Talmud
TALMUD
A collection of Jewish writings. There are two works which bear this name
the Talmud of Jerusalem, and the Talmud of Babylon. Each of these are composed of two parts
the Mishna, which is the text, and is common to both; and the Gemara, or commentary. The Mishna, which comprehends all the laws, institutions, and rules of life (which, besides the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, the Jews thought themselves bound to observe, ) was composed, according to the unanimous testimony of the Jews, about the close of the second century. It was the work of rabbi Jehuda (or Juda) Hakkadosh, who was the ornament of the school of Tiberias, and is said to have occupied him forty years. The commentaries and additions which succeeding rabbies made, were collected by rabbi Jochanan Ben Eliezer, some say in the fifth, others in the sixth, and others in the seventh century, under the name of Gemara, that is, completion, because it completed the Talmud. A similar addition was made to the Mishna by the Babylonish doctors in the beginning of the sixth century, according to Enfield; and in the seventh, according to others. The Mishna is divided into six parts, of which every one which is entitled order, is formed of treatises: every treatise is divided into chapters; and every chapter into mishnas or aphorisms.
In the first part is discussed whatever relates to seeds, fruits, and trees: in the second, feasts: in the third, women, their duties, their disorders, marriages, divorces, contracts, and nuptials; in the fourth, are treated the damages or losses sustained by beasts or men, of things found, deposits, usuries, rents, farms, partnership in commerce, inheritance, sales and purchases, oaths, witnesses, arrests, idolatry; and here are named those by whom in oral law was received and preserved: in the fifth part are noticed what regards sacrifices and holy things: and the sixth treats on purifications, vessels, furniture, clothes, houses, leprosy, baths, and numerous other articles:-all this forms the Mishna. As the learned reader may wish to obtain some notion of rabbinical composition and judgment, we shall gratify his curiosity sufficiently by the following specimen: “Adam’s body was made of the earth of Babylon, his head of the land of Israel, his other members of other parts of the world. R. Meir thought he was compact of the earth gathered out of the whole earth: as it is written, thine eyes did see my substance.
Now it is elsewhere written, the eyes of the Lord are over all the earth. R. Aha expressly marks the twelve hours in which his various parts were formed. His stature was from one end of the world to the other; and it was for his transgression that the Creator, laying his hand in anger on him, lessened him; ‘for before, ‘ says R. Eleazer, ‘with his hand he reached the firmament.’ R. Jehuda thinks his sin was heresy; but R. Isaac thinks that it was nourishing his foreskin.” The Talmud of Babylon is most valued by the Jews; and this is the book which they mean to express when they talk of the Talmud in general. An abridgment of it was made by Maimonides in the 12th century, in which he rejected some of its greatest absurdities. The Gemara is stuffed with dreams and chimeras, with many ignorant and impertinent questions, and the style very coarse. The Mishna is written in a style comparatively pure, and may be very useful in explaining passages of the New Testament, where the phraseology is similar. This is, indeed, the only use to which Christians can apply it: but this renders it valuable.
Lightfoot has judiciously availed himself of such information as he could derive from it. Some of the popes, with a barbarous zeal, and a timidity of spirit, for the success of the Christian religion, which the belief of its divinity can never excuse, ordered great numbers of the Talmud to be burned. Gregory IX. burned about twenty cart-loads; and Paul IV. ordered 12, 000 copies of the Talmud to be destroyed.
See MISCHNA, the last edition of the Talmud of Babylon, printed at Amsterdam, in 12 vols. folio: the Talmud of Jerusalem is in one large volume folio.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Talmud
1. DEFINITION
Talmud was a post-Biblical substantive formation of Pi’el (“to teach”), and originally signified “doctrine” or “study”. In a special sense, however, it meant the justification and explanation of religious and legal norms or Halakhoth (“conduct”, signifying “the law in accordance with which the conduct of life is to be regulated”). When in the third century the Halakhoth collection of Jehuda I or the recorded Mishna became the chief object of study, the expression “Talmud” was applied chiefly to the discussions and explanations of the Mishna. Finally, it became the general designation for the Mishna itself and the collection of discussions concerned with it. For the latter the designation Gemara, interpreted as “completion” from the Hebrew and Aramaic words meaning “to complete”, subsequently became the accepted term. The word first found entrance into the Talmud editions through Christian censorship; manuscripts and the old printed editions use the expression Talmud. We therefore understand by Talmud a compilation consisting of the Mishna, i.e. the codification of Jewish religious and legal norms, and of the Gemara, or the collection of discussions and explanations concerning the Mishna.
II. ORIGIN OF THE TALMUD
Since Esdras the foundation of the Jewish religious community was the law. Everything was regulated in accordance with fixed norms; nothing could be added or changed in the law laid down in the Pentateuch. Yet the ever-varying conditions of life called for new ordinances, and these were decreed in accordance with the needs of the time and the special cases to be determined. There were thus formed a traditional law and custom orally transmitted. Every decree of this kind (halakha), if it had existed from time immemorial and nothing further could be said in regard to its origin, was called a law given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Even for orthodox Judaism of today it is an article of faith that Moses, at the same time that he received the written law recorded in the Pentateuch, also received detailed explanations of the different laws, which were handed down by tradition as oral law. In addition to this the scribes at an early period attempted, by interpretation of the Torah, to make the law applicable to the changed conditions of life, to base the new precepts at least retrospectively on the Torah, and to draw out of it further religious laws. For this kind of Scriptural learning hermeneutic rules (Middoth) were at a later period established, at first seven, which were then divided into fourteen, and finally increased to thirty-two. All the older additions to the Torah as well as the constantly increasing new material were for a long time transmitted orally, and, according to the prevailing view, it was forbidden to record it in writing. But it is at all events wrong to assume that there was a formal prohibition to record Halakhoth in writing. The prohibition probably referred to written records intended for public use; for a fixed record of the traditional law would have acted as a hindrance to its further development in accordance with the existing needs of the day. It is by no means improbable that the final reduction of the Mishna was preceded by previous written records, especially after Rabbi Agiba, at the beginning of the second century, had divested the study of the law of its previous Midrash character and had undertaken to arrange the materials systematically. Among his pupils it was probably Rabbi Me’ir who continued these systematic labours. But of such collections only one finally attained canonical recognition, and therefore was called Mishna par excellence, viz. the one edited about the end of the second century of our era by Rabbi Jehuda I, called Ha-nashi (the prince) or Ha-gadosh (the saint) or simply the Rabbi. This then is our Mishna, the basis of the Talmud.
Rabbi Jehuda had adopted only a part of the doctrines, which in course of time had been handed down in the different schools. Although he selected what was most important, he sometimes omitted much that seemed important to others; and, on the other hand, it was felt that even the unimportant should not be allowed to sink into oblivion. In consequence, other collections soon originated, which, though not canonical, were nevertheless highly valued. All the Halakhoth which were not included in the Mishna of Jehuda received the name Baraithoth (sing. Baraitha, “omitted doctrine”). The most important Baraitha collection is the Tosephta.
The precise brevity of expression and the pregnant form in which the Mishna had codified the Halakhoth made an interpretation of them necessary, while the casuistic features of the work were a stimulus to further casuistic development. In the profound study and explanation of its contents much weight was placed upon the Haggada, i.e. the doctrines not included in the law (folklore, legends, historic recollections, ethics and didactics, etc.), of which Jehuda, who aimed to draw up a code of laws, had taken little or no account. Everything, in fact, that tradition offered was brought within the range of discussion. In order to give a suitable designation to the new tendency in the teaching of the law, scholars, up to the time of the final transcription of the Mishna, were known as Tanna’im (sing Tanna, “teacher”), those who came after them, Amora’im (sing. Amora, “speaker”). The collection of the Amora’im, as finally recorded, was called, as stated above, Talmud, later Gemara: that of the Palestinian schools, the Palestinian Gemara, that of the Babylonian schools, the Babylonian Gemara. The combined edition of the Mishna and Gemara, or the Talmud in our sense of the word, discriminates, therefore, between Mishna and Palestinian Gemara, or “Palestinian Talmud”, and Mishna and Babylonian Gemara or “Babylonian Talmud”. The latter is meant when the Talmud without further specification is referred to.
III. THE MISHNA
(From the Hebrew word meaning “repetition”, translated by the Fathers of the Church deuterosis). The word is a substantive formation from the Hebrew root meaning “to repeat”. From this meaning was developed, in the language of the later schools, the characteristic method of all teaching and learning, particularly of doctrines orally transmitted, which was accomplished by repeated enunciation on the part of the teacher and frequent repetition on the part of the pupil. Both expressions thus became a term for the science of tradition, the former signifying the special study of orally transmitted law, the latter the law itself in contrast to the first one meaning the written law. But the expression is also used for each of the doctrines orally transmitted, and differs from Halakha in that the latter signifies the traditional law so far as it is binding, while the former designates it as an object of study. Furthermore, the word Mishna is applied to the systematic collection of such doctrines, and finally to that collection which alone has attained canonical recognition, i.e. the collection of Jehuda I. This collection represents Jewish law codified in that development which it received in the schools of Palestine up to the end of the second century after Christ. Through it the orally transmitted law was finally established along with the written law or the Torah. The foundation of this collection is formed by the collections which already existed before Jehuda, particularly that of Rabbi Me’ir. The Mishna does not pretend to be a collection of sources of the Halakha, but merely to teach it. Whether its fixation in writing was the work of Jehuda himself or took place after him is a debated point; but the former is the more probable theory. The only question then is how much of it he wrote; in the extended form which it now presents it could not have been written by him alone. It has evidently received additions in course of time, and in other respects also the text has been altered.
As regards the subject matter the Mishna is divided into six institutes or Sedarim; for this reason Jew are accustomed to call the Talmud Shas. Each Seder has a number (7-12) of treatises; these are divided into chapters or Peraqim, and each chapter into precepts. The six institutes and their treatises are as follows:
A. Seder Zera’im (harvest)
Containing in eleven treatises the laws on the cultivation of the soil and its products.
(1) Berakhoth (benedictions) blessings and prayers, particularly those in daily use. (2) Pe’a (corner), concerning the parts of the fields and their products which are to be left to the poor (cf. Leviticus 19:9 sq.; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19 sq.) and in general concerning the poor laws. (3) Demai, more properly Dammai (doubtful), concerning the fruits of the soil of which it is doubtful whether the tithes have been paid. (4) Kil’ayim (heterogenea), concerning the unlawful combinations of plants, animals, and garments (cf. Leviticus 19:19; Deuteronomy 22:9 sq.). (5) Shebi’ith (seventh), i.e. Sabbatical year (Deuteronomy 15:1 sq.). (6) Terumoth (heave offerings) for the priests (Numbers 18:8 sq.; Deuteronomy 18:4). (7) Ma’asroth (tithes) for the Levites (Numbers 18:21 sq.). (8) Ma’aser sheni (second tithe), (Deuteronomy 14:22 sq.; 26:12 sq.) which had to be spent at Jerusalem. (9) Halla (yeast) (cf. Numbers 15:18 sq.). (10) ‘Orla (foreskin) concerning uncircumcised fruits and trees (Leviticus 19:23). (11) Bikkurim (first fruits) brought to the temple (Deuteronomy 26:1 sq.; Exodus 23:19).
B. Seder Mo’ed (season of feasts)
Treats in twelve treatises of the precepts governing rest on the Sabbath, the other feast and holy days, as well as fast days. (1) Shabbath. (2) ‘Erubin (combinations), the means by which one could circumvent especially onerous provisions of the Sabbath laws. (3) Pesahim (Passover). (4) Sheqalim (shekels), treats of the tax of half a shekel for the maintenance of Divine service in the temple (cf. Neh. x, 33), based upon Ex., xxx, 12 sq. (5) Yoma (day), i.e. day of expiation. (6) Sukka (Tabernacle), treats of the feast of Tabernacles. (7) Beca (egg), taken from the first word with which the treatise begins or Yom tob (feast), is concerned with the kinds of work permitted or prohibited on festivals. (8) Rosh hashana (beginning of the year), treats of the civil new year on the first of Tishri (Leviticus 23:24 sq.; Numbers 29:1 sq.). (9) Ta’anith (fast). (10) Megilla (roll) of Esther, respecting the laws to be observed on the feast of Purim. (11) Mo’ed qatan (minor feast), the laws relating to the feasts intervening between the first and last days of the Passover and Sukkoth. (12) Hagiga (feast-offering), treats (chaps. i and iii) of the duty of pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the private offerings on such occasions (cf. Deuteronomy 16:16 sq.).
C. Seder Nashim (women)
Elucidates in seven treatises the laws of marriage and all pertaining thereto, vows, and the marriage laws of the Nazarites. (l) Jebamoth, levirate marriages (Deuteronomy 25:5 sq.). (2) Kethuboth (“marriage deeds” and marriage settlements). (3) Nedarim (“vows”) and their annulment. (4) Nazir (Nazarite; cf. Numbers 6). (5) Sota (“suspected woman”; cf. Numbers 5:11 sq.). (6) Gittin (letters of divorce; cf. Deuteronomy 24:1 sq.). (7 Giddushin (betrothals).
D. Seder Nezigin “damages”)
Explains in eight treatises civil and criminal law. In this institute are included the Eduyyoth, a collection of traditions, and the Haggadic treatise, Aboth.
The treatises 1-3, Baba Kamma (the first gate), Baba meci’a (the middle gate), and Baba bathra (the last gate), originally formed a single treatise, the subdivision of which was caused by its great length (30 chaps.). They treat of the laws of property, inheritance, and obligation. Baba Kamma treats of damages in a narrow sense (along with theft, robbery, and bodily injury) and the right to damages; Baba meci’a is concerned chiefly with legal questions in regard to capital and treats finding, deposits, interest and loans; Baba Bathra is concerned with questions of social polity (possessions, limitations, buying and selling, security, inheritance and documents). (4) Sanhedrin, treats of the law courts, legal processes, and criminal justice. (5) Makkoth (stripes), treats of punishment by stripes legally acknowledged (cf. Deuteronomy 25:1 sq.). (6) Shebu’oth (oaths). (7) ‘Eduyyoth (test), containing a collection of legal decisions gathered from the testimonies of distinguished authorities. (8) ‘Aboda Zara (idolatry). (9) ‘Aboth (fathers) or Pirqe Aboth (sections of fathers) contains ethical maxims of the Tanna’im (200 B.C. – A.D. 200). (10) Horayoth (decisions), concerning legal decisions and religious questions which were erroneously rendered.
E. Seder Qodashim (sacred things)
Treats in twelve treatises of the sacrifices, temple service, and dedicated objects (1) Zebahim (animal sacrifices). (2) Menahoth (meat offerings). (3) Hullin (things profane) of the sacrifice of pure and impure animals and of laws concerning food. (4) Bekhoroth (first born) of men and animals (cf. Exodus 13:2, 12 sq.; Leviticus 27:26 sq.; Numbers 8:16 sq.; 18:15 sq.; Deuteronomy 15:19 sq.) (5) ‘Arakhin (valuations), that is equivalents to be given for the redemption of persons and things dedicated to God (Leviticus 17:2 sq., 25:15 sq.). (6) Temura (exchange) of a sacred object (Leviticus 27:10-33). (7) Kerithoth (excisions), concerning the sins punished by this penalty, and what was to be done when anyone intentionally committed such a sin. (8) Me’ild (violation) of a sacred object (cf. Numbers 5:6 sq.; Leviticus 5:15 sq.). (9) Tamid (continual sacrifice), concerning the daily morning and evening sacrifice and the temple in general. (10) Middoth (measurements), a description of the temple and of the temple service. (11) Quinnim (“nest” of birds), of the sacrifices of doves by the poor (Leviticus 1:14 sq.; 12:8).
F. Seder Teharoth (purifications)
Treats in twelve treatises of the ordinances of cleanness and of purifications. (l) Kelim (vessels), treats of the conditions under which domestic utensils, garments, etc., become unclean. (2) Ohaloth (tents) of the defilement of dwellings by a corpse (Numbers 19:14 sq.). (3) Nega’im (leprosy). (4) Para (red heifer; cf. Numbers 19). (5) Teharoth (purifications) (euphemistically), treats of the lesser degrees of defilement lasting only till sunset. (6) Miqwa’oth (wells), the condition under which wells and reservoirs are fit to be used for ritual purification. (7) Nidda (menstruation). (8) Makhshirin (preparers), the conditions under which certain articles, by coming in contact with liquids, become ritually unclean (Leviticus 11:34, 37, 38). (9) Zabim (persons afflicted with running issues; cf. Leviticus 15). (10) Tebul yom (immersed at day), i.e. the condition of the person who had taken the ritual bath, but who has not been perfectly purified by sunset. (11) Yadayim (hands), treats of the ritual uncleanness of the hands and their purification. (12) ‘Uqcin (stalks) of fruits and shells and their ritual uncleanness.
In our editions the number of treatises is sixty-three; originally there were only sixty, because the four paragraphs of the treatise Baba kamma, Baba bathra, Baba meci’a, likewise Sanhedrin and Makkoth, formed only one treatise. The Mishna exists in three recensions: in the manuscripts of editions of the separate Mishna, in the Palestinian Talmud in which the commentaries of the Amora’im follow short passages of the Mishna, and in the Babylonian Talmud, in which the Gemara is appended to an entire chapter of the Mishna. The contents of the Mishna, aside from the treatises Aboth and Middoth, are with few exceptions Halakhic. The language, the so-called Mishna Hebrew or New Hebrew, is a fairly pure Hebrew, not without proof of a living development — enriched by words borrowed from Greek and Latin and certain newly-created technical expressions, which seem partly developed as imitations of Roman legal formulas. The Mishna is cited by giving the treatise, chapter, and precept, e.g. ‘Berakh, i, 1.
Among the commentators of the whole Mishna the following deserve special mention: Maimonides, the Hebrew translation of whose Arabic original is printed in most edition of the Mishna; Obadia di Bertinoro (d. 1510), Jom Tob Lippmann Heller (d. 1654), Jisrael Lipschutz (his Mishna with Commentary in 6 vols., Königsberg, 1830-50).
The first edition of the complete Mishna was at Naples in 1492. Texts with Hebrew commentaries exist in great numbers. Of importance as a Conformation of the Palestinian version is the edition of W. H. Lowe (Cambridge, 1883), after the Cambridge manuscript. Also deserving of mention are: “Misna . . . Latinitate donavit G. Lurenhusius” (text, Latin translation, notes, Latin translation of Maimonides and Obadia, 6 vols., Amsterdam, 1698-1703); “Mishnajoth”, with punctuation and German translation in Hebrew letters, begun by Sammter (Berlin, 1887 — still incomplete); Ger. tr. of the Mishna by Rabe (6 parts, Onolzbach, 1760-63).
IV. THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD
On the basic of the Mishna, juridical discussions were continued, at first in the schools of Palestine, particularly at Tiberias, in the third and fourth centuries. Through the final codification of the material thus collected, there arose in the second half of the fourth century the so-called Jerusalem, more properly Palestinian, Talmud. The usual opinion, which originated with Maimonides, that its author was Rabbi Jochanan, who lived in the third century is untenable because of the names of the later scholars which occur in it. In the Palestinian Talmud the text of the Mishna is taken sentence by sentence, and explained with increasingly casuistic acumen. The Baraithoth, i.e. the maxims of the Torah not found in the Mishna, as well as the legal paragraphs are always given in Hebrew, and so are most of the appended elucidations; the remainder is written in a West Aramaic dialect (G. Dalman, “Grammatik des judisch-Palastinischen Aramaisch”, Leipzig, 1905). Along with the Halakha it contains rich Haggadic material. Whether the Palestinian Talmud ever included the entire Mishna is a matter of dispute. The only parts preserved are the commentaries on the first four Sedarim (with the exception of several chapters and the treatises Eduyyoth and Aboth) and on the three first divisions of the treatise Nidda in the sixth Seder. The supposed discovery by S. Friedländer of treatises on the fifth Seder is based upon a forgery (cf. “Theologische Literaturzeitung”, 1908, col. 513 sq., and “Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenlandisch. Gesellsch.”, LXII, 184). The Palestinian Talmud is generally cited by giving the treatise, chapter, page, and column after the Venetian and Cracow editions, mostly also the line, indicated by j (=jerus.) or pal.; e.g. pal. Makkoth, 2 Bl. 31d 56. Many scholars cite in the same manner as for the Mishna, but this is not to be recommended.
Editions: Venice (Bomberg), 1523-24; Cracow, 1609; Krotoshin, 1866; Zhitomir, 1860-67; Piotrkow, 1900-02. French translation by M. Schwab, 11 vols., Paris, 1879-80; I2 1890.
Several treatises are printed with Latin translations in Ugolini, “Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum”, vols. XVII-XXX, Venice, 1755-65; Wunsche, “Der palastinische Talmud in seinen haggadischen Bestandteilen ins Deutsche übersetzt” (Zurich, 1880).
V. BABYLONIAN TALMUD
The Mishna is said to have been brought to Babylon by Aba Areka, generally called Rab (d. 247), a pupil of Rabbi Jehuda. In the schools there it became a norm of legal religious life and a basis of juridical discussion. But while in Palestine there was a greater tendency to preserve and propagate what had been handed down, the Babylonian Amora’im developed their interpretation of the law in all directions, which explains why the Babylonian Talmud acquired a greater significance for Judaism than the Palestinian. Thus the material grew rapidly and gradually led to a codification, which was undertaken by R. Ashi (d. 427), head of the school at Sura, and by R. Abina or Rabbina (d. 499), the last of the Amora im. The scholars who lived after him (at the end of the fifth and in the first half of the sixth centuries), called Sabora im (“those who reflect, examine”, because they weighed and also completed what had been written by the Amora’im), are to be regarded as those who really completed the Babylonian Talmud.
Like the Palestinian, the Babylonian Talmud does not include the entire Mishna. In the first and sixth divisions only the treatises Berakhoth and Nidda are considered; in the second division Shegalim is omitted, in the fourth Eduyyoth and Aboth, in the fifth Middoth, Ginnim, and half of Tamid. It is indeed questionable if the greater number of these treatises were included in the Babylonian Gemara; Eduyyoth and Aboth are excluded, by reason of the subject matter, while the remainder treat for the most part ordinances which could not be applied outside of Palestine. The Babylonian Talmud therefore includes only 36 1/2 treatises, but is at least four times the extent of the Palestinian, although the latter deals with 39 treatises. The Haggada is even more fully represented than in the Palestinian. The language, excepting the legal paragraphs and the quotations of the older scholars and Palestinian rabbis, is that of the East Aramaic dialect of Babylonia (cf. Levias, “A Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom contained in the Babylonian Talmud”, Cincinnati, 1900; M.L. Margolis, “Grammatik des babylonischen Talmuds”, Munich, 1910). The Babylonian Talmud is cited according to treatise, folio, and page, as the content in nearly all the editions since that of the third Bomberg one (1548) is the same, e.g. Berakh 22a. In these editions there are usually appended at the end of the fourth Seder seven small treatises, partly from Talmudic, partly from post-Talmudic times, among which is the post-Talmudic treatise Sopherim (directions for the writer and public reader of the Torah). Among the commentaries the first place belongs to that of Rashi (d. 1105), completed by his grandson Samuel ben Me’ir (d. about 1174). Chiefly of a supplementary character are the works of the Tosaphists or authors of the Tosaphoth (additions), who lived in France and Germany during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They give amplifications and learned explanations of certain treatises. Other commentaries are enumerated by Strack, op. cit. infra, 149-51.
