We have examined a number of sugyot in some detail, each forming a unit complete in itself. These have been chosen, however, as altogether typical of the Babylonian Talmud as a whole so that it is possible to draw from them conclusions regarding the literary constructions and methods of argumentation of this apparently unsystematic work.

With regard to literary style, it must first be noted how futile it is to expect the kind of elegance usually associated with a work of literature (not, at least, in the Halakhic portions constituting the major part of the Talmud). The vocabulary is severely limited, consisting, in the main, of technical terms; the presentation of the material is cryptic, with hardly any spelling out of the meaning; there is no conscious striving for rhyme, rhythm or alliteration; and wherever punctuation is required it has to be supplied vocally by teacher and student, who ‘sing’ rather than ‘read’ the Talmud.

Yet the Talmud does have a literary style of its own, provided by the ordering of the material in a dramatic way. It is a style not of words but of ideas. The arguments and debates are so arranged that there is a building up of the discussion step by step until the climax is attained. Information is withheld until it can be given at the appropriate stage for drawing the threads of the argument together, as if the editors are saying: We have been leading you, the student, into tortuous paths and you have gone astray. Now we will show you the true path and all will become clear.