Re: The Mishna, etc
Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 3:01 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_literature
The Midrash
Midrash (pl. Midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of reading details into, or out of, a biblical text. The term midrash also can refer to a compilation of Midrashic teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical, homiletical, or narrative writing, often configured as a commentary on the Bible or Mishnah. There are a large number of "classical" Midrashic works spanning a period from Mishnaic to Geonic times, often showing evidence of having been worked and reworked from earlier materials, and frequently coming to us in multiple variants.
Exegetical Tannaitic period (till 200 CE)
- Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael
- Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon
- a Halakic midrash on Exodus from the school of Rabbi Akiva, the "Rabbi Shimon" in question being Shimon bar Yochai.
- Mekilta le-Sefer Devarim (n.e.)
- Sifra
- Sifre
Narrative
- Seder Olam Rabbah
The work is a chronological record, extending from Adam to the revolt of Bar Kokba in the reign of Hadrian, the Persian period being compressed into 52 years (Strack 1991). The chronicle is complete only up to the time of Alexander the Great; the period from Alexander to Hadrian occupies a very small portion of the work —the end of the 30th chapter [the last chapter].
It has been concluded, therefore, that originally the Seder Olam was more extensive and consisted of two parts, the second of which, dealing with the post-Alexandrian period, has been lost, with the exception of a small fragment that was added by the copyists to the first part.
Many passages quoted in the Talmud are missing in the edition of the Seder Olam which has survived.