Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael

Mekhilta or Mekilta (Aramaic: מכילתא, a collection of rules of interpretation) is a halakhic midrash to the Book of Exodus. The name "Mekhilta", corresponds to the Hebrew "middah" ("measure," "rule"), and is used to denote a compilation of Scriptural exegesis ("middot"; comp. Talmudical Hermeneutics).

Neither the Babylonian Talmud nor the Jerusalem Talmud mention this work under the name "Mekhilta," nor does the word appear in any of the passages of the Talmud in which the other halakhic midrashim, Sifra and Sifre, are named (Ḥag. 3a; Ḳid. 49b; Ber. 47b; etc.). It seems to be intended, however, in one passage (Yer. Ab. Zarah iv. 8), which runs as follows: "R. Josiah showed a Mekhilta from which he cited and explained a sentence." His quotation actually occurs in the Mekhilta, "Mishpaṭim" (ed. I.H. Weiss, p. 106b). It is not certain, however, whether the word "Mekhilta" here refers to the work under consideration, for it may allude to a baraita collection—which might also be designated a "Mekhilta" (comp. Pes. 48a; Tem. 33a; Giṭ. 44a)—containing the sentence in question.

On the other hand, this midrash, apparently in written form, is mentioned several times in the Talmud under the title "She'ar Sifre debe Rab" = "The Other Books of the Schoolhouse" (Yoma 74a; B. B. 124b). A geonic responsum (A. Harkavy, Teshubot ha-Geonim, p. 31, No. 66, Berlin, 1888) in which appears a passage from the Mekhilta (ed. I.H. Weiss, p. 41a) likewise indicates that this work was known as "She'ar Sifre debe Rab." The first individual to mention the Mekhilta by name was the author of the Halakhot Gedolot (p. 144a, ed. Warsaw, 1874). Another geonic responsum refers to the text as the "Mekhilta de-Ereẓ Yisrael" (A. Harkavy, l.c. p. 107, No. 229), probably to distinguish it from the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon, which was generally known in the Babylonian schools (D. Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung in die Halachischen Midraschim, p. 36).

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