Rabbinic Literature in Ancient Judaism (A Brief Primer)

Religion scholars commonly distinguish biblical from rabbinic Judaism. The primary way to differentiate one type from the other is by appealing to 70 CE as the dividing point for biblical and rabbinic Judaism, when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem. The type of religion practiced before 70 CE is categorized as "biblical," whereas Judaism after 70 is deemed "rabbinic." Of course, by "rabbi," I mean a teacher belonging to the Jewish religion. Jesus' disciples impute the designation to him sometimes (John 1:49). However, after 70 CE, the Jewish rabbis developed a huge body of writings respectively known as Midrashim, the Mishnah, the Gemara, and the Talmud. I will discuss each type of rabbinic literature below. Much of this discussion is indebted to Michael Molloy's book Experiencing the World's Religions, but I do not take my source material exclusively from his book.

Midrashim

The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) offers this explanation of the Hebrew word, "midrash" (singular):

A term occurring as early as II Chron. xiii. 22, xxiv. 27, though perhaps not in the sense in which it came to be used later, and denoting "exposition," "exegesis," especially that of the Scriptures. In contradistinction to literal interpretation, subsequently called "peshaṭ" (comp. Geiger's "Wiss. Zeit. Jüd. Theol." v. 244), the term "midrash" designates an exegesis which, going more deeply than the mere literal sense, attempts to penetrate into the spirit of the Scriptures, to examine the text from all sides, and thereby to derive interpretations which are not immediately obvious.

An example of midrash (exegesis): Walter Brueggemann (Theology of the Old Testament, page 326) gives Amos 9:8 as an illustration of midrash insofar as it deals with "surface irregularities" of the biblical text. That verse reads:

"Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah" (ASV).

Mishnah:

Here is one description of the Mishnah:

Compiled around 200 [CE] by Judah the Prince, the Mishnah, meaning "repetition", is the earliest authoritative body of Jewish oral law. It records the views of rabbinic sages known as the Tannaim (from the Aramaic "tena", meaning to teach).

The Torah - the first five books of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, as handed down by God to Moses - forms the basis of Jewish written law. The Mishnah supplements the Torah, but its laws lack all scriptural references.

See http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/mishnah.html

Gemara:

The Gemara is a commentary on the Mishnah: it is the second part of the Talmud and the word Gemara means "supplement" or "completion"; the Gemara and Mishnah jointly comprise the Talmud. The Gemara is comprised of analysis and exposition.

Talmud (Palestinian and Babylonian):

The word "Talmud" usually denotes "doctrine" or "instruction." There is a Jerusalem Talmud (also known as the "Palestinian Talmud" and its more notable counterpart, the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud was completed ca. 500 CE, but gradually edited over time--any deviation from the Talmud is considered to be heretical.

See https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2652565/jewish/The-Babylonian-Talmud.htm