Saints or Sinners, Scholars or Ignoramuses?: Stories About the Rabbis as Evidence for the Composite Nature of the Babylonian Talmud

As Jacob Neusner and others have argued, before talmudic stories can be evaluated as historical evidence we must ask who the original authors were, what were their motives, and who was their intended audience. Even once we obtain the “original” version of a story, we do not necessarily have access t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kalmin, Richard Lee 1953- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Pennsylvania Press 1990
In: AJS review
Year: 1990, Volume: 15, Issue: 2, Pages: 179-205
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Summary:As Jacob Neusner and others have argued, before talmudic stories can be evaluated as historical evidence we must ask who the original authors were, what were their motives, and who was their intended audience. Even once we obtain the “original” version of a story, we do not necessarily have access to the historical event which gave rise to the story. For perhaps accounts of the historical event have been colored, even distorted beyond recognition, by the needs, desires, and beliefs of the original authors. Or perhaps the stories they transmit are fabrications, invented by students or later editors with a particular goal in mind.
ISSN:1475-4541
Contains:Enthalten in: Association for Jewish Studies, AJS review
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0364009400002944