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Babylonian Talmud

Edited by Jacob Neusner

Compiles rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, ethics, and customs
One of Judaism's most important documents
Complete text of the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud)
16,000+ pages, all fully searchable
SRP: $99.95 - Introductory special: $79.95

How the Talmud came into existence: The Mishnah

The code and commentary, the Mishnah and the Gemara, begin in the oral Torah of Moses (Scripture) and in significant measure carry forward the Scripture's law and theology. Judaism maintains that the traditions of law found in the Mishnah derive from God's revelation to Moses at Sinai. That claim registers in the opening sentence of tractate Abot, "The Fathers," written ca. 250 C.E., and tacked onto the Mishnah as an explanation of its origin and authority. It states, "Moses received Torah at Sinai and handed it on to Joshua, Joshua to elders, and elders to prophets. And prophets handed it on to the men of the great assembly." This oral Torah is represented by sayings not found in Scripture and was set forth by sages who were not credited with the authorship of scriptural books. What is implicit, then, is that an oral component of the instruction of Sinai alongside the written component of the Scripture form the medium of God's revelation to the Israelite community. The chain of tradition extends to Judaic sages whose names are frequently cited in the Mishnah. The conclusion follows, then, that the Mishnah's contents originate in the oral part of the Torah and complement the written part of the Torah we know as the Hebrew Scriptures.

The narrative of the origin of the Mishnah as the oral Torah of Sinai that is implicit in tractate Abot finds its counterpart in an explicit statement within the Mishnah itself, that Scripture's contribution to the Mishnah's topical program is diverse. Some of the topics the Mishnah systematically expounds come directly from Scripture. The exposition of the Day of Atonement in Mishnah tractate Yoma, for example, follows the outline of Lev 16 and simply paraphrases that narrative. Other topics draw upon facts of Scripture but fill out a program of exposition that only partially derives from Scripture. The tractates devoted to the civil law, Baba Qamma "the first gate," Baba Mesi'a "the middle gate," and Baba Batra "the final gate," encompass civil laws of Scripture but organize them into a logical construction of their own, which includes numerous topics not documented by Scripture. Still other topics expounded by the Mishnah have no roots in Scripture at all. These come down in oral tradition.

The Mishnah is comprised by sixty topical expositions, called tractates divided into six divisions: (1) agricultural rules; (2) laws governing appointed seasons, e.g., Sabbaths and festivals; (3) laws on the transfer of women and property along with women from one man (father) to another (husband); (4) the system of civil and criminal law (corresponding to what we today would regard as "the legal system"); (5) laws for the conduct of the cult and the Temple; and (6) laws on the preservation of cultic purity both in the Temple and under certain domestic circumstances, with special reference to the table and bed. These divisions define the range and realm of reality.

1. Zera'im "Agriculture"

Berakhot "Blessings"; Pe'ah "the corner of the field"; Dema'i "doubtfully tithed produce"; Kilayim "mixed seeds"; Shebi'it "the seventh year"; Terumot "heave offering or priestly rations"; Ma'aserot "tithes"; Ma'aser Sheni "second tithe"; Hallah "dough offering"; 'Orlah "produce of trees in the first three years after planting, which is prohibited"; and Bikkurim "first fruits."

2. Mo'ed "Appointed Times"

Shabbat "the Sabbath"; 'Erubin "the fictive fusion meal or boundary"; Pesahim "Passover"; Sheqalim "the Temple tax"; Yoma "the Day of Atonement"; Sukkah "the festival of Tabernacles"; Besah "the preparation of food on the festivals and Sabbath"; Rosh Hashanah "the New Year"; Ta'anit "fast days"; Megillah "Purim"; Mo'ed Qatan "the intermediate days of the festivals of Passover and Tabernacles"; Hagigah "the festal offering."

3. Nashim "Women"

Yebamot "the levirate widow"; Ketubot "the marriage contract"; Nedarim "vows"; Nazir "the special vow of the Nazirite"; Sotah "the wife accused of adultery"; Gittin "writs of divorce"; Qiddushin "betrothal."

4. Neziqin "Damages or civil law"

Baba Qamma, Baba Mesi'a, Baba Batra "the first gate, the middle gate, the last gate," (devoted to civil law, covering damages and torts, then correct conduct of business, labor, and real estate transactions); Sanhedrin (institutions of government; criminal penalties); Makkot "flogging"; Shebu'ot "oaths"; 'Eduyyot (a collection arranged on other than topical lines); 'Abodah Zarah (rules governing dealings with Gentiles); Horayot (rules governing improper conduct of civil authorities). Abot is generally located in the fourth division.

5. Qodoshim "Holy Things"

Zebahim (everyday animal offerings); Menahot (meal offerings); Hullin (animals slaughtered for secular purposes); Bekhorot "firstlings"; 'Arakhin (vows of valuation); Temurah (vows of exchange of a beast for an already consecrated beast); Keritot (penalty of extirpation or premature death); Me'ilah "sacrilege"; Tamid (the daily whole offering); Middot (the layout of the Temple building); Qinnim (how to deal with bird offerings designated for a given purpose and then mixed up, not a topical exposition but a set of problems to be solved).

6. Tohorot "Purity"

Kelim (susceptibility of utensils to uncleanness); Ohalot (transmission of corpse-uncleanness in the tent of a corpse); Nega'im (the uncleanness described at Lev 13-14); Parah (the preparation of purification-water); Tohorot (problems of doubt in connection with matters of cleanness); Miqva'ot "immersion-pools"; Niddah "menstrual uncleanness"; Makhshirin (rendering susceptible to uncleanness produce that is dry and so not susceptible); Zabim (the uncleanness covered at Lev. 15); Tebul-Yom (the uncleanness of one who has immersed on that self-same day and awaits sunset for completion of the purification rites); Yadayim (the uncleanness of hands); 'Uqsin (the uncleanness transmitted through what is connected to unclean produce).