Sifra, Dibbura de Sinai

Rhetorical Formulae, Literary Structures, and Legal Traditions

by Howard L. Apothaker

Book cover: Sifra, Dibbura de Sinai

Extent: 464 pages

Publisher: Hebrew Union College Press

Subjects: Biblical Studies, Jewish Studies

Series: Monographs of the Hebrew Union College

Series volume number: 28

Language: English

(Hardback) (Published)

(July 2003)

ISBN: 9780878204526

5.98 x 8.98 inches

Price: $49.95

In stock

(PDF) (Published)

(July 2003)

ISBN: 9780878201754

Price: $49.95

Sifra is the earliest extant rabbinic commentary on the book of Leviticus. Howard Apothaker demonstrates that the set of rules in Dibbura deSinai on topics shared with Mishnah-Tosefta can be understood as an independent body of law.


Sifra is the earliest extant rabbinic commentary on the book of Leviticus. On a basic level, Sifra presents and validates rabbinic law, but this was done by creating a link between a proposition, halakhic or not, and a scriptural passage. Scholars in the last few decades-including Neusner and Stemberger-have debated Sifra’s relationship to Mishnah-Tosefta. Howard Apothaker demonstrates that the set of rules in Dibbura deSinai on topics shared with Mishnah-Tosefta can be understood as an independent body of law. They share a common ancestor but represent different expressions of a similar worldview and with variant purposes. The framers of Sifra sought as their main objective to validate the essentiality, or non-superfluity, of every word of Scripture. Apothaker’s analysis of the exegetical and rhetorical characteristics of Sifra in Sifra, Dibbura deSinai: Rhetorical Formulae, Literary Structures, and Legal Traditions builds on his translation of and commentary on the section of Dibbura deSinai which covers Leviticus 25-27. Analysis of Sifra’s highly formalized rhetoric yields insight concerning the general purpose(s) for which the framers created the work.

  • By (author) Howard L. Apothaker