How was the Mishnah developed...and why? ✡

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"How was the Mishnah developed?"

The Mishnah already existed as hundreds of legal decisions and interpretations before Yeshua's time. It began to be more systematically arranged under Hillel, who was president of the Sanhedrin and the leading Jewish sage at the time of Yeshua's birth. One of the sayings for which Hillel was most famous was, "don't do to others what you wouldn't have them to do you." Sound familiar?

The Mishnah continued to be transmitted word of mouth for another two hundred years until it was written down under the leadership of Yehuda HaNasi - Judah the Prince - in the late 100s.

The Mishnah was written in Hebrew. The style of Hebrew it was written in is slightly different than the style the Bible was written in just five hundred years earlier. This proves that Hebrew was still a living language in Yeshua's time, and disproves the urban legend that Hebrew wasn't spoken in the Second Temple era.

This style of Hebrew is usually called "Mishnaic Hebrew" in English. In Judaism it's either called by the Aramaic term lishna d'Rabbanan - "the language of our Rabbis" - or by the Hebrew term lashon chachamim - "the language of the sages".

After the Mishnah was put into writing, commentaries on the Mishnah were written down for another three hundred years, mostly in Aramaic. These commentaries were called the Gemara, which comes from the verb gamar - to complete or finish.

You could say that the Mishnah is commentary on the Torah, and the Gemara is commentary on the commentary. The Mishnah and the Gemara together are called the Talmud. Talmud means study, and comes from the verb lamad - to learn. Lamad is also the root of talmid, disciple.

"Why was the Mishnah developed?"

To understand the reason for the Mishnah, you need to understand four things about the Torah.

Firstly, the Torah was given as compulsory civil law, not optional religious law. It's almost impossible for us to grasp this concept because we live in a secular society that practices the separation of church and state.

Secondly, the Torah was given to a community, not to individuals. Again, this is extremely difficult for us to wrap our minds around because Western society and Protestant Christianity are both highly individualistic.

Thirdly, the Torah gives general instructions, but leaves out the practical details. It's impossible to keep the commandments without 'fleshing them out' with traditions.

One example of this third dynmic would be how the Torah commands Israel to live in sukkahs for seven days, but doesn't actually define what a sukkah is. Not surprisingly, there's an entire tractate in the Mishnah dedicated to this question named...wait for it...Sukkah.

Another example would be how the Torah requires farmers to leave the corners of their fields for the poor to glean, but doesn't specify a minimum quantity. Legal questions relating to laws such as this are tackled in the second tractate of the Mishnah, Pe'ot.

And fourthly, the Torah was given with an explicitly stated expectation - that legal questions would arise which the written Torah doesn't clearly address, and would need to be decided by nationally recognized judges. The Torah is clear in stating that the decisions made by these judges would be binding and authoritative:

Read Deuteronomy 17:8-13, and I want you to notice these two things for yourself – how the written Torah needed to be interpreted and applied in specific situations, and how the written Torah required judges with legally binding authority to do this.

Now. Having read that, it's very important to understand that in Yeshua's time, and in the centuries following, those judges were the Rabbis quoted in the Mishnah.

It's a relatively common belief that those evil Rabbis 'threw their additions into the Torah, and out came this Mishnah!'

Hopefully you've come to see from this discussion that the development of the Mishnah was a far cry from adding to the Torah, and that it would be more accurate to say that the Mishnah is an extension of the Torah, a fleshing out of it - not unlike the New Testament, actually.

Hopefully you've also been able to see that the Jewish people literally couldn't keep the Torah without developing the Mishnah, because the Torah is compulsory civil law given to a community, requiring traditions and an ongoing authoritative legal system.

You may not agree with all the decisions in the Mishnah, and that's ok - the sages didn't either. And, as we'll soon see, neither did our Master Yeshua!

What's important is that you understand the need for some sort of Mishnah, that you respect the process through which these decisions were made, and that you remember that the Torah wasn't given to you - it was given to...out of room! Watch the video for the rest, or download the text version below.

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