The Babylonian Talmud has often been printed but until the present time a critical edition has remained a desideratum. Material for this purpose is furnished by Raphael Rabbinovicz, among others, in his “Variae lectiones in Mischnam et in Talm. Babyl.”, etc. (15 vols., Munich, 1868-86); Vol. XVI was edited by Ehrentreu (Przemysl, 1897). Serious mutilations and bungling changes in the text were caused by the Christian censorship, at first in the Basle edition (1578-81). The numerous bickerings among the Jews had the further consequence that they themselves practised censorship. The excised passages were partly collected in small treatises, published for the most part anonymously.
EDITIONS
Raphael Rabbinovicz, (Ma’amar al hadpasath ha-talmud — Munich, 1877), a critical review of the editions of the Babylonian Talmud, as a whole or in part since 1484. The first complete edition appeared at Venice (Bomberg), (12 vols., 1520-23). The advantage of this edition consists in its complete character; the text itself is full of errors. A certain reputation is enjoyed by the Amsterdam edition (1644-48), in which the censured passages have been as far as possible restored. The edition of Frankfort (1720-22) served directly or indirectly as a basis for those which followed. Of the later editions may be mentioned those of Berlin (1862-68), Vienna (1864-72), and Vilna (1880-86). A quarto edition, the text after the editio princeps, with the variants of the Munich manuscripts and a German translation, was begun by Lazarus Goldschmidt in 1897. Up to date 6 vols., containing the Institutes I, II, IV, V, and the two first treatises of III have appeared. Unfortunately this publication is by no means faultless. M.L. Rodkinson, “New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud”, New York, 1896; M. Mielziner, “Introduction to the Talmud” (Cincinnati, 1894; New York, 1903); M.L. Rodkinson, “The History of the Talmud” (New York, 1903); H.L. Strack, “Einleitung in den Talmud” (Leipzig 1908), pp. 139-175, containing an extensive bibliography of the Talmud and of the questions concerning it.
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F. SCHÜHLEIN Transcribed by Scott Anthony Hibbs and Wendy Lorraine Hoffman
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Talmud
(, talmud, doctrine; from , to teach). :The Talmud-, that wonderful monument of human industry, human wisdom,. and human folly (Milman), is the work- which embodies the canonical and civil laws of the Jews. It consists of a Mishna (q.v.). as text, and a voluminous collection of commentaries and illustrations, called in the more modern Hebrew Horaa, and in Aramaic Gemara, the complement or completion, from , to make perfect. Thence the men who delivered these decisive commentaries are called Gemarists, sometimes Horaim, but more commonly Amoraim.
1. History and Composition. The Jews divided their law into the written and unwritten. The former contained the Pentateuch, , , , , or the , verbum Dei scriptum, ; the latter was handed down orally, the , , verbum Dei non scriptum, . Some Jews have assigned the same antiquity to both, alleging that Moses received them on Mount Sinai, and that Joshua received the oral law from Moses, who transmitted it to the seventy elders; and these again transmitted it to the men of the Great Synagogue, the last of whom was Simon the Just (q.v.). From the men of the Great Synagogue it came into the possession of the rabbins till Judah the Holy (q. v), who embodied in the celebrated code, of traditional Jaw, or Mishna, all the authorized interpretations of the Mosaic law, the traditions and decisions of the learned, and the precedents of the courts or schools; or, as Moses Maimonides (q.v.) states, in his preface to the Mishna (Seder. Zeraim), From Moses our teacher to our holy rabbi no one has united in a single body of doctrine what was publicly taught as the oral law; but an every generation the chief of the tribunal, or the prophet of his day, made memoranda of what he had heard from his predecessors and instructors, and communicated it orally to the people. In like manner, each individual committed to writing for his own use, and according to the degree of his ability, the oral laws and the information he had received respecting the interpretation of the Bible, with the various decisions that had been pronounced in every age and sanctified by the authority of the great tribunal. Such was the form of proceeding until our rabbi the holy, who first collected all the traditions, the judgments, the sentences, and the expositions of the law, heard by Moses our master, and taught in each generation. There is, no doubt, some truth in this as to a few elementary principles of Hebrew usage and practice, both civil and religious; but the whole of the unwritten law cannot have this primordial majesty, for, without referring to the trivial and foolish character of many of its appointments, we know that Midrashim, or explanations and amplifications of Biblical topics, were of gradual growth.
Their commencement dates prior to the chronicle writer, because he refers to works of that nature (2Ch 13:22; 2Ch 24:27). The system of interpretation which they exemplify and embody existed in the age of the so called Sopherim, or scribes, who took the place of the prophets. The men of the Great Synagogue promoted at. It prevailed from the Asmonsean period till that of Hadrian, i.e. about 300 years. The Midrash was naturally simple at first, but it soon grew more comprehensive and complicated under a variety of influences, of which controversy was not the least powerful. When secret meanings, hidden wisdom, deep knowledge, were sought in the letter of Scripture, the Midrashim shaped themselves accordingly, and a distinction in their contents could be made. Thus they have been divided into the Halakah, , the rule, and Hagadh, , what is said. Legal prescriptions formed the Halakah, free interpretations the Hagadah. The one, as a rule of conduct, must be attended to; the other merely passed for something said. The one was permanent and proceeded from authoritative sources, from schools, the teachers of the law, etc.; the other was the product of individual minds, consisting of ideas which had often no other object than of being expressed at the moment. The oldest collection of Halakoth that is, the oldest Mishna-proceeded from the school of Hillel. Rabbi Akiba, who was slain in the Hadrianic war, is said to have composed Mishnic regulations. The school of R. Simon ben-Gamaliel (q.v.), A.D. 166, who was a descendant of Hillel, collected and sifted the existing materials of the oral law. The present Mishna proceeded from the hands of R. Judah the Holy (q.v.), son and successor of R. Simon ben-Gamaliel. The title of Judah’s work is simply Mishnah, , (from , to repeat), repetition, like the Arabic Mathani (Koran, 15:87; 39:34), that is, either (considering the divine law as twofold, written and traditional) the second branch of the twofold law, or else the law given in a second form, as an explicative and practical development of it (comp. Gratz, Gesch. d. Juden, 4:419).
The work itself is composed of the following elements:
1. Pure Mishnah (), the elucidation of the fundamental text of the Mosaic laws, and their application to an endless variety of particular cases and circumstances not mentioned in them.
2. Haldkh (), the usages and customs of Judaism, as sanctioned and confirmed by time and general acquiescence.
3. Dibrey Chakalnim ( ), law principles of the wise men or sages, i.e. the ancient, and at that time the more recent, teachers, to whose decisions the people’s respect for them gave a greater or less weight.
4. Maassiyath (), practical facts, conclusions arrived at by the course of events.
5. Gezirth (), extemporaneous decisions demanded by emergencies.
6. Tekanth (), modifications of usages to meet existing circumstances; and
7. Kelalm (), universal principles, under which a multitude of particular cases may be provided for.
According to Maimonides, there were five classes into which the traditional law is divided, viz.:
1. Pirushm (), interpretations given to Moses by God, the authority of’which has never been disputed ( ).
2. Halakh le-Mosheh mis-Sindy ( ), precepts delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, a distinction which gained the applause of all the classical rabbins, because it belongs to the class of undisputed decisions.
3. Those which have admitted of discussion, and the value and weight of which have been mainly determined by an extensive consent among the authorities.
4. Gezarth (), decisions which have been made by the wise men regarding some of the written laws, and which decisions are designed to insure more fully the observance of such laws (or to make a fence about the law, ).
5. Tekanth (), experimental suggestions, referring to things recommended or enjoined by particular masters, which though they may not possess the stringent force of laws, nevertheless exert a great influence in the formation of social and religious habits and usages.
In constructing his work, Jehudah, or Judah, arranged these manifold materials under six general classes, called Sedarzim (), or orders. The first is called Zeraim (), or seeds, and treats of agricultural laws; the second, Moed (), or festivals, or solemnity, treats of the Sabbath and the annual festivals and holydays, the duties of their observance, and the various enactments and prohibitions thereunto pertaining; the third, Nashizm (), or women, treats of the intercourse between the sexes, of husband and wife, the duties of a brother-in-law towards his widowed and childless sister-in-law, the right of untying the shoe (Deu 25:5), of dowry and marriage settlements, of espousals, divorces, and of all the laws to these subjects respectively appertaining; the fourth, Nezikin (, or injuries, treats of the laws of property (movable as well as immovable) and of commerce; the tithe, Kodashim (), or consecrations, treats of sacrifices and their laws; the sixth, Taharth [or rather Tohoroth (), or purifications, treats of the laws of pureness, legal cleanness, and that both positively and negatively. The initial letters of these titles combined, for the sake of memory, give the technical word Zemn nekt ( ), a time accepted. The regulations thus generally classified are further arranged under a multitude of subsidiary topics, each Seder, or order, being divided into a number of tracts or treatises, called Massiktoth (), and these were again subdivided into Perakm (), chapters. The latter again are divided or broken up into paragraphs. Altogether there are 63 Massiktoth, with 525 chapters and 4187 paragraphs, in the Mishna. The whole is called Shas ( ), after the initials of , i.e. the six orders. Since a general analysis of the contents of the Mishna has already been given under the art. MISHNA SEE MISHNA (q.v.), we must refer the reader to it, while a more minute analysis will be given farther on.
R. Judah’s Mishna, however, did not contain all Midrashim. Many others existed, which are contained in part in the Siphra on Leviticus, Siphre on Numbers and Deuteronomy, Mechilta on Exodus, SEE MIDRASH, the Mishnas made by individual teachers for the use of their pupils, with the addition to the official Mishna collected by R. Chiya and his contemporaries. All the Halakoth of this sort, which were extra-Mishnaic, were called Boraithas. (; Heb. ) or Tosiphtas (). As has been stated, R. Judah the Holy collected the great mass of traditions in the work called Mishna; but even this copious work could not satisfy, for the length of time, the zeal of the rabbins for the law, for all casuistry is endless in its details. There were a great multitude of all kinds of possibilities which were treated in the Mishna, and yet, again, each single sentence left open divers possibilities, divers doubts, and considerations not yet finished. Thus it was an inner necessity of the matter that the text of the Mishna should again become the point of learned discussion. Partly by means of logic (that is, Rabbinical), partly with the help of the traditional matter, which had not yet been included in the Mishna, all open questions were now discussed. This task was carried out by the Amoraim, or Gemarical doctors, whose very singular illustrations, opinions, and doctrines were subsequently to form the Gemaras, i.e. the Palestinian and Babylonian: a body of men charged with being the most learned and elaborate triflers that ever brought discredit upon the republic of letters
For mystic learning, wondrous able In magic, talisman, and cabal Deep-sighted in intelligences Ideas, atoms, influences.
With unexampled assiduity did they seek after or invent obscurities and ambiguities, which continually furnished pretexts for new expositions and illustrations, the art of clouding texts in themselves clear having proved ever less difficult than that of elucidating passages the words or the sense of which might be really involved in obscurity.
Hence comment after comment, spun as fine As bloated spiders draw the flimsy line!
The two main schools where this casuistic treatment of the Mishnic text was exercised were that at Tiberias, in Palestine, and that at Sora (q.v.), in Babylonia, whither Abba Areka, called Rab (q.v.), a pupil of R. Judah, had brought the Mishna. In these and other schools (as Nahardea, Sipporis, Pumbaditha [q.v.], and Jabne or Jamnia), the thread of casuistry was twisted over and over again, and the matter-of traditions of the law thus took greater and greater dimensions. Abandoning the Scripture’ text, to illustrate and to explain which the doctors and wise men of the schools had hitherto labored, successive generations of Genzarici now devoted& their whole attention to the exposition of the text of the Mishna; and the industry and cavillation were such that expositions, illustrations, and commentaries multiplied with amazing rapidity and to so portentous a degree that they eventually swelled into a monstrous chaotic mass, which was dignified by the name of Gemara, (supplement or complement), and this, together with the Mishna, was called Talmud. Notwithstanding the uncertain paternity of this incongruous body of opinions, there were not wanting those who gave a preference to the Gemara over the Mishna, and even over the written law. It was said by some that the written law was like water, the Mishna like wine, and the Gemara like hippocras, or spiced wine. The words of the scribes, said those supporters of the Gemara, are lovely above the words of the law, for the words of the law are weighty and light, but the words of the scribes are all weighty.
It was by R. Jochanan, rector of the Academy of Tiberias, that the minor chaos of comments and facetiae began to be collected; and these, being added to the Mishna, were termed the Palestinian Talmud, or Talmud Jeushali, i.e. Jerusalem Talmud. This Talmud, which was completed at Tiberias about A.D. 350, only contains four orders, viz., Zeraim, Med, Nashuim, and Nezikin, together with the treatise Niddah and some other fragmentary portions. From the schools of Babylonia, also, a similar collection was in after-times made; but, as, upon the desolation of Palestine, the study of the law was chiefly prosecuted in Babylon, the college there were far more numerous, and far more ingenious and prolific were the imaginations of the Babylonian professors. To collect and methodize all the disputations, interpretations, elucidations, commentaries, and conceits of the Babylonian Gemarici was consequently a labor neither of one man nor of a single age. The first attempt was made (A.D. 367) by R. Ashi, elected at the age of fourteen to be rector of the school of Soras (q.v.), a teacher described as eminently pious and learned. R. Ashe labored during sixty years upon the rank, unwieldy work, and, after arranging thirty-five books, died in 427, leaving the completion to his successors. For 100 years longer did rabbi after rabbi, with undiminished zeal, successively continue this un-profitable application, until at length, after the lapse of 123 years (about A.D. 550), rabbi Abina, the sixth in succession to Ashb, gave the finishing stroke to this second Talmud. Denominated, from the name of the province in which it was first compiled, the Babylonian Talmud, this second Talmud is as unmanageable to the student on account of its style and composition as on account of its prodigious bulk. Composed in a dialect neither Chaldaic nor Hebrew, but a barbarous commixture of both of these and of other dialects, jumbled together in defiance of all the rules of composition or of grammar, it affords a second specimen of a Babylonian confusion of languages.
It was a parti-colored dress
Of patched and piebald languages,
Which made some think, when it did gabble,
They’d heard three laborers of Babel,
Or Cerberus himself pronounce
A leash of languages at once.
Abounding, moreover, in fantastic trifles and Rabbinical reveries, it must appear almost incredible that any sane man could exhibit such acumen and such ardor in the invention of those unintelligible comments, in those nice scrupulosities, and those ludicrous chimeras which, the rabbins have solemnly published to the world, and of which we will speak further on.
II. Form and Style. In general, the Gemara takes the shape of scholastic discussions, more or less prolonged, on the consecutive portions of the Mishna. On a cursory view, it is true, these discussions have the air of a desultory and confused wrangle; but, when studied more carefully, they resolve themselves into a system governed by a methodology of its own. Non vero sterilis in Mishnicam commentarius Gemara est; quae illius tantuim modo verba explicet. Sed prolixas in ear instituit disputationes, queestiones proponendas et ad eas respondendo dubia movendo, eaque solvendo, excipiendo et replicando (Wahner, Antiq. Hebr. 1, 339).
The language of the Talmud is partly Hebrew and partly Aramaic. The best Hebrew of the work is in the text of the Mishna, that in the Gemara being largely debased with exotic words of various tongues, such as Latin, Greek, Arabic, Coptic, and Persian (comp. A. Brull, Fremdsprachliche Redensarten in den Talmuden und Midrashim [Leips. 1869]), barbarous spelling, and uncouth grammatical, or rather ungrammatical, forms. The same remark will apply to the Aramaic portions, which, in general, are those containing popular narrative, or legendary illustration, while the law principles and the discussions relating to them are embodied in Hebrew. Many forms of the Talmudic dialect are so peculiar as to tender a grammar adapted to the work itself greatly to be desired. Ordinary Hebrew grammar will not take a man through a page of it. SEE RABBINICAL DIALECT.
In style the Mishna is remarkable for its extreme conciseness, and the Gemara is written upon the same model, though not so frequently obscure. The prevailing principle of the composition seems to have been the employment of the fewest words, thus rendering the work a constant brachylogy. A phrase becomes a focus of many thoughts, a solitary word an anagram, a cipher for a whole subject of reflection. To employ an appropriate expression of Delitzsch, What Jean Paul says of the style of Haman applies exactly to that of the Talmud: It is a firmament of telescopic stars, containing many a cluster of light which no unaided eye has ever resolved (Zur Geschichte der jdischen Poesie [Leips. 1836], p. 31). But without regard to grammatical and linguistic difficulties and numberless abbreviations which crowd the pages of the Talmud, there are a number of so-called termini technici, which were current only in the Rabbinical schools, but have been incorporated in the Gemara, like joints and ligaments in its organization, so as to make the knowledge of them indispensable to the student. Such termini were
1. The explication, or , which is introduced by the formulae , What is this? , What does he say? , How is this to bte understood? , What is the matter here? , Who could think of such a thing? , How have we to interpret this?
2. The question, or . If a question is offered by one school to another, it is introduced by the formula , They propose to them; if from several persons to one, the formula is , They ask of him; or if the demand is made of one person to another, it is , I ask of him.
3. The response, or , which may Consist either in strong reasons ( or ) or in strong objections ( or ), is introduced by the formula , Whence have you this? or , You wish to know the decision in this case.
4. Tosiphta, or , an appendix to the Mishna. We have seen that R. Chiya, or, as some have it, R. Nehemya under his direction, composed a work of this descripttt6n in Palestine, the substance of which is diffused in citations throughout the Talmud. They are indicated by the sign-word Tana, , He teaches, or Vetanialey, , It is taught.hereupon, prefixed to the sentence.
5. Boraztha, or , another kind of supplement to the Mishna. Such are the books Siphra, Siphre, and Mechiltha, mentioned above. When a citation is adduced from a Boraitha in the Talmud, it is introduced by one of these forms: Tanu rabbandn, , Our rabbins have taught; Tani chada, , A certain (rabbi) has taught, etc.
6. The suspense, or , is used when a case cannot be decided either pro or con, and thus this formula is used, which according to some contains the initials of , i.e. the Tishbite (viz., Elijah, at his coming) will explain all objections and inquiries. Others, however, pretend that it is an abbreviation of , It remains in state quo.
7. The objection, or , a question not of a fixed Halakah, which is irrefragable, but of some position of the Amoraim or perhaps Tanaim, which is lawfully debatable, and is introduced by the formulae , Come and hear; , Hear of this; , If so; , Therefore; , There is a controversy in this case; , What is the ground of the controversy? , Thon couldst suppose.
8. The refutation, or , is used in order to uphold the authority of the Bible ( ) against a Tanaite, and to oppose the authority of a Tanaite against that of one of the Amolraim, and is introduced by the formula , , This objection is truly of great weight.
9. The contradiction, or , an objection thrown against a sentiment or opinion by the allegation of a contrary authority, and is introduced by the formula , But I oppose this.
10. The argumentation, or , an assailing or seizing upon, is a kind of objection in use only among the later Amoraim, and is introduced by , Rabbi N. objects to this. If this objection is not refuted, it takes the value of Halakah.
11. The solution, or , is the explanatory answer to the objection (see supra 7).
12. The infirmation, or , disowning or shifting off, when a sage, sorely pressed in debate, shifts off his thesis upon another, introducing this by the formula , But whose is this sentence.
13. The appui, or , support, is a corroborative evidence for a doctrine or principle, introduced by the formula , It can be said, There is support for it.
14. The necessity, or , This term is used in order to justify a sentence or a word, or even a single letter, which seems superfluous in the Bible or in the Mishna, and is introduced by the formula , What is this for? To which is answered, , It is absolutely necessary.
15. The accord, or , series, a catena or line of Talmudic teachers, cited against a given proposition.
16. Sugia, , means the proper nature of a thing. By this word the Gemara refers to itself with regard to its own properties and characteristics.
17. Hilkatha, , is the ultimate conclusion on a matter debated, henceforth constituting a rule of conduct. Much of the Gemara consists of discussions by which they are verified, confirmed, and designated. When the advocates of two opposing theses have brought the debate to an issue, they say, The Halacta is with such a one .
18. Maasah, or , factum, the establishment of a Halacta by cases of actual experience or practice.
19. Shematetha, , to hear, describes a judgment or principle which, being founded on Holy Writ, or being of self-evident authority, must be hearkened to as incontestable.
20. Horaah, , demonstration, doctrine, legitimate and authoritative.
21. Hagadah, , a saying, incident related, anecdote or legend employed in the way of elucidation. Hagadah is not law, but it serves to illustrate law.
III. Literary and Moral Character of the Book. Since the Gemara is in general only a more complete development of the Mishna, it also comprises all the primary elements of the Mishna mentioned above, which are, however, intermixed with an endless variety of Hagadoth, i.e. anecdotes and illustrations, historical and legendary, poetical allegories, charming parables, with epithalamiums, etc., and thus making the Talmud contain all and everything, or as Buxtorf (in Praefat. Lex. Chald. et Talmud.) says:
Sunt enim in Talmud adhuc multa quoque Theologica sana, quamvis plulrimis inutilibus corticibus, ut Majemon, licubi loquitur, involuta. Sunt inu eo) multa fida antiquiatis Judaicee collapsse veluti rudela et-vestigia, ad convincendam posterorum Judseorum perfidiam, ad illustraudam utriusque Testamenti historiam, ad recte explicandos ritsus, leges, consuetudines populi Hebraei prisci, plurimum conducentia. Sunt in eo multa Juridica, Medica, Physica, Ethica, Politica, Astronomica et aliarum scientiarum praeclara documenta, quae istius gentis et temporis historiam mirifice commendantlt. Sullti eoa illustria ex antiquitate proverbia, insignes sententise, acuta apophthegmata, scite prudenterque dicta innumera, quse lectorem vel meliorem, vel sapientiorem, vel doctiorem reddere possutlt, et ceu rutilantes gemmse non minus Hebrseam linguam exornant, quam omn.es Latii et Grseciea flosculi suas linguas condecorant. Sunt in eo multae vocum myriades, quae vel voces in Scripturse Sacrae usu raras illustrant, et native explicant,vel totins linguae Hebraicse et Chaldaese usum insigniter complent et perficiuut, qui alioqui in defectn maximno mutilus et mancls jaceret.
In order to illustrate this, we will give a few specimens of such Hagadoth for the benefit of the reader:
God is represented as praying. R. Jochaana says, in the name of R. Josi, How is it proved that the Holy One, blessed be he, does pray? From Isa 56:7, I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Mark, it is not said, their prayer, but my prayer; therefore it is conclusively proved that he prays. And what does he pray? R. Zutra, the son of Tobia, said, in the name of Rav, the following is the divine prayer: May it please me that my mercies shall prevail over mine anger, that the bowels of my compassion may be extended, that I may mercifully deal with my children and keep justice in abeyance. In corroboration of this, the following story is given. It is told by R. Ismael, the son of Elisha. Once I went into the Holy of Holies for the purpose of burning incense, and I saw Acathriel Jah, the Lord, sitting upon the high and exalted throne. And he said to me, Ismael, my son, bless me! and I addressed to him the above prayer, and he shook his head (Berakoth, p. 7, Colossians 1).
But if God prays, then he must, also put on phylacteries. Even upon this point the rabbins do not leave us in ignorance. Where is it proved that God puts on phylacteries? In Isa 62:8, where we read, The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength. By the term right hand is meant the law, as it is written, From his right hand went a fiery law for them (Deu 33:2); and by the term arm of his strength is meant phylacteries, as it is written, The Lord will give strength to his people, etc. (Berakoth, p. 6, Colossians 1). Moreover, God has actually shown his phylacteries to Moses. It is written, And I will take away mine hands, and thou shalt see my back parts (Exo 33:23). R. Chana, the son of Bisna, says, in the name of R. Shimeon Chasida, From this passage we learn’ that the Holy One, blessed be he, has shown to Moses the tie of the phylacteries, which lies on the back part of his head (Berakoth, p. 7, Colossians 1). If God prays, then, in the language of the rabbins, he is conscious of some personal feeling. They are not silent on this point. For example, the school of Ishmael have taught that peace is a very important matter, and that for its sake even God prevaricated. For it is written in Genesis 18 :first that Sarah said, My Lord is old; but afterwards it is written she said, And I am old (Yebamoth, p. 65, Colossians 2; see as 7 Baba Metsia, p. 87, Colossians 1).
