Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on transliteration
- Note on Biblical translations
- Note on the Babylonian Talmud
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 The Talmudic argument
- 2 The literary form of the Babylonian Talmud
- 3 Berērah: retrospective specification
- 4 Yeúsh she-lo mi-da‘at: unconscious abandonment of property
- 5 Rubba: probability
- 6 Davar she-lo ba le-'olam: conveyance of a thing not yet in existence
- 7 Kol she-eyno be-zeh aḥar zeh afilu be-vat aḥat eyno: whatever cannot be established in a consecutive sequence cannot be established even in a simultaneous sequence
- 8 Yesh ḥoresh telem eḥad: a single act of ploughing can result in a number of penalties
- 9 Simanin de-oraita o de-rabbanan: whether reliance on distinguishing marks for the purpose of identification is Biblical or Rabbinic
- 10 Devarim she-be-lev eynam devarim: mental reservations in contracts are disregarded
- 11 Ḥazakah: presumptive state
- 12 Gadol kevod ha-beriot: the law and regard for human dignity
- 13 Hazmanah milta: whether the designation of an object for a particular use is effective
- 14 Mitzvat ‘aseh she-ha-zeman geramah: positive precepts dependent on time from which women are exempt
- 15 Heyzek she-eyno nikar: indiscernible damage to property
- 16 Kinyan ḥatzer: acquisition by means of a domain
- 17 Palginan be-dibbura: admission of part of a testimony even though another part of the same testimony is rejected
- 18 Tadir u-mekuddash: which takes precedence: the more constant or the more sacred?
- 19 Palga nizka: the nature of the payment of half-damages to which the owner of a goring ox is liable
- 20 Patur mi-diney adam ve-ḥayyav be-diney shamayim: cases where there is liability in the eyes of God even though the human courts cannot enforce payment
- 21 Maḥal ‘al kevodo kevodo maḥul: renunciation of honour by one to whom it is due
- 22 Conclusions
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Note on transliteration
- Note on Biblical translations
- Note on the Babylonian Talmud
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 The Talmudic argument
- 2 The literary form of the Babylonian Talmud
- 3 Berērah: retrospective specification
- 4 Yeúsh she-lo mi-da‘at: unconscious abandonment of property
- 5 Rubba: probability
- 6 Davar she-lo ba le-'olam: conveyance of a thing not yet in existence
- 7 Kol she-eyno be-zeh aḥar zeh afilu be-vat aḥat eyno: whatever cannot be established in a consecutive sequence cannot be established even in a simultaneous sequence
- 8 Yesh ḥoresh telem eḥad: a single act of ploughing can result in a number of penalties
- 9 Simanin de-oraita o de-rabbanan: whether reliance on distinguishing marks for the purpose of identification is Biblical or Rabbinic
- 10 Devarim she-be-lev eynam devarim: mental reservations in contracts are disregarded
- 11 Ḥazakah: presumptive state
- 12 Gadol kevod ha-beriot: the law and regard for human dignity
- 13 Hazmanah milta: whether the designation of an object for a particular use is effective
- 14 Mitzvat ‘aseh she-ha-zeman geramah: positive precepts dependent on time from which women are exempt
- 15 Heyzek she-eyno nikar: indiscernible damage to property
- 16 Kinyan ḥatzer: acquisition by means of a domain
- 17 Palginan be-dibbura: admission of part of a testimony even though another part of the same testimony is rejected
- 18 Tadir u-mekuddash: which takes precedence: the more constant or the more sacred?
- 19 Palga nizka: the nature of the payment of half-damages to which the owner of a goring ox is liable
- 20 Patur mi-diney adam ve-ḥayyav be-diney shamayim: cases where there is liability in the eyes of God even though the human courts cannot enforce payment
- 21 Maḥal ‘al kevodo kevodo maḥul: renunciation of honour by one to whom it is due
- 22 Conclusions
- Glossary
- Bibliography
Summary
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.
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- The Talmudic ArgumentA Study in Talmudic Reasoning and Methodology, pp. 203 - 213Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1984