Brief Outline of Ancient Jewish Theological Literature

Submitted by saltysteve on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 07:30

Edersheim's "Brief Outline of Ancient Jewish Theological Literature" is taken from his book, "Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the days of Christ"

Extract: Probably most readers would wish to know something more of those "traditions" to which our Lord so often referred in His teaching. We have here to distinguish, in the first place, between the Mishnah and the Gemara. The former was, so to speak, the text, the latter its extended commentary. At the same time, the Mishnah contains also a good deal of commentary, and much that is not either legal determination or the discussion thereof; while the Gemara, on the other hand, also contains what we would call " text." The word Mishnah (from the verb " shanah ") means " repetition "--the term referring to the supposed repetition of the traditional law, which has been above described. The Gemara, as the very word shows, means "discussion," and embodies the discussions, opinions, and sayings of the Rabbis upon, or a propos of, the Mishnah. Accordingly, the text of the Mishnah is always given in the pages of the Talmud, which reproduce those discussions thereon of the Jewish theological parliament or academy, which constitute the Gemara. The authorities introduced in the Mishnah and the Gemara range from about the year 180 B.C. to 430 A.D. (in the Babylon Talmud).

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