Talmud

in Jewish literature, a compilation of traditions, laws, and precepts; also explanations of the Old Testament. According to Kitto, "The Talmud is the work which embodies the civil and canonical law of the Jewish people. It contains those rules and institutions by which, in addition to the Old Testament, the conduct of that nation is regulated. Whatever is obligatory on them, besides the law, is recorded in this work. Here doubts are resolved, duties explained, cases of conscience cleared up, and the most minute circumstances relative to the conduct of life discussed with wonderful particularity." There are two versions, the Palestinian and the Babylonian. The Hebrew rabbis still instruct their people by reading from the Talmud.