God is represented as needing a sacrifice to atone for himself. R. Shimeon, the son of Pazi, asked, It is written, And God made two great lights; and again, the greater light and the lesser light; how does this agree? Ans. The moon said to the Holy One, blessed be he-Lord of the universe, is it possible for two kings to use one crown?
He said to her, Go and make thyself smaller. She said to him again, Lord of the universe, because I spoke to thee reasonably, should I make myself smaller? He said, in order to comfort her, Go and rule day and night. She said to him, What advantage will this be to me? Of what use is a candle in the middle of the day? He replied, Go and let Israel number the days of the year by thee. She said, It is impossible even for the sun that the calendar should be reckoned after him only, for it is written, Let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years? He said to her, Go, and the righteous will be called by thy name; such as Jacob the little, Samuel the little, David the little, etc. But when God saw that the moon was not quite comforted with these promises, he said, Bring ye a sacrifice to atone for me, because I lessened the size of the moon. And this corresponds with the saying of R. Shimeou, the son of Lakish: Why is the monthly sacrifice distinguished from others, inasmuch as it is written concerning it, And one kid of the goats for a sin-offering unto the Lord? (Num 28:15). Because God said, This kid shall be an atonement for that I have lessened the size of the moon (Chulin, p. 60, Colossians 2). Raba barbar Chana, in telling a long story, says, I heard a Bath-kol crying, Woe to me that I have sworn! And now since I have sworn, who will absolve me from my oath? (Baba Bathra, p. 74, Colossians 1).
Occupation of God. On one occasion Abyathon found Elijah, and asked him. What does the Holy One, blessed be he, do? He answered, He is studying the case of the concubine of Gibea. [We do not give this excerpt in full.] And what is his opinion, about it? He says that Abyathon, my Son, is right; and Jonathan, my son, is also right. Is there, their, a doubt in heaven about it? No, not in-the least, rejoined Elijah; but both opinions are the words of the living God (Gtting p. 6, Colossians 2).
Rabba, the son of Shila, met Elijah, and asked him, What does; the Holy One, blessed be he, do? Elijah replied, He recites the lessons he hears from the lips of all the rabbins, with the exception of rabbi Meir. But why does he not want to learn from rabbi Meir? Elijah answered, Because rabbi Meir learned from one with the name of Acher. Rabba said, But rabbi Meir found a pomegranate, and has eaten the inside, but thrown away the husks of it, i.e. he only learned from Acher, but did not practice his deeds. Elijah answered, Now God says, Meir, my son (Chagigah, p. 15, Colossians 2).
R. Abhu says, If there had not been a passage of Scripture for it, it would be impossible to make such a statement; but it is written, In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond. the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard (Isa 7:20).God appeared to Sennacherib in the form of an old man. Sennacherib said to him, If thou shouldst go to the kings of the east and the west, whose children I have taken away and killed, what wouldst thou say to them? He answered, I would say to them that this man, i.e. Sennacherib, sits also in fear. Sennacherib said, What then shall I do? God said, Go and disguise thyself, that they should not recognize thee. How shall I disguise myself? God said, Go and bring me a razor, and I will shave thee. Sennacherib replied, From where shall I bring thee a razor?’ God said, Go to that house, and bring it me. He went there and found one. Then angels came, and appeared to, him in the form of men; and were grinding olive-seeds. He said to them, Give me a razor. They replied, Crush one measure of olive-seeds, and we will give the razor. He did so and they gave it to him. Before he returned to God it became dark. God said to him, Bring a light. And he brought coals of fire to make a light and while he was blowing them, the, flame took hold of his beard; and thus God shaved his head and beard (Sanhedrin, p. 96, Colossians 1).
The schools of Hillel and of Shammai were disputing for three years about a certain point in the law; each side maintained that it was infallibly right. At last a Bath-kol came down from heaven and said, The opinions of both are the words of the living God, but the law is as the school of Hillel (Erubin, p. 13, Colossians 2). R. Joshua, the son of Levi, says, When Moses came down from the presence of God, Satan appeared before him and said, Lord of the universe, where is the law? God replied, I have given it to the earth. He went to the earth and asked, Where is the law? The earth answered, God understandeth the way thereof (Job 28:23). He went to the sea and asked, Where is the law? The sea, said, It is not in me. He went to the depth, and asked the same question. The depth said, It is not in me; Destruction and death said, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears (ibid.). So he returned to God and said, Lord of the universe, I have searched for it all over the earth, and have not found it. God said to him, Go to the son of Amram. He came to Moses, and said to him, The law which God gave thee, where is it? Moses replied to Satan, Who am I, that God should give me a law! Thereupon of God said to Moses, Art thou a liar? Moses answered, Lord of the universe, thou hast a precious treasure, which is thy daily delight, and should I claim it for my own advantage? God said to him, Because thou didst think little of thyself, the law shall be called after thy name. As it is written, Remember ye the law of Moses my servant(Mal 4:4). Rabbi Joshua continues to narrate: When Moses went up to heaven, he found God occupied in twisting wreaths for the letters- (of the law). And he called, Moses! is there no peace in thy city? i.e. that thou didst not salute me with a salaam? Moses answered, Is it customary that a servant should salute his master? God said, Thou oughtest to have helped me; i.e. thou shouldst have wished me success in my work. Immediately Moses said to him, And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord is great, according as thou hast spoken (Num 14:17) (Sabbath, p. 89, Colossians 1).
These are only a few of the many examples which crowd the pages of the Talmud. That these stories are extravagant, and often, when taken literally, absurd, no one can deny. But they must be merely regarded as to their meaning and intention. Much has been said against the Talmud on account of the preposterous character of some of these legends. But we should give the Hebrew literati the benefit of their own explanations. They tell us that in the Talmud the Hagadah has no absolute authority, nor any value except in the way of elucidation. It often-but not always-enwraps a philosophic meaning under the veil of allegory, mythic folk-lore, ethical story, Oriental romance, parable, and aphorism and fable. They deny that the authors of these fancy pieces intended either to add to the law of God or to detract from it by them, but only to explain and enforce it in terms best suited to the popular capacity. They caution us against receiving these things according to the letter, and admonish us to understand them-according to their spiritual or moral import. Beware, says Maimonides, that you take not the words of the wise men literally, for this would be degrading to the sacred doctrine, and sometimes contradict it. Seek rather the hidden sense; and if you cannot find the kernel, let the shell alone, and confess, I cannot understand this.’ But the impartial reader must at once admit that these suggestions are merely the after-thoughts of tender apologists, for some of these stories have no hidden sense at all, but must be taken literally, because meant so, as the following will prove.
In the treatise Gittin, fol. 69, Colossians 1, we read the following prescription: For the bleeding at the nose, let a man be brought who is a priest, and whose name is Levi, and let him write the word Levi backwards. If this cannot be done, get a layman, and let him write the following words backwards: Ana pipi Shila bar Sumki;’ or let him write these words: Taam dli bemi keseph, taam li bemi paggan.’ Or let him take a root of grass, and the cord of an old bed, and paper and saffron and the red part of the inside of a palm-tree, and let him burn them together; and let him take some wool and twist two threads, and let him dip them in vinegar, and then roll them in the ashes and put them into his nose. Or let him look out for a small stream of: water that flows from east to west, and let him go and stand with one leg on each side of it, and let him take with his right hand some mud from under his left foot, and with his left hand from under his right foot, and let him twist two threads of wool, and dip them in the mud, and put them into his nostrils. Or let him be placed under a spout, and let water be brought and poured upon him, and let them say, As this water ceases to flow, so let the blood of M., the son of the woman N., also cease. A commentary on this wisdom or folly is superfluous. That this direction to stop a bleeding at the nose is not a rare case in the Talmud, the following mode of treatment for the scratch, or bite of a mad dog will prove. In the treatise Yoma, fol. 83, Colossians 1, we read: The rabbins have handed down the tradition that there are five things to be observed of a mad dog; his mouth is open, his saliva flows, his ears hang down, his tail is between his legs, and he goes by the sides of the ways. Some say, also, that he barks, but his voice is not heard. What is the cause of his madness? Ray says it proceeds from this, that the witches are making their sport with him. Samuel says it is an evil spirit that rests upon him. What is the difference? The difference is this, that in the latter case he is to be killed by some missile weapon. The tradition agrees with Samuel, for it says in killing him no other mode is to be used but the casting of some missile weapon. If a mad dog scratch any one, he is in danger; but if he bite him he will die. In case of scratch there is danger; what, then, is the remedy? Let the man cast off his clothes and run away. Rab Huna, the son of Rab Joshua, was once scratched in the street by one of them; he immediately cast off his clothes and ran away. He also says, I fulfilled in myself these words: Wisdom -gives life to them that have it’ (Ecc 6:12). In case of a bite the man will die; what, then, is the remedy? Abai says he must take the skin of a male adder and write upon it these words I, M., the son of the woman N., upon the skin of a male adder, I write against thee, Kanti, Kanti, Klirus.
Some say, Kandi, Kandi, Klurus, Jah, Jah, Lord of hosts, Amen, Amen, Selah.’ Let him also cast off his clothes and bury them in the graveyard for twelve months of the year; then let him take them up and burn them in an oven, and let him scatter the ashes at the parting of the roads. But during these twelve months of the year, when he drinks water, let him drink out of nothing but a brass tube, lest he should see the phantom-form of the daemon and be endangered. This was tried by Abba the son of Martha, who is the same as Abba the son of Manjumi. His mother made a golden tube for him.
In the face of such extravagancies, we are not surprised at the following statement made by a modern Jewish writer, H. Hurwitz, in an essay preceding his Hebrew Tales (Lond. 1826), p. 34 sq.
The Talmud contains many things which every enlightened Jew must sincerely wish had either never appeared there, or should, at least, long ago have been expunged from its pages… Some of these sayings are objectionable per se; others are, indeed, susceptible of explanations, but without them are calculated to produce false and erroneous impressions. Of the former description are all those extravagancies relating to the extent of Paradise, the dimensions of Gehinnom, the size of Leviathan, and the shor habor, the freaks of Ashmbdai, etc., idle tales borrowed most probably from the Parthians and Arabians, to whom the Jews were subject before the promulgation of the Talmud. How these objectionable passages came at all to be inserted, can only be accounted for from the great reverence with which the Israelites of those days used to regard their wise men, and which made them look upon every word and expression that dropped from the mouth of their instructors as so many precious sayings well worthy of being preserved. These they wrote down for their own private information, together with more important matters, and when, in aftertimes, these writings were collected in order to be embodied in one entire work, the collectors, either from want of proper discrimination or from some pious motive, suffered them to remain, and thus they were handed down to posterity. That the wiser portion of the nation never approved of them is well known. Nay, that some of the Talmudists themselves regard them with no favorable eye is plain from the bitter terms in which they spoke against them [for example, Jehoshua ben Levi, who exclaims: He who writes them down will have no portion in the world to come; he who explains them will be scorched]… I admit, also, that there are many and various contradictions in the Talmud, and, indeed, it would be a miracle if there were none. For the work contains not the opinions of only a few individuals living in the same society, under precisely similar circumstances, but of hundreds, nay, thousands, of learned men of various talents, living in a long series of ages, in different countries, and under the most diversified conditions… To believe that its multifarious contents are all dictates of unerring wisdom is as extravagant as to suppose that all it contains is founded in error. Like all other productions of unaided humanity, it is not free from mistakes and prejudices, to remind us that the writers were fallible men, and that unqualified admiration must, be reserved for the works of divine inspiration, which we ought to study, the better to adore and obey the all-perfect Author. But while I should be among the first to protest against any confusion of the Talmudic rills with the ever-flowing stream of Holy Writ, I do not hesitate to avow my doubts whether there exists any uninspired work of equal antiquity that contains more interesting, more various and valuable information than that of the still-existing remains of the ancient Hebrew sages.
But while we admire the candor of this Jewish writer, we must confess that not all of his coreligionists act on the same principle, as the sequel will prove. An article in the Quarterly Review for October, 1867, with the heading What is the Talmud? has taken the world by surprise. Such a panegyric the Talmud most likely never had. Written so learnedly, and in a style so attractive, about a subject utterly unknown to the world at large, the stir it has created is not to be wondered at, and the more: so because this article contained sentences which could not have emanated from a Jew. But the writer was a Jew, Mr. E. Deutsch (since deceased), and what Isaac said to Jacob, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau, must be applied to the author of What is the Talmud? We cannot pass over this article by merely alluding to it; it deserves our full attention, on account of the mischief it has already wrought, and must work, in the minds of those who are not able to correct the erroneous statements contained in it.
The writer accuses (p. 4 of the American reprint, contained in the Literary Remains [N. Y. 1874]) the investigators of the Talmud of mistaking the grimy stone caricatures over our cathedrals for the gleaming statues of the saints within. But, entering into the cathedrals of the Talmud and beholding these saints, we hear, in the treatise Aboda Sara, fol. 17, Colossians 1, of rabbi Elieser, (we dare not translate this sentence into English, but we give it in Latin: Non erat meretrix in terra quacum non fornicatus esset). When rabbi Nachman (we read Tr. Yona, fol. 12, Colossians 2) went to Shanuzib, he proclaimed (this also we dare not translate into English, but we give it in Latin: Rab quum Tarsum intraret proclamabat quam vellet luxorem in diem). Of rabbi Abuha we read (Tr. Berakoth, fol. 44, cl. 1) that he was such a strong eater that a fly could not rest upon his forehead; and (ibid.) of rabbi Ami and rabbi Assi that they ate so much that the hair fell from their heads; and of rabbi Simeon, the son of Lakesh, that he ate so much that he lost his senses. In Tr. Baba Metsia, fol. 84, Colossians 1, we read that rabbi Ismael, the son of rabbi Jose, and rabbi Eleazar, the son of rabbi Simeon, were so corpulent that when they stood face to face a pair of oxen could pass under them without touching them. Of the honesty of rabbi Samuel and rabbi Cahauna we read a nice story in Tr. Baba Kamma, fol. 113, Colossians 2, which we had better pass over, for enough has been said of some of the Talmudical saints.
The writer in the Quarterly is astonished at the fact that the Talmud has so often been burned. But it is an old saying, Habent sua fata libelli. The followers of the Arabian prophet burned the great library at Alexandria, and they still do the same with every book which they believe is written against their religion. The Jews have burned and excommunicated the books of their own great Maimonides (q.v.), and considered him a heretic. They have burned, and still burn, the Hebrew Old Test. because of the Latin headings and crosses, to say nothing of the New Test. The Roman Catholics burn the Protestant Bible. Why should the Talmud have escaped? Besides, ignorance and fanaticism, in all ages and countries, have burned the books which they supposed were against their system. This was especially the case with the Talmud, A.D. 1240, when a conference was held in Paris between Nicolaus Donin and some Jewish rabbins concerning certain blasphemies contained in the Talmud and written against Jesus and Mary. R. Jechiel, the most prominent of the Jewish rabbins at that conference, would not admit that the Jesus spoken of in the Talmud was Jesus of Nazareth, but another Jesus, a discovery which was copied by later writers. But modern Jews acknowledge the failure of this argument, for, says Dr. Levin, in his prize-essay Die Religions disputation des R. Jechiel von Paris, etc., published in Gratz’s Monatsschrift (1869), p. 193, We must regard the attempt of R. Jechiel to ascertain that there were two by the name of Jesus as unfortunate, original as the idea may be. The result of this conference was that the Talmud in wagon-loads was burned at Paris in 1242. This was the first attack.
When, however, the writer in the Quarterly states that Justinian in A.D. 553 already honored the Talmud by a special interdictory novella (146 ), we must regard such a statement as erroneous and superficial, for, as Dr. Gratz, in his Gesch. der Juden, 5, 392, shows, this novella has no reference to the Talmud at all (comp. also vol. 7 [1873],p. 441 sq.). In our days, such accusations against the Talmud as that preferred by Donin were impossible, because all these offensive passages have been removed not so much by the hands of the censor, as by the Jews themselves, as the following document or circular letter, addressed by a council of elders, convened in Poland in the Jewish year 5391 (i.e. A.D. 1631), to their coreligionists, which at the same time contains the clue why in later editions of the Talmud certain passages are wanting, will show. The circular runs thus in the translation of Ch. Leslie (in A Short and Easy Method with the Jews3 p. 2 sq. [Lond. 1812], where the original Hebrew is also found): Great peace to our beloved brethren of the house of Israel. Having received information that many Christians have applied themselves with great care to acquire the knowledge of the language in which our books are written, we therefore enjoin you, under the penalty of the great ban (to be inflicted upon such of you as shall transgress this our statute), that you do not, in any new edition either of the Mishna or Gemara, publish anything relative to Jesus of Nazareth; and you take special care not to write anything concerning him, either good or bad, so that neither ourselves nor our religion may be exposed to any injury. For we know what those men of Belial, the Munirim, have done to us, when they became Christians and how their representations against ns have obtained credit. Therefore, let this make you cautious. If you should not pay strict attention to this our letter, but act contrary thereto, and continue to publish our books in the same manner as before, you may occasion, both to ns and yourselves, greater afflictions than we have hitherto experienced, and be the means of our being compelled to embrace the Christian religion, as we were formerly; and thus our latter troubles might be worse than the former. For these reasons we command you that, if you publish any new edition of those books, let the places relating to Jesus the Nazarene be left in blank, and fill up the space with a circle like this, O. But the rabbins and teachers of children will know how to instruct the youth by word of mouth. Then Christians will no longer have anything to show against us upon this subject, and we may expect deliverance from the afflictions we have formerly labored under, and reasonably hope to live in peace.
The writer in the Quarterly, while loudly praising the humane spirit which, as he tells us, pervades the system and institutions set forth in the Talmud, endeavors at the same time to apologize for those parts of the Talmud which contain, as he admits (p. 12), gross offences against modern taste, by telling us that, when compared with other ancient systems of jurisprudence, the Talmud will then stand out rather favorably than otherwise. It is not necessary to say much on this painful and disgusting part of the subject; but we will say this, that it is one thing to point to the existence of mire, that we may warn the unwary, and another to wallow with delight in it. We heartily wish that some of the rabbins who wrote the Talmud had been content with discharging that which may be considered a duty, and not laid themselves open to the charge justly brought against them, of doing injury to the morals and minds of those who study their writings, by their unnecessary and improper statements and details, of which the treatise Nidda, which we have here especially in view, and which treats of the menstruating woman, is so full.
When, in 1843, Messrs. De Sola and Raphall published a translation of a portion of the Mishna, they excused the omission of this treatise by saying, in the preface to their work, The treatise Nidda, not being suited to the refined notions of the English reader, has not been printed. They did well and wisely to omit it in the list of portions selected for translation. It may be said, But this treatise, bad as it is, is only a commentary on some portions of the laws of Moses. To this we may reply, it was manifestly necessary that Infinite Wisdom should solemnly prohibit many atrocities then prevalent among the heathen nations. In order to prohibit them, they must of necessity be mentioned. No doubt, the proper feeling which leads us to turn with disgust from the very thought of the crimes thus forbidden is very much owing to those very laws which were given that the children of Israel should be distinguished from other nations, and thus, being ceremonially clean, should be fit to enter the tabernacle of God. But is there any proper excuse for writing or printing one hundred and seventy-eight folio pages in order to define all the forms in which imagination can suggest that only one of these crimes could be committed. Let us, as the, subject is so important, for a moment consider a parallel case. Murder is forbidden. This law is of inexpressible importance. It is impossible to dwell too largely on the enormity of this crime, or to speak too earnestly of the necessity of watching against anger, hatred, cruelty, and every possible form in which we can in any way participate in the guilt of this dreadful sin. Just so we cannot say too much about the necessity of personal purity and holiness, for God will be sanctified in them that draw near him. But what would we say of a man who should write a large volume merely to describe all the various modes in which a murder can be carried out, and the symptoms of decay and dissolution which would follow the deed?
On page 26 of the article alluded to we are told: There are many more vital points of contact between the New Test. and the Talmud than divines yet seem fully to realize, for such terms as redemption,’ baptism,’ grace, faith,’ salvation,’ regeneration,’ Son of man,’ Son of God,’ kingdom of heaven,’ were not, as we are apt to think invented by Christianity, but were household words of Talmudical Judaism, to which Christianity gave a higher and purer meaning. It requires, however, a very slender acquaintance with the Bible to enable any one to reply to this statement that many of these terms were familiar to the Jews long before the Talmud was in existence, for they are found in the Old Test. And not only so, but the New Test. itself is a much older book than the Talmud. Our author tells us that the Mishna was compiled about A.D. 200. The Gemara is of still later date. It-seems strange, indeed, that it did not occur to the learned author that it is impossible to suppose that the New Test. had no influence upon the rabbins, who rejected its authority. Unquestionably the reasonings of Paul and the writings of the other apostles greatly affected the whole tone of thought and manner of expression which prevailed among those who, nevertheless, refused to acknowledge their own Messiah. This is a common mistake among even learned Jews. Because some parts of the Talmud are unquestionably very ancient, they speak of the whole as a work of very great antiquity. They cannot altogether divest themselves of the fabulous notion that God gave the oral as well as the written law to Moses himself. Thus they habitually claim for the Talmud, as to antiquity, a degree of respect to which it is by no means entitled.
The most serious error, however, and that against which we must most distinctly protest, is this. We are told that the Pentateuch remains in all cases the background and latent source of the Mishna (p. 17). And again, Either the scriptural verse forms the terminus a quo, or the terminus ad quem. It is either the starting-point for a discussion which ends in the production of some new enactment or one never before investigated is traced back to the divine source by an outward hint,’ however insignificant (p. 19). Now, although this is literally true as to many of the civil laws contained in the Pentateuch, it is by no means a correct representation of the actual state of the case as to the religious principles which form the substance and the foundation of the laws of Moses. If those men who wrote the Talmud really understood and followed out the teaching of Moses, why do they almost entirely ignore the teaching of the other prophets?’ It is astonishing to see how very little mention is made in the Jerusalem Talmud and in the 5894 pages of the Babylonian Talmud of a great part of the Old Test.; and a perusal of the book called , compiled by R. Aaron Pisaurensis, or Pesaro (q.v.), which contains an index of all the passages of Holy Writ quoted in the Talmud, will make good our assertion. Passing over some minor points, such as on astronomy or mathematics or the science of interpretation of dreams (a filthy specimen of the latter is especially given in Tr. Berakoth, fol. 57, Colossians 1), we will only touch another point, the Talmudical praise of women. Thus, we read on p. 56, among other moral sayings, Love your wife like yourself, honor her more than yourself.
