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The term “midrash” (pl. midrashim), first found in 2 Chr. 13:22; 24:27, comes from Heb. dāraš, which in the Bible means “seek, inquire, search out” (Judg. 6:29; Deut. 4:29), especially “seek and read from the book of the Lord” (Isa. 34:16), to set one’s heart “to study the law [ tôrâ] of the Lord” (Ezra 7:10; cf. at Qumran …

“Mishnah,” deriving from Heb. šānâ, “repeat, learn,” means (1) a single item of learning (pl. Mishnayot); (2) the teachings of an individual Tanna; and especially (3) the collection of traditional material, mainly Halakic, of Tannaitic Judaism, which attained quasi-canonical authority soon after its final redaction about a.d. 200, on which all the later decisions of religious and civil law are founded, and which forms the basis of the Talmud. Originally given orally, the Mishnah as oral teaching stands equally beside the written Torah, or Miqra (from qārāʾ, “read”), which…

1. Origin The Talmud (Heb. lmd, “learn, teach”), strictly talmûd tôrâ, “study/teaching of the Torah,” is the main work of rabbinic literature. It consists of the Mishnah (the earliest authoritative rendering of Jewish oral laws, mostly in Hebrew) and the Gemara …

1. Definition The term “rabbi” denotes a Jewish scholar and minister. The origin of the term is to be found in Heb. rab (master, great one). It seems originally to have been a form of address meaning “my master” or “my teacher” (see Matt. 23:7). In the second half of the first century a.d., it then became a title preceding the proper name. Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (i.e., Judah the Patriarch, ca. 135–ca. 220) was simply known as the Rabbi. He was traditionally the redactor of the Mishnah. Other patriarchs held the honorary title rabban, “our teacher,” for example, Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai (d. ca.…

¶ “Torah” ( tôrâ, pl. tôrôt) derives from Heb. yrh, hôrâ, “show,…

[German Version] I. Ancient Near East – II. Greece – III. Rome – IV. The Bible – V. Christianity – VI. Judaism I. Ancient Near East Historiography in the classic sense, with a reflective account of historical linkages, developed rudimentarily at best in the cuneiform cultures of the ancient Near East in Hittite and Neo-Assyrian annals an…

[German Version] (also: Hai ben Sherira; 939–1038), gaon of the Academy (Yeshivah) of Pumbedita from 1004 to 1038. Having already assisted his father Sherira Gaon as a young man, he became ab bet din (“Father of the Court,” the second highest in the hierarchy of the academy) in 985 and was appointed gaon during his father's lifetime. With the latter's help, he reestablished the “worldwide” authority and spiritual leadership of the Babylonian gaonate. Hai's prominence is largely due to the approx. 1,500 complete, fragmentary, or quoted ¶ responsa (representing about one third of all identifiable gaonic responsa) written by him in response to the queries of rabbinic scholars, community leaders, or individuals from Iraq, North Africa, Egypt, Spain, Persia, the Arabian Gulf, Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. They pertain to all aspects of Jewish religion and civil law, but also to biblical and talmudic commentaries, Hekhalot literature, as well as community affairs. His monographs, written in Arabic, are largely lost, whereas portions of his Talmud commentaries and piyyutim (Poetry: III, 2) are preserved. Margarete …

[German Version] Gaon, Heb. גאון/ ga'on, pl. ge'onim, from bibl. גָאוׄן/ gā'ôn (“lordliness, majesty, pride”), is a title given esp. to the heads of the leading rabbinical academies in Babylonia and (later) in Israel (Palestine) during the so-called Gaonic (or Geonic) period (c. mid-6th – mid-11th cent.), though it was still in use thereafter. It is probably derived from ראש ישיבת גאון יעקב ( ro'sh yeshivat ge'on ya'aqov [cf. Ps 47:5], “head of the academy [Yeshivah] of Jacob'…

[German Version] (Sherira ben Chanina Yehuda; c. 906–1006), between 968 and 1004 Gaon of the rabbinic academy (Yeshivah) of Pumbedita in Baghdad, one of the most important Geonim. During his tenure (and that of his son Hai Gaon), the academy enjoyed a renaissance. He placed relationships with the Jewish Diaspora communities outs…

[German Version] The “Order of the World,” traditionally ascribed to the Tanna Jose ben Halafta, is usually identified as a chronographic work e…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Ancient Near East and Israel – III. Judaism – IV. Greece and Rome – V. New Testament – VI. Church History – VII. Dogmatics – VIII. Ethics – IX. Philosophy I. Religious Studies History is a major aspect of the study of religion. Apart from its roots in the Enlightenment idea of tolerance, it owes its scholarly development to the historicism of the 19th century. As a result, the expression history of religions ( Religionsgeschichte, histoire des religions, storia delle religioni) has remained dominant in continental Europe, in con…

[English Version] . Die »Weltordnung«, traditionell dem Tanna Jose ben Chalafta zugeschrieben, gilt meist als ein in frühamoräischer Zeit redigiertes chronographisches Werk; nach Milikowsky benutzte schon Flavius Josephus einen Proto-S.O., der etwas später revidiert und von Jose im 2.Jh. ergänzt und gelehrt wurde. Hauptanliegen ist das – vielleicht in polemischer Absicht gegen die Verwendung auch nichtbibl. Quellen für die bibl. Gesch. in der jüd.-hell. Geschichtsschreibung (: VI.,1.) – meist mitt…

[English Version] (Sh. ben Ḥanina ben Jehuda; ca.906–1006), 968–1004 Gaon der rabb. Akademie (Jeshiva) von Pumbedita mit Sit…