The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context

Divinations: Rereading Late Ancient Religion

by Shai Secunda

Although the Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, has been a text central and vital to the Jewish canon since the Middle Ages, the context in which it was produced has been poorly understood. Delving deep into Sasanian material culture and literary remains, Shai Secunda pieces together the dynamic world of late antique Iran, providing an unprecedented and accessible overview of the world that shaped the Bavli.Secunda unites the fields of Talmudic scholarship with Old Iranian studies to enable a fresh look at the heterogeneous religious and ethnic communities of pre-Islamic Iran. He analyzes the intercultural dynamics between the Jews and their Persian Zoroastrian neighbors, exploring the complex processes and modes of discourse through which these groups came into contact and considering the ways in which rabbis and Zoroastrian priests perceived one another. Placing the Bavli and examples of Middle Persian literature side by side, the Zoroastrian traces in the former and the discursive and Talmudic qualities of the latter become evident. The Iranian Talmud introduces a substantial and essential shift in the field, setting the stage for further Irano-Talmudic research.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, History, Iran

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 2013

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time the Babylonian Talmud was written, Babylon and environs was part of an Iranian-based empire (the Sassanian Empire). This book suggests that the Talmud should be read in its Iranian context. Secunda admits that the relevant "material and textual remains... are, quantitatively speaking, rather meager." Nevertheless, he suggests that additional research would be useful, and that even today some Iranian texts can help clarify the Talmud or its context.

For example, one puzzling passages criticizes Jews who learn from magi (Zoroastarian priests). But why was this dangerous, and what were they learning? Secunda points out that bowls with magic incantations were common in this period, and suggests that Jews were learning Zoroastarian texts and using them for magical purposes.

[Liz]

The last chapter was, obviously, my favorite, but I appreciated both Secunda's overall argument and the sources he makes available for inviting both learners and academics to think more seriously about the context of the Gemara.
(And the framework is far more helpful for the laylearner because there's no point in the future where I envision learned Pahlavi, but to be able to grasp/wrangle other people's scholarship in my own attempts to negotiate with the text is valuable.)

[Kassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice opening to a promising research program, marred only slightly by some equivocation over the applicability of post-structuralist methods of "intertextual" reading toward the end. Best of all, like the best writings about the Talmud, it is leavened by the humor of the tannaim and amoraim themselves.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Judaism, particularly of Jewish texts. Secunda explores the unexplored: The Context of Zoroastrian Persia as the cultural and legal millieu where the Babylonian talmud was written. Secunda brings in several Persian sources to provide his context to several dozen talmudic passages, most having to do with interactions between Jews and "Magi," most of which are quite entertaining.

Secunda wrote this book as a counterpoint to two pieces of conventional wisdom about rabbinic Jewish history:
1. That Rabbinic Judaism, and the Bavli in particular primarily address Judaism's encounter with Hellenistic Modernity. Secunda argues for Sassanian contemporary society in addition to Hellenism.
2. That concepts of the afterlife, angels, and divine reward and punishment became normative to Judaism following a direct encounter with Zoroastrianism. Secunda argues for a more complex series of questions and reactions that led to these belief systems.

The author's prose tends to shine best in the introduction and "in lieu of a conclusion" chapter. He is quite engaging. I would say that the final chapters are challenging for a reader not well versed in the language of literary criticism.

[Omri Flicker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Side note: I read large sections of this book while sitting in my bomb shelter in Israel, waiting out the Iranian missile bombardments in 2025. What delicious symbolism.

Ugh. Scholar can't get out of his own way.

Obviously the babylonian talmud should be read in the context of Iran, Sasanian literature, archeological findings in Iraq / Iran, etc.

It seemed like the 150 page book cited less than 10 examples of cross cultural polination and provided a detailed analysis of even fewer.

I think his goal was to lay out a map for the grand research project of Irano-Talmudic research. That is a worth goal if people hadn't been comparing the two for at least 50 years already.

The tortured academic prose was also really painful to get through. I'm not sure if there is a place for double negatives and SAT words in a book for non-specialists, but maybe the book was only published for specialists and the literati. Eh...

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could be really interesting, both as parallel and interacting texts and peoples but for some reason he wants it to remain a monograph and so there’s just a lack of depth. Lots of interesting tidbits make me want more but generally it’s shallow and boring. Perhaps that’s a limitation of the available evidence but there’s more you can do in Talmud studies