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The Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud in Michael L. Rodkinson's 1903 New Edition — the standard English translation used in Anglophone scholarship for half a century, now public domain. 261 chapters across 10 Books, covering the most-cited tractates of Jewish law and aggada.

On this edition: Rodkinson's translation is abridged in places and sometimes paraphrased rather than literal; it is the PD predecessor of the Soncino (1935–52) and Davidson (Sefaria, CC-BY-NC) editions. For critical work, cross-check with Soncino or Sefaria. This reader is sourced from sacred-texts.com, which hosts the complete 1903 edition in HTML.

Book 1

Tract Sabbath (Vols. I–II)

Laws of the Sabbath — the 39 forbidden labours, kindling, carrying, what may be worn, preparation of food.

26 chapters · read ›

Book 2

Tracts Erubin, Shekalim, Rosh Hashana

Sabbath boundaries (eruvin), Temple shekel contributions, New Year calendar and the shofar.

25 chapters · read ›

Book 3

Tract Pesachim (Vol. I)

Passover — removal of leaven, the paschal offering, the seder.

25 chapters · read ›

Book 4

Tracts Pesachim (Vol. II), Yomah, Hagiga

Passover continued, Yom Kippur Temple service (including the goat for Azazel), pilgrimage offerings.

40 chapters · read ›

Book 5

Tracts Aboth, Derech Eretz, Betzah, Succah, Moed Katan, Taanith, Megilla

Fathers (Pirkei Avot), worldly conduct, festival labour, booths, minor festivals, fasts, the Megillah.

35 chapters · read ›

Book 6

Tract Baba Kama (First Gate)

Torts — damages, animals and fire, personal injury.

13 chapters · read ›

Book 7

Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate)

Property, partnerships, inheritance, contracts.

12 chapters · read ›

Book 8

Tract Sanhedrin (Supreme Council)

Courts, capital cases, the false prophet, the Messianic age — contains the foundational ethical passage "whoever saves a life saves a world" (Sanhedrin 4:5) which Q 5:32 quotes.

14 chapters · read ›

Book 9

Tracts Maccoth, Ebel Rabbathi, Shebuoth, Eduyoth, Abuda Zara, Horioth

Lashes, mourning, oaths, testimonies, idolatry (critical for Jewish-Muslim polemic), and erroneous rulings.

31 chapters · read ›

Book 10

History of the Talmud

Rodkinson's own volume on the history, development, and defence of the Talmud.

40 chapters · read ›

Citing the Talmud

Talmud references are given as Tractate, page, side — e.g. Sanhedrin 90a means folio 90, side a. Rodkinson organises the content by chapter within each tractate rather than by folio, so catalog citations give both: folio (for the standard Talmud reference) and Rodkinson's chapter (for finding the passage in this reader).

Catalog entries citing Rodkinson link to the specific chapter anchor in one of the Book pages above.