Jews and Others
it emerged: Galilee with Tiberias and Sepphoris, and also Caesarea on the
coast.^68 The date of the work is much more uncertain, and might be as early
as the mid-fourth century, or considerably later. The truly historical study
of this Talmud has hardly begun.
If it were ever to begin, the starting point ought to be the now quite
extensive, and extremely striking, series of Jewish synagogue mosaics of
this period, with inscriptions in Hebrew and Aramaic (both written in the
‘‘square’’ Hebrew script), and in Greek. But the fact that Greek might have
played a part even in the context of ‘‘rabbinic’’ Judaism is strongly suggested
also by the evidence of an important contemporary observer, Jerome. As a
serious student of Hebrew and of the Scriptures, he ought to have been of
even greater importance for the study of ‘‘rabbinic’’ Judaism than he is, but
for an accident of history. His monastic settlement was at Bethlehem in the
territory of Aelia Capitolina, and hence lay precisely in that zone from which
Jews had been driven out by Hadrian.^69 Although he did have some con-
tacts with Jewish scholars, did study the Bible with their aid, and even toured
Palestinian religious sites with one of them, he was not normally resident in
the heartland of late Roman ‘‘rabbinic’’ Judaism, which was Galilee.^70
None the less, it is extremely relevant for our purposes that he is able to
deploy what was evidently an established Greek vocabulary to describe con-
temporary Jewish religious teaching. Writing of course in Latin, he says:
Among the ignorant and the common herd Jewish interpretations
present an appearance of reasonableness and human wisdom, whence
their learned men are calledsophoi, that is ‘‘wise men.’’ And if on occa-
sion, on fixed days, they expound theirtraditiones[doctrines], they are
accustomed to say to their pupilsoi sophoi deuterousithat is ‘‘the wise
men teachtraditiones.’’^71
. It would be an understatement to say that the geographical, historical, social, and
indeed temporal context in which this Talmud was composed has yet to be studied properly.
For some indications, especially useful as regards topography, see L. I. Levine,The Rabbinic
Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity(), which is focused on the third century. See
also G. Reeg,Die Ortsnamen Israels nach der rabbinischen Literatur(), and L. I. Levine, ed.,
The Galilee in Late Antiquity().
. Jerome’s life and work is very efficiently surveyed by J. N. D. Kelly,Jerome: His Life,
Writings and Controversies().
. See, e.g.,Com. in Ecclesiasten:/ (CCLLXXII, );Praef. in com. in Iob.
(PLXXVIII, col. );Praef.incom.inParalipomena(PLXXIX, col. ), on visiting sacred
sites witheruditissimi Hebraeorum(the most learned among the Hebrews), and studying the
text with a Jewishlegis doctor(teacher of law) from Tiberias.
.Ep. (theLiber Quaestionum), /–.