Commentary on the Mishnah: Chapter 10 of Sanhedrin (Perek ḥelek)

Moses Maimonides composed and revised his commentary on the Mishnah over many years. Writing in Judeo-Arabic, he clarifies each mishnah in light of the discussion in the Babylonian Talmud, often determining what the final legal decision was. The commentary is preceded by a lengthy introduction to the Mishnah, which presents the history of rabbinic tradition. Some individual tractates were also given introductions, in which Maimonides lays out general principles or explores an important related topic. Maimonides’ introduction to the tenth chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin—one of several lengthy theological and methodological excurses included in his Commentary on the Mishnah—addresses eschatological and philosophical concerns that otherwise would not have a natural home in that work. In the first part excerpted here, Maimonides displays his elitist perspective on Torah study. In the second, he maps out a naturalistic eschatological vision that is selected from contradictory passages in rabbinic literature, an approach that countered those who posited that the messianic era would be a time that radically altered the human condition. Finally, the brevity of his comments about the resurrection of the dead led many, from his contemporaries to today, to wonder whether these passages conceal a more skeptical approach.