Talmud

TALMUD, the great Rabbinical thesaurus which was reduced to writing during the second, fourth and sixth centuries of the Christian Era.

Contents.

The Talmud (Hebrew con sists of the Mishncih (Heb. repetition, a systematic collection of religious-legal decisions developing the laws of the Old Testament, and the Gemara (Aramaic tion, or perhaps also supplementary material, legal and otherwise. Mishnah stands in contrast to Miqrci its Aram. equivalent is Mathnitha, from tend, whence the appellation Tanna, These and the terms Gemara, Talmud, etc., are more fully ex plained in H. L. invaluable Einleitung in den Talmud (Leipzig, 1908), pp. 2 sqq. The whole was in two great re censions, Palestinian and Babylonian. Other material related to the Mishnah is preserved in the Tosephta (Aram. and the Midrcishim, and since all these, together with the Tar gfimim, represent the orthodox Rabbinical literature connecting the Old Testament with mediaeval and modern Judaism, the reader should also consult the articles JEWS (parts ii. and iii.), MIDRASH, TARGUM, and for more detailed and critical treatment the references given to the Jewish Encyclopedia.

The Mishnah is a more or less careful arrangement of the extant Oral Law (see below). It forms the foundation of the Gemara, and is divided into six Sedarim or Orders, each contain ing a number of Massekt5th cf. the etymology of or Tractates. These are subdivided into Peraqim ("sec tions") or chapters, and these again into paragraphs or sentences (Mishnayoth). For a full list of these and of editions and trans lations, see Jew. Enc.

The Origin of the Mishnah.

A careful distinction was drawn between the Written Law, the Mosaic Torah and the rest of the Scriptures and the Oral Law, or TOrah by Mouth (mg 3M) The latter has become codified in the nah. The traditional view is well illustrated in the words ascribed to R. Simeon Lakish, 3rd century A.D.: is that which is written, will give thee the tables of stone, and the Law and the Commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them (Ex. xxiv. 12) these are the Ten Words (the Decalogue) ; the is the Scripture; the that is the Mishnah : I have these are the Prophets and Writings (i.e., The Hagiographa), teach

that is the Gemara—thus instructing us that all these were given to Moses from Literary and historical criticism places the discussion on another basis when it treats the Mosaic TOrah in its present form as a post-exilic compilation (about 5th century B.c.) from sources differing in date, origin and history. There is no a priori reason why other legal enactments should not have been current when the compilation was first made; the Pentateuchal legislation is incomplete, and covers only a small part of the affairs of life. Laws must be adjusted from time to time to meet changing needs, and new teaching must justify itself by a re interpretation of the old writings. Just as the stern common law of the Semites was modified by the milder legislation of the Penta teuch, so, in process of time, further developments ensued. Rab binic law turned the Lex Talionis into monetary compensation. The Pharisees were the liberalizing party and stood for the Spirit of the Scriptures, to the letter of which the conservative Sadducees clung. (For an illuminating example see J. Z. Lauterbach in Heb. Union College Annual, iv. Cincinnati, 1927, pp. 173 seq.) It is probable that this process was largely an unconscious one ; and even if conscious, the analogy of the conventional "legal fiction" and the usual anxiety to avoid the appearance of novelty is enough to show that it is not to be condemned. Contemporary custom or ideals could appear to have ancient precedents, or by means of an exegetical process they could be directly connected with old mod els. In the Old Testament many laws in the Mosaic legislation are certainly post-Mosaic and the value of not a few narratives lies, not in their historical or biographical information, but in their treatment of law, ritual, custom, belief, etc. Thus, the problem of the origin or antiquity of the unwritten Oral Law, a living and fluid thing, lies outside the scope of criticism ; of greater utility is the study of the particular forms the laws have taken in the writ ten sources which from time to time embody the ever-changing legacy of the past.