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GLOSSARY
Historical
terms
Amora
pl. Amora'im אמוראים
a sage of the Talmudic period (3rd-5th centuries CE); hence Amoraic.
barayta (more commonly baraita)
pl. baraytot ברייתא
a Talmudic quotation from a Tannaitic
source outside the Mishnah; in a wider sense: any piece of Tannaitic material not incoporated in the Mishnah.
Barayta
di-Melekhet ha-Mishkan ברייתא דמלאכת המשכן (barayta)
“On the
Building of the Tabernacle”.
Book of Ben Sira (The) ספר
בן סירא
a book of the Apocrypha; composed
by Shim'on ben Jeshua ben 'El'azar ben Sira (2nd century BCE); a.k.a.
The Wisdom of Ben Sirach, Ecclesiasticus,
etc.
Gaon pl. Geonim גאונים
a post-Talmudic sage, mainly in Babylonia (6th-11th
centuries CE); hence Geonic.
Haskalah השכלה
the Jewish ‘Enlightenment’ movement in Europe (c. 1770s-1880s) that
promoted the adoption of secular European culture.
Megillat 'Ahima'az מגילת אחימעץ
The Scroll of 'Aħima'az; originally: Sefer Yuħasin ספר יוחסין (The
Book of Genealogy); composed in Italy by 'Aħima'az ben Palti'el
(11th century CE).
Midrash מדרש
a legal and legendary commentary on the Bible, often
characterized by non-literal interpretation; also: an anthology of pieces of
this; hence Midrashic.
Mishnah משנה
the collection of oral law compiled by Rabbi Judah
ha-Nasi (beginning of the 3rd century CE); also: a single paragraph of this;
hence Mishnaic.
Talmud תלמוד
a compilation of the Mishnah and its Amoraic commentary (Gemara גמרא); there are the Jerusalem (or Palestinian) Talmud (beginning of
the 5th century CE) and the more authoritative Babylonian Talmud (end of the
5th century CE); hence Talmudic.
Tanna pl. Tanna'im תנאים
a sage of the Mishnaic period (1st-2nd centuries CE);
hence Tannaitic.
Tosefta תוספתא
a compilation of baraytot, arranged according to the
order of the Mishnah (end of the 3rd century CE).
Linguistic terms
millon מילון
a dictionary; derived from milla מילה (a word);
said to be the first new word introduced into modern Hebrew by Eliezer
Ben-Yehuda (1880).
neta נטע
a stem.
niqqud ניקוד
(diacritical) vowel points, vowel marks.
shoresh שורש
a root; a morpheme that consists of a sequence of
(usually) three consonants and carries the basic meaning of a word.
teva
pl. tevot תיבות
a word token.
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