The Talmud is a body
of literature in Hebrew and Aramaic, covering meanings and
interpretations of legal portions of the Old Testament, as well as wise
sayings from many rabbinical sources.
It spans a time period from
shortly after Ezra, about 400 B.C., until approximately the A.D.
500s.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ORAL LAW Traditional Jews believe
that a second law was given to Moses in addition to the first or written
word; this second one was given orally, and handed down from generation
to generation in oral form.
The Talmud itself makes this
claim for an early origin, and Pirke Aboth 1:1 states that it is attributed
to Moses.
Other scholars do not agree
on this origin of the oral law and insist that it had its beginning and
development after Ezra.
For example, before the Israelite
exile to Babylon, there is no mention by the prophets concerning a lapse
from the oral law. Yet the messages of the prophets are full of warnings
to not abandon the written revelation given to Moses, thereby indicating
the absence of a body of oral tradition prior to the Babylonian exile.
In the period following Ezra
"this Ezra went
up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe
in the law of Moses, which the Lord God
of Israel had given:
and the king granted him
all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.
"
Ezra 7:6 KJV
teacher succeeded teacher in
synagogues and schools, and their understanding of the Old Testament was
treasured and memorized.
Across the centuries, many
memorizing devices were employed to learn and remember the
growing mass of opinions and interpretation. But eventually not even the
best memory could retain all the available materials.
It was finally necessary
to compile a summary of all the essential teachings of preceding generations,
and also to make a way for future generations to have access to the
immense treasure of thought, religious feeling, and wisdom for guidance
and inspiration.
The compilation is known
as the Talmud, the basic repository of the oral law.
Jewish people regard it as
second to the Scriptures.
The Talmud is a piece of
literature recognized as the ultimate national and religious creation,
and it continues to have a deep influence upon the development of the Jewish
world view.
REASONS FOR AN ORAL LAW With the end of prophets
after the return from exile in Babylon, and with the continual growth of
the complexity of life in Israel and its relationships to the outer world,
there arose a need to explain more of the laws of the Pentateuch
or the first five books of the Old Covenant.
The oral law, at first, was
intended to be helpful so that people could obey the written Word of God.
The oral law contained in the Talmud has two functions.
First, it provides
an interpretation of the written Law, explaining what it means. According
to the rabbis, this is necessary since the oral law makes it possible to
actually live out the written Law.
Without the former, it would
be impossible to observe the latter.
A good example is the concept
of not working on the Sabbath, as commanded by the biblical Sabbath law.
Everyone knew that work was
not to be done on the Sabbath. The rabbis contend, however, that it took
the oral law to define what was meant by “work.”
The second aspect
of the oral law is that it modifies and seeks to adapt the written Law
to fit new conditions and circumstances.
The oral law is supposed
to make the written Law ausable, up-to-datedocument from
generation to generation.
Without this oral law, the
written Law would become out of date.
Therefore, the oral law is
necessary for knowing what not to do as well as for stressing what is good
Jewish devotion and loyalty.
It is true that every generation
must face new social, political, and economic conditions, which make necessary
a different application of the Word of God.
But the Word of God itself
cannot be changed in order to accommodate personal desires
or interpret new problems in different ages.
Something of this problem
is clear in the first century A.D., when Yeshua, Jesus, challenged the
Jewish leaders of His time for having set aside the Word of God
for their own traditions.
And he said unto
them, Full
well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
For Moses said, Honour thy
father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die
the death:
but ye say, If a man shall
say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever
thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
And ye suffer him no more
to do ought for his father or his mother;
making the word of God of
none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such
like things do ye.
Mark 7:9-13
KJV
WHAT LED UP TO THE TALMUD One of the earliest ways
of teaching oral law was a running commentary, or Midrash “to expound”,
of the biblical text.
If the teaching handled the
legal portions, Torah or the law, of the Old Testament, then it was referred
to as Midrash Halakah. This focused on the way one walks or lives.
When treating non legal,
ethical, or devotional portions of the Old Testament, then the opinions
and understanding were called Midrash Haggadah or “narration”.
In 444 B.C. when the wall
of Jerusalem was completed, Ezra and his trained associates were using
the method of Midrash when they explained the law to the people
while the people remained in their place.
They read from the book,
from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood
the reading.
“Also Jeshua, and Bani,
and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah,
Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand
the law: and the people stood in their place."
"So they read in the book
in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand
the reading.”
Nehemiah 8:7-8
KJV
This kind of oral Midrash
is the method followed by generations of teachers after Ezra, when the
religious leaders were known as Soferim “bookmen” or “scribes”,
until about 200 B.C.
Sometimes referred to as
the “Great Synagogue,” these scholars provided teaching to “hedge”
and protect the revealed moral and ceremonial word so that Israel would
never stray into idolatry or ignorance again.
The Soferim were succeeded
by the Hasidim “pious ones”, who tried to maintain a high
level of religious devotion.
In turn, the Hasidim
were succeeded by the Pharisees “separated ones” at about 128 B.C.
Each of these groups contributed
to the Midrash method. This material continued to increase and was passed
on orally.
Succeeding generations learned
these materials through continuous repetition.
Therefore, the new method
was called Mishnah “repetition”, and the teachers of the Mishnah
were known as Tannaim “those who handed down orally”.
Both Midrash and Mishnah
existed side by side in following generations.
There came a time, however,
when it was necessary to organize and codify the oral law covered by Mishnah,
since this became cumbersome to learn as a body of material.
Eventually, this material
was put into writing; it came to be known as Gemara “completion”.
Therefore, the combination
of Gemara and Mishnah make up the Talmud.
