ishnah which
is found in the Talmud. Strictly speaking, the word "Talmud"
denotes the Gemara only, but in its ordinary sense the word
denotes the Mishnah together with its completion in the
Gemara. In the Talmud itself, as usually printed, the section
of the Mishnah to be commented on and illustrated is followed
by the Gemara in which the opinions of the great Rabbi are
stated and discussed.

As in the case of the Mishnah, so, also, the Talmud has six
principal divisions: these will be followed in the subsequent
epitomes and need not, therefore, be given here. There are two
versions or forms of the Talmud: 1. The Babylonian, or that
due to the studies and discussions of the Jewish doctors in
the various Hebrew colleges of Babylon (Sura, Pumbaditha, and
so forth): in this the Gemara is some ten times as large as
the Mishnah. When we speak of the Talmud it is that of Babylon
which is always meant. Its language is Eastern Aramaic. 2. The
Palestinian Talmud, compiled and edited by the heads of the
Hebrew schools in Palestine, Tiberius, Sepphoris, and so
forth. Its language is Western Aramaic, and its final editor
is said to be Rabbi Ashe, who died A.D. 427. This is often
erroneously called the Jerusalem Talmud. In its present form
it is only about one-fourth as large as the Babylonian Talmud.
The latter discusses nearly every section of the Mishnah,
whereas the Palestine Talmud passes by a large proportion of
the Mishnah without note or comment. That is, however, because
much of this latter Talmud has been lost, for, in the time of
Maimonides (died at Cairo A.D. 1204) the Gemara of the
Jerusalem Talmud discussed nearly every part of the Mishnah.
The Mishnah is usually said to have been completed by Rabbi
Jehudah Hannasi, or the Prince (Hannasi), called simply
"Rabbi" by way of preeminence, who died in A.D. 210 in his
sixtieth year. But there are parts of the Mishnah which are
older, and parts also at least a century later than the death
of that great scholar. There is no absolute proof that the
Mishnah was committed to writing until some time after the
completion of the Palestinian (about A.D. 400) or even of the
Babylonian (about A.D. 500) Talmud, for, in neither Gemara is
there any reference to a written Mishnah, nor is a written