Читать книгу A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East онлайн

188 страница из 236

Following the adoption of the Mishnah as the basic text for discussion, it was inevitable that a text of such complexity should evoke commentaries. In the West, the Talmud of the Land of Israel, or the Jerusalem Talmud (the “Jerushalmi”) was the first to supply this need. Completed around 400 CE, this massive undertaking discusses most of the Mishnah except for the last two orders (although part of tractate Niddah is discussed). The Mishnah is quoted, and commentary to it supplied from older, Tannaitic sources, interspersed with statements, disputes, and information from the authorities who are creating the commentary (these Rabbis are known as the Amoraim, the “interpreters” or “speakers”). All these are worked together by editors whose identity is unknown to us, the Talmud itself using a combination of Hebrew and Western Aramaic to set forth its predominantly halakhic discussion. This Talmud, however, incorporates frequent short narratives and other non-legal information (haggadah) which includes ethical teaching, prayers, wise sayings, and folk memories. There is much here which, with due scholarly caution, can be used to provide access to details of religious, social, and economic life in Palestine in the second and third centuries CE; with due critical analysis, sections of this Talmud may also cast light on historical events in the Late Roman period. As was the case with the Mishnah and the Tosefta, however, the Talmud is not primarily concerned with history; and its use as a source for political events by both Jews and non-Jews remains severely hampered by the lack of a critical edition of its text (Stern 2010). This last point has, in its turn, meant that much less scholarly attention has been devoted to it than to the Babylonian Talmud, which enjoys an unparalleled status within Rabbinic Judaism. This massive document was redacted in places outside Roman control, in the domains of the Parthians and Sasanians. It thus lies outside the general remit of this essay, although it does mention “the West” (which would signify lands under Roman rule) and indicates frequent contact with it. The complexity of the Babylonian Talmud’s redaction, however, creates considerable difficulties for the historian who attempts to discern authentic references to the political situation in Palestine. While some abandon the attempt altogether, others are more sanguine, and argue that detailed literary analysis of individual portions of the text might provide historical material (Kalmin 2005: 205–206).