The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com [] THE TALMUD [] Click to enlarge FRONTISPIECE. VIEW OF JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. WITH THE MOSQUE OF OMAR STANDING PARTLY ON THE SITE OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE. (To illustrate the Treatise on the Red Heifer.) THE TALMUD BY JOSEPH BARCLAY, LL.D. RECTOR OF STAPLEFORD, HERTS w`shw myg lthwrh (Aboth. i. 1.) WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLAN OF THE TEMPLE LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1 [1878] Scanned, proofed and formatted at sacred-texts.com by John Bruno Hare, April 2008. This text is in the public domain in the US because it was published prior to 1923. Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh. The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com [p. v] PREFACE. THE following selection of treatises, translated from the Mishna, with explanations from the Gemara and other sources, is designed to supply the reader with a general and impartial view of this important branch of Hebrew literature. These treatises are chosen because they illustrate Bible teaching; and it is attempted to present them in a literal and readable form. Those are omitted which are either too tedious or too gross for general circulation. It will be observed that these treatises contain the particular mode of thought against which the deepest woes of the New Testament are denounced; while, at the same time, they afford much information concerning the inner life of the Jews at the period of our Saviour's sojourn upon earth. Hence the reason is apparent why the Talmud is either undervalued or overvalued, according to the reader's standpoint. Speaking generally, however, it has proved injurious to those who have submitted to its authority, and bowed to the dictum that "the Bible is like water--the Mishna is like wine--and the Gemara is like spiced wine." [p. vi] To the treatises from the Talmud there is added a translation of the treatise on "The Tabernacle," from the Bereitha. Where there are various readings in the original text, that rendering is given which seems most probable. A residence of several years in the East, of which ten were passed in the Holy Land, enabled me to gather the opinions of some of the most learned Rabbis with regard to disputed points in the interpretation of the Talmud. The substance of these opinions is embodied in this volume. 2 J. B. STAPLEFORD RECTORY, HERTS, November 1877. The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com [p. vii] CONTENTS. PAGE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS <page ix> LIST OF AUTHORITIES <page xi> INTRODUCTION <page 1> 3 THE MISHNA TREATISES. I. ON BLESSINGS <page 49> II. ON THE SABBATICAL YEAR <page 62> III. ON THE SABBATH <page 83> IV. ON THE PASSOVER <page 95> V. ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT <page 119> 4 VI. ON TABERNACLES <page 136> VII. ON THE NEW YEAR <page 149> VIII. ON FASTING <page 158> IX. ON THE FEAST-OFFERING <page 169> X. ON THE SANHEDRIN <page 176> XI. ON IDOLATRY <page 204> XII. 5 ON THE FATHERS <page 218> XIII. ON THE DAILY SACRIFICE <page 242> XIV. ON THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE TEMPLE <page 255> XV. ON LEPROSY <page 267> XVI. ON THE RED HEIFER <page 300> XVII. ON HANDS <page 324> XVIII. TREATISE ON THE TABERNACLE, FROM THE BEREITHA <page 334> 6 [p. viii] APPENDIX. PAGE NOTE ON MODERN JUDAISM <page 359> CALENDAR OF THE MONTHS AND CHIEF JEWISH FEASTS AND FASTS IN EACH YEAR <page 364> 7 NOTE ON THE SANHEDRIN <page 366> NOTES ON THE PLAN OF THE TEMPLE FROM THE TALMUD AND OTHER JEWISH AUTHORITIES <page 367> NOTES ON THE TABERNACLE. <page 375> LIST OF TEXTS <page 373> INDEX <page 381> The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com 8 [p. ix] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VIEW OF JERUSALEM FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, SHOWING THE SITE OF THE TEMPLE. To illustrate the Treatise on the red Heifer . PRIEST IN LINEN VESTMENTS SPRINKLING BLOOD--The Day of Atonement To face page HIGH PRIEST IN HIS ROBES BESTOWING THE BLESSING TOP OF THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, AS SEEN FROM MOUNT MORIAH A MODERN POLISH RABBI WEARING TALITH AND PHYLACTERIES MEZUZA or SIGN UPON THE DOOR-POST PHYLACTERY FOR THE FOREHEAD PHYLACTERY FOR THE ARM 9 INSCRIPTION ON A "STONE OF WARNING" FROM THE TEMPLE PLAN OF THE TEMPLE . The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com [p. x] [p. xi] LIST OF THE CHIEF AUTHORITIES USED IN PREPARING THIS VOLUME. Abodah Sarah, von Dr. Ewald (Nurnberg, 1856). Alphabetische Liste Aller Gelehrten Juden und Judinnen, von M. P. Yung (Leipzig, 1817). Aruch, von Rabbi Nathan, 2 vols. (Prague, 1835). Autzer Leshon Hakkodesh, by Pagnini, 2 vols. (Leyden, 1575). Berachoth, von Pinner (Berlin, 1842). 