Structure and Form in the Babylonian Talmud [Paperback]

This book attempts to uncover the basic form and structure of this important text in Jewish studies.This book attempts to uncover the basic form and structure of the Babylonian Talmud, which is a centrally important text in Jewish studies. By examining a number of talmudic passages, and subjecting them to close analysis, this book arrives at important conclusions, and shows, for example, that the Talmud is an academic, rather than a practical work.This book attempts to uncover the basic form and structure of the Babylonian Talmud, which is a centrally important text in Jewish studies. By examining a number of talmudic passages, and subjecting them to close analysis, this book arrives at important conclusions, and shows, for example, that the Talmud is an academic, rather than a practical work.This book attempts to uncover the basic form and structure of the Babylonian Talmud, a centrally important text in Jewish studies. The novel contribution made by Dr. Jacobs to the study of the Talmud consists in his concentration on the literary principles employed in its composition, and he presents a clear study indicating the manner in which earlier material was reworked in order to make each component, or sugya, into a carefully structured and self-consistent unit.Preface; List of abbreviations; The Babylonian Talmud: an introductory note; 1. How much of the Babylonian Talmud is pseudepigraphic?; 2. The Babylonian Talmud: an academic work; 3. Rabbinic views on the order and authorship of the Biblical books; 4. Literary analysis of the sugya in Bava Kama 11a-12b; 5. Literary analysis of the sugya in Bava Kama 20a-21a; 6. Literary analysis of the sugya on taking the blame on oneself; 7. Literary analysis of the sugya of 'half and half'; 8. Rabbi Joshua b. Hananiah and the elders of the house of Athens; 9. Bavli and Yerushalmi on Rabban Gamaliel and Rabbi Joshua; 10. Bavli and Yerushalmi on Rabbi Dosa and the Sages; 11. The Rabbi Banaah stories in Bava Batra 58a-b; 12. The delC