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A Bibliographical Introduction to the Talmud
Virginia A. Sharp

The following is a brief bibliographical introduction to the literature of the Talmud, bringing together the main modern-language translations of talmudic literature to act as a guide for the newcomer to the texts and for the interested student who does not read Hebrew or Aramaic. There is also included further material which is helpful in introducing the reader to the historical setting and importance of the rabbinic texts.

For the sake of clarity, since most of the source material is better represented in English translation, other translations have been included as footnotes.

The Talmud is the collective work of generations of rabbis and in Judaism is second in importance to the Bible. It is made up of the Mishna and the Gemara. The Mishna, the basic rabbinic text, is the codification of the oral law and was written originally in Hebrew. It is divided into six main orders each of which is then sub-divided into six tractates. It was compiled around the year 200 of the Christian Era. Later the Gemara, which is a collection of commentaries on the Mishna, was compiled in Hebrew and Aramaic.

There are two Talmuds, the Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud which includes the Gemara compiled in Palestine, and the Babylonian Talmud whose Gemara records the Babylonian tradition. The Babylonian Talmud is the more important of the two. In studying the two Gemaras it can be seen that basically the same Mishna text was used by the compilers of both commentaries, whether in Babylon or in Palestine.

The Tosefta is closely connected with the Mishna. It was probably completed as a supplement to the Mishna although it could be an independent compilation. However, the lack of critical editions makes investigation into the relationship of Tosefta to Mishna difficult. The Tosefta and the two Talmuds are arranged according to the orders and tractates of the Mishna.

For the newcomer to the literature, H.L. Strack's Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, Philadelphia 1931, is the standard work to lead into the study ofthe Talmud, although obviously dated regarding the bibliographical citations. Aiming to fill this time gap is •a contribution by J. Townsend, « Rabbinic Sources », in The Study of Judaism: Bibliographical Essays, New York 1972. As well as listing the best editions in Hebrew and Aramaic he lists English and other translations of the literature up to 1972. Both authors supplement the source material and reference works with background material.

The best English translation of the Mishna is by H. Danby, Oxford 1933. This first complete translation makes available the whole work to students, specialist and non-specialist. The annotations are very brief so it should be used with a good commentary. However, I was unable to trace one either in English or French.

A good introduction to the Mishna is B'nai B'rith's The Mishna: Oral Teachings of Judaism, selected and translated by E.J. Lipman, New York 1970.

The Tosefta• is very poorly represented in modern translations. A German translation exists, 2 but nothing seems available in English and French, neither texts nor commentaries. Townsend lists a few partial translations of individual tractates in English, German and Latin. For French translations Bonsirven 3 may be used but with discretion.

Of the Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud there is quite inadequate material available for the non-Hebrew reader and nonspecialist. Single French' and German 5 translations exist, and an English translation which began in 1965 is still being published in Jerusalem. 6 No commentaries to the Jerusalem Talmud seem to exist, although Townsend and Strack list those available on individual tractates.

In contrast, the Babylonian Talmud, being the more important of the two Talmuds, is more easily available, especially in English. The Soncino Press, London, produced the first complete English translation (19351952) under the editorship of I. Epstein. The same press is also bringing out the Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud under the same editorship. The first volume, which appeared in 1960, includes the complete Hebrew-Aramaic text. The Babylonian Talmud is also adequately covered in German.7 Only one French translation seems to be available, 8 and there appears to be no Hebrew-French parallel-text edition. Again there is a dearth of commentaries to the complete Talmud. A recent Hebrew translation' and commentary makes the Talmud available to readers of modern Hebrew.

There are two recent French publications that act as a good introduction to the Talmuds and their historical setting and importance in Judaism: D. Malki, Le Talmud et ses maitres, Paris 1972, and E. Levinas, Quatre lectures Talmudiques, Paris 1968. A useful work is A. Cohen's Le Talmud, Paris 1950, which is a detailed explanation of the Talmuds. A standard work on Judaism during the talmudic period is G.F. Moore's Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era, Cambridge 1927, reprinted 1955.

A classic study of rabbinic Judaism by S. Schechter, Aspects of Rabbinic Judaism (1909), New York 1961, is basic for both scholar and non-specialist. Also interesting is J. Neusner's There We Sat Down: Talmudic Judaism in the Making, New York 1972, which gives an account of Babylonian Jewry during the period in which the Babylonian Talmud took shape. It is a brief recapitulation of his large work, History of the Jews in Babylon, Leiden 1965-1967. Two useful introductions to the Talmud and its background are M. Adler's The World of the Talmud, New York 1958, and R. Stewart's Rabbinic Theology: An Introductory Study, London 1961, which contains a good brief book list. See also The Babylonian Talmud, edited by E.M. Gershfield, recently published in the B'nai B'rith « Jewish Heritage Classics Series ». In The Jews: Their History, edited by L. Finkelstein, 4th edition, New York 1970, there is an excellent chapter by J. Goldin on the historical setting of the Talmud, « The Period of the Talmud (135 n.c.E.-1035 C.E.) ». Goldin also gives a concise introduction to the Talmud as a preface to his clear and readable translation of the tractate Pirke Abot in The Living Talmud: The Wisdom of the Fathers, New York 1957.

