78; Babha’ Metsi`a’, German: A. Sammter, Berlin, 1876, fol; Sanhedhrin, Latin: Ugolini, Thesaurus, volume XXV, German.: M. Rawicz, 1892; `Abhodhah Zarah, German: F. Chr. Ewald, Nurnberg, 1856; Zebhachin and Menachoth, Latin: Ugolini, Thesaurus, volume XIX; Hullin, German: M. Rawicz, Offenburg, 1908; Tamidh, Latin: Ugolini, Thesaurus, Vol XIX.

(7) Helps for the Grammatical Understanding (Introduction, 155-58):

(a) Mishna:

M. H. Segal, "Misnaic Hebrew," JQR, 1908, 647-737; K. Albrecht, Grammatik des Neuhebraischen (Sprache der Mishna), Munich, 1913;

(b) Talmud:

J. Levy, Neuhebr. und chald. Worterbuch, Leipzig, 1876-89; M. Jastrow, Dictionary of the .... Talmud Babylonian and Yerushalmi, New York, 1886-1903; W. Bacher, Die Terminologie der jud. Traditionsliteratur, Leipzig, 1905; G. Dalman, Grammatik des judischpalastin. Aramaisch, 2nd edition, Leipzig, 1905; C. Levias, Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom Contained in the Babylonian Talmud, Cincinnati, 1900; Max L. Margolis, Grammar of the Aramaic Language of the Babylonian Talmud with a Chrestomathy, Munich, 1909.

(8) The Haggadah (Introduction, 159-62):

The Haggadic elements of the Palestinian Talmud are collected by Samuel Jaffe in Yepheh Mar’eh, Constantinople, 1587, etc., those of the Babylonian by Jacob ibn Chabib in `En Ya`aqobh, Saloniki, about 1516, etc.; W. Bacher, Die Agada der Tannaiten, 2 volumes, Strassburg, 1884, 1890 (1st volume, 2nd edition, 1903); Die A. der babylon. Amoraer, 1878; Die A. der palastinensischen Amoraer, 1892-99, 3 volumes; P. T. Hershon, A Talmudic Miscellany or 1001 Extracts, London, 1880; Treasures of the Talmud, London, 1882.

(9) Theology (Introduction, 162-65):

F. Weber, Judische Theologie, 2nd edition, Leipzig, 1897; J. Klausner, Die messianischen Vorstellungen des jud. Volkes im Zeitalter der Tannaiten, Berlin, 1904; R.T. Herford, Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, London, 1903; H.L. Strack, Jesus, die Haretiker und die Christen nach den altesten jud. Angaben (texts, translation, commentary), Leipzig, 1910; L. Blau, Das altjudische Zauberwesen, Budapest, 1898; M. Lazarus, Die Ethik des Judentums, 2 volumes, Frankfurt a. Main, 1898, 1911.

(10) The Talmud and the Old Testament (Introduction, 167 f):

G. Aicher, Das Altes Testament in der Mischna, Freiburg i. Baden, 1906; V. Aptowitzer, Das Schriftwort in der rabbin. Literatur, 4 parts, Wien, 1906-11 (to be continued; various readings in the quotations); P.T. Hershon, Genesis, with a Talmudical Commentary, London, 1883.

(11) The Talmud and the New Testament (Introduction, 165-67):

Joh. Lightfoot, Horae hebraicae et talmudicae, edition Leusden, 2 volumes, fol T, Franeker, 1699; Chr. Schottgen, Horae hebraicae et talmudicae in universum Novum Test., 2 volumes, 4to, Dresden, 1733; Franz Delitzsch, "Horae hebraicae et talmudicae," in Zeitschrift fur die gesammte luther. Theologie u. Kirche, 1876-78; Aug. Wunsche, Neue Beitrage zur Erlauterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrash, Goettingen, 1878; Th. Robinson, The Evangelists and the Mishna, London, 1859; W.H. Bennett, The Mishna as Illustrating the Gospels, Cambridge, 1884; Erich Bischoff, Jesus und die Rabbinen, Jesu Bergpredigt und "Himmelreich" in ihrer Unabhangigkeit vom Rabbinismus, Leipzig, 1905.

(12) Jurisprudence (Introduction, 169-71):

J. L. Saalschtitz, Das Mosaische Recht, 2nd edition, Berlin, 1853; Josephus Kohler, "Darstellung des talludischen Rechts," in Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft, 1908, 161-264; Z. Frankel, Der gerichtliche Beweis nach mosaisch-talmud. Rechte, Berlin, 1846; P.B. Benny, The Criminal Code of the Jews, London, 1880; S. Mendelsohn, The Criminal Jurisprudence of the Ancient Hebrews, Baltimore, 1891; H.B. Fassel, Das mosaisch-rabbinische Civilrecht, Gross-Kanischa, 2 volumes, 1852-54; Das mos.-rabb. Gerichtsverfahren in civilrechtl. Sachen, 1859; M. Mielziner, The Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce, Cincinnati, 1884; D.W. Amram, The Jewish Law of Divorce, Philadelphia, 1896; M. Rapaport, Der Talmud und sein Recht, Berlin, 1912.

(13) History (Introduction, 171 f):

J. Derenbourg, Histoire de la Palestine depuis Cyrus jusqu’a Adrien, Paris, 1867; L. Herzfeld, Handelsgeschichte der Juden des Altertums, 2nd edition, Braunschweig, 1894; A. Buchler, The Political and the Social Leaders of the Jewish Community of Sepphoris, London, 1909; S. Funk, Die Juden in Babylonien 200-500, 2 volumes, Berlin, 1902, 1908.

(14) Medical Science (Intro, 173):

Jul. Preuss, Biblisch-talmudische Medizin, Berlin, 1911 (735 pp.); L. Kotelmann, Die Ophthalmologie bei den alten Hebraern, Hamburg, 1910 (436 pp.).

(15) Archaeology:

Sam. Krauss, Talmudische Archaologic, 3 volumes, Leipzig, 1910-1912.

Hermann L. Strack

See also

  • Judaism