The Tosefta

Early versions of many of the teachings found in the Mishnah, alongside additional tannaitic teachings not included in the Mishnah, called baraitot (sg., baraita, lit. “outside”), circulated orally throughout the tannaitic period, perhaps in organized collections of some kind. Many such teachings are gathered in a collection known as the Tosefta, which reached its final form only after the Mishnah, in the mid- to late third century CE, at the earliest. The Tosefta’s organization follows the Mishnah’s division into orders and tractates, but the contents and organization of the material within each tractate can differ dramatically from the Mishnah.

Determining the Tosefta’s precise relationship to the Mishnah has been the topic of much debate. Scholars have noticed all of the following phenomena: The Tosefta preserves early versions of teachings that were reworked for inclusion in the Mishnah or entirely different teachings that were not included in the Mishnah at all. The Tosefta preserves teachings that contradict the Mishnah or are explicitly rejected by the Mishnah. The Tosefta contains fuller versions or critical backgrounds that explain, support, or contradict teachings found in the Mishnah. The Tosefta cites the Mishnah and comments upon it, or it cites an earlier or different version of the Mishnah and comments on it. And the Tosefta contains more aggadic material—usually narratives—than the Mishnah. Determining the relationship between the Mishnah and Tosefta must be pursued at the level of individual textual units on a case-by-case basis.