Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The oldest part of the Talmud, rabbinical writings collected by Rabbi Judah the Holy and published in 250 CE in Javneh (Jamnia, in Israel).

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hebrew משנה (Mishnah, "repetition, oral law"), from שנה (shnah, "to repeat, teach")

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Examples

  • For though the Jews have such a cabala (called gematry) as this which Mr. White describes; yet that cabala which is argued in this instance, and which our Saviour reproves in the pharisees by the name of tradition, is quite another thing, and among the Jewish writers known by the name of the "unwritten, or oral law;" which they say was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, and by him conveyed to Aaron and Joshua, and the elders, and successively delivered down from one age to another; and at last by Rabbi Jehudah compiled into one volume which they call Mishna, or deute'rosis.

    The Works of Dr. John Tillotson, Late Archbishop of Canterbury. Vol. 10. 1630-1694 1820

  • The Mishna, which is the collection of the Jewish laws, says that often, in confessing, they placed their hand upon a calf belonging to the priest; and this was called

    A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

  • But of such collections only one finally attained canonical recognition, and therefore was called Mishna par excellence, viz. the one edited about the end of the second century of our era by Rabbi Jehuda I, called Ha-nashi (the prince) or Ha-gadosh (the saint) or simply the Rabbi.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913

  • The first portion of the Talmud, called the Mishna or "second law," contains this oral law.

    Smith's Bible Dictionary 1884

  • His compilation, classifying the subject-matter under six heads, subdivided into sixty-three tractates, containing five hundred and twenty-four chapters, was called Mishna, and came to be the authority appealed to on points of law.

    Jewish Literature and Other Essays Gustav Karpeles 1878

  • For generations commenting on the Mishna was the sum-total of literary endeavor.

    Jewish Literature and Other Essays Gustav Karpeles 1878

  • The "Mishna" gives more elaborate instructions as to the way in which this translating should be done.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913

  • Letters with points are mentioned even in the "Mishna".

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 14: Simony-Tournon 1840-1916 1913

  • The difference between the two schools had regard chiefly to the interpretation of the first, second, third and fifth parts of the "Mishna" — i.e. to religious dues, the keeping of the Sabbath and of holy days, the laws in regard to marriage and purification.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 13: Revelation-Stock 1840-1916 1913

  • In the "Mishna" it says, "It is permitted on the Sabbath to do all that is necessary to perform circumcision, excision, denudation, and suction."

    History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance Peter Charles Remondino 1886

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