Contents | Index

The Tractates of the Mishnah

Division and Contents of the Mishna (and the Talmud)

The Mishna (as also the Talmud) is divided into six "orders" (cedharim) or chief parts, which indicate their chief contents:

Zeraim (Agriculture) laws pertaining to agriculture.

Moedh (Feasts or Seasons) laws concerning the Sabbath and festivals.

Nashim (Women) laws regarding vows, marriage, and divorce.

Neziqin (Civil and Criminal Law) laws concerning civil and criminal matters.

Qodhashim (Sacrifices and Holy Things) laws regulating ritual slaughter, sacrifice, and holy objects.

Teharoth (Unclean Things and Their Purification). laws regarding ceremonial purity

The "orders" are divided into tractates (maccekheth, plural maccikhtoth), now 63, and these again into chapters (pereq, plural peraqim), and these again into paragraphs (mishnayoth).

It is Customary to cite the Mishna according to tract chapter and paragraph:

Example: Sanh. (Sanhedhrin) x.1.

The Babylonian Talmud is cited according to tract and page

Example: (Babylonian Talmud) Shabbath 30 b

In citing the Palestinian Talmud the number of the chapter is also usually given:

Example: (Palestinian Talmud) Shabbath vi.8 d (in most of the editions of the Palestinian Talmud each page has two columns, the sheet accordingly has four).