Encyclopedia Judaica

Friday, December 6, 2002

Passages Repeated

Passages Repeated.

Yerushalmi, when regarded as a work of literature, is noteworthy for a textual peculiarity which is characteristic of it, though found also in Babli, namely, the large number of literal repetitions. Entire passages, sometimes whole columns, of the Talmud are found in two, occasionally in three, separate treatises, in which they differ from each other by mere variants, most of them due to corruptions of the text. These repetitions throw some light on the redaction of the Talmudic text, since they prove that before the editing of the treatises was undertaken a uniform mass of material was already at hand in a definitely revised form; they likewise show that in the compilation of the Talmud one portion was explained by another, as was natural in view of the character of the contents. The opportunity was gladly seized, moreover, to repeat didactic material in passages where it did not strictly belong. These repetitions are obviously of great value in the textual criticism of the Talmud. Since sufficient attention has never yet been paid to this phenomenon of Yerushalmi, a list is here given of those passages of the first order, Zera'im, which are repeated in other orders. It must be noted, however, that this list includes neither citations based on passages of another treatise nor parallel passages consisting of a single sentence.

(a)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order ii.:

Ber. 3b, lines 10-55 = Shab. 3a, 69-3b, 20.
Ber. 4a, 30-56 = SheK. 47a, 13-59 = M. K. 83c, 40-83d, 8.
Ber. 5a, 33-62 = M. K. 82b, 14-47.
Ber. 5d, 14-20 = Shab. 3a, 55-61.
Ber. 5d, 65-6a, 9 = M. K. 83a, 5-27.
Ber. 6c, 4-17 = Yoma 44d, 58-68.
Ber. 6d, 60-67 = Meg. 73d, 15-22.
Ber. 7b, 70-7d, 25 = Ta'an. 67c, 12-67d, 47.
Ber. 7d, 75-8a, 59 = Ta'an. 65c, 2-69.
Ber. 8c, 60-69 = R. H. 59d, 16-25.
Ber. 9a, 70-9b, 47 = Ta'an. 63c, 66-63d, 44.
Ber. 9c, 20-31 = Meg. 75c, 8-19.
Ber. 9c, 49-54 = Meg. 75b, 31-36.
Ber. 10a, 32-43 = Pes. 29c, 16-27.
Ber. 11c, 14-21 = Pes. 37c, 54-71.
Ber. 12c, 16-25 = 'Er. 22b, 29-37.
Ber. 12c, 44-62 = Suk. 24a, 6-21 = Meg. 72a, 15-31.
Ber. 13d, 72-14a, 30 = Ta'an. 64a, 75-64b, 35.
Pe'ah 15a, 67-15b, 21 = hag. 76b, 24-53.
Pe'ah 17a, 39-72 = hag. 76b, 13-47.
Pe'ah 18d, 16-33 = SheK. 46a, 48-67.
Pe'ah 18d, 66-19a, 5 = SheK. 48c, 75-48d, 13.
Pe'ah 21a, 25-29 = SheK. 48d, 55-58.
Dem. 22a, 31-40 = SheK. 48d, 40-49.
Kil. 29b, 27-61 = 'Er. 19c, 15-49 = Suk. 52a, 40-73.
Kil. 29b, 62-76 = Suk. 52a, 73-52b, 11.
Sheb. 34c, 27-49 = M. K. 80b, 26-52.
Sheb. 38a, 50-60 = Shab. 3c, 55-65.
Ter. 44a, 32-38 = Shab. 44d, 4-10.
Ter. 45d, 42-51 = Shab. 3d, 2-15 (comp. 'Ab. Zarah 41d, 13-28).
Ter. 46a, 41-46b, 35 = Pes. 28a, 34-28b, 37.
Ma'as. 49a, 22-28 = Suk. 53d, 43-53.
Ma'as. 49b, 14-32 = Shab. 6b, 17-36.
Ma'as. 49b, 39-48 = Bezah 62b, 72-62c, 6.
Ma'as. Sh. 53b, 6-44 = Yoma 45c, 2-36 (comp. Shebu. 32b. 56-34c, 3).
Ma'as. Sh. 54b, 48-58 = SheK. 51b, 15-25.
Ma'as. Sh. 55a, 23-55 = 'Er. 24c, 33-66.
Ma'as. Sh. 55d, 62-67 = M. K. 80b, 72-80c, 10.
hal. 57c, 16-20 = R. H. 57b, 60-63.

(b)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order iii.:

Ber. 6a, 35-6b, 17 = Naz. 56a, 12-68.
Ber. 6b, 51-56 = Kid. 61c, 11-17.
Ber. 9d, 3-19 = Git. 47b, 49-63.
Ber. 11b, 42-68 = Naz. 54b, 2-27.
Ber. 14b, 45-70 = Sotah 20c, 40-64.
Pe'ah 15b, 41-47 = Ket. 32c, 10-16.
Pe'ah 15c, 7-16 = Kid. 61a, 75-61c, 10.
Dem. 25b, 60-45c, 7 = Kid. 63a, 75-63b, 21.
Kil. 32a, 64-32d, 7 = Ket. 34d, 74-35b, 56.
Sheb. 36b, 25-68 = Kid. 61c, 56-61d, 17.
Ter. 40c, 42-40d, 6 = Yeb. 13c, 70-13d, 32.
Ter. 42b, 44-53 = Naz. 53d, 16-27.
Ter. 44c, 9-44d, 44 = Ket. 27b, 5-27c, 39.
Ma'as. Sh. 55a, 69-55b, 13 = Git. 47d, 55-70.
'Orlah 61b, 8-33 = Naz. 55c, 32-63.
Bik. 64a. 32-44 = Yeb. 9b, 71-9c, 8.

(c)

Passages from the order i. repeated in the order iv.:
Ber. 3a, 52-69 = Sanh. 30a, 65-30b, 8 = 'Ab. Zarah 41c, 46-63.
Ber. 6b, 20-41 = Sanh. 20a, 43-60.
Pe'ah 16b, 22-25, 43-60 = Sanh. 27c, 38-60.
Sheb. 35b, 26-40 = 'Ab. Zarah 44b, 27-41.
Sheb. 39b, 14-38 = Mak. 31a, 33-50.
Ter. 45c, 24-45d, 11 = 'Ab. Zarah 41a, 18-41b, 3.
Ter. 47c, 66-47d, 4 = 'Ab. Zarah 41c, 13-23.
Ma'as. Sh. 54d, 71-55a, 8 = Sanh. 19a, 63-76.
Ma'as. Sh. 56c, 9-18 = Sanh. 18d, 13-22.
'Orlah 62b, 49-62c, 10 = 'Ab. Zarah 45a, 32-45b, 10.

The following parallel passages from the second and fourth orders may also be mentioned on account of their length: Shab. 9c, 62-9d, 59 = Sanh. 24c, 19-24d, 14; Shab. 14d, 10-15a, 1 = 'Ab. Zarah 40d, 12-41a, 4.

Despite these parallel passages in the four orders of Yerushalmi, which might be regarded as a proof of the uniform redaction of the entire work, there is proof to the contrary, which shows that the first two orders differ in origin from the third and fourth. While the first and second contain a large number of baraitot with the introductory formula "Samuel transmits []," there is not a single baraita by Samuel in the third and fourth orders. These latter two include, on the other hand, many controversies between Mani and Abin, two amoraim of the second half of the fourth century, while Zera'im and Mo'ed contain very few (see Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." iii. 398). The redaction of Yerushalmi is discussed in further detail below.