How to Find a Topic

How to Find a Topic or Term in the Babylonian Talmud

Follow the steps below to locate your topic or term(s) in the Babylonian Talmud.
The term "purple" is used below as an example of how to find a term in the Babylonian Talmud.

1. Get the cumulative index books.

The indexes are the last two volumes of the Babylonian Talmud set.
Call number: opens new windowBM500.E57, Sec. 7, Reference Collection.

 

  

2. Choose an index.

Keys to the Talmud include several indexes: General, Scriptural References, Rabbinical, and more. A good place to start is with the "General Index," found in Keys to the Talmud, Vol. I.

 

 Go to the General Index, p. 333.
Look up "purple."

3. Look up your term.

Record the tractate name(s) and page number(s).

 

 The entry is: Purple, Yeb. 14, San. 52.
blue, BB. 292f, 295
4. Locate the tractate on the shelf.

Use the opens new windowAlphabetical Tractate Index (tab above) to identify the tractate abbreviations.
Use the opens new windowTractate Chart (tab above) to identify its position within the 64-volume set.

 

 Yeb. 14 = Yebamoth, p. 14
San. 52 = Sanhedrin, p. 52
BB. 292f, 295 = Baba Bathra, p. 292f and 295
Baba Bathra is the 3rd tractate in the 4th Division, so on the shelf look for "Sec. 4, Pt. 3" in the call #.
5. Find the page. Numbering at the top outer corner is the folio and side identification; numbering at the bottom center is standard pagination. The latter is used to find references from the index, while the former is used for the citation.
If a tractate has more than one volume the pagination will be continuous from one volume to the next.

 

Baba Bathra is in three volumes.
Look for 292 (vol. 2), which is the standard pagination.
--73b-74a. is the Folio and side number.