Talmud Hebrew and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis (dating from before the Common Era through to the fifth century) on a variety of subjects, including "halakha", Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, lore and many other topics. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law, and is widely quoted in rabbinic literature. Talmud translates as "instruction, learning", from a root " "teach, study". Originally, Jewish scholarship was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the Torah (the written Torah expressed in the Hebrew Bible) and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written
Jesus in the Talmud is made to "Sanhedrin 43a" saying that Yeshu was hanged on the eve of the Sabbath. Some Talmudic sources include passages which identify a "son of Pandera" ("ben Pandera" in Hebrew), and some scholars conclude that these are references to the messiah of Christianity. Ancient Hebrew midrashic literature contain the "Episode of Jesus" (known also as "Maaseh Yeshu"), in which Jesus is described as being the son of Joseph, the son of Pandera (see: ). The account portrays Jesus as an impostor. The Talmud, and other talmudic texts, contain several references to the "son of Pandera". A few of the