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. It seems to be intended, however, in one passage which runs as follows: "R. Josiah showed a Mekhilta from which he cited and explained a sentence." The text quoted by R. Josiah can be found in the extant version of the "Mekhilta", Mishpatim.