Martin S. Jaffee. Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism, 200 BCE–400 CE. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. xi, 239 pp.

Abstract

In recent decades, an array of scholars has investigated the oral and written (re)creation and transmission of early Jewish and Rabbinic tradition. Martin S. Jaffee stands at the forefront of this field of research, devoting much of his recent scholarly effort to the topic. In a series of journal articles and chapters in edited volumes over the past ten years, Jaffee has offered diverse insights from a variety of research forays into the literary traits of early Judaism. Torah in the Mouth is Jaffee's initial monograph on the subject, in which he builds extensively and impressively on his prior work, augmenting it in breadth, depth, and theoretical sophistication.