The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud

Abstract

The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud is the most detailed and comprehensive scholarly analysis of the processes of composition and editing of the Babylonian Talmud. It is a complete English translation of the original Hebrew monograph published in 2007, with an introduction and annotations. Halivni proposes that the Talmud took shape over a much longer period of time than accepted by both the traditional view and most other critical scholars, and did not reach its final form until about 750 CE. The Talmud consists of many literary strata or layers, with later layers constantly commenting upon and reinterpreting earlier layers. The later layers are qualitatively different from the earlier layers, and were composed not by the named authorities of the Talmud, the Amoraim (200-550 CE), but by anonymous sages known as Stammaim (550-750 CE). The Stammaim were the true author-editors of the Talmud, who reconstructed the reasons underpinning earlier rulings, created the dialectical argumentation characteristic of the Talmud, and formulated the literary units that make up the Talmudic text. The book also discusses the history and development of rabbinic tradition from the Mishnah through the post-Talmudic legal codes; the types of dialectical analysis found in the Babylonian Talmud and in other rabbinic works; and the roles of reciters, transmitters, compilers, transposers and editors in the composition of the Talmud.

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