Without arguing the question from what we know of the position of Jewish females in the countries where the Talmud is studied and its precepts obeyed a position which proves the very contrary to the saying alluded to-it is well known to every student of the Talmud that the doctors of the Talmud in general do not hold in high estimation the female sex. They put them in the category with slaves and children. Again and again we read, Women, slaves, and children are exempted. You shall teach the law to your sons, and not to your daughters. He who teaches his daughter the law is like as if he teaches her to sin. The mind of woman is weak. The world cannot exist without males and females, but blessed is he whose children are sons; woe to him whose children are daughters. We also remember the teaching of the Talmudical sages, that a man may consider his wife like a piece of butcher’s meat. We also remember that in the morning prayer the husband thanks God that he hath not made him a woman. As to the precept which the writer in the Quarterly Review quotes as one of the moral sayings of the Talmud, we must believe him on his word, or search over the 2947 pages of that stupendous work, since the writer has thought proper to conceal the treatise and the page of the Talmud from which he has translated the above sentence. We are inclined to believe that the reviewer had the following passage (Tr. Sanhedrin, fol. 76, Colossians 2) before him: Rabbi Judah has said that Rab has said, He who marries his daughter to an old man, and he who gives a wife to his son when too young, and he who returns to the Goi (Gentile) the things the Gentile has lost, concerning him the Scripture says. In order to add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord will not forgive him (Deu 29:18-19). They replied, He who loves his wife like himself, and he who honors her more than himself, and he who directs his sons and daughters in the right way, and gives them into marriage at the proper ages, concerning him the Scripture says, And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin’ (Job 5, 24). This, however, is not a command, but optional according to the Talmud and the following, as given in Tr. Yebamoth, fol. 62, Colossians 2 :
Rabbi Tanchuma said that rabbi Hanilai had said, Every man who is without a wife is without joy, without blessing, without goodness. Without joy because it is written, Thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household’ (Deat. 14:26); without a blessing, for it is written, That he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house’ (Eze 44:30); without goodness, for it is written, It is not good that the man should be alone.’ In the west they add that the man who is without a wife is also without a law and with it a wall. Without a law, for it is written Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me?’ (Job 6:13); without a wall, because it is written A woman shall compass a man’ (Jer 31:22). Rabba, the son of Olah, says, also without peace, as it is written, And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, and shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. He who loves his wife like himself, and he who honors her more than himself, and he who directs his sons and his daughters in the right way, and gives them into marriage at the proper ages, concerning him the Scripture says, And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
We venture to think that these are the passages of the Talmud which the reviewer has picked out. We must, however, be allowed to observe that it is not the imperative, Love your wife, but the participle with the article, He who loves. It will be seen that we have not translated the whole paragraph; we dare not. We will leave that to the reviewer and his admirers, for what we have left out, and much of the following, belongs to the defiled and defiling portions of the work, in which the Talmud is so rich. From another, such foul page (Sanhedrin, fol. 22, col. 1) the reviewer has copied, He who forsakes the love of his youth, God’s altar weeps for him. He who sees his wife die before him has, as it were, been present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself. Around him the world grows dark. The sentences are badly rendered; and, even if they were not, seeing in what connection they stand and through what a quagmire the reviewer was obliged to wade to fish them out, they are worthless. Another such moral saying runs thus: When the thief has no opportunity for stealing, he considers himself an honest man. Who of the Talmudical sages has said this? The Talmud relates that when Abishag the Shunammite was brought to king David she said to him, Marry me; the king replied, It is not lawful for me to marry you. As a reproach to the king, the Talmud makes the Shunammite say, (Sanhedrin, ibid.), which the reviewer translated as above. After all, it would be strange, indeed, if we could not gather from a work of 2947 pages some good sayings and sentences. But, unless the whole work be translated, it will never be known what the Talmud really is. For instance, in one of the treatises of the Talmud called Challah we find, almost verbatim, what our Lord says in Mat 5:28; and yet that portion of the Talmud is written in language so obscene and immoral that it would be difficult to meet its equal among the most licentious publications of ancient or modern times. We challenge any admirer of the Talmud to translate the treatise and publish it, and then every one will be able to give the right reply to the query so often raised by the reviewer, What is the Talmud?
The article in question thus concludes: When the masters of the law entered and left the academy, they used to offer up a short but fervent prayer; a prayer of thanks that they had been able to carry out their’ task thus far, and a prayer, further, that no evil might-rise at their hands, that they might not have fallen into error, that they might not declare pure that which was impure, and impure that which was pure (p. 58). Against this we offset the following:
The wise men have informed us that when the teacher entered the house of learning, he said, May it please thee, O Lord my God, that. I may not be the cause of any offence, nor err in anything as regards the Halakah, that my companions may rejoice over me, and that I may not say of things unclean they are clean, and things clean that they are unclean, and that my companions may not err in anything as regards the Halakah, and that I may rejoice over them.’ And when the teacher left the house of learning he said, I thank thee, my God, that thou hast given me my portion among those who sit in the house of learning and not among those who sit at the corners of the streets. For I rise up early, and they rise up early; I rise up early to occupy myself in things concerning the law, they rise up early to occupy themselves in things which are useless. I work and they work; I work and receive a reward, they work and receive no reward. I run and they run; I run to everlasting life, and they run to the pit of destruction.’ Is not this prayer like that of the Pharisee in the gospel? (Luk 18:11.) After having touched upon the most vital points of the Talmud-which, as we believe, has been done sine ira et studio, but in accordance with the old saying, Amicus Plato, amicus Aristoteles, sed magis amica veritaswe will now subjoin some of the opinions on the Talmud by different authors. D’Israeli, in his Genius of Judaism (p. 88), says:
The Mishna, at first considered as the perfection of human skill and industry, at length was discovered to be a vast, indigested heap of contradictory decisions. It was a supplement of the law of Moses which itself required a supplement. Composed in curt, unconnected sentences, such as would occur in conversation, designed to be got by rote by the students from the lips of their oracles, the whole was at length declared to be not even intelligible, and served only to perplex or terrify the scrupulous Hebrew. Such is the nature of traditions when they are fairly brought together and submitted to the eye.
The Mishna now only served as a text (the law of Moses being slightly regarded) to call forth interminable expositions. The very sons of the founder of the Mishna set the example by pretending that they understood what their father meant. The work once begun, it was found difficult to get rid of the workmen. The sons of the Holy were succeeded by a long line of other rulers of their divinity schools, under the title, aptly descriptive, of the Amoraim, or dictators. These were the founders of the new despotism; afterwards, wanderers in the labyrinth they had themselves constructed, roved the Seburatim, or opinionists, no longer dictating, but inferring, opinions by keen speculations. As in the decline of empire mere florid titles delight, rose the Geonim, or sublime doctors, till at length, in the dissolution of this dynasty of theologians, they sank into the familiar, titular honor of Rabbi, or master.
The Jews had incurred the solemn reproach in the days of Jesus of having annihilated the word of God by the load of their traditions. The calamity became more fearful when, two centuries after, they received the fatal gift of their collected traditions, called Mishna, and still more fatal when, in the lapse of three subsequent centuries, the epoch of the final compilation, was produced the commentary graced with the title of the Gemara, completeness,’ or perfection.’ It was imagined that the human intellect had here touched its meridian. The national mind was completely rabbinized. It became uniform, stable, and peculiar.
The Talmud, or the Doctrinal, as the whole is called, was the work of nearly five hundred years. Here, then, we find a prodigious mass of contradictory opinions, an infinite number of casuistical cases, a logic of scholastic theology, some recondite wisdom, and much rambling dotage; many puerile tales and Oriental fancies; ethics and sophisms, reasonings and unreasonings, subtle solutions, and maxims, and riddles; nothing in human life seems to have happened which these doctors have not perplexed or provided against, for their observations are as minute as Swift exhausted in his Directions to Servants. The children of Israel, always children, were delighted as their Talmud increased its volume and their hardships. The Gemara was a kind of a third law to elucidate the Mishna, which was a second law, and which had thrown the first law, the law of Moses, into obscurity.
Dr. Isaac Da Costa, in his Israel and the Gentiles (N. Y. 1855, p. 116); says:
The Talmud is a most curious monument, raised with astonishing labor, yet made up of puerilities. Like the present position of the Jew, away from his country, far from his Messiah, and in disobedience to his God, the Talmud itself is a chaos in which the most opposite elements are found in juxtaposition. It is a book which seems in some parts entirely devoid of common sense and in others filled with deep meaning, abounding with absurd subtleties and legal finesse, full of foolish tales and wild imaginations; but also containing aphorisms and parables which, except in their lack of the simple and sublime character of the Holy Writ, resemble in a degree the parables and sentences of the New Test. The Talmud is an immense heap of rubbish, at the bottom of which a few bright pearls of Eastern wisdom are to be found. No book has ever expressed more faithfully the spirit of its authors. This we notice the more when comparing the Talmud with the Bible, that Book of books, given to, and by means of, the Israel of God; the Talmud, the book composed by Israel without their God, in the time of their dispersion, their misery, and their degeneracy.
Dr. Milman, in his History of the Jews (3, 13), says:
The reader, at each successive extract from this extraordinary compilation (i.e. the Talmud), hesitates whether to admire the vein of profound allegorical truth and the pleasing moral apologue, to smile at the monstrous extravagance, or to shudder at the daring blasphemy. The influence of the Talmud on European superstitions, opinions, and even literature remains to be traced. To the Jew the Talmud became the magic circle within which the national mind patiently labored for ages in performing the bidding of the ancient and mighty enchanters who drew the sacred line beyond which it might not venture to pass.
Mr. Farrar, in his Life of Christ (2, 485), says:
Anything more utterly unhistorical than the Talmud cannot be conceived. It is probable that no human writings ever confounded names, dates, and facts with a more absolute indifference. The genius of the Jews is the reverse of what, in these days, we should call historical….
Some excellent maxims even some close parallels to the utterances of Christ may be quoted, of course, from the Talmud, where they lie imbedded like pearls in a sea’ of obscurity and mud. It seems to me indispensable and a matter which every one can now verify for himself-that these are amazingly few, considering the vast bulk of national literature from which they are drawn. And, after all, who shall prove to us that these sayings were always uttered by the rabbins to whom they were attributed? Who will supply us with the faintest approach to a proof that (when not founded on the Old Test.) they were not directly or indirectly due toChristian influence or Christian thought?’ Prof. Delitzsch,’ in his lectures on Jiidisches Handwerkerleben zur Zeit-Jesu. (3rd ed. Erlangen, 1879, p; 35), says:
Those who have not in some degree accomplished the extremely difficult task of reading this work for themselves will hardly be able to form a clear idea of this polynomial colossus. It is a vast debating club, in which there hum confusedly the myriad voices of at least five centuries. As we all know by experience, a law, though very minutely and exactly defined, may yet be susceptible of various interpretations, and question on question is sure to arise when it comes to be applied to the ever varying circumstances of actual life. Suppose, then, you have about ten thousand legal definitions all relating to Jewish life and classified under different heads, and add to these ten thousand definitions about five hundred doctors and lawyers, belonging’ mostly to Palestine or Babylonia, who make these definitions, one after the other, the subject of examination and debate, and who, with hair-splitting acuteness, exhaust not only every possible sense the words will bear, but every possible practical occurrence arising out of them. Suppose that these fine spun threads of these legal disquisitions frequently lose themselves in digressions, and that, when one has waded through a long tract of this sandy desert, one lights, here and there, on some green oasis consisting of stories and sayings of universal interest. This done, you will have some tolerable idea of this enormous and, in its way, unique code of laws, in comparison with which, in point of comprehensiveness, the law-books of all other nations are but Lilliputian, and, when compared with the hum of its kaleidoscopic Babel, they resemble, indeed, calm and studious retreats.
Mr. Alexander, in his book on The Jews: their Past, Present, and Future (Lond. 1870), p. 80 sq., says:
The Talmud, as it now stands, is almost the whole literature of the Jews during a thousand years. Commentator followed upon commentator, till at last the whole became an immense bulk, the original Babylonian Talmud alone consisting of 2947 folio pages. Out of such a literature it is easy to make quotations which may throw an odium over the whole. But fancy, if the productions of a thousand years of English literature, say from the History of the Venerable Bede to Milton’s Paradise Lost, were thrown together into a number of uniform folios, and judged in like manner; if, because some superstitious monk should write silly Lives of Saints,’ therefore, the works of John Bunyan should also be considered worthless. The absurdity is too obvious to require another word. Such, however, is the continual treatment the Talmud receives, both at the hands of its friends and of its enemies. Both will find it easy to quote in behalf of their preconceived notions; but the earnest student will rather try to weigh the matter impartially, retain the good he can find even in the Talmud, and reject what will not stand the test of God’s Word.
In conclusion, while we acknowledge the fact that this great encyclopedia of Hebrew wisdom teems with error, and that in almost every department in science, in natural history, in chronology, genealogy, logic, and morals, falsehood and mistake are mixed up with truth upon its pages, we nevertheless confess that, notwithstanding, with all its imperfections, it is a useful book, an attestation of the past, a criterions of progress already attained, and a prophecy of the future. It is a witness, too, of the length of folly to which the mind of man may drift when he disdains the wisdom of God as revealed in the Gospel; and in these respects it will always have a claim on the attention of the wise. When Talmudism, as a religious system, shall, in a generation or two, have passed away, the Talmud itself will be still resorted to as a treasury of things amazing and things profitable; a deep cavern of antiquity, where he who carries the necessary torch will not fail to find, amid whole labyrinths of the rubbish of times gone by, those inestimable lessons that will be true for all times to come, and gems of ethical and poetic thought which retain their brightness forever (Etheridge, Introduction to Jewish Literature).
IV. Contents. The six Sedarim, or orders, of which the Mishna is composed are also found in the Talmud, and the following is an analysis of the contents of each tractate of the six orders:
(I.) , Seder Zeraim (Seeds). This Seder contains the following eleven tractates:
1. , Berakoth, or the treatise of blessings, and speaks in nine chapters of the daily prayers and thanksgivings, etc.
a. (so called from the first word of the chapter) treats of the time when the Shema is to be said in the morning and evening, of the position of the body at prayers, and the benedictions to be said respectively (5 sections).
b. speaks of the sections and order of the Shema, of how the voice is to be used in saying the prayer, and of the occasions which exempt from prayer (8 sections).
c. points out such as are exempted from prayer (6 sections).
d. treats of the time during which prayers may be said, whether the Shemoneh Esreh (q.v.) are to be said in an abbreviated manner, of prayer as an opus operatumn, of praying in dangerous places, and of the additional prayer (7 sections).
e. refers to the outer and inner position at prayer; of prayer for rain; of the prayer on Sabbath evening; of the minister of the congregation; and mistakes in prayer (5 sections).
f. recites the different blessings to be said for fruits of the tree and the earth, wine and bread ; for wine before and after meals;’ of the sitting and lying at the table; of blessings for the main meals and water (8 sections).
g. expatiates on blessings pronounced conjointly; with whom a union for such a purpose may be entered upon; the form of prayer to be used in accordance with the number of persons, of different companies (5 sections).
h. shows the differences between the schools of Hillel and Shammai concerning the washing of hands and the blessing at meals (8 sections).
i. names the prayer to be said at beholding signs and wonders, at the building of a new house; and treats of prayers offered in vain, of prayers at the leaving and going into a city; of the praising of God for the good as well as for the evil; how to approach the Temple mountain; of the using of the name of God at salutations (5 sections).
2. , Peah, or the corner of the field, treats, in eight chapters, of the field corners, gleanings, etc., to be left to the poor, etc.:
a. , of the measure of the Peah, where, of what, and how large it must be given, and how long the fruit is exempted from tithe (6 sections).
b. , how fields and trees as to the Peah may be separated from each other (8 sections).
c. , how large a field must be of which Peah must be given (8 sections).
d. , how the Peah must be given (11 sections).
e. , what belongs to the poor, and on the bunch left through forgetfulness (8 sections).
f. , what may be regarded as a bunch left through forgetfulness, and what not (11 sections).
g. , the same concerning olive-trees; on the right of the poor in the vineyard (8 sections).
h. , how long the right of the poor lasts; what constitutes the poor, and who is not entitled to the right of the poor (9 sections).
3. , Demai, or doubtful, treats, in seven chapters, of fruits about which some doubts may be raised whether tithes should be paid for them or not, viz
a. , which fruits are exempted from the rights of Demai; how the Demai tithe differs from other tithes, and as to the rights of Demai fruits (4 sections).
b. , who may be regarded a strict Israelite, and to whom the performance of the Demai law belongs at buying and selling.
c. , who may receive Demai for eating, and that nothing should be given away untithed (6 sections).
d. , how a man may be believed concerning the tithes (7 sections).
e. , how the tithe is to be given from Demai (11 sections).
f. in company, and of the fruits in Syria (12 sections).
g. , how to act with such as are not believed concerning the tithes; how to separate the tithes in diverse cases; and what must be taken into account when tithed and untithed fruits are mixed up (8 sections).
4. , Kilayim, or mixtures, treats, in nine chapters, of the prohibited mingling of fruit and grain crops on the same field, etc., viz.
a. , which kinds of fruits, trees, and animals are. Kilayim, and how to graft and plant (9 sections).
b. , what to do when two kinds of seed are mixed, or in case of sowing another kind on a field already sown, or in case of making beds of different corn in one field (11 sections).
c. , of beds, their division: of cabbage and its distance (7 sections).
d and e. and , of vineyards and their Kilayim (9 and 8 sections).
f. , of the rights of a vine raised on an espalier (9 sections).
g. , of the layering of vines, spreading of vines, etc. (8 sections).
h. , in how far Kilayim are forbidden amonganimals, in yoking together as well as in copulating, and what to do with bastards and some other animals (6 sections).
i. , of Kilayim in garments, especially of the mixture of wool and flax; of clothing-merchants and tailors; of felt and woven letters, etc. (10 sections).
5. , Shebiith, or the Sabbatical year, in ten chapters:
a. , of fields with trees, and how long they may be cultivated in the sixth year (8 sections).
b. , of open fields, and what may be done in them till the beginning of the seventh year (10 sections).
c. , of manuring the field: of breaking stones an d pulling down walls (10 sections).
d. , of cutting and pruning trees; from what time on it is permitted to eat of the fruits of the seventh year which have grown by themselves (10 sections).
e. , concerning the white fig and summer-onions; which farm utensils cannot be sold and lent (9 sections).
f. , of the difference of countries concerning the seventh year, and what fruits cannot be taken outside of the country (6 sections).
g. , what things are subject to the right of the seventh year (7 sections).
h. , what use may be made of fruits which have grown by themselves; what must be observed at their sale and the proceeds thereof; how they-are to be gathered (11 sections).
i. , of the fruits which may be bought, and of storing away the preserved- fruits (9 sections).
j. , of the remittance of debts (9 sections).
6. , Terumoth, or oblations, relates, in eleven chapters, to the heave-offering:
a. , what persons can give the Terumoth, and of which fruits; and of giving the Terumoth not according to number; measure, and weight (10 sections).
b. , the Terumoth cannot be given from the pure for the impure; of distinguishing whether something was done purposely or by mistake; and that one kind of fruit can supply the Terumoth of another (6 sections).
c. , in which cases the Terumoth must be given a second time; how to determine the Terumah; of the Terumah of a Gentile (9 sections).
d and e. and , of the quantity of the large Terumah; in which cases common fruit becomes not medumma (i.e. is to be given entirely as Terumah), in spite of having been mixed with Terumah (13 and 9 sections).
f. , of the restitution of the Terumah, when a person has eaten thereof by mistake (5 sections).
g. , when a person eats thereof with intention (7 sections).
h. , of the care that a Terumah get neither unclean nor poisoned (12 sections).
i. , what is to be done in case Terumah has been sown (7 sections).
j. , how common fruits by the mere taste can become Terumah fruit (12 sections).
k. , how the oil of a Terumah cannot be burned, when the priest cannot enjoy its light (10 sections).
7. , Maseroth, or tithes, due to the Levites, in five chapters:
a. , of the kinds of fruits subject to tithes, and from what time on they are due (8 sections).
b. , of exceptions (8 sections).
c. , where fruits become tithable (10 sections).
d. , of preserving, picking out, and other cases exempted from tithes (6 sections).
e. , of removing of plants; of buying and selling; of wine and seed that cannot be tithed (8 sections).
8. , Maas-esheni, or second tithe, which the Levites had to pay: out of their tenth to the priests, in five chapters:
a. , that this tenth cannot be disposed of in any way (7 sections).
b. , only things necessary for eating, drinking, and anointing: can be bought for the money of the tenth; what to do when tenth-money and common money are mixed together, or when tenth- money must be exchanged- (10 sections).
c. , fruits of the second tenth, when once in Jerusalem, cannot be taken out again (13 sections).
d. , what must be observed at the price of the tenth, and how money and that which is found must be regarded (12 sections).
e. , of a vineyard in its fourth year, the fruits of which are equally regarded as the fruits of the second tenth; and how the biur, or taking-away of the tenth, is performed in a solemn manner according to Deu 26:13 sq. (15 sections).
9. , Challah, or dough, refers to the cake which the women were required to bring of kneaded dough to the priest, in four chapters:
a. , which fruits are subject to Challah (9 sections).
b. and c. and , of special cases which need a more precise definition concerning Challah, and of the quantity of meal and its Challah (8 and 10 sections).
d. , of counting together of different fruits, and the different rights of countries concerning Challah (11 sections).
10. , Orlah, lit. foreskin, of the forbidden fruits of the trees in Palestine during the first three years of their growth, in three chapters:
a. , which trees are subject to the law of Orlah and which not (9 sections).
b. , what to do in case of fruits of Orlah or Kilayim being mixed with other fruits; of the law concerning leaven, spices, and meat; what to do in case of holy and unholy, or Chollin, having been mixed up (17 sections).
c. , how the same law also concerns colors for dyeing purposes, and the fire used for cooking; and what is to be observed concerning the difference of countries (9 sections).
11. , Bikkurin, or first-fruits, in four chapters:
a. , who is not entitled to offer the first-fruits, or who can offer them without observing the formula prescribed (Deu 26:3); of what and when they are to be offered or repaid (11 sections).
b. , of the difference of the first-fruits of the Terumah and the second tenth, especially of the pomegranate at the Feast of Tabernacles; of blood of men and of the animal Coi (probably a bastard of buck and roe), which must be distinguished from all animals (11 sections).
c. , of the ceremonies to be observed at bringing the first- fruits to Jerusalem, and their rights (12 sections).
d. , of the hermaphrodite (5 sections). (This chapter is Boraitha, or addition to the second chapter, and is wanting where only the Mishna is printed.)
