Mishna question

Kristin · 2025-05-01T19:26:14+00:00

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I have a Jewish commentary referring to the Mishna which I don't think I own. However, I am confused about these specific references, and what books they would be found in, as even searching doesn't seem to clarify the resource.

b. Sanh. 39a,103b

b. Yoma 56b

b. Hag. 12a,b

Thank you for any help anyone is able to provide.

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Accepted answers

Chad Katter

All of these references are found in Jacob Neusner's translation:

The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (22 vols.) | Logos Bible Software

All comments

MJ. Smith

These look like standard references to the Talmud. I'll let AI write the answer:

1. Decoding the Abbreviations

b. = Babylonian Talmud (as opposed to y. for Jerusalem Talmud).
Sanh. = Sanhedrin (tractate on legal procedures and criminal law).
Yoma = Yoma (tractate on Yom Kippur rituals).
Hag. = Chagigah (tractate on pilgrimage festivals and mystical topics).
Numbers = Page number and side (e.g., 39a = page 39, side a; 103b = page 103, side b).

2. Finding the Passage

Example 1: b. Sanh. 39a

Tractate: Sanhedrin
Page: 39a (page 39, side a)
Content: Debates about divine justice, including Rabban Gamliel’s dialogue with a Roman emperor about God’s unity.
- Key line: "Does God rejoice at the downfall of the wicked?"
- Answer: "He does not rejoice, but others may."

Example 2: b. Sanh. 103b

Tractate: Sanhedrin
Page: 103b (page 103, side b)
Content: Repentance of King Manasseh. Some sages argue he repented and was forgiven, while others deny him a share in the World to Come.
- Key line: "The Holy One, blessed be He, bored a tunnel under His throne of glory to receive [Manasseh’s] prayer."

Example 3: b. Yoma 56b

Tractate: Yoma
Page: 56b (page 56, side b)
Content: Halakhic discussions about eiruv (Sabbath boundaries) and ritual purity.
- Less relevant to theological/cosmological topics.

Example 4: b. Hag. 12a,b

Tractate: Chagigah
Page: 12a–b (page 12, sides a and b)
Content: Mystical discussions about creation (ma’aseh bereishit), including debates on the order of creation and the structure of the cosmos.
- Key lines:
  - "The earth stands on pillars, the pillars on water, the water on mountains..."
  - "Seven things were created before the world: Torah, repentance, the Garden of Eden, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the name of the Messiah."

Kristin

Hi @MJ. Smith,

Thanks, but apparently I should have been clearer. I hadn't meant that I didn't know what the meaning was of the references, I meant what resources are these references found in within Logos.

Chad Katter

All of these references are found in Jacob Neusner's translation:

The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary (22 vols.) | Logos Bible Software

Kristin

Thank you, @Chad Katter. :)

MJ. Smith

Simply type Babylonian Talmud into your library and it should show you the resources you own. For me it is:

Neusner, Jacob. The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011.
Rodkinson, Michael L., trans. The Babylonian Talmud: Original Text, Edited, Corrected, Formulated, and Translated into English. Vol. 1–10. Boston, MA: The Talmud Society, 1918.

Finding a resource should be an issue only for works that appear primarily in anthologies, so I misunderstood your question.

David McClister

The Mishnah is divided into tractates, each with its own name (which are abbreviated in the samples you gave). Actually, the references you posted are references to the Babylonian Talmud (the "b." abbreviation), which comments on the Mishnah tractate by tractate.

Kristin

Hi @David McClister,

Ya, thanks, but the issue wasn't the abbreviation, but rather not being able to find the references. I have the Babylonian Talmud by Rodkinson, and those refs don't seem to be there. However, @Chad Katter clarified that the Babylonian Talmud by Neusner apparently has them, although Rodkinson doesn't.