What is the Talmud?
The Talmud is a vast Jewish work of legal, ethical, and theological commentary on the Hebrew Bible, especially the Mishnah. There are two editions: the Jerusalem Talmud (c. 400 AD) and the more authoritative Babylonian Talmud (c. 500 AD).
The Talmud is not Scripture. It is rabbinic discussion — debate, interpretation, story, and law — preserving how Jewish teachers understood the Torah after the temple’s destruction.
For Christians it is helpful background: it shows how Jewish thought developed alongside the early church, illuminates NT debates, and preserves traditions Jesus’ contemporaries would have known.
It is, of course, theologically rejected on key points by Christians — Messiah has come in Jesus. But studying it deepens our understanding of the world the apostles entered.
Original BibleDawn answer · reviewed 2026-06. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.