(II.) , Seder Md (Festive Solemnity). This Seder, one of the most interesting, consists of twelve tractates:
12. , Shabbath, containing twenty-four chapters, treats of the laws relating to the Sabbath, with respect to lights and oil used on that day, ovens in which articles of food were warmed on the Sabbath, and the dress of men and women used on the same day. It also enumerates thirty-nine kinds of work, by each of which, separately, the guilt of Sabbath-breaking may be incurred, viz.:
1, to sow;
2, to plough;
3, to mow;
4, to gather into sheaves;
5, to thresh;
6, to winnow;
7, to sort corn;
8, to grind;
9, to sieve;
10, to knead;
11, to bake;
12, to shear wool;
13, to wash wool;
14, to card;
15, to dye;
16, to spin;
17, to warp;
18, to shoot two threads;
19, to weave two threads;
20, to cut and tie two threads;
21, to tie;
22, too unite;
23, to sew two stitches;
24, to tear two threads with intent to sew;
25, to catch game;
26, to slaughter;
27, to skin;
28, to salt a hide;
29, to singe;
30, to tan;
31, to cut up a skin;
32, to write two letters;
33, to erase two( letters with intent to write;
34, to build;
35, to demolish;
36, to extinguish fire;
37, to kindle fire;
38, to strike with. a hammer;
39, to carry out of one property into another. It treats of the differences between the schools of Hillell and Shammai, etc., viz.
a. , of removals on the Sabbath day; work to be avoided; discussion between tile schools of Hillel and Shanmmai as to what constitutes work: work allowed (11 sections).
b. , of the lighting of a lamp; eve of the Sabbath (7 sections).
c. , of different ovens, and preparing and warming the meat on Sabbath; of pails for retention of the dripping oil or sparks of the lamps (6 sections).
d. , of things to cover up pots to retain the heat, and of things not to cover up the pots (2 sections).
e. , with what a beast is led forth or covered, especially a camel (4 sections).
f. , with what women and men may go out or not go out on the Sabbath of various styles; of pinning the veil; of ribbons, etc. (10 sections).
g. , of how many sin-offerings a man may be responsible for under certain circumstances for ignorantly trespassing against the Sabbath; the thirty-nine kinds of forbidden work; rule and measure for things the carrying of which makes liable to a sin-offering (4 sections).
h. , of the measure of fluids; of cords, bulrushes paper, and all possible portable things (7 sections).
i. , of things the carrying of which makes unclean, and of the measure of the portable things on the Sabbath day (7 sections).
j. , of different kinds of portable things; of carrying living or dead men, and of many other things (6 sections).
k. , of throwing over the street, ditch, and rock, river and land; of the distance how far it can be thrown, and the presumable error (6. sections).
l. , of building, hammering, planing, boring, ploughing, gathering wood, pruning, picking up, writing (6 sections).
m. , of weaving, sewing, cutting, washing, beating, catching game, etc. (7 sections).
n. , of catching game; of making salt-water; of forbidden medicines, toothache and pains in the loins.
o. , of tying and untying of knots; of folding garments, and making the beds (3 sections).
p. , of saving things out of a conflagration; of extinguishing and covering, etc. (8 sections).
q. , of vessels which may be moved on the Sabbath 5 sections).
r. , what things may be moved for making room; of hens, calves, asses; of leading the child; of an animal that calves; a woman that is to be delivered, and of a child (3 sections).
s. , of circumcision on the Sabbath, and what belongs to it (6 sections).
t. , of straining the wine; of fodder; of cleansing the crib; of straw on the beds and clothes-press (5 sections).
u. , of things permitted to be carried; of cleaning a pillow; the table, of picking up the crumbs; and of sponges (3 sections).
v. , of casks, cisterns, bathing-clothes, salves, etc.; of emetics; of setting a limb or a rupture (6 sections).
w. , of borrowing; of counting from a book, drawing lots, hiring laborers; of waiting at the end of a Sabbath-way; of mourning-pipes, coffin, and grave which a heathen has dug; what may be done to the dead (5 sections).
x. , of one who is overtaken by the dusk on the road; of feeding the animals; of pumpkins and carrion; of several things permitted on the Sabbath (5 sections).
13. , Erubin, or mingling, in ten chapters, deals with those ceremonies by which the Sabbath boundary was extended; mingling a whole town into one fictitious yard, so that carrying within it should not be unlawful:
a. , concerning the entry to an alley (10 sections).
b. ,concerning enclosures (6 sections).
c. , concerning a holyday or a Friday (9 sections).
d. , concerning the stepping beyond the Sabbath limit (11 sections).
e. , concerning the enlarging the bounds of a city (9 sections).
f. and g. ,etc., , concerning the neighborhood (10 and 11 sections).
h. , concerning what may be done in a yard (11 sections).
i. , concerning roofs, etc. (4 sections).
j. , concerning some different Sabbath laws (15 sections).
14. , Pesachim, in ten chapters, treats of the paschal festival and things- connected with its celebration:
a andb. and , of searching for leaven; how to put it away; of the Easter-cake, and the herbs for the bitter herbs (7 and 8 sections).
c. , of the care to avoid leaven (8 sections),
d. , of the works on the day before Easter, and what kinds of work are permitted (9 sections).
e. , when and: how to kill the paschal lamb; of cleaning and skinning the same, and how it becomes disallowed (10 sections).
f. , how the Passover abrogates the command against work on the Sabbath; of the offering of festival sacrifices; of a sacrifice having been changed with another (6 sections).
g. , .of roasting: the lamb; how it becomes unclean; what to do with the remaining parts (13 sections).
h. , what persons are allowed to eat it and what are not; of companies (8 sections),
i. , of the second Easter; of’ the Easter in Egypt, and of divers cases when paschal lambs have been exchanged (11 sections).
j. , of the order at the Easter-meal after the four cups of wine which are necessary for it (9 sections).
15. , Shekalim, or shekels, in eight chapters, contains laws relating to the half-shekel which was paid for the support of public worship:
a. , how the money-changers take their seat at the money- tables, on the 15th of Adar, where the people exchange their money (7 sections).
b. , of changing, and of coins used ins former times; of the remaining money (5 sections).
c. , how the paid shekels may be taken again from the treasury (4 sections).
d. , how they are to be spent, and what to do with the balance (9′ sections),
e. , of the offices in the sanctuary, and of the seals (6 sections).
f. , how often the number thirteen occurred in the sanctuary(6 sections).
g. , of money and other things which are found, when it is doubtful to whom they belong (7 sections).
h. , of other dubious things; resolution that the shekel and firstlings have ceased with the Temple (8 sections).
16. , Yoma, or the Day of Atonement, in eight chapters:
a. , of the preparations of the highpriest (8 sections),
b. , of casting lots, and of the offerings (7 sections).
c. , of the beginning of the Day of Atonement; of bathing, washing, and dressing the high-priest, and of presenting the bullocks and goats. (11 sections).
d. , of casting the lots upon the goats, and the confession (6 sections),
e. , what was to be done in the Holy of Holies (7 sections).
f. , of sending forth the goat (8 sections).
g. , what the high-priest was meanwhile to do, and until the end of his service at night (5 sections).
h. , of the privileges of fasting; how man is forgiven, and how he is not forgiven (9 sections).
17. , Sukkah, or the Feast of Tabernacles, in five chapters:
a. , of the size and covering of the Sukkah (11 sections).
b. ,l how often meals should be eaten in it; exemptions (9 sections).
c. , of the palm-branches, myrtle-boughs, willows, Citrons; what constitutes their fitness, and what not; how to tie and stake them (15 sections).
d. , how many days these ceremonies last; of the pouring-out of the water (10 sections).
e. , of the rejoicings; how to divide the offerings and shew-bread on this festival among the orders of the priests (8 sections).
18. , Yom Tob, i.e. good day, or, as it is generally called, , Betzah, i.e. the egg, from the word with which it commences, containing five chapters:
a. , whether an egg laid on the festival may be eaten thereon. On this question the schools of Shalnmai and Hillel are divided; the former decide in the affirmative, the latter in the negative (10 sections),
b. , or , i.e. of connecting the meals on the Sabbath and other subsequent holydays. Maimonides gives the following account, which will enable the reader to understand this expression: The rabbins, in order to prevent cooking or preparation of food on the festival for the following working-days, have prohibited it even for the Sabbath immediately following. They are ordered, however, that some article of food should be prepared on the day before the festival, to which more may be cooked, in addition, on the festival; which has-been ordered with the intention of reminding the general mass that it is not lawful to prepare any food on the festival which is not eaten thereon. It is called , or mixture, because it mixes or combines the preparation of food necessary for the festival with that required form the family’s use on the Sabbath (Hilchoth omn Tob, ch. 6.)
c. , of catching and killing animals; how to buy the necessary things, without mentioning the money (S sections).
d. , of carrying, especially wood not required for burning (7 sections).
e. , enumeration and precise definition of classes of things which cannot be done on a feast day, still less on a Sabbath day (7 sections).
19. , Rosh Hash-shanah, or New-year, in four chapters:
a. , of the four New-years (9 sections).
b. , of examining witnesses who witnessed the new moon, and of announcing it on the top of the mountains by fire (9 sections). c. , of announcing the new moon and new year with cornets (8 sections).
d. , what to do in case the New year falls on the Sabbath, and of the order of service on the New-year (9 sections).
20. , Taanith, or fasting, in four chapters:
a. , of prayer for rain, and proclamations of fasting in case the rain does not come in due season (7 sections).
b. , of the ceremonies and prayers on the great fast-days (10 sections).
c. , of other occasions of fasting; of not blowing alarms; when to cease fasting, in-case it rains (9 sections).
d. , of the twenty-four stations or delegates; their fastings, lessons ; of bringing wood for the altar; of the 17th of Tammuz and of the 9th and 15th of Ab (8 sections). The Mishna tells us the following concerning these dates: On the 17th of Tammuz the stone tables were broken and: the daily offering ceased, and the city was broken up, and Apostemus (i.e. Antiochus Epiphaales) burned the law, and he set up an image in the Temple. On the 9th of Ab it was proclaimed to our fathers that they should not enter the land, and the house was ruined for the first and second time, and Bither was taken, and the city was ploughed up. Rabban Simon, the son of Gamaliel, said, There were no holydays in Israel like the 15th of Ab, or like the Day of Atonement, because in them the daughters of Jerusalem promenaded in white garments, borrowed, that no one might be ashamed of her poverty. All these garments must be baptized. And the daughters of Jerusalem promenaded and danced in the vineyards. And what did they say? Look here, young man, and see whom you choose; look out for beauty, look for family. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised;’ and it is said, Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates’ (Pro 31:30-31). And it is also said: Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart Son 3:11).
21. , Megillah, or the roll of the book of Esther, in four chapters:
a. , of the days on which the Megillah is read (11 sections). The Gemara, on the fourth section of this Mishna (fol. 7, Colossians 2), tells us that the Jews are directed to get so drunk on the Feast of Purim that they cannot discern the difference between Blessed be Mordecai and cursed be Haman and Cursed be Mordecai and blessed be Haman. On the same page we read, Rabba and rabbi Zira made their Purim entertainment together. When Rabba got drunk, he arose and killed rabbi Zira. On the following day he prayed for mercy, and restored him to life. The following year Rabba proposed to him again to make their Purim entertainment together; but he answered, Miracles don’t happen every day.
b. , how to read the Megillah; what can only be done by day, and what can be done by night (6 sections).
c. , of the sale of holy things;’ of the lessons for the Sabbath during the month of Adar, and for other festivals (6 sections).
d. , of the persons required for the lessons; how many verses each person may read; who must be silenced in public prayer; of the passages which at the public reading are to be omitted, or at least not to be interpreted (10 sections). For these passages; see the following article, SEE TALMUD, THE, IN THE TIME OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
22. , M5ed Eaton, or small holyday, in three chapters, treats of the half-holydays between the first and the last day of the Passover, and of the Feast of Tabernacles:
a. , of working in the field; of graves, and of making coffins; and what pertains to a building (10 sections).
b. , of the work done on fruits: what may be carried and bought (5 sections).
c. , of shaving, washing, writing, and mourning (9 sections).
23. , Chagigah, or feasting, in three chapters, speaks of the voluntary sacrifices-other than the paschal lamb offered by individual Jews on the great feasts: a. , of the persons who. are obliged to appear at the feasts (8 sections).
b. , of sundry ordinances having no direct connection with the subject indicated by the title of the treatise: thus the first section of this second chapter opens with Men must not lecture on matters of incest (or adultery) before three persons, nor on matters of the creation before two, nor on the chariot before one, unless he be wise and intelligent by his own knowledge, etc.; of laying-on of hands (7 sections).
c. , in how far the rules for holy things are more weighty than for the heave-offering; in how far certain persons may be credited; how the vessels of the sanctuary were cleaned again after the feast (8 sections).
(III.) , Seder Nashim (Women). This Seder is composed of seven treatises, viz.
24. , Yebamoth, enters into the minutest details as to the peculiar Jewish precept of yibbm, or the obligation of marrying the childless widow of a brother, with the alternative disgrace of the performance of the chalitsdh, or removal of the shoe of the recalcitrant, referred to in the book of Ruth. It contains sixteen chapters, in 123 sections.
a. The opening section of this treatise will give a good idea of the subject treated there. Fifteen women free their rival wives and their rival’s rivals from the chalitsah and yibbm ad infinitum, viz. his daughter (the dead brother’s wife being the daughter of a surviving brother), son’s daughter, or daughter’s daughter; his wife’s daughter, wife’s son’s daughter, or wife’s daughter’s daughter; his mother-in-law, mother of his mother-in- law, the mother of his father-in-law; his maternal sister, his mother’s sister, or his wife’s sister; the widow of his maternal brother, or the widow of a brother who was not alive at the same time with him, and his daughter-in- law. All these free their rival wives and their rival’s rivals from the chalitsah and yibbm. If, however, any of these had died, or refused her consent, or had been divorced, or is unfit for procreation, their rivals may be married by yibbm; yet refusal of consent or unfitness [to procreate] cannot be applied in respect to his mother-in-law, or the mother of his father-in-law. This Mishna is called (4 sections). b. , of cases where a brother was born after the married brother’s death; of cases where a brother is to be freed either according to the command or for the sacredness of the person; of the equal right of brothers and sons; of betrothing to persons who cannot be distinguished from each other; of wives who cannot be married (10 sections).
c. , of hypothetical cases e.g. when brothers married sisters, etc. (10 sections).
d. , of the sister-in-law who was found to be pregnant; when she gets the heritage; of her marriage contract; of her relatives; how long she must wait; what constitutes a mamzer, i.e. an illegitimate child; that the sister of the deceased wife may be married (13 sections).
e. , of the rights of a marriage contract and divorce (6 sections).
f. , whom the high-priest cannot marry; what constitutes a barren woman, or a prostitute; of the duty of begetting children (6 sections).
g. , who is entitled, under these circumstances, to eat of the heave- offering or not (6 sections).
h. , of one that is wounded in the stones, and of one that has his privy member cut off; of the Ammonites and Moabites; of the hermaphrodite, etc. (6 sections).
i. , of women, or brothers-in-law, who, on account of their relationship, can neither marry nor be married, and of the prohibited degrees (6 sections).
j. , of false news that one or the other died; of the carnal intercourse of one who is not yet marriageable (9 sections).
k. , of violated women, proselytes, and interchanged children (7 sections ).
l. , of the ceremonies of the chalitsah (6 sections),
m. , and
n. , of the refusal of one who is not of age to marry a man; of the right of deaf persons (13 and 4 sections).
o. , and
p. , how-the evidence that one is dead receives credence, and its validity as to the right of the wife marrying again; and the Levirate (q.v.) (10 and 7 sections). Several portions of this treatise are so offensive to all feelings of delicacy that they have been left untranslated by the English translators, and are either printed in Hebrew or represented by asterisks alone.
25. , Kethuboth, in thirteen chapters, contains the laws relating to marriage contracts:
a. , of such as are regarded as virgins, and of the sum promised by the bridegroom to the bride (10 sections).
b. , whether a person may testify of himself, and of the credibility of the witnesses (10 sections).
c. , of the penalty for violating a virgin (9 sections).
d. , to whom the fine belongs; of the rights of a father over his daughter; of a husband over his wife; what the husband owes the wife; of the heritage of sons and daughters (12 sections).
e. , of the addition to the kethubah or the sum stipulated in the marriage contract); of the duties belonging to the wife; of conjugal duties; to how much a wife is entitled for her living (9 sections).
f. , what the wife owes to her husband, and what belongs to him; of assigning against the sum which the wife has brought in, and of the dowry of a daughter (7 sections).
g. , of the vows of a woman, and of the defects which cause a divorce (10 sections);
h. , of the rights of the husband to the property which fell to his wife during her marriage, and vice versa (S sections).
i. , of the privileges at the meeting of creditors, and before whom the wife has to swear that she has received nothing of her kethubah (9 sections),
j. of cases where a man has more than one wife (6 sections).
k. , of the rights of widows, and of the sale of the kethubah which is invested in immovable property (6 sections).
l. , of the right of a daughter of a former husband, and of the right of a widow to remain in her husband’s house (4 sections).
m. , different opinions of two judges of Jerusalem; how a wife may not be taken from, one place to another.; of the privileges in living in the land of Israel and at Jerusalem; as to the money in which the kethubah must be paid (11 sections).
26. , Nedarim, or vows, in eleven chapters:
a. , of the expressions for vows, since a person is obliged to keep them, even if the words were wrongly and not correctly pronounced (4 sections).
b. , what words do not constitute a vow; how they are to be distinguished from an oath; what restrictions and ambiguities may occur (5 sections).
c. , of four kinds of vows which are regarded as void; of the vows made to robbers, publicans, etc. (11 sections).
d. , and
e. , of the case where a person has consented to derive no advantage from another or to be to him of no use, and how one can make something prohibited to the other (8 and 6 sections).
f. , and
g. , of different kinds of eatables, in case they have been renounced, etc. (10 and 9 sections).
h. , concerning the time over which the vow extends (7 sections).
i. , of diverse causes for which a vow may be made (9 sections).
j. , who has the right of making the vow of a wife’ or daughter void (8 sections),
k. , what, vows can be made void by the husband or father, and what in case of ignorance or error.(12 sections).
27. , Nazir, in nine chapters, relating to vows of abstinence:
a. , of the form in which such a vow can be made; of the difference of Samson’s’ vow of abstinence from others (7 sections).
b. , what vows are binding and what not (10 sections).
c. , of the time of shaving (7 sections).
d. , of the remission and removing the same (7 sections)
e. , what is to be done in cases of error, and other dubious cases (7 sections).
f. , of things prohibited to a Nazarite (11 sections).
g. , for what uncleanness he must shave himself (4 sections).
h. , of some doubtful cases (2 sections).
i. , of the power which, in divers cases, leads to the supposition that he is unclean; whether Samuel was a Nazarite (5 sections).
28. , Sotah, or the erring woman, in nine chapters:
a. , what constitutes an erring woman; who must drink the bitter water; how she is to be presented in public, etc. (9 sections).
b. , of writing the curses, and the ceremonies connected with it (6 sections).
c. , of the offering of the sotah, and the fate of the woman found guilty (8 sections).
d. , where the bitter water is not to be used (5 sections).
e. , that the bitter water should also be taken by the adulterer (5 sections).
f. , of the required testimony (4 sections).
g. , of formulas to be spoken in the holy tongue, and of such not to be spoken in that tongue (8 sections).,
h. , of the address of the priest anointed as king (7 sections).
i. , of killing the heifer for expiation of an uncertain murder; of different things which have been abolished, and what will be at the time of the Messiah (11 sections). The last sections of this Mishna are very interesting because they foretell the signs of the approaching Messiah, and wind up with the following remarkable words: In the time of the Messiah the people will be impudent and be given to drinking; public-houses will flourish and the vine will be dear; none will care for punishment, and the learned will be driven from one place to the other, and no one will have compassion on them; the wisdom of the scribes will be stinking; fear of God will be despised; truth will be oppressed, and the wise will become less. The young men will shame the old, the old will rise against the young; the son will despise the father; the daughter will rise against the mother, the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law, and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. The face of that generation is as the face of a dog; the son shall not reverence the father!
29. , Gittin, or divorce bills, in nine chapters, treats of divorce, and the writing given to the wife on that occasion; how it must be written, etc.
a. , of sending a divorce, and what must be observed in case the husband sends one to his wife (6 sections).
b. , when, how, and on what it must be written (7 sections).
c. , that it must be written in the name of the wife (8 sections).
d. , sundry enactments, made for the better existence of the world (9 sections).
e. , enactments for the sake of peace (9 sections).
f. , sundry cases of the bill of divorce (7 sections).
g. , of additional conditions (9 sections).
h. , of throwing the divorce bill, its different effects; what constitutes a bald bill of divorce (i.e. one which according to the Mishna has more folds than subscribing witnesses) (10 sections).
i. , of the signature of witnesses, and of the cause that constitutes a divorce, of which the school of Shammai says, No man may divorce his wife, unless he find in her scandalous behavior, for it is said (Deu 24:1), Because he found in her some uncleanness; but the school of Hillel says, Even if she spoiled his food, because it is said some uncleanness.’ Akiba says, Even if he found one handsomer than she, for it is said, if it happen that she found no favor in his eyes.’
30. , Kiddushin, or betrothals, in four chapters:
a. , of the different ways in which a wife is acquired, and how she regains her liberty; of the difference of prayers which are incumbent upon the man and wife, in and outside of the land of Israel (10 sections).
b. , of valid and invalid betrothals (10 sections).
c. , of betrothals made under certain conditions; of children of different marriages (13 sections).
d. , of the different kinds of families which may intermarry and which cannot; of the evidence of a known or unknown lineage; rules according to which a man ought not to be in a secluded place alone with women; counsels as to the trade or profession in which an Israelite should bring up his son; occupations which an unmarried man should not follow, on account of the great facilities they offer for unchaste practices. It also states that all ass-drivers are wicked, camel-drivers are honest, sailors are pious, physicians are destined for hell, and butchers are company for Amalek (14 sections).
(IV.) , Seder Nezikin (Damages). This Seder contains ten tractates:
31. , Baba Kamma, or the first gate, so called because in the East law is often administered in the gateway of a city. It treats, in ten chapters, of damages:
a. , of four kinds of damages, restitution and its amount (4 sections).
b. , how an animal can cause damage, and of the owner who is obliged to make restitution (6 sections).
c. , of damage caused by men; of goring oxen (11 sections).
d. and e. , continuation, and of damage caused by al open pit <9 and 7 sections).
f. , of damage caused by negligent feeding of cattle and by fire (6 sections).
g. , of restitution, when it is double, twofold or fivefold (7. sections).
h. , of restitution for hurting or wounding (7 sections).
i. , what to do, in case some change happens with something robbed; of the fifth part above the usual restitution, in case of perjury (12 sections).
j. , of sundry cases, applicable to the restitution of stolen goods (10 sections).
32. , Baba Metsiah, or the middle gate, in ten chapters, treats of claims resulting from trusts:
a. , and
b. , what to do with goods which were found (8 and 11 sections).
c. , of deposits (12 sections).
d. , of buying, and different kinds of cheating (12 sections). e. , of different kinds of usury and overtaxing (11 sections).
f. , of the rights of hiring (8 sections).
g. , of the rights of laborers concerning their eating, and what they may eat of the eatables they work on; of the four kinds of keeping, and what is meant by ones, i.e. casus fortuitus (11 sections).
h. , continuation, and again of hiring (9 sections).
i. , of the rights among farmers; of wages, and taking a pledge (13 sections).
j. , of diverse cases when something belonging to two has fallen in; of the rights of public places (6 sections).
33. , Baba Bathra, or the last gate, in ten chapters, treats of the partition of immovables, laws of tenantry, joint occupation, and rights of common:
a. , of the partition of such things as are in common; what each has to contribute, and how one can be obliged to make a partition (6 sections).
b. , of divers kinds of servitude; what and how far something must be removed from the neighbor’s premises for different causes (14 sections).
c. , of superannuation of things, and its rights (12 sections).
d. , what: is sold along with the sale (9 sections).
e. , continuation) and how a sale may be made void (11 sections).
f. , for what a person must be good; of the required size of different places and the right of passing through (8 sections).
g. , of becoming security for a sold acre and of other things pertaining to it (4 sections).
h. , of inheritances (8 sections). i. , of the division of property (10 sections).
j. , what is required in order to make a contract legal (8 sections).
34. , Sanhedrin, or courts of justice, in eleven chapters:
a. , of the difference of the three tribunals of, , at least three persons; , the small Sanhedrin of twenty-three persons; and, , the great Sanhedrini of seventy-one persons (6 sections).
b. , of the privileges of the high-priest and king (5 sections).
c. , of appointing judges; unfitness for being judge and witness; of hearing the witnesses and publishing the sentence (8 sections).
d. , of judgments in money and judgments in souls; a description how they sat in judgment (5 sections).
e. , again of examining witnesses, and what must be observed in capital, punishments (5 sections).
f. , of stoning in special (6 sections).
g. , of the other capital punishments; those that were to be stoned (11 sections).
h. , of stubborn sons and their punishments, with, so many restrictions, however, that this case hardly could ever have occurred (7 sections).
i. , of criminals who were burned or beheaded (6 sections).
j. , of those who have part in the world to come, viz. all Israel (6 sections). But the following have no share: he who says that the resurrection of the dead is not found in the law, or that there is no revealed law from heaven, and the Epicurean. Besides, there are excluded from the world to come, Jeroboam, Ahab, Manasseh, Balaam, Doeg, Ahitophel, and Gehazi. So, likewise, the generation of the Deluge; that of the Dispersion (Gen 11:8): the men of Sodom, the spies, the generation of the wilderness, the congregation of Korah, and the men of a city given to idolatry. In the Gemara a good deal is spoken, of the Messiah.
k. , of those that are strangled, especially rebellious elders and their punishment (6 sections).
