Babylonian Talmud

Traditions

Jewish scripture and tradition

Role in the tradition

Primary source Written from inside the tradition: scripture, revelation, a grimoire, a manifesto or a practical treatise.

Public attention

Landmark Wikipedia has an article about it in 97 languages.

• Rodkinson's translation ↗ sacred-texts.com checked against the Internet Archive's copy of May 11, 2026, because the site refuses scripts · archived copy
• Read at sefaria.org ↗ sefaria.org

The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism, and second in authority only to the Hebrew Bible, the first five books of which form the Torah along with the texts in Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). It is a primary source of Jewish law and Jewish theology. It consists of the part of the Oral Torah compiled in the Mishnah and its commentaries, the Gemara. It records the teachings, opinions and disagreements of thousands of rabbis and Torah scholars on a variety of subjects, including Halakha, Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, and folklore among other topics. Until the Haskalah in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish culture in nearly all communities and foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.

From the Wikipedia article Talmud, revision 1371104433, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata Q43290: “central text of Rabbinic Judaism”.