or MISNA, משנה, signifies _repetition_, and is properly the code
of the Jewish civil law. The Mishna contains the text; and the Gemara,
which is the second part of the Talmud, contains the commentaries: so
that the Gemara is, as it were, a glossary on the Mishna. The Mishna
consists of various traditions of the Jews, and of explanations of
several passages of Scripture. These traditions, serving as an
explication of the written law, and supplementary to it, are said to
have been delivered to Moses during the time of his abode upon the
mount; which he afterward communicated to Aaron, Eleazar, and his
servant Joshua. By these they were transmitted to the seventy elders; by
them to the prophets, who communicated them to the men of the great
sanhedrim, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem and Babylon received
them. According to Dr. Prideaux, they passed from Jeremiah to Baruch,
from him to Ezra, and from Ezra to the men of the great synagogue, the
last of whom was Simon the Just, who delivered them to Antigonus of
Socho. From him they came down in regular succession to Simeon, who took
our Saviour in his arms; to Gamaliel, at whose feet St. Paul was brought
up; and last of all to rabbi Judah the holy, who committed them to
writing in the Mishna. Dr. Prideaux, rejecting this Jewish fiction,
observes, that after the death of Simon the Just, about B. C. 299, arose
the Tannaim or Mishnical doctors, who by their comments and conclusions,
added to the number of those traditions which had been received and
allowed by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue. Hence toward the
middle of the second century after Christ, under the reign of the Roman
Emperor Antoninus Pius, it was found necessary to commit these
traditions to writing. This was requisite, because the traditions had
been so much increased that they could no longer be preserved by the
memory of man; and also because their country had suffered considerably
in the reign of the Emperor Adrian, and many of their schools being
dissolved, and their learned men cut off, the usual method of preserving
their traditions had failed. Lest, therefore, the traditions should be
forgotten and lost, it was resolved that they should be collected and
committed to writing. Rabbi Judah, who was at that time rector of the
school at Tiberias in Galilee, and president of the sanhedrim at that
place, undertook the work. He compiled it in six books, each consisting
of several tracts, which altogether form the number of sixty-three. Dr.
Prideaux computes, that the Mishna was composed about A. D. 150. Dr.
Lightfoot, however, says, that rabbi Judah compiled the Mishna about A.
D. 190, in the latter end of the reign of Commodus; or, as some compute,
A. D. 220. Dr. Lardner is of opinion, that this work could not have been
finished before A. D. 190, or later. Thus the book called the Mishna was
formed; a book which was received by the Jews with great veneration, and
which has been always held in high esteem among them. Their opinion of
it is, that all the particulars which it contains were dictated by God
himself to Moses upon Mount Sinai, as well as the written word itself;
and, consequently, that it must be of the same divine authority, and
ought to be as religiously observed. See CABBALA, GEMARA, JEWS.
of the Jewish civil law. The Mishna contains the text; and the Gemara,
which is the second part of the Talmud, contains the commentaries: so
that the Gemara is, as it were, a glossary on the Mishna. The Mishna
consists of various traditions of the Jews, and of explanations of
several passages of Scripture. These traditions, serving as an
explication of the written law, and supplementary to it, are said to
have been delivered to Moses during the time of his abode upon the
mount; which he afterward communicated to Aaron, Eleazar, and his
servant Joshua. By these they were transmitted to the seventy elders; by
them to the prophets, who communicated them to the men of the great
sanhedrim, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem and Babylon received
them. According to Dr. Prideaux, they passed from Jeremiah to Baruch,
from him to Ezra, and from Ezra to the men of the great synagogue, the
last of whom was Simon the Just, who delivered them to Antigonus of
Socho. From him they came down in regular succession to Simeon, who took
our Saviour in his arms; to Gamaliel, at whose feet St. Paul was brought
up; and last of all to rabbi Judah the holy, who committed them to
writing in the Mishna. Dr. Prideaux, rejecting this Jewish fiction,
observes, that after the death of Simon the Just, about B. C. 299, arose
the Tannaim or Mishnical doctors, who by their comments and conclusions,
added to the number of those traditions which had been received and
allowed by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue. Hence toward the
middle of the second century after Christ, under the reign of the Roman
Emperor Antoninus Pius, it was found necessary to commit these
traditions to writing. This was requisite, because the traditions had
been so much increased that they could no longer be preserved by the
memory of man; and also because their country had suffered considerably
in the reign of the Emperor Adrian, and many of their schools being
dissolved, and their learned men cut off, the usual method of preserving
their traditions had failed. Lest, therefore, the traditions should be
forgotten and lost, it was resolved that they should be collected and
committed to writing. Rabbi Judah, who was at that time rector of the
school at Tiberias in Galilee, and president of the sanhedrim at that
place, undertook the work. He compiled it in six books, each consisting
of several tracts, which altogether form the number of sixty-three. Dr.
Prideaux computes, that the Mishna was composed about A. D. 150. Dr.
Lightfoot, however, says, that rabbi Judah compiled the Mishna about A.
D. 190, in the latter end of the reign of Commodus; or, as some compute,
A. D. 220. Dr. Lardner is of opinion, that this work could not have been
finished before A. D. 190, or later. Thus the book called the Mishna was
formed; a book which was received by the Jews with great veneration, and
which has been always held in high esteem among them. Their opinion of
it is, that all the particulars which it contains were dictated by God
himself to Moses upon Mount Sinai, as well as the written word itself;
and, consequently, that it must be of the same divine authority, and
ought to be as religiously observed. See CABBALA, GEMARA, JEWS.