Of great interest to all levels is H. Hailperin's Rashi and the Christian Scholars, Pittsburgh 1963. Rashi is foremost among the Jewish commentators on the Bible and Talmud, and the Talmud is not studied seriously without using his commentary. Hailperin compares and contrasts the Jewish and Christian viewpoints towards commentary of the Bible. C.G. Montefiore in Rabbinic Literature and Gospel Teachings (1930), reprinted New York 1970, deals with rabbinic parallels to the Gospels and acts as a supplement to his Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels, 1927.

Also of interest on the Jewish-Christian background is W.D. Davies's Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology, revised edition, London 1970, and the commentary on the New Testament by Strack and Billerbeck which shows the rabbinic origin of most of Jesus' sayings. 110

To add depth to the study of the historical background of the Talmud it is necessary to include readings on the Pharisees. For an objective and sympathetic view of the movement and a reconstruction of their faith there is R.T. Herford's The Pharisees, 1924, reprinted Boston 1962. J. Lauterbach in his Rabbinic Essays, Cincinnati 1951, also includes three essays on the Pharisees. L. Finkelstein in his New Light from the Prophets, New York 1969, gives a fresh original view of the rabbinic tradition and the prophets. His thesis is that parts of the rabbinic tradition were composed by contemporaries of the prophets or even by the prophets themselves.

The only complete modern-language translation of all fifteen Minor Tractates is the two-volume English translation again published by Soncino in 1965, edited by A. Cohen, The Minor Tractates of the Talmud: Massektoth Ketannoth. This work presents the Minor Tractates, which are additional to the sixty-three tractates of the Mishna and Talmud, for the first time in translation. Townsend and Strack list the translations and critical editions of separate treatises which include some in English, see for instance J. Goldin's The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, New Haven 1955. Translations of the Minor Tractates are very poorly represented in the other modern languages and therefore would not be available to the non-specialist student.

It can be seen then from even a brief survey that there are many gaps in the coverage of translated talmudic texts for non-Hebrew and non-Aramaic readers. In certain cases even those that are available are unreliable or poorly presented. There is thus a great need for some good translations to complete the availability of the texts, plus more commentaries, concordances and other reference tools, to lead the student and beginner into their study.

Editor's note:
The reader is referred to an excellent issue of Emuna (Horizonte zur diskussion fiber Israel und das Judentum), No. 5/6 Okt./Nov. 1972, entitled « Talmud in Geschichte und Gegenwart », available from 6 Frankfurt/Main, Cronstetten strasse 15, Germany.

NOTES

1 The only French translation of the Mishna appears to be the recent La Michna, traduit par les Membres du Rabbinat Francais, collection dirigee par Rabbin E. Gugenheim, Paris 1968. This is being published in fascicules with Hebrew and French parallel texts.
An Italian edition with quite full annotations is:
V. Castiglioni, Mishnaiot, traduzione italiana e note illustrative, Roma 1962.
A good German translation with commentary is: A. Sammter and D. Hoffmann, eds., Mishnayot: Die sechs Ordnungen der Mischna, Berlin 1887-1933, reprinted Basel 1968- .

2 G. Kittel and K.H. Rengstorf, Die Tosefta, Stuttgart, 1933- . This is still being published; it contains a commentary and parallel Hebrew and German texts.

3 J. Bonsirven, Textes rabbiniques des deux premiers siecles chretiens pour servir d l'intelligence du Nouveau Testament, Rome 1955.

4 M. Schwab, Le Talmud de Jerusalem, 11 vols., 1871-1889, reprinted Paris 1932-1933. This is the only complete French translation and is unreliable.

5 A. Wiinsche, Der Jerusalemische Talmud in seinen haggadischen Bestandtheilen ubertragen, Zurich 1880.

6 A. Ehrman, ed., The Talmud with English Translation and Commentary, Jerusalem 1965- .

7 L. Goldschmidt, Der Babylonische Talmud mit Einschluss der vollstaendigen Mishna, Berlin and Vienna 1896-1935, Hebrew and German parallel texts.

8 La Guemara. Le Talmud de Babylone, traduit par les Membres du Rabbinat Francais, Paris. Publication began in 1968, in fascicules, under the direction of Rabbi Elie Munk.

9. Steinsalz, The Babylonian Talmud, Jerusalem 1969- . This includes the text, Hebrew translation and commentary.

10. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud and Midras, 4 vols., Munich 1922-1928.