What are the important books or works of Jewish tradition?

Before discussing Jesus’ point of view of the Jewish tradition, I would like to give you a brief account of the important works of the Jewish tradition, even those works that were compiled after the time of Christ.

The Talmud : The Aramaic word Talmud means “teaching.”²⁵⁶ It may refer to the Gemara — a particular subset of the collection of traditions — but is used more generally to designate the entire collection. The Talmud is divided into two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemara .

The Mishnah: The word Mishnah means “repetition” or “second law.” The Mishnah is a collection of Jewish legal traditions transmitted orally until they were compiled by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi the prince sometime around 200 A. D. It contains the opinions of rabbis or teachers ( Tannaim ). It is divided into six sections (singular, seder; plural, sedarim ):

• a. Seeds ( Zeraim ), eleven tractates treating mostly agricultural tithes and offerings.

• b. Festivals ( Moed ), twelve tractates on the Sabbath, Passover, etc.

• c. Women ( Nashim ), seven tractates relating to marriage laws.

• d. Damages ( Nezikin ), ten tractates on civil and criminal law.

254 Mishnah, Erubin 4:3 etc. The fixing of a limit of two thousand cubits was based on an extension of the principle of Num. 35.5.

255 Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.16 (F. F. Bruce, Tradition: Old and New (Michigan: Zondervan, 1972): Ch. 1).

256 John L. McKenzie, Dictionary of the Bible (London: G. Chapman, 1965): p. 948.

• e. Holy Things ( Kodashim ), eleven tractates mostly on animal sacrifices.

• f. Purities ( Tohorot ), twelve tractates treating all aspects of ritual impurity,²⁵⁷ how to avoid it, and how to overcome it.

The Gemara : The word Gemara means “completion.” It is a commentary on the Mishnah and contains the opinions of the interpreters ( Amoraim ). There are two main forms of Gemaras or Talmuds : The Jerusalem or Palestinian Talmud — compiled around the fourth century; and the Babylonian Talmud compiled around the fifth or sixth century. They are similar in method and construction, but they are by no means identical in content.²⁵⁸ The latter is the more authoritative in Jewish circles.

In addition to the Talmud , Jewish tradition includes the Tosefta and the Midrash :

The Tosefta: The word Tosefta means “addition” or “supplement.” It is a collection of teachers’ opinions ( Tannaim ) not found in the Mishnah . Its teachings are called Baraita .

The Midrash: This name is derived from the Hebrew verb darash or daras, which means “investigate” or “search out,” i.e., to reveal a thought not apparent on the surface. The word occurs in the Old Testament (2 Chron. 13:22, 24:27) to designate the source used by the Chronicler. The book of Sirach (51:23) speaks of the “Bet-Midrash” (the house of Midrash) which must designate a school where the sacred texts were studied.

In rabbinical literature, Midrash means the study of the text of sacred scripture in general. More specifically, it refers to the homiletic interpretation and explanation of the text. Midrash refers to an approach that closely ties interpretations to their corresponding sacred texts. This differs from the Mishnah , in which interpretations are repeated in isolation from the sacred text. It is worth noting that the Midrash is more concerned with edifying lessons and its goal is always practical application to the present time.

There are two distinct types of Midrash : the Halakha and Aggadah .

• a. Halakha or Halaka : a Hebrew word that means “behavior,” “way,” “practice,” “rule,” etc. It denotes a way of interpreting the law in order to derive from it principles of conduct. It arose from the pious wish to make the law apply to even the most trivial and unexpected situations in daily life. First it was handed down orally; then later, compiled and written down.

• b. Aggadah : a Hebrew word that means “narrative” or “story.” It denotes the interpretation of the foundational texts of the five books of Moses somewhat

257 F. L. Cross & E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church , 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 1990): p. 1338.

258 F. F. Bruce, Tradition: Old and New (Michigan: Zondervan, 1972): Ch. 1; J. P. Mackey, Tradition and

Change in the Church (M. H. Gill & Son, 1968): pp. 2f.

expansively in order to derive edifying lessons. It consists of parables, legends, narratives, folklore, “folk morality,” and other subjects.