35. , Makkoth, or stripes, in three chapters, treats of corporal punishments:
a. , in what cases false witnesses are inflicted with the stripes, and of the mode of procedure against false witnesses in general’ (10 sections).
b. , of unintentional murders, and the cities of refuge (8 sections).
c. , of criminals deserving the stripes; how they should be inflicted; why forty save one (?); of stopping in case the delinquent is regarded as too weak; that such as have suffered this penalty are free from the punishment of extermination; of the reward of those who keep the law; why so many laws were given to Israel (16 sections).
36. , Shebuoth, or oaths, in eight chapters:
a. , of different kinds wherein a person is conscious or unconscious of having touched anything unclean (because it is treated under the head of oaths, Lev 5:2); of the atonement through sacrifices; what sins were atoned by the different kinds of sacrifices (7 sections).
b. , how far the sanctity of the court of the Temple reaches (5 sections).
c. , of forswearing, its kinds and degrees (11 sections).
d. , of the oath of witnesses; of blasphemy and cursing (13 sections).
e. , of the oath mentioned in Lev 6:3, and of the perjurer (5 sections).
f. , of the oath demanded by the court, when it must be taken or not, and what ought to be testified (7 sections).
g. , of such oaths as are for the benefit of him that swears (8 sections).
h. , of the different watchmen who must be security for goods; how far it goes; in what cases they must replace it or swear; what in case they lied (6 sections).
37. , Edayoth, or testimonies, in eight chapters. It is so called because it consists of laws which tried and trustworthy teachers attested to have been adopted by the elder teachers, in Sanhedrim assembled:
a. , enactments in which the other sages deviate from the schools of Shammai and Hillel, or wherein the school of Hillel is followed, or wherein the school of Hillel has given way to that of Shamnmai (14 sections).
b. , enactments of different rabbins, especially of R. Ishmael and R. Akiba on mostly unimportant things (10 sections).
c. , enactments of R. Dosa on divers defilements (12 sections).
d. , laws in which the school of Shammai is more lenient than that of Hillel (12 sections).
e. , laws which R. Akiba would not take back (7 sections).
f. , of different kinds of defilement on which disputes have taken place with R. Eliezer (3 sections). g and
h. ; of some minor points which cannot be brought under one common nomenclature; at the end we read that Elijah the Prophet will finally determine all disputed points of the sages and will bring peace (9 and 7 sections).
38. , Abodah Zarah, or idolatry, in five chapters. This treatise is wanting in the Basle edition of 1578, because severe reflections upon Jesus Christ and his followers were found therein by the censor:
a. , what must be observed concerning idolatrous feasts, and of things not to be sold to idolaters (9 sections).
b. , of divers forbidden occasions which tend towards a near relation with idolaters; of the use that can be made of their goods, especially eatables (7 sections).
c. , of idols, temples, altars, and groves (10 sections).
d. , of what belongs to an idol, and of desecrating an idol; prohibition of wine of libation, and of every wine which was only touched by a heathen, because even the slightest libation could have made it sacrificial wine (12 sections).
e. , continuation of things with which wine could have been mixed and; how to cleanse utensils bought of a heathen for eating purposes (12 sections).
39. , Aboth, or , Pirkey Aboth, contains the ethical maxims of the fathers of the Mishna. It is impossible to give an analysis of the six chapters, because they all contain maxims without any chronological order. This treatise speaks of the oral law, its transmission, names of the receivers, and contains maxims, apothegms, and the wisdom of the wise. The first chapter has 18, the second 16, the third 18, the fourth 22, the fifth 23, and the sixth 10 sections. A more detailed account of it has been given in the art. PIKEABOTH SEE PIKEABOTH (q.v.).
40. , Horayoth, or decisions, in three chapters, treats of the manner of pronouncing sentences and other matters relating to judges and their functions, but which, though erroneous, still were observed, and for which a sin-offering was to be brought according to Lev 4:13 :
a. , in what cases and under what circumstances such offerings were to be brought by the congregation or not (5 sections).
b. , of the sin-offering of an anointed priest and prince (7 sections).
c. , who is meant by an anointed priest and prince; of the difference between an anointed priest and one only invested with the priesthood: of the prerogatives of a high-priest before a common priest; of the male sex before the female; finally, of the order of precedence among those who profess the Jewish religion, that a learned precedes an unlearned (8 sections).
(V.) , Seder Kodashim (Consecrations). This Seder contains eleven tractates:
41. , Zebachim, or sacrifices, in nineteen chapters:
a. , in how far-every sacrifice must be regarded with the intention that it shall be such a sacrifice (4 sections).
b. , and
c. , how it becomes unfit or an abomination (5 and 6 sections).
d. , of sprinkling the blood (6 sections).
e. , of the difference between the most holy sacrifices and those of less holiness (8 sections)
f. , of the place of the altar where every sacrifice has to be offered (7 sections).
g. , of the sacrifice of birds (6 sections).
h. , Of cases where something of the sanctified has been enmixed with the other parts (12 sections).
i. , how the altar sanctifies the offered part (7 sections).
j. , of the order in which sacrifices must be brought; which precedes the other (5 sections).
k. , of washing the dress, etc., on which the blood of a sin- offering has come (5 sections).
l. , to whom the skins belong and where they go (6 sections).
m. , of divers trespasses, when trespass has been committed unconsciously during the sacrificial service (8 sections).
n. , of the different places of sacrificial service during different periods (Gilgal, Shiloh, Nolih, Gibeon, Jerusalem), and of the difference between the altar and the heights (10 sections).
42. , Menachoth, or meat-offerings, in eighteen chapters:
a. , of taking a handful; what corresponds in sacrifices to the act of sacrificing, when it becomes unfit or an abomination (4 sections).
b. and c. , and d. , according to the different kinds of meat- offerings (5, 7, and 5 sections).
e. , and
f. , of these different kinds and their treatment (9 and 7 sections).
g. , of the thank-offering and of the Nazarite’s offering (6 sections).
h. , whence the necessary good things were taken (7 sections).
i. , of the measures in the sanctuary; of the drink-offerings and the laying-on of hands (9 sections).
j. , of the wave-loaf (9 sections).
k. , of the Pentecostal and shewbreads (9 sections).
l. , of changes in the offering (5 sections).
m. , of indefinite vows; of the Onias temple in Egypt; a correct exposition of the words a sweet savor (11 sections).
43. , Cholin, or unconsecrated things, in seventeen chapters:
a. , who may slaughter; wherewith and where it can be slaughtered (7 sections).
b. , of cutting through the windpipe and (esophagus, in front or at the side, and how the slaughtering becomes unfit (10 sections).
c. , what animals are no more kashdr, i.e. lawful, but trephsh, i.e. unlawful: the signs of clean fowls, grasshoppers, and fishes (7 sections).
d. , enactments concerning an animal fetus (7 sections).
e. , of the prohibition against slaughtering an animal and the young on the same day (5 sections).
f. , the precept of covering the blood of wild animals and fowl (7 sections).
g. , the precept concerning the prohibition of eating the sinew which shrank (6 sections).
h. , the prohibition to boil any kind of flesh in milk (6 sections).
i. , pollution communicated by a carcass or trephah (5 sections).
j. , of the oblations due to the priest from the slaughtered animal (4 sections).
k. , of the firstlings of the fleece (2 sections).
l. , the precept of letting the parent bird, found in the nest, fly away (5 sections).
44. , Bekoroth, or first-born, in nine chapters:
a. , of the redemption of the first-born of an ass; how to redeem it (7 sections)
b. , when the first-born of an animal is not to be given; of some defects of a sanctified animal; of sundry dubious cases as to what Constitutes the first-born (9 sections).
c. , of the sign of the birth of the first-born; of the wool of a first-born (4 sections).
d. , how long the first-born must be raised up before it is given to the priest; what must be paid for the inspection (10 sections).
e. ,
f. , and
g. , of the defects which make a first-born unfit for sacrifice or service in the sanctuary (6,12, and 7 sections).
h. , of the rights of the first-born concerning a heritage; in what cases he forfeits such a right or the priest forfeits the right on the first-born, and of what property he has to receive his heritage (10 sections).
i. , concerning the tithe of the herd; of what, when, and how the tithe has to be given; what to do in dubious cases (8 sections).
45. , Erakin, or estimates, in nine chapters:
a. , who has to make this estimate and on what (4 sections).
b. , what constitutes herein the minimum and maximum (6 sections).
c. , how such a valuation may be more difficult to the one than to the other (5 sections).
d. , how the valuation has to be made according to the means, age, etc. (4 sections).
e. , valuation according to weight, and how the treasurer takes a forfeit (6 sections).
f. , of proclaiming and redeeming (5 sections).
g. , and
h. , of the banished (5 and . sections).
i. , of redeeming a sold field; of houses in a city surrounded with a wall (Leviticus 20:29); of the privilege of the houses and cities of the Levites (8 sections).
46. , Temunarah, or exchanges (Lev 27:10; Lev 27:33), in seven chapters, treats of the way exchanges are to be effected between sacred things:
a. , to what persons and things this right may be applied or not (6 sections).
b. , of the difference between the sacrifice of an individual and a congregation (3 sections).
c. , of the exchange of the young of a sacred animal (5 sections).
d. , of sin-offerings which were starved, or which were lost and found again (4 sections).
e. , of the means to cheat the priest out of the first-born ; how young and old can be sanctified at the same time or separately (6 sections).
f. , what is prohibited to be brought upon the altar (5 sections).
g. , of the different rights of things sanctified for the altar and for the Temple; what may be buried or burned of the sanctified (6 sections).
47. , Kerithoth, or cutting off, in seven chapters, treats of offenders being cut off from the Lord, provided the offences were wantonly committed; but if inadvertently committed, entail the obligation to bring sin-offerings:
a. , of the sacrifice of a woman in childbed, after the birth is certain or uncertain (2 sections).
b. , and c. , of cases where one or more sin-offerings were to be brought (6 and 10 sections).
d. , of a doubtful sin-offering (3 sections).
e. , of eating blood and divers doubtful eatings, and what they cause (8 sections).f. , of cases where the secret sin became known; of the efficacy of the day of expiation; of shekels which were used separately and for other purposes (9 sections).
48. , Meailah, or trespass (Num 5:6; Num 5:8), in six chapters, treats of things partaking of the name of sacrilege:
a. , what sacrifice causes a trespass (4 sections).
b. , from what time it is possible according to the nature of the sanctified (9 sections).
c. , of things which were given from such trespass (8 sections).
d. , how far the addition of different things takes place (6 sections).
e. , in how far the wear and tear, by spoiling something of it, or the use thereof, is to be considered (5 sections).
f. , in how far a man may trespass by means of a third person (6 sections).
49. , Tamid, or daily sacrifices, in seven chapters, treats of the morning and evening offerings:
a. , of the night-watch and of the arrival of the captain, when the gate was opened and the priests went in (4 sections).
b. , of the first work, how the altar was cleared from the ashes, the fagots were brought and the great and the small fire were arranged; the former for the members and the coals of the sacrifices, the latter for the coals of the incense (5 sections).
c. , allotting services for the offering of the lamb; of finding out whether it brightens; of fetching the lamb and the vessels; of the lamb-chamber, opening the Temple and cleansing the inner altar and candlestick (9 sections).
d. , of slaughtering and sprinkling the blood; of skinning, cutting, and dividing the parts (3 sections).
e. , of the morning prayer of the priests; of offering the incense (6 sections).
f. , again of cleansing the inner altar and the candlestick; of putting on the coals and of lighting the incense (3 sections).
g. , of the entering of the high priest and of the other, priests; of the blessing of the priests; when, the high-priest offered the sacrifices; of the chant which the Levites intoned in the sanctuary (4 sections).
50. , Middoth, or measurements, in five chapters, treats of the measurements of the Temple, its different parts and courts:
a. , of the nightwatches in the Temple, the gates and chambers (9 sections).
b. , the mountain of the Temple, its walls and courts (6 sections).
c. , of the altar and the other space of the inner court to the hall of the Temple (8 sections).
d. , computation of the measures of the Temple (7 sections).
e. , of the measure of the court and its chambers (4 sections). This tractate has no Gemara or commentary.
51. , Kinnim, or bird’s-nests, in three chapters, treats of the mistakes about doves and beasts brought; into the Temple for sacrifice:
a. , how the blood of these birds was sprinkled in different manner that of the sacrifice above the altar, that of the trespass offering below the red line which stretched around the altar (4 sections).
b. , of the so-called indefinite nest (5 sections);
c. , of possible mistakes of the priests and the offering women (6 sections).
(VI.) , Seder Taharoth (Purifications). This order has twelve tractates.
52. , Kelim, or vessels, in, thirty chapters, treats of those which convey uncleanness (Lev 11:33):
a. , of the main kinds of uncleanness according to their ten degrees, as well as of other ten degrees of un-cleanness as well as of holiness (9 sections).
b. ,
c. , and
d. , of earthen vessels, which are the least capable of uncleanness, but which become clean as soon as they break wholly or partly (8, 8, and 4 sections).
e. ,
f.
g. ,
h. , and
i. , of the divers kinds of ovens made of earth (11, 4, 6,11, and S sections).
j. , of vessels which by cover and binding are protected against uncleanness (8 sections).
k. ,
l. ,
m. , and
n. , of metal vessels which become unclean, and how they get clean (9, 8, 8, and 8 sections).
o. ,
p. , and
q. , of vessels of wood, skin, leather, bone, glass, and the size of the hole whereby they become clean; also of the size of things used as a measure (6, 8, and 17 sections).
r. , and
s. , of beds (9 and 10 sections).
t. , of things which become unclean by sitting thereon (7 sections).
u. , of things fastened to a loom, plough; etc. (3 sections).
v. , of tables and chairs (10 sections).
w. , of things which become unclean by riding thereon (5 sections).
x. , of a great many things by which three modes of uncleanness take place (17 sections).
y. , of the outside and inside of vessels, the handle and the different duties belonging to them (9 sections).
z. , of vessels which have straps (9 sections).
aa. , and
bb. , how large something must be in order to become unclean; also, that something which is three inches long and wide may be called a dress (12 and 10 sections).
cc. , of cords on different things (8 sections). dd. , of vessels of glass which are fiat or a receptacle (4 sections).
53. , Ohaloth, or tents (Num 19:14), in twenty-two chapters, treats of tents and houses retaining uncleanness, etc.
a. , of the different modes and degrees of uncleanness over a dead body; of the difference of uncleanness in men and vessels; of the measure of the limbs of a dead body, or carcass, and of the number of the members of man (8 sections).
b. , what be comes unclean in a tent through a corpse, and what only by touching and carrying (7 sections).
c. , of adding together divers kinds of cleanness; what is not unclean in a dead body (teeth, hair and nails, provided they are no more on the corpse); of the size of openings whereby uncleanness can be propagated (7 sections);
d. , of vessels into which uncleanness does not penetrate (3 sections).
e. , when the upper story may be regarded as separated from the lower part (7 sections).
f. , how men and vessels form a cover over a carcass; of the uncleanness in the wall of a house (7 sections).
g. , of a woman giving birth to a dead child (6 sections).
h. , of things conveying and separating uncleanness, and of others which do not (6 sections).
i. , how far a large basket separates (16 sections).
j. , and
k. , of openings in a house and cracks on a roof (7 and 9 sections).
l. , of uncleanness in parts of the house and roof (8 sections).
m. , of the measure of a hole or window which may propagate uncleanness (6 sections).
n. , and
o. , of cornices and partitions in a house; of graves (7 and 10 sections).
p. , continuation of graveyards (5 sections).
q. , and
r. , of the beth happras (field in which a grave has been detected, or must be presumed, etc.); how far the houses of the heathen must be regarded as unclean (5 and 10 sections).
54. , Neggaim, or plagues of leprosy, in seventeen chapters, treats of leprosy of men, garments, or dwellings:
a. , of the four indications of leprosy and their kinds (6 sections).
b. , of the inspection of leprosy (5 sections).
c. , of the time and signs when uncleanness is pronounced (8 sections).
d. , of the difference between the different signs of leprosy (11 sections).
e. , of dubious cases when uncleanness is pronounced (5 sections).
f. , of the size of the white spot, and the places where no leprosy occurs (S sections).
g. , of the changes of the spots of leprosy, and when they were rooted out (5 sections).
h. , of the growing of the spots (10 sections).
i. , of the difference between a boil and a burning (3 sections).
j. , of scalds (10 sections).
k. ,
l. , and
m. , of the leprosy in houses and garments (12, 7, and 12 sections).
n. , of cleansing a leper (13 sections).
55. , Parah, or the red heifer, in sixteen chapters, directs how she is to be burned, etc.
a. , of the heifer’s age, and ages of other offerings (4 sections).
b. , blemishes which make her unfit (4 sections).
c. , separation of the priest for burning the red heifer; procession of heifer and attendants; pile for burning; gatherings the ashes (11 sections).
d. , how the sacrifices may become unfit under these rites (4 sections).
e. , of the vessels for the sprinkling-water (9 sections).
f. , of cases where the ashes or the water becomes unfit (5 sections).
g. , how this rite cannot be interrupted by any kind of labor (12 sections).
h. , of keeping the water; of the sea and other waters with regard to the sprinkling-water (11 sections).
i. , continuation (9 sections).
j. , how clean persons and vessels may become unclean (6 sections).
k. , of the hyssop for sprinkling (9 sections).
l. , of the persons fit for sprinkling (11 sections).
56. , Taharoth (prop. Tohoroth), or purifications, in fifteen chapters, teaches how purifications are to be effected.
a. , of the carrion of a clean and unclean fowl (9 sections).
b. , of the uncleanness of the person who has eaten something unclean; of the effect of the different degrees of uncleanness (8 sections).
c. , of beverages; of the estimation of an uncleanness after the time of its detection (8 sections).
d. ,
e. , and
f. , of doubtful cases of uncleanness (13, 9, and 10 sections).
g. , how a layman makes something unclean; of the care to be taken in preserving the cleanness of dresses and vessels (9 sections).
h. , how to keep victuals clean (9 sections).
i. , of the cleanness in pressing the olives (9 sections).
j. , of the same in the treatment of wine (S sections).
57. , Mikwaoth, orpools of water (Num 31:23), in fifteen chapters, treats of their construction, and the quantity of water necessary for cleansing:
a. , of the six different grades of pools of water, where one is purer than the preceding, from the water in the pit to the living water. (8 sections).
b. , of doubtful cases concerning bathing; how much and how far drawn water makes a mikvh, or bathing-place, unfit for bathing (10 sections).
c. , how a mikvh becomes clean again, (4 sections).
d. , how rain-water is to be led into a mikvh, so as not to become drawn-water (5 sections).
e. , of different kinds of water-spring water, river and sea water (6 sections).
f. , what is regarded as connected with a mikvh, and how mik-vaoth may become united (11 sections).
g. , what makes a mikvh complete and fit, and where the change of the color has to be considered (7 sections).
h. , of some uncleanness of the mikvh (5 sections).
i. , of the difference between bathing the body and a vessel (7 sections).
j. , of vomiting when eating and drinking, whether it be clean or unclean (8; sections).
58. , Niddah, or separation of women during their menses, after childbirth, etc., in fifteen chapters:
a. , of computing the time of the sliddih, and where it is to be supposed (7 sections).
b. , of the uiddas itself (7 sections).
c. , and
d. , of women in childbed (7 and 7 sections).
e. , of the different ages of children according to their sex (9 sections).
f. , of the blood-spots (14 sections).
g. , what makes unclean if it be damp or dry (5 sections).
h. , and
i. , of recognizing the blood-spots; their origin; of changes in the menses (4 and 11 sections).
j. , of all kinds of suppositions concerning cleanness and uncleanness (8 sections). This treatise should be read only by persons studying medicine, it being devoted to certain rules not ordinarily discussed, although they appear to have occupied a disproportionate part of the attention of the rabbins. The objections that our modern sense of propriety raises to the practice of the confessional apply with no less force to the subject of this tract, considered as a matter to be regulated by the priesthood.
59. , Makshirinsor liquors that dispose seeds, and fruits to receive pollution, in six chapters:
a. , of the precaution by the fault of which something has become wet (6 sections).
b. , of sweating and steaming; of different rights of cities in which Jews and heathen reside (11 sections).
c. , of cases where fruits are moistened unintentionally (8 sections).
d. ; of the regulations of rain-water in similar cases (10 sections).
e. , of cases where eatables, although they have become wet, do not change (11 sections).
f. , of the seven liquors, their variety; and of such: liquors as at the same time make clean and unclean, or: not (8 sections).
60. , Zabim, or bodily fluxes that cause pollution, in five chapters:
a. , of computing this uncleanness (6 sections).
b. , of examining whether such an issue is not enforced (4 sections).
c. , and
d. , of the power and different motions towards pollution (3 and 7 sections).
e. , comparison of divers pollutions and what makes the heave- offering unclean (12 sections).
61. , Tibbul Yom, or baptism on the day of uncleanness (Lev 22:6), in four chapters:
a. , when cakes of bread, grain, and seeds become unclean, or remain clean through the touch of a tibbil ym (5 sections).
b. , how far the dampness of a tibbil ym is not to be treated as strictly as that of other unclean things; how the union of unwashed hands with those of a tibbull ym made to be discerned; how the uncleanness through a tibbul ym differs from another uncleanness in all kinds of boiled things and vessels of wine (8 sections).
c. , of the chibbfor, or connection of the parts and the whole concerning the uncleanness through a tibbil yom in fruits, eggs, herbs, boiled things, and eatables of all kinds (6 sections).
d. , the same in separating the heave-offering, cakes, etc., according to older more lenient and recent more strict laws (7 sections).
62. , Yadam, or hands, in four chapters, treats of the washing of hands before eating bread, though dry fruits are allowed to be eaten without such washing:
a. , how much water is required for ablution of the hands; what kind of water; of the vessels for the same; who may pour it out (5 sections).
b. , of the two ablutions whereby the unclean first water is washed ,away; how the ablution must take place (4 sections).
c. , whether and how the hands become unclean in the first degree, and how in the second; whether and how far the touching of straps of phylacteries and of holy writings defiles (5 sections).
d. , of some special discussions; of the defilement by the Chaldee in the Bible, and of the Assyrian; disputes between the Pharisees and Sadducees (7 sections).
63. , catsin, or stalks of fruit which convey uncleanness, in three chapters:
a. , of the difference between the stalks and husks of fruits (6 sections).
b. , what is added to the whole from stones, husks, leaves, etc. (10 sections).
c. , of different classes of things, how and when they are apt to absorb an uncleanness (12 sections).
In addition to the treatises, which compose the Geinara, there are certain minor ones which are connected with it as a kind of Apocrypha or appendix, under the title of Mesiktoth Ketanoth ( ), or smaller treatises. These are:
1. , Sopherim, concerning the scribe and reader of the law (21 chapters). This treatise is important for the Masorah. A separate edition, with notes, was published by J. Muller (Leips. 1878). See also the article SOPERIM.
2. , Kallah, relates to marriages (1 chapter).
3. Ebel Rabbathi,or Semachoth, concerning the ordinances for funeral solemnities (14 chapters).
4. , Derek Brets, on social duties (11 chapters).
5. , Derek Erets Sztta, rules for the learned (10 chapters).
6. , Perek ha-Shailom, on the love of peace (1 chapter).
