2
CHRISTIANITY IN TALMUD
of Etheridge, a work of considerable value, in spite
of the strong theological bias of the writer.
In an often quoted passage (Aboth, i. 1 sq.) the
Talmud declares that
G°
Moses received Torah 1 from
Sinai and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the
Elders, and the Elders to the prophets, and the
prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Syna-
gogue. Simeon the Just was of the remnants of the
Great Synagogue . . .
Antigonos of Socho re-
ceived from Simeon the Just . . .
Jose ben Joezer
of Zereda, and Jose ben Johanan of Jerusalem
received from them."' Then follow the names of
successive pairs of teachers down to Hillel and Sham-
mai, who were contemporary with the beginning of
the Christian era ; and after these are mentioned
singly the leading Rabbis of the first two centuries.
The
treatise, °Pirge Aboth,' as its title indicates, is
a collection of ' Sayings' by these
'
Fathers' of Israel.
Now, whatever may be thought of the historical
accuracy of the statement just quoted, it expresses
clearly enough the view which the great founders
of the Rabbinical literature held concerning their
own work. It gives the keynote of the whole of that
literature ; it indicates the foundation on which
it was built, and the method which its builders
one
' Torah, literally I Teaching.' The usual translation `Law' is too narrow in
its meaning. Torah denotes the whole of what, according to Jewish belief, was
divinely revealed to man. As the Pentateuch contained the record of that
revelation, the Torah denotes the whole contents of the Pentateuch, whether
narrative or precept ; and further, it includes not merely the written contents of
the Pentateuch, but also the unwritten Tradition, the so-called Oral Law,
which finally took shape in the Talmud.
2 There is a gap between Antigonos and the first Pair, as is pointed out by
Strack in his edition of the Pirge Aboth, 1882, p. 9. The Pairs of teachers
are technically known as Zngoth (f1171T).
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