Pirke Avot [with footnotes]

Pirke Avot [with footnotes]
Sayings of the Jewish Fathers
5
(1 Review)
Pirke Avot  [with footnotes] by Unknown

Published:

1913

Pages:

100

Downloads:

1,525

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Pirke Avot [with footnotes]
Sayings of the Jewish Fathers
5
(1 Review)
Translated by Joseph I. Gorfinkle.

Book Excerpt

l centuries before the common era, Aramaic was the vernacular of the Jews. Hebrew, however, remained in use as the sacred language ([lashon ha-kodesh]), it being the language of the learned, and was employed for literary, liturgical, and legal purposes. This accounts for the Mishnah being written almost entirely in Hebrew, though Aramaic was spoken on the streets. It is related of Judah ha-Nasi that he disliked the Aramaic jargon to such an extent that he forbade its use in his home, where even the servants spoke Hebrew with elegance (Rosh ha-Shanah, 26b). When scholars used Aramaic in his presence, he chided them for not speaking in Hebrew or in Greek (Baba Kamma, 82b).

DEVELOPMENT OF ABOT (13)

(13) On the subject-matter of this section, consult Hoffmann, Die erste Mischna, pp. 26-37; idem, Mischnaiot Seder Nesikin, Introd., pp. XX-XXI; Brull, Enstehung und ursprunglicher Inhalt des Traktates Abot; Loeb, La Chaine

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A well-annotated collection of some of the sayings/parables/analyses drawn from the Hebrew scriptures by the most respected Jewish scholars from a few hundred years B.C.E. to a few hundred years C.E. The scholars would find a passage in one part of scripture, interpret it in light of another passage in a different part, and derive new wisdom. Since all of this began long before Jesus, he knew of it, and borrowed some, so that it shows up in Christian scripture.
There are copious explanatory and scriptural footnotes; read this version rather than the unannotated one.