Mishna

Oldest authoritative collection of Jewish oral law, supplementing the written laws in the Hebrew Scriptures.

It was compiled by a series of scholars over two centuries and was given final form in the 3rd century &AD; by Judah ha-Nasi. Annotations by later scholars in Palestine and Babylonia resulted in the Gemara; the Mishna and Gemara are usually said to make up the Talmud. The Mishna has six major sections, on daily prayer and agriculture, Sabbath and other religious ritual, married life, civil and criminal law, the Temple of Jerusalem, and ritual purification.