Abstract: This article explores early Jewish conceptions of the “bad man” as reflected in the hermeneutic legacy of one seminal biblical passage (Num 15:30-31) in order to discern the most egregious forms of religious wrongs. This offers a prism for gauging whether early iterations of “Judaism” were so fully aligned with law and praxis that this constituted the entirety of religious life and its ultimate measure. Or, alternatively, whether one can already perceive in classical Jewish discourse an acknowledgement, or even an articulation, of a “religious” or “theological” nucleus apart from the normative order.

In the time of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (“Rabbi”), there was a revolution in the relationships between the authorities and the Jews in Palestine. This revolution was linked with the special personality of Rabbi and his way of leadership, as well as the succession of the Severan dynasty to the imperial throne, and Roman policy in the provinces in general in the time of the Severans. After the Severans came the imperial crisis, which left its mark especially on the eastern provinces, which were subjected to such a heavy economic burden that many Jews emigrated to Babylonia, the home of the largest Jewish diaspora community outside the borders of the Roman empire.

In the time of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (“Rabbi”), there was a revolution in the relationships between the authorities and the Jews in Palestine. This revolution was linked with the special personality of Rabbi and his way of leadership, as well as the succession of the Severan dynasty to the imperial throne, and Roman policy in the provinces in general in the time of the Severans. After the Severans came the imperial crisis, which left its mark especially on the eastern provinces, which were subjected to such a heavy economic burden that many Jews emigrated to Babylonia, the home of the largest Jewish diaspora community outside the borders of the Roman empire.

Argues that translation constitutes a distinct form of rewriting, with a distinctive range of functions that overlap with the functions of same-language rewriting. Examines the differing functions of translation in the books of the Greek Bible, the rabbinic Targumim, and the Genesis Apocryphon from Qumran, and highlights connections to other forms of rewriting.

In this chapter, we examine the Talmud in its final form, the document that came to shape in the century or so before the Muslim conquest. This is a document with unique and surprising qualities, which we can understand only if we interpret it in its original, late antique setting. In this chapter, we study representative Talmudic texts, carefully laying out the qualities of the Talmud that make it Talmudic. We ask how this composition of the Babylonian rabbis compares to that of the Yerushalmi, allowing the comparison to help us appreciate the uniqueness of the latter. Then focusing on the Bavli, we ask several key questions: to what audience was it addressed? What purpose did it serve for the masters who conceived it and their students? Why is it so devoted to argumentation? Based upon the picture that emerges, we weigh various claims for what the Talmud really is: is it a commentary on the Torah, or on the Mishnah, or something else entirely? Is it a legal code? What is its theology? Its vision of society? And how did the authors of this elite document hope to make a difference in the shape of Judaism for coming generations?

What is the importance of the Talmud, that it merits a comprehensive history? In this chapter, the author paints a picture, in broad strokes, of the importance of the Talmud, to both Jews and their neighbors, through history. The Talmud is the document that ultimately defined the contours and obligations of Jewish practice and belief; how did it gain that centrality and authority? How did the Talmud help shape Jewish society? Why did the Talmud provoke such powerful rejection in Christian circles, and later among Jewish reformers? Offering a word about the difficulties of writing such a history, then defining basic terms and directions, the author in this chapter establishes the foundation of the history to follow.