10 Bereitha (1801). Buxtorf, works of (Basle, 1639, 1680). Curiosities of Literature, by D'Israeli (1834). Der Talmud in Seiner Nichtigkeit (Warsaw, 1848). Discourses by Wotton (1718). Entdecktes Judenthum, von Eisenmenger, 2 vols. (Koenigsberg, 1711) Eschcol Haccopher (The Karaite View of the Oral Law). Edinburgh Review (July 1873). Hebrew Republick, by Lewis, 2 vols. (1724). History of the Jews, by Milman, 3 vols. (1829). Hizzuk Amunah, by Isaac ben Abraham (1632). Introduction to Hebrew Literature, by Etheridge (1856). Joma, by Sherringham (1696). Josephus, Works of, by Whiston (1848). Justin Martyr--Dialogue with Trypho--by Rev. G. Reith (1870). Kidder on the Messias (1726). 11 La Geographie du Talmud, par Adolphe Neubauer (Paris, 1868). La Source de la Vie, par Samson Levy, 2 vols. (Paris, 1845). Law Magazine--Growth of Jewish Law (August 1872). [p. xii] Lexicon Pentaglotton--Hebraicum, Chaldaicum, Syriacum, Talmudico-Rabbinicum, & Arabicum, by Schindler (Frankfort-on-the-Maine, 1653). Lightfoot, Works of (1684). Mahrich Hamarchoth, by Aquinas (Paris, 1629). Makhzor, 3 vols. (Vienna, 1859). Midrash Rabboth (Leipzig, 1864). Midrash Tanchuma (Warsaw, 1849). Mishna, by Rabbi Solomon Adani (Amsterdam, 1645). Mishna--Judaeo-German, 6 vols. (Vienna, 1817). Mishna, with commentaries, by Surenhusius, 6 vols. (Amsterdam 1698). Mishna, Constitutions and Laws of, by Maimonides, 2 vols. (Venice, 1549). Mishna Treatises, by de Sola and Raphall (1843). Modern Judaism, by J. Allen (1830). Modern Judaism, by Dr. Margoliouth (1843). Old and New Testaments. Old Paths, by Dr. M'Caul (1854). 12 Philo Judaeus, by C. D. Yonge, 4 vols. (1854). Quarterly Review (October 1867). Rabbinische Blumenlese, von Leopold Dukes (Leipzig, 1844). Reland's Works (1723). Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews, by Levi (1783). Selections from the Talmud, by H. Polano (1877). Shem Haggedolim (Vienna, 1864). Siphra, Sepher Torath Cohanim (Bucharest, 1860). Sota von Wagenseil (Altdorf, 1674). Talmud of Babylon, 12 vols. (Vienna, 1843). Talmud of Jerusalem, 4 vols. (Russia, 1866). Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel, with the fragments of the Jerusalem Targum, by Etheridge (1862-65). Temple Services, by Dr. Edersheim (1874). Vacca Rufa of Maimonides, by Zeller (Amsterdam, 1709). Zohar, 3 vols. (Zolkiew, 1862). 13 The Talmud, by Joseph Barclay, [1878], at sacred-texts.com [p. 1] INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. Compilation of the Talmud--Rabbi Judah the Holy--Mishna--Gemara--General Survey of the Six Orders or Volumes of the Mishna. THE Talmud (teaching) comprises the Mishna and the Gemara. The Mishna ("learning" or "second law") was, according to Jewish tradition, delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai. "Rabbi Levi, the son of Chama, says, Rabbi Simon, the son of Lakish, says, what is that which is written, 'I will give thee tables of stone, and a law and commandments which I have written, that thou mayest teach them'? [*1] The Tables are the ten commandments; the Law is the written law; and the commandment is the Mishna; 'which I have written' means the prophets and sacred writings; 'that thou mayest teach them' means the Gemara. It teaches us that they were all given to Moses from Mount Sinai." From Moses the Mishna was transmitted by oral tradition through forty "Receivers," until the time of Rabbi Judah the Holy. These Receivers were qualified by ordination to hand it on from generation to generation. Abarbanel and Maimonides disagree as to the names of these Receivers. While the temple still stood as a centre of unity to the nation, it was considered unlawful to reduce these traditions to writing. But when the Temple was burned, and the Jews were dispersed amongst other peoples, it was considered politic to form them into a written code, which should serve as a bond of union, and keep alive the spirit of patriotism. The Jewish leaders saw the effect of Constitutions [p. 2] and Pandects in consolidating nations--the advantage of written laws over arbitrary decisions. Numberless precedents of case law, answering to our common law, were already recorded: and the teachings of the Hebrew jurisconsults, or "Responsa prudentium," which were held to be binding on the people, had been preserved from former ages. All these traditions Rabbi Judah the Holy undertook to reduce into one digest. And this laborious work he completed about A.D. 190, or more than a century after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Rabbi Judah was born on the day that Rabbi Akibah died. Solomon is said to have foretold the event: "One sun ariseth, and 14 one sun goeth down." Akibah was the setting and Judah the rising sun. The Mishna of Rabbi Judah, afterwards revised by Abba Areka in Sura, is the text of the Babylon Talmud. The commentaries written on this text by various Rabbis in the neighbourhood of Babylon, until the close of the fifth century, are called the Gemara (completion); and are published in twelve folio volumes, called the Babylon Talmud--the Talmud most esteemed by the Jews. The Jerusalem Talmud contains commentaries written partly by Rabbis in Jamnia and partly in Tiberias, where they were completed by Rabbi Jochanan in the beginning of the fourth century.