7. , Gerim, concerning proselytes (4 chapters).
8. , Kuthim, concerning Samaritans (2 chapters).
9. , Abadim, concerning slaves (3 chapters).
10. , Tsitsith, concerning fringes (1 chapter).
11. , Tephillin, concerning phylacteries (1 chapter).
12. , Mezuzah, concerning the writing on the door-post (2 chapters). See art. MEZUZAH.
13. , Sepher Thorah, concerning the writing of the law (5 chapters). Nos. 7-13 were published together by R. Kirchheim, under the title Septem Libri Talmudici Parvi (Frankf. on-the-Main, 1851).
To these treatises are sometimes added:
14. , Hilkoth Erets Israel, relating to the ways of slaughtering animals for food after the Jewish ideas, a treatise which is much later than the Talmud.
15. , Aboth di-Rabbi Nathan, a commentary on, or amplification of the treatise Aboth (21 chapters). For the author of this treatise, see the art. sEE NATHAN HA-BABLI.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE DIFFERENT TREATISES AS FOUND IN THE BABTYLONIAN TALMUD. The first column gives the names of the treatises; the second indicates the volume of the Talmud where the treatises may be found; the third shows the Seder or division under which they are given; and the fourth the numerical order in which they stand in the Mishna.
Having given an analysis of the contents of the Talmud, we will now give a specimen of its text, which will present to the reader a faint idea of the mode of procedure as we find it in that wonderful work. We open the very first page of the Talmud, the treatise Berakoth, on blessings, commencing .
Mishna. At what time in the evening should one say the Shema? From the time that the priests go in to eat of their oblation till the end of the first night-watch. These are the words of the rabbi Eliezei; but the wise men say until midnight. Rabbian Gamaliel says till the morning dawn ariseth. It came to pass that his sons were returning from a feast; they said unto him, We have not yet recited the Shema.’ He answered and said unto them, If the morning dawn has not yet arisen, ye are under obligation to recite it.’ And not this alone have they said, but everywhere where the wise have said until midnight,’ the command is binding till the morning dawn ariseth; and the steaming of the fat and of the joints is lawful until the morning dawn ariseth, and so everything which may be eaten on the same day it is allowed to eat until the morning dawn ariseth. If this is so, why do the wise say till midnight?’ In order that men may be held far away from sin.
Gemara. The Thanna (i.e. rabbi Judah the Holy), what is his authority that he teaches, from what time onward? And, besides that, why does he teach on the evening first, and might he teach on the morning first? The Thanna rests on the Scripture, for it is written, When thou liest down and when thou risest up,’ and so he teaches, the time of reciting the Shelna, when thou liest down, when is it? From the time when the priests go in to eat of their oblation. But if thou wilt, say I, he hath taken it out of the creation of the world, for it is said it was evening and it was morning one day. If this is so, it might be the last Mishna, which teaches. In the morning are said two blessings before and one after, and in the evening two before and two after, and yet they teach in the evening first. The Thanna begins in the evening, then he teaches in the morning; as he treats of the morning, so he explains the things of the morning, and then he explains the things of the evening.
This is less than one fourth part of the comment in the Gemara on that passage in the Mishna, and the remainder is equally lucid and interesting.
Subsidiaries to the Talmud, printed either in the margin of the pages or at the end of the treatises, are
(1) the Tosaphoth, exegetical additions by later authors;
(2) Masorah ha-shesh Sedarim, being marginal Masoretic indices to the six orders of the Mishna;
(3) Ain or En-Mishpat, i.e. index of places on the rites and institutions;
(4) Ner Mitsvoth, a general index of decisions according to the digest of Maimonides; and
(5) Perushim, or commentaries by different authors.
IV. Literary Uses. The Talmud has been applied to the criticism and interpretation of the Old Test. Most of its citations, however, agree with the present Masoretic text. It has probably been conformed to the Masoretic standard by the rabbins, at least in the later editions. For variations, SEE QUOTATIONS OF THE OLD TEST
. IN THE TALMUD; for the interpretation, SEE SCRIPTURE INTERPRETATION AMONG THE JEWS.
The Talmud has also been used in the illustration of the New Test. by Lightfoot, Schttgen, Meuschen, Wettstein, Gfrorer, Robertson, Nork, Delitzsch, Wnsche. But in this department, also, its utility has been overestimated, and by none more than by Lightfoot himself, who says, in the dedication prefixed to his Talmudical exercitations, Christians, by their skill and industry, may render them (the Talmudic writings) most usefully serviceable to their students, and most eminently tending to the interpretations of the New Test. But not so Isaac Vossius, who said Lightfoot would have sinned less by illustrating the evangelists from the Koran than these nebulae rabbinicae, and exclaimed, Sit modus ineptiendi et cessent tandem aliquando miseri Christiani Judaicis istiusmodi fidere fabellis! (Let Christians at length cease from playing the fool and trusting to such wretched Jewish fables as those contained in the Talmud!) The mistake of Lightfoot is repeated by Wnsche, in his Neue Beitrage zur Erluterung der Evangelien aus Talmud und Midrash (Gtt. 1878 ), whose modus illustrandi et interpretandi is like a Jew writing an apology for Judaism’; hence great caution must be exhibited in the perusal of the latter’s work. There is only one way of using the Talmud for the New Test., for which SEE SERMON ON THE MOUNT AND THE TALMUD. For the Old Test. as it was in the time of the Talmud, see the next article.
V. Apparatus for Study of the Talmud.
1. Manuscripts. Like the text of the Old Test., the Talmud was copied with the greatest care during the Middle Ages; but, like a good many other works, these MSS. have become the prey of time, and only a few of them are extant. All that is known is (1) the first division of the Jerusalem Talmud in possession of the Jewish congregation at Constantinople; (2) a complete copy of the Babylonian Talmud from the year 1343 in the Royal Library at Munich; (3) a fragment of the same, evidently older than No. 2, in the same place; (4) a fragment: of the same from the year 1134 in the- Hamburg City Library; (5) the treatise Sanhedrin according to the Babylonian redaction, and belonging to the 12th century, in the Ducal Library at Carlsruhe; (6) some fragments with valuable variations, preserved at the University Library of Breslau. There is no doubt that in some libraries fragments may yet be found, if the covers of old books should be properly examined, for which they have been used by ignorant binders. That such, was the case we not only know from the fragments at: the Breslau University, but from a more recent discovery of W.H. Lowe, who published the Fragment of the Talmud Babli Pesachim of the 9th or 10th Century, in the University Library at Cambridge, with Notes and Ca Facsimile (Lond. 1879).
2. Editions. Like the Old Test., at first only parts of the Talmud were published, on which see De Rossi,. Annales Haebraeo-typographici Sec. XV (Parmse, 1795). The first part of the Talmud, the treatise Berakoth, was published at Soncino in 1484; but the first complete edition (the basis of later ones) was published by Bomberg (Venice, 1520-23, 12 vols. fol.) (a complete. copy of which is in the libraries of Cassel and Leipsic). Since that time editions have been published at different places, which are enumerated by R. N. Rabbinowicz, in his , or Kritische Uebersicht der Gesammtund Einzelausgaben des babylonischenTalmuds seit 1484 (Munich, 1877) (with the exception of the German title-page, the rest is in Hebrew). The Jerusalem Talmud was first published by D. Bomberg (Venice, 1523); then with brief glosses (Cracov. 1609;. Dessau, 1743; Berlin, 1757; Schitomir, 1860-67,4 vols fol.; Krotoschin, 1866, fol.). A new edition of Bomberg’s, with commentaries, was commenced by the late Dr. Z. Frankel, of which, however, only the first division was published (Vienna, 1875-76).
3. Translations. There exists as yet no complete translation of either of the Talmuds in any language. The Arabic translation, said to have been prepared in A. D. 1000, at the will of king Hashem of Spain, is no longer extant. A large portion of the Jerusalem Talmud is found in a Latin translation in Ugolino, Thesaur Antiq. Sacr., viz. Pesachim (vol. 17), Shekalim, Yoma, Sukkah, Rosh Hashshanah, Taanith, Megillah, Chagigah, Bezah, Moed Katon (vol. 18), Maaseroth, Challah, Orlah, Bikkurimr (vol. 20), Sanhedrin, Makkoth (vol 25), Kiddushin, Sotah, Kethuboth (vol. 30). In thesame work we also find three treatises of the Babvlonians Talmud, viz., Zebachim, Menachoth (vol. 19), and Sanhedrin (vol. 25). Into French, the treatises Berakoth, Peah, Dema’, Kilayim, Shebiith, Terumoth, Maaseroth, Maaser Sheni, Challah, Orlah, Bikkurim of the Jerusalem Talmud were translated by M. Schwab (Paris, 187279). The treatise Berakoth according to the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds was also translated into French by L. Chiarini (Leips. 1831) and into German by Rabe (Halle, 1777). Of the Babylonian Talmud we have German translations of Berakoth by Pinner (Berlin, 1842); of Baba Metsia by A. Sammter (ibid. 1876-79); of Aboda Zarah by F. Chr. Ewald (Nuremb. 1868).
These are all the translations, which are known to us.
4. Monographs. Since the Talmud is the great storehouse of all and everything, different branches of science and religion, have been treated in monographs. Thus, on
a. Botany: by Duschak, Zur Botanik des Talmud (Leips. 1870).
b. Civil and criminal law: by Frankel, Der gerichtliche Beweis nach nos. talmudischem Rechte, Ein Beitrag zur Kentniss des mos. talmudischen Criminal u. Civilrechts (Berlin, 1846); Duschak, Das mosaisch- talmudische Eherecht, etc. (Vienna, 1864); Thonisson. LaPeine de Maort dars le Talmud (Bruxelles, 1866); Bloch, Das mosaisch talmudische Polizeirecht (Leips. 1.879 ) Lichtschein, Die Ehe nach mosaisch- talmudischer Auffassung und das mosaisch-talmudische Eherecht (ibid. 1879); Fassel, Das mosdisch-rabbinische Gerichts- Verfamhren itrr icioilrechtlichen Sachen, etc. (Vienna, 1858); Frankel, Grundlinien des mosaisch-talmudischen Eherechts (Breslau, 1860); Mielziner, Die Verhiatnisse der Sklaven bei den alten Hebraern nach bibl. u. talmud. Quellen dargestellt (Leips. 1859).
c. Coins and weights: by B. Zuckermann, Ueber talxnudische Mnzen und Gewichte (Breslauj 1862).
d. Education; S. Marcus, Zur Schul-Pddagogik des Talmud (Berlin, 1866); Simon, L’Education et l’Instruction des Enfants chez les Anciens Juifs d’apres la Bible elle Talmud (Leips. 1879); Sulzbach, Die Pddagogik des Talmud (Frankf.-on-the-Main, 1863). SEE SCHOOLS in this Cyclopaedia.
e. Ethics mniaxims, proverbs, etc. Lazarus, Zur Charakteristik der talmudischen .Ethik (Breslau, 1877 ); maxims and proverbs are given by Dukes, Rabbinische Blumenlese (Leips. 1844), in (Warsaw, 1874), and by A. Franck, Les Sentences et Proverbes du Talmud et du Midrash, in the (Paris) Journal des Savants, Nov. 1878, p. 659-676; Dec. p. 709-721.
f. Geography: by A. Neubauer, La Geographie du Talmud, Memoire couronne par I’Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres (Paris, 1868).
g. Mathematics:, by Zuckermann, Das mathematische him Talmud (Breslau, 1878); id. Das jiidische Mass System (ibid. 1867).
h. Medicine: Wunderbar, Biblisch-talmudische Medicin (Riga, 1852-59); Halpern, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der talmudische Chirurgie (Breslau, 1869).
i. Magic Brecher, Das Transcendentale, Magie u. magische Heilarten in Talmud (Vierina, 1850).
j. Psychology: Jacobson, Versuch einer Psychologie des Talmud (Hamburg, 1878).
k. Religious philosophy: Nager, Die Religions philosophie des Talmud (Leips. 1864).
l. Zoology: Lewysohn, Zur Zoologie des Talmud (Frankf. on-the-Main, 1858).
m. Labor and handicraft: S. Meyer, Arbeit und Handwerkim Talmud (Berlin, 1878); Delitzsch, Jdisches Handwerkerleben zur Zeit Jesu (3d ed. Erlangen, 1879). The latter wrote also on the colors in the Talmud in Nord und Sd, May 1878.
n. Biblical Antiquities: Hamburger, Biblisch- Talmudisch. Worterbuch (Neu-Strelitz, 1861).
o. Textual Criticism. Lebrecht, Kritische Lese veribes serter Lesarten zum Talmud (Berlin, 1864); Rabbiowicz, Varice Lectiones in Mischnam et in Talmud Babygonicum quum ex aliis Libris Antiquissimis et Scriptis et Impressis tumn e Codice Monacensi Pracstantissimo collecicae, Annotationibus instructee (pt. 1-8, Munich, 1868-77).
6. Bibliography. Pinner, in his preface to Berakoth, p. 9 sq.; Beer, in Frankel’s Monatsschrift, 1857, p. 456458; Lebrecht, Handschriften und erste Gesammtausgaben des babyl. Talmud, in den wissenschaftlichen Blttern des Berliner Bethha Midrasch (Berlin, 1862); Steinschneider, Bebraische Bibliographie. (1863), 6:39 sq.; De Rossi, Annales Hebraeo- typographici Sec. XV (Parma. 1795); id. De Hebraicce Typographice Origine ac Primitiis, etc. (ibid.1776).
7. Linguistic Helps. Buxtorf, Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum et Rabbinicum (Basil. 1640, fohl.; new ed. by B. Fischer, Leipsic, 1869-75); Lowy, Neuhebrdisches uend chaldaisches Wrterbuch, etc. (ibid. 1875; in the course of publication); ruch, by Nathan ben-Jechiel; new critical edition by A. Kohut, Plenum Arich Targum Talmudico-Midrasch Verbale et Reale Lexicon (Vienna, 1878 sq.); Brull, Fremdsprachliche Redensarten, etc. (Leipsic, 1869); Geiger, Zur Geschichte der talmudischen Lexicographie, in Zeitschri td. D. M. G. 1858. 12:142; Stein, Talmudische Terminologie (Prague, 1869); Zuckermandel, in Gratz’s Monattsschrift, 1873, p. 421430, 475-477; 1874, p. 30-44, 130-138, 183-189, 213-222; Rilf, Zur Lautlehre der aramadisch-talmudischen Dialecte, i, Die Kehllaute (Leipsic, 1879); Berliner, Beitrage zur hebrqischen Grammatik im Talmud und Midrash (Berlin, 1879); Kalisch [I.], Sketch of the Talmud, including, the Sepher Jezirah, with Translation, Notes, and Glossary (N.Y. 1877).
8. Literature in General. Treatises on the Talmud have been written in different languages, and their number-is legion. To enumerate them would be not only tedious, but useless, because, written from a certain standpoint, they only give one side of the question. Such are the treatises of Deutsch, written for the glorification of modern Judaism, and repeated by Schwab in his introduction to his treatise Berakoth (Paris, 1871), and of Rohling and Martin, written in a hostile spirit against Judaism, because more or less dependent on Eisenmenger’s Entdecktes- Judenthum (Knigsberg, 1711, 2 vols.). Quite different is the work of A. M’Caul, The Old Paths (Lond. 1854), and the Pentateuch according to the Talmud (vol. 1, Genesis, ibid. 1874) by P. J. Hershon, because tending to show how Pharisaism has made the law of God void by a multitude of traditions. We therefore confine ourselves to such works as will give the reader the necessary information on the Talmud, viz. Wihner, Antiquitates Ebrceorum (1743), 1, 231-584; Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebraea, 2. 657-993; 4:320 456; Brill, Die Entstehungsgeschichte des babyl. Talmuds, in his Jahrbcher (Frankfort- on-the-Main, 1876), 2, 1-123; Auerbach, Das jdische Obligationsrecht, 1, 62-114; Frankel, Introductio in Talmud Hierosolymitanum (Breslau, 1870 [Heb.]); Wiesner, Gib’eth Jeruschalaim, ed. Smolensky (Vienna, 1872 [Heb.]); Frst, Literaturblatt des Orients, 1843, No. 48-51; 1850, No. 1 sq.; id. Kultur u. Literaturgeschichte der Juden in Asien (1849), vol. 1; Zunz, Die Gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der Juden, p. 51-55, 94; Jost. Gesch. d. Israeliten, 4:222 sq., 323-328; id. Gesch. d. Judenthums u.s. Secten, 2, 202-212; Gratz, Gesch. d. Juden, 4:384, 408-412 sq.; Frankel, Monatsschrift, 1851-52, p. 3640, 70-80, 203-220, 403-421, 509-521; 1861, p. 186-194, 205-212, 256-272; 1871, p. 120-137; Geiger, Judische Zeitschrift, 1870, p. 278-306; Pinner, Compendium des hierosolym, und babylon. Talmud (Berlin, 1832); id. Einleitung in den Talmud, in his translation of Berakoth, fol. 1-12; Schurer, Handbuch der neutestam. Zeitgeschichte (Leipsic, 1874), p. 37-49: Pressel, art. Talmud, in Herzog’s Real-Encyklop.; Davidson, in Kitto’s Cyclop. s.v.; Mausseaux, Le Juif, le Judaisme, et la Judaisation (Paris, 1869), p. 76 sq.; Bernstein, , an apology for the Talmud (Odessa, 1868); Waldberg, , or explanation of the logic of the Talmud (Lemberg, 1876). The expurgated passages are collected by Meklenburg in ; the difficult passages of the Talmud, which are explained by Raschi, are found.in (Schitomir, 1874); Jacob Brill, , or Mnemotechnik des Talmuds (Vienna, 1864 [Heb.]); Bacher, Die Agada der babylonischen Amorder, AEin Beitrag zur Geschichte der Agadd und zur Einleitung in den babylonischen Talmud (Strasburg, 1878); Friedlander, Geschichtsbilder aus der Zeit der Tanaiten und Ainorder, Ein Beitrag zu Geschichte des Talnmuds (Brinn, 1879). The Hagadoth contained in both Talmuds are collected in Jacob ibn Chabib’s (latest edition Wilna, 1877). See Frst, Bibl. Jud. 1, 151; Wolf, Bibl. Heb. 1, 590 sq.; 3, 456 sq.; 4:866 sq.; and in Jafe’s (comp. Wolf, ibid. 1, 1204; 3, 1109; Furst, 2, 9,96); the Tosephta is now in course of being edited by Dr. M. S. Zuckermandel (Berlin, 1876 sq.); Schwarz, Die Tosifta der Ordnung Moed in ihremn Verhdltniss zur Mischna kritisch untersucht, Pt. 1, Der Tractat Sabbath (Carlsruhe, 1879.); Jellinek, Hagadische Hermeneutik mit Midrasch-Coommenfar (Vienna, 1878); Placzek, Die Agada unnd der Darwinismus, in the Juid. Literaturblattf vol. 7 No. 1, 6, 8,11, 13,16,17, 23-31; Mihlfelder, Rab: ein Lebens bild zur Geschichte des Talmud (Leips. 1871); Fessler, Mar Samuel, der bedeutendste Amora, Ein Beitrg zur Kunde des Talmud (Breslau, 1879); Hoffmann, Mar Samuel, R.ector der jdischen Akademie zu Nehardea in Babylonien (Leips. 1873). (B. P.)
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Talmud
TALMUD (learning)
1. Origin and character.The Jews have always drawn a distinction between the Oral Law, which was handed down for centuries by word of mouth, and the Written Law, i.e. the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses. Both, according to Rabbinical teaching, trace their origin to Moses himself. It has been a fundamental principle of all times that by the side of the Written Law, regarded as a summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people, there was this Oral Law to complete and explain the Written Law. It was an article of faith that in the Pentateuch there was no precept and no regulation, ceremonial, doctrinal, or legal, of which God had not given to Moses all explanations necessary for their application, together with the order to transmit them by word of mouth. The classical passage on this subject runs: Moses received the (oral) law from Sinai, and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue (Pirqe Aboth, l. 1). This has long been known to be nothing more than a myth; the Oral Law, although it no doubt contains elements which are of great antiquitye.g. details of folklorereally dates from the time that the Written Law was read and expounded in the synagogues. Thus we are told that Ezra introduced the custom of having the Torah (Law) read in the synagogues at the morning service on Mondays and Thursdays (i.e. the days corresponding to these); for on these days the country people flocked to the towns from the neighbouring districts, as they were the market days. The people had thus an opportunity, which would otherwise have been lacking to them, of hearing the Law read and explained. These explanations of the Law, together with the results of the discussions of them on the part of the spherm (scribes), formed the actual Oral Law. The first explanatory term applied by the Jews to the Oral Law was midrash (investigation), and the Bible itself witnesses to the way in which such investigations were made and expounded to the people: Also Jeshua and Bani and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law; and the people stood in their place. And they read in the book, in the law of God, with an interpretation; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading (Neh 8:7-8). But it is clear that the investigations must have led to different explanations; so that in order to fix authoritatively what in later days were considered the correct explanations, and thus to ensure continuity of teaching, it became necessary to reduce these to writing; there arose thus (soon after the time of Shammai and Hillel) the Former Mishna (Mishna Rishonah), Mishna meaning Second Law. This earliest Mishna, which, it is probable, owed its origin to pupils of Shammai and Hillel, was therefore compiled for the purpose of affording teachers both a norm for their decisions and a kind of book of reference for the explanation of difficult passages. But the immense amount of floating material could not be incorporated into one work, and when great teachers arose they sometimes found it necessary to compile their own Mishna; they excluded much which the official Mishna contained, and added other matter which they considered important. This was done by Rabbi Aqiba, Rabbi Meir, and others. But it was not long before the confusion created by this state of affairs again necessitated some authoritative, officially recognized action. It was then that Jehudah ha-Nasi undertook his great redaction of the Mishna, which has survived substantially to the present day. Jehudah ha-Nasi was born about a.d. 135 and died about a.d. 220; he was the first of Hillels successors to whose name was added the title ha-Nasi (the Prince); this is the way in which he is usually referred to in Rabbinical writings; he is also spoken of as Rabbi, i.e. master par excellence, and occasionally as ha-Qadosh, the Holy, on account of his singularly pure and moral life. Owing to his authority and dignity, the Mishna of Jehudah ha-Nasi soon superseded all other collections, and became the only one used in the schools; the object that Jehudah had had in view, that, namely, of restoring uniform teaching, was thus achieved. The Mishna as we now have it is not, however, quite as it was when it left Jehudahs hands; it has undergone modifications of various kinds: additions, emendations, and the like having been made even in Jehudahs life-time, with his acquiescence, by some of his pupils. The language of the Mishna approximates to that of some of the latest books of the OT, and is known by the name of Neo-Hebraic; this was the language spoken in Palestine during the second century a.d.; It has a considerable intermixture of foreign elements, especially Greek words Hebraized.
The Mishna is divided into six Sedarim (Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] for Orders), and each Seder contains a number of treatises; each treatise is divided into chapters, and these again into paragraphs. The names of the six Orders, which to some extent indicate their contents, are: Zeraim (Seeds), containing eleven treatises; Moed (Festival), containing twelve treatises; Nashim (Women), containing seven treatises; Nezikin (Injuries), containing ten treatises [this Order is called also Yeshuoth (Deeds of help)]; Qodashim (Holy things), containing eleven treatises; and Tohroth (Purifications), containing twelve treatises.
