Chapters on Jewish Literature | Page 4

it in growing, that its birth dates from long before the
destruction of the Temple. But the men most closely associated with
the compilation of the Mishnah were the Tannaim (from the root tana,
which has the same meaning as shana). There were about one hundred
and twenty of these Tannaim between the years 70 and 200 C.E., and
they may be conveniently arranged in four generations. From each
generation one typical representative will here be selected.
THE TANNAIM
First Generation, 70 to 100 C.E. JOCHANAN, the son of Zakkai
Second Generation, 100 to 130 C.E. AKIBA

Third Generation, 130 to 160 C.E. MEIR
Fourth Generation, 160 to 200 C.E. JUDAH THE PRINCE
The Tannaim were the possessors of what was perhaps the greatest
principle that dominated a literature until the close of the eighteenth
century. They maintained that literature and life were co-extensive. It
was said of Jochanan, the son of Zakkai, that he never walked a single
step without thinking of God. Learning the Torah, that is, the Law, the
authorized Word of God, and its Prophetical and Rabbinical
developments, was man's supreme duty. "If thou hast learned much
Torah, ascribe not any merit to thyself, for therefor wast thou created."
Man was created to learn; literature was the aim of life. We have
already seen what kind of literature. Jochanan once said to his five
favorite disciples: "Go forth and consider which is the good way to
which a man should cleave." He received various answers, but he most
approved of this response: "A good heart is the way." Literature is life
if it be a heart-literature--this may be regarded as the final justification
of the union effected in the Mishnah between learning and
righteousness.
Akiba, who may be taken to represent the second generation of
Tannaim, differed in character from Jochanan. Jochanan had been a
member of the peace party in the years 66 to 70; Akiba was a patriot,
and took a personal part in the later struggle against Rome, which was
organized by the heroic Bar Cochba in the years 131 to 135. Akiba set
his face against frivolity, and pronounced silence a fence about wisdom.
But his disposition was resolute rather than severe. Of him the most
romantic of love stories is told. He was a herdsman, and fell in love
with his master's daughter, who endured poverty as his devoted wife,
and was glorified in her husband's fame. But whatever contrast there
may have been in the two characters, Akiba, like Jochanan, believed
that a literature was worthless unless it expressed itself in the life of the
scholar. He and his school held in low esteem the man who, though
learned, led an evil life, but they took as their ideal the man whose
moral excellence was more conspicuous than his learning. As R.
Eleazar, the son of Azariah, said: "He whose knowledge is in excess of

his good deeds is like a tree whose branches are many and its roots
scanty; the wind comes, uproots, and overturns it. But he whose good
deeds are more than his knowledge is like a tree with few branches but
many roots, so that if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it,
it remains firm in its place." Man, according to Akiba, is master of his
own destiny; he needs God's grace to triumph over evil, yet the triumph
depends on his own efforts: "Everything is seen, yet freedom of choice
is given; the world is judged by grace, yet all is according to the work."
The Torah, the literature of Israel, was to Akiba "a desirable
instrument," a means to life.
Among the distinctions of Akiba's school must be named the first literal
translation of the Bible into Greek. This work was done towards the
close of the second century by Aquila, a proselyte, who was inspired by
Akiba's teaching. Aquila's version was inferior to the Alexandrian
Greek version, called the Septuagint, in graces of style, but was
superior in accuracy. Aquila followed the Hebrew text word by word.
This translator is identical with Onkelos, to whom in later centuries the
Aramaic translation (Targum Onkelos) of the Pentateuch was ascribed.
Aramaic versions of the Bible were made at a very early period, and the
Targum Onkelos may contain ancient elements, but in its present form
it is not earlier than the fifth century.
Meir, whom we take as representative of the third generation of
Tannaim, was filled with the widest sympathies. In his conception of
truth, everything that men can know belonged to the Torah. Not that the
Torah superseded or absorbed all other knowledge, but that the Torah
needed, for its right study, all the aids which science and secular
information could supply. In this way Jewish literature was to some