Now the Mishna forms the basis of the Talmud; for just as the Mishna is a compilation of expositions, comments, etc., of the Written Law, and embodies in itself the Oral Law, so the Talmud is an expansion, by means of comment and explanation, of the Mishna; as the Mishna contains the Pentateuch, with all the additional explanatory matter, so the Talmud contains the Mishna with a great deal more additional matter. The Talmud is practically a mere amplification of the Mishna by manifold comments and additions; so that even those portions of the Mishna which have no Talmud are regarded as component parts of it. The history of the origin of the Talmud is the same as that of the Mishnaa tradition, transmitted orally for centuries, was finally cast into definite literary form, although from the moment in which the Talmud became the chief subject of study in the academies it had a double existence (see below), and was accordingly, in its final stage, redacted in two different forms (Bacher in JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] xii. 3b). Before coming to speak of the actual Talmud itself, it may be well to explain some terms without an understanding of which our whole subject would be very inadequately understood:
Halakhah.Under this term the entire legal body of Jewish oral tradition is included; it comes from a verb meaning to go, and expresses the way of going or acting, i.e. custom, usage, which ultimately issues in law. Originally it was used in the plural form Halakhoth, which had reference to the multifarious civil and ritual laws, customs, decrees etc., as handed down by tradition, which were not, however, of Scriptural authority. It was these Halakboth which were codified by Jehudah ha-Nasi, and to which the term Mishna became applied. Sometimes the word Halakhah is used for tradition, which is binding, in contradistinction to Dn, argument (lit. judgment), which is not necessarily binding.
Haggadah (from the root meaning to narrate).This includes the whole of the non-legal matter of Rabbinical literature, such as homilies, stories about Biblical saints and heroes; besides this it touches upon such subjects as astronomy, astrology, medicine, magic, philosophy, and all that would come under the term folklore. This word, too, was originally used in the plural Haggadoth. Haggadah is also used in a special sense of the ritual for Passover Eve.
Gemara.This is an Aramaic word from the root meaning to learn, and has the signification of that which has been learned, i.e. learning that has been handed down by tradition (Bacher in JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] , art. Talmud); it has also the meaning completion; in this sense it came to be used as a synonym of Talmud.
Baraitha.This is an apocryphal Halakhah. When Jehudah ha-Nasi compiled his Mishna, there was a great deal of the Oral Tradition which he excluded from it (see above); other teachers, however, the most important of whom was Rabbi Chijja, gathered these excluded portions into a special collection; these Halakhoth, which are known as Baraithoth, were incorporated into the Talmud; the discussions on them in the Talmud occupy many folios.
Tannaim (Teachers).This was the technical name applied to the teachers of the Mishna; after the close of the Mishna period those who explained it were no more called Teachers, but only Commentators (Amoram); the dicta of the Tannaim could not be questioned excepting by a Tannaite, but an exception was made in the case of Jehudah ha-Nasi, who was permitted to question the truth of Tannaite pronouncements.
There are two Talmuds, the Jerusalem or Talmud of Palestine and the Babylonian, known respectively by their abbreviated forms Yerushalmi and Babli. The material which went to make up the Yerushalmi had been preparing in the academies, the centres of Jewish learning, of Palestine, chief among which was Tiberias; it was from here that Rabbi Jochanan issued the Yerushalmi, in its earliest form, during the middle of the 3rd cent. a.d. The first editor, or at all events the first compiler, of the Babli was Rabbi Ashi (d. a.d. 430), who presided over the academy of Sura. Both these Talmuds were constantly being added to, and the Yerushalmi was not finally closed until the end of the 4th cent., the Babli not until the beginning of the 6th. The characteristics which differentiated the academies of Palestine from those of Babylonia have left their marks upon the two Talmuds: in Palestine the tendency was to preserve and stereotype tradition, without permitting it to develop itself along natural channels; the result was that the Yerushalmi became choked with traditionalism, circumscribed in its horizon, and in consequence was regarded with less veneration than the Babli, and has always occupied a position of subordinate importance in comparison with this latter. In the Babylonian academies, on the other band, there was a wider outlook, a freer mental atmosphere, and, while tradition was venerated, it was not permitted to impede development in all directions; the Babli therefore absorbed the thought and learning of all Israels teachers, and is richer in material, and of more importance generally, than the Yerushalmi. In order to give some idea of what the Talmud is, and of the enormous masses of material gathered together there, the following example may be cited, abbreviated from Bacher (op. cit. xii. 5). It will be remembered that the Talmud is a commentary on the Mishna. In the beginning of the latter occurs this paragraph: During what time in the evening is the reading of the Shema begun? From the time when the priests go in to eat their leaven (Lev 22:7) until the end of the first watch of the night, such being the words of R. Eliezer. The sages, however, say until midnight, though R. Gamaliel says until the coming of the dawn. This is the text upon which the Yerushalmi then comments in three sections; the first section contains the following: a citation from a bariatha with two sayings from R. Jose to elucidate it; remarks on the position of one who is in doubt whether he has read the Shema; another passage from a baraitha, designating the appearance of the stars as an indication of the time in question; further explanations and passages on the appearance of the stars as bearing on the ritual; other Rabbinical sayings; a baraitha on the division between day and night, and other passages bearing on the same subject; discussion of other baraithas, and further quotations from important Rabbis; a sentence of Tannaitic origin in no way related to the preceding matters, namely, One who prays standing must bold his feet straight, and the controversy on this subject between Rabbis Levi and Simon, the one adding, like the angels, the other, like the priests; comments on these two comparisons; further discussion concerning the beginning of the day; Haggadic statements concerning the dawn; a conversation between two Rabbis; cosmological comments; dimensions of the firmament, and more Haggadic comments in abundance; a discussion on the night-watches; Haggadic material concerning David and his harp. Then comes the second section, namely, a Rabbinical quotation; a baraitha on the reading of the Shema in the synagogue; other Rabbinical and Haggadic matter; further Haggadic sayings; lastly, section 3 gives R. Gamaliels view compared with that of another Rabbi, together with a question which remains unanswered.
This is, of course, the merest skeleton of an example of the mass of commentary which is devoted to the Mishna, section by section. Although the Haggadic element plays a much less Important rle than the Halakhic, still the former is well represented, and is often employed for purposes of edification and rebuke, as well as for instruction. The following outline of a Haggadic passage from the Yerushalmi will serve as an example; It is intended as a rebuke to Scandal-mongers, and a text (Deu 1:12) is taken as a starting-point, namely, How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife? It then continues: How did our forefathers worry Moses with their cumbrances? In that they were constantly slandering him, and imputing evil intentions to him in everything that he did. If he happened to come out of his house rather earlier than usual, it was said: Why has he gone out so early to-day? There has no doubt been some quarrelling at home! If, on the other hand, he went out a little later than usual, it was said: What has been occupying him so long indoors? Assuredly he has been concocting plans to oppress the people yet morel (Bernfeld, Der Talmud, p. 46). Or, to give one other example: in pointing out the evils which come from a fathers favouring one son above the others, it is said: This should not be done, for because of the coat of many colours which the patriarch Jacob gave his favourite son Joseph (Gen 37:1 ff.), all Israel went down into Egypt (ib. p. 47).
Haggadoth flourish, as regards quality, more in the Yerushalmi than in the Babli; for in the Babylonian schools intellectual acumen reigned supreme: there was but little room for the play of the emotions or for the development of poetical imagination: these were rather the property of Palestinian soil. Therefore, although the Haggadic element is, so far as quantity is concerned, much fuller in the Babli than in the Yerushalmi, it is, generally speaking, of a far less attractive character in the former than in the latter. The fact that the Haggadah is much more prominent in Babli, of which it forms, according to Weiss, more than one-third, while it constitutes only one-sixth of Yerushalmi, was due, in a sense, to the course of the development of Hebrew literature. No independent mass of Haggadoth developed in Babylon, as was the case in Palestine; and the Haggadic writings were accordingly collected in the Talmud (JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] xii. 12). But the Haggadah, whether in the Yerushalmi or in the Babli, occupies in reality a subordinate place, for in its origin, as we have seen, the Talmud was a commentary on the Mishna, which was a collection of Halakhoth; and although the Haggadic portions are of much greater human interest, it is the Halakhic portions that form the bulk of the Talmud, and that constitute its importance as the fountain-head of Jewish belief and theology.
2. Authority of the Talmud.Inasmuch as the Oral Law, which with its comments and explanations is what constitutes the Talmud, is regarded as of equal authority with the Written Law, it will be clear that the Talmud is regarded, at all events by orthodox Jews, as the highest and final authority on all matters of faith. It is true that in the Talmud itself the letter of Scripture is always clearly differentiated from the rest; but, in the first place, the comments and explanations declare what Scripture means, and without this official explanation the Scriptural passage would lose much of its practical value for the Jew; and, in the second place, it is firmly believed that the oral laws preserved in the Talmud were delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that the Talmud is of equal authority with Scripture. The eighth principle of the Jewish creed runs: I firmly believe that the Law which we possess now is the same which has been given to Moses on Mount Sinai. In commenting on this in what may not unjustly be described as the official handbook for the orthodox Jewish Religion, the writer says: Many explanations and details of the laws were supplemented by oral teaching; they were handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and only after the destruction of the second temple were they committed to writing. The latter are, nevertheless, called Oral Law, as distinguished from the Torah or Written Law, which from the first was committed to writing. Those oral laws which were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai are called Laws given to Moses on Mount Sinai (M. Friedlnder, The Jewish Religion [revised and enlarged ed., 1900], p. 136). It is clear from this that the Written Law of the Bible, and the Oral Law as contained in the Talmud, are of equal authority. The Talmud is again referred to as the final authority in Judaism by the writer of a later exposition of the Jewish faith (M. Joseph, Judaism as Creed and Life, 1903, p. vii.). One other authoritative teacher may be quoted: As a document of religion the Talmud acquired that authority which was due to it as the written embodiment of the ancient tradition, and it fulfilled the task which the men of the Great Assembly set for the representatives of the tradition when they said, Make a hedge for the Torah (Aboth, i. 2). Those who professed Judaism felt no doubt that the Talmud was equal to the Bible as a source of instruction and decision in problems of religion, and every effort to set forth religious teachings and duties was based on it. And speaking of the present day, the same writer says: For the majority of Jews it is still the supreme authority in religion (Bacher in JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.] xii. 26).
3. The Talmud and Christianity.Much that is written in the Talmud was originally spoken by men who were contemporaries of Christ; men who must have seen and heard Him. It is, moreover, well known what a conflict was waged in the infant Church regarding that question of the admittance of Gentiles, the result of which was an irreconcilable breach between Jew and Gentile, and an ever-increasing antagonism between Judaism and Christianity. These facts lead to the supposition that references to Christ and Christianity should be found in the Talmud. The question as to whether such references are to be found or not is one which cannot yet be said to have been decided one way or the other. The frequent mention of the Minim is held by many to refer to Christians; others maintain that by these are meant philosophizing Jews, who were regarded as heretics. This is not the place to discuss the question; we can only refer to two works, which approach it from different points of view, and which deal very adequately with it: Christianity in Talmud and Midrash, by R. T. Herford (London, 1903), and Die religisen Bewegungen innerhalb des Judenthums im Zeitatter Jesu, by M. Friedlnder (Berlin, 1905).
W. O. E. Oesterley.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Talmud
Although we do not meet with this word in the Bible, yet as the Jews are very tenacious of what they called their Talmud, I thought it might not be amiss just to notice it in a short way. The word Talmud or Thalmud, means to teach. And the Talmud contains the substance of the Jews’ doctrine and traditions in religion and morality. They have the Talmud of Jerusalem, and the Talmud of Babylon, according to the different periods in which they were compiled. As may be supposed, it consists in a multitude of unfounded histories: in many it is to be feared act unlike the Apocrypha. Since the invention of printing, there have been copies of them from the press.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Talmud
talmud (, 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.Zeraim, Seeds
2.Moedh, 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 Sedher
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’m); (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 higgdh, 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 Shulhan 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 Akiba circa 110-35 AD, if not by an earlier scholar. His work formed the basis of that of Rabbi Me’r, and this again was the basis of the edition of the Mishna by Rabbi Jehudah ha-Nasi’. In this Mishna, the Mishna par excellence, the anonymous portions generally, although not always, reproduce the views of Rabbi Me’r. 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 (sedharm) or chief parts, the names of which indicate their chief contents, namely, Zeram, Agriculture; Moedh, Feasts; Nashm, Women; Nezkn, Civil and Criminal Law; Kodhashm, Sacrifices; Teharoth, Unclean Things and Their Purification.
The orders are divided into tracts (massekheth, plural massikhtoth), now 63, and these again into chapters (perek, plural perakm), and these again into paragraphs (mishnayoth). It is Customary to cite the Mishna according to tract chapter and paragraph, e.g. Sanh. (Sanhedhrn) 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. Zeraim, Seeds:
(1) Berakhoth, Benedictions: Hear, O Israel (Deu 6:4, shema’); the 18 benedictions, grace at meals, and other prayers.
(2) Pe’ah, Corner of the field (Lev 19:9 f; Deu 24:19 ff).
(3) Dema’, 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 (Lev 19:19; Deu 22:9 ff).
(5) Shebhth, Seventh Year, Sabbatical year (Exo 23:11; Lev 25:1 ff); Shemikkah (Deu 15:1 ff).
(6) Terumoth, Heave Offerings for the priests (Num 18:8 ff; Deu 18:4).
(7) Maaseroth or Maaser r’shon, First Tithe (Num 18:21 ff).
(8) Maaser shen, Second Tithe (Deu 14:22 ff).
(9) Hallah, (offering of a part of the) Dough (Num 15:18 ff).
(10) Orlah, Foreskin of fruit trees during the first three years (Lev 19:23).
(11) Bikkurm, First-Fruits (Deu 26:1 ff; Exo 23:19).
2. Moedh, Feasts:
(1) Shabbath (Exo 20:10; Exo 23:12; Deu 5:14).
(2) Erubhn, Mixtures, i.e. ideal combination of localities with the purpose of facilitating the observance of the Sabbatical laws.
(3) Pesahm, Passover (Ex 12; Lev 23:5 ff; Num 28:16 ff; Deu 16:1); Numbers 9, the Second Passover (Num 9:10 ff).
(4) Shekalm, Shekels for the Temple (compare Neh 10:33; Exo 30:12 ff).
(5) Yoma’, The Day of Atonement (Lev 16).
(6) Sukkah, Booth, Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:34 ff; Num 29:12 ff; Deu 16:13 ff).
(7) Becah, Egg (first word of the treatise) or Yom tobh, Feast, on the difference between the Sabbath and festivals (compare Exo 12:10).
(8) Ro’sh ha-shanah, New Year, first day of the month Tishri (Lev 23:24 f; Num 29:1 ff).
(9) Taanth, Fasting.
(10) Meghillah, The Roll of Esther, Purim (Est 9:28).
(11) Moedh katan, Minor Feast, or Mashkin, 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) Haghghah, Feast Offering, statutes relating to the three feasts of pilgrimage (Passover, Weeks, Tabernacles); compare Deu 16:16 f.
3. Nashim, Women:
(1) Yebhamoth, Sisters-in-Law (perhaps better, Yebhamuth, Levirate marriage; Deu 25:5 ff; compare Rth 4:5; Mat 22:24).
(2) Kethubhoth, Marriage Deeds.
(3) Nedharm, Vows, and their annulment (Nu 30).
(4) Nazr, Nazirite (Nu 6).
(5) Gittn, Letters of Divorce (Deu 24:1; compare Mat 5:31).
(6) Sotah, The Suspected Woman (Num 5:11 ff).
(7) Kiddushn, Betrothals.
4. Nezikin, Damages:
(1) (2) and (3) Babha’ kamma’, Babha’ meca’, Babha’ bathra’, The First Gate, The Second Gate, The Last Gate, were in ancient times only one treatise called Nezkn: (a) Damages and injuries and the responsibility; (b) and (c) right of possession.
(4) and (5) Sanhedhrn, Court of Justice, and Makkoth Stripes (Deu 25:1 ff; compare 1Co 11:24). In ancient times only one treatise; criminal law and criminal proceedings.
(6) Shebhuoth, Oaths (Lev 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’m.
(10) Horayoth, (erroneous) Decisions, and the sin offering to be brought in such a case (Lev 4:13 ff).
5. Kodhashim, Sacred Things:
(1) Zebhahm, Sacrifices (Lev 1 ff).
(2) Menahoth, Meal Offerings (Lev 2:5, Lev 2:11 ff; Lev 6:7 ff; Num 5:15 ff, etc.).
(3) Hulln, Common Things, things non-sacred; slaughtering of animals and birds for ordinary use.
(4) Bekhoroth, The Firstborn (Exo 13:2, Exo 13:12 f; Lev 27:26 f, 32; Num 8:6 ff, etc.).
(5) Arakhn, Estimates, Valuations of persons and things dedicated to God (Lev 27:2 ff).
(6) Temurah, Substitution of a common (non-sacred) thing for a sacred one (compare Lev 27:10, Lev 27:33).
(7) Kerthoth, Excisions, the punishment of being cut off from Israel (Gen 17:14; Exo 12:15, etc.).
(8) Melah, Unfaithfulness, as to sacred things, embezzlement (Num 5:6 ff; Lev 5:15 f).
(9) Tamdh, The Daily Morning and Evening Sacrifice (Exo 29:38 ff; Nu Exo 38:3 ff).
(10) Middoth, Measurements of the Temple.
(11) Kinnm, Nests, the offering of two turtle-doves or two young pigeons (Lev 1:14 ff; Lev 5:1 ff; Lev 12:8).
6. Teharoth, Clean Things:
This title is used euphemistically for unclean things:
(1) Kelm, Vessels (Lev 6:20 f; Lev 11:32 ff; Num 19:14 ff; Num 31:20 ff).
(2) ‘Oholoth, Tents, the impurity originating with a corpse or a part of it (compare Num 19:14).
(3) Negham, Leprosy (Lev 13; 14).
(4) Parah, Red Heifer; its ashes used for the purpose of purification (Num 19:2 ff). See HEIFER, RED.
(5) Teharoth, Clean Things, euphemistically for defilements.
(6) Mikwa’oth, Diving-Baths (Lev 15:12; Num 31:33; Lev 14:8; Lev 15:5 ff; compare Mar 7:4).
(7) Niddah, The Menstruous (Lev 15:19 ff; 12).
(8) Makhshrn, Preparers, or Mashkn, 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 Lev 11:34, Lev 11:37 f) .
(9) Zabhm, Persons Having an Issue, flux (Lev 15).
(10) Tebhul yom, A Person Who Has Taken the Ritual Bath during the Day, and is unclean until sunset (Lev 15:5; Lev 22:6 f).
(11) Yadhayim, Hands, the ritual impurity of hands and their purification (compare Mat 15:2, Mat 15:20; Mar 7:22 ff).
(12) Ukcn, Stalks, the conveyance of ritual impurity by means of the stalks and hulls of plants.
V. The Palestinian Talmud.
Another name, Talmudh Yerushalm (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 sedharm 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: Hanna bar Hama, Jannai, Jonathan, Oshaya, the Haggadist Joshua ben Levi; 2nd generation: Johannan bar Nappaha, Simeon ben Lakish; 3rd generation: Samuel bar Nahman, Levi, Eliezer ben Pedath, Abbahu, Zeira (i); 4th generation: Jeremiah, Aha’, Abn (i), Judah, Huna; 5th generation: Jonah, Phinehas, Berechiah, Jose bar Abin, Man (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 sedher only Berakhoth has a Gemara; Shekalm in the 2nd sedher has in the manuscripts and in the editions the Palestinian Gemara; Middoth and Kinnm in the 5th sedher have no Babylonian Gemara. The greatest Jewish academies in Babylonia were in Nehardea, Sura, Pumbeditha and Mahuza.
Among the greatest Babylonian Amoraim are the following (compare Introduction, 99 ff): 1st generation: Abba Arkha or, shortly, Rab in Sura (died 247 AD). Mar Samuel in Nehardea (died 254 AD). 2nd generation: Rab Huna, Rab Judah (bar Ezekiel). 3rd generation: Rab Hisda, Rab Shesheth, Rab Nahman (bar Jacob), Rabbah () bar Hana, the story-teller, Rabbah bar Nahman, Rab Joseph (died 323 AD). 4th generation: Abaye, Raba () (bar Joseph). 5th generation: Rab Papa. 6th generation: Amemar, Rab Ash.
VII. The Non-Canonical Little Treatises and the Tosephta.
In the editions of the Babylonian Talmud after the 4th sedher 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 Sedher:
(1) ‘Abhoth deRabb Nathan, an expansion of the treatise ‘Abhoth, edition. S. Schechter, Vienna, 1887.
(2) Sopherm, edition Joel Muller, Leipzig, 1878.
(3) ‘Ebhel Rabbath, Mourning, or, euphemistically, Semahoth, Joys.
(4) Kallah, Bride.
(5) Derekh ‘erec, 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: Sepher Torah, Mezuzah, Tephilln, Ccth, Abhadhm, Kuthm (Samaritans), Germ (Proselytes).
The Tosephta’, a work parallel to Rabbi’s Mishna, is said to represent the views of R. Nehemiah, disciple of R. Akiba, edition. M. S. Zuckermandel, Posewalk, 1880. Zuckermandel tries to show that the Tosephta’ 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 sedharm 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 (sedharm 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 Yichak (died 1105); The Tosaphoth (see L. Zunz, Zur Geschichte und Literatur, Berlin, 1845, 29-60); Menahem ben Solomon or Me’r (1249-1306); Solomon Luria (died 1573), commonly called Maharshal; Bezaleel Ashkenaz (16th century), author of the Shittah Mekubbeceth; 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, Pirke ‘Abhoth, 4th edition, 1914, Shabbath, 2nd edition, 1914, Sanhedhrn, Makkoth, 1910, Pesahm 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; Sukkah, Latin: F. B. Dachs, Utrecht, 1726, 4to; Ro’sh ha-shanah, German: M. Rawicz, Frankfurt a. Main, 1886; Taanth German.: Straschun Halle, 1883; Haghghah, English: A. W. Streane Cambridge, 1891; Kethubhoth, German: M. Rawicz, 1891; Sotah, Latin: J. Chr. Wagenseil, Altdorf, 1674-78; Babha’ Meca’, German: A. Sammter, Berlin, 1876, fol; Sanhedhrn, Latin: Ugolini, Thesaurus, volume XXV, German.: M. Rawicz, 1892; Abhodhah Zarah, German: F. Chr. Ewald, Nurnberg, 1856; Zebhahn and Menahoth, Latin: Ugolini, Thesaurus, volume XIX; Hulln, German: M. Rawicz, Offenburg, 1908; Tamdh, 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 Habib in En Yaakobh, 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.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Talmud
(Learning) An encyclopedic work in Hebrew-Aramaic produced during 800 years (300 B.C.-500 A.D.) in Palestine and Babylon. Its six sedarim (orders) subdivided in 63 massektot (tractates) represent the oral tradition of Judaism expounding and developing the religious ideas and civil laws of the written special hermeneutic middot (measures) of law (i.e., the Hebrew Bible) by means of Rabbi Hillel, 13 of R. Ishmael and 32 of R. Eliezer of Galilee.
However, it is more than a mere commentary on the old testament, but a veritable storehouse of ancient Jewish philosophy, theology, history, ethics, sciences, folklore, etc., that accumulated during those eventful 8 centuries. The Talmud consists of an older layer, the Mishnah (q.v.) compiled in Palestine (200 A.D.) and younger layer — the Gemara (q.v.) as commentary on the former. The Gemara produced in Palestine together with the Mishnah is known as the Jerusalem Talmud (q.v.) and the Gemara produced in Babylon together with the same Mishnah is known as the Babylonian Talmud.
Contemporary with the Talmud developed a somehow similar literature closely related to the text of the Hebrew Bible and known as Midrash (interpretation), containing both halakah (law) and aggada (homily). — H.L.G.
Fuente: The Dictionary of Philosophy
Talmud
See JEWS.