The Babylonian Talmud (Heb. תַּלְמוּד בַּבְלִי) is a literary work of monumental proportions which draws upon the totality of the spiritual, intellectual, ethical, historical, and legal traditions produced in rabbinic circles from the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in the first century until the Muslim conquest at the beginning of the seventh century. The Babylonian Talmud (Bavli) is often described as being a commentary to the Mishnah of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi , but the actual relationship between these two works is far more complex. The external form of the Bavli is indeed organized in the shape of a vast literary superstructure which rests on the firm foundation of the Mishnah – or more precisely on four of the six orders of the Mishnah: Mo'ed, Nashim, Nezikin, and Kodashim, there being no Talmud Bavli to the first order of the Mishnah, Zeraim (with the exception of Berakhot), or to the sixth order of the Mishnah, Tohorot (with the exception of Niddah). Moreover, the long dialectical arguments called sugyot, which make up much of the literature of the Bavli, often take the text of the Mishnah as their starting point. On the other hand, the Bavli includes and discusses two additional bodies of rabbinic sources: (1) baraitot – tannaitic sources which were not incorporated in the Mishnah of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, deriving for the most part from the same tannaitic period as the sources of the Mishnah (1st–2nd centuries), and almost equal to them in authority; (2) the teachings of all the generations of the amoraim (3rd–5th centuries), both Babylonian and Palestinian. The Bavli cites and discusses these sources for their own sake, and not merely insofar as they enlighten some obscure point in the Mishnah. The inclusion of these different strata of authoritative religious sources in the Bavli, together with the anonymous and largely post-amoraic editorial literary level of the Bavli – the so called setam ha-talmud – make the Bavli into an autonomous and comprehensive work of halakhah and aggadah (see: Mishnah, Halakhah in the Mishnah, Aggadah in the Mishnah). In effect, the Bavli incorporates both of the fundamental levels of rabbinic tradition which are represented in the two similar works of talmudic literature which were redacted in Ereẓ Israel – the Tosefta and the Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi) – and in so doing both comprehends and transcends these earlier works.

The Talmud Bavli represents the crowning literary achievement of this entire period of Jewish history – which is in fact often simply referred to as the "talmudic period." It was ultimately accepted as the uniquely authoritative canonical work of post-biblical Jewish religion, providing the foundation for all subsequent developments in the fields of halakhah and aggadah, up to the time of the Shulḥan Arukh (16th century) and beyond. Despite manifest difficulties of language and content, the study of the Bavli has also achieved an unparalleled place in the popular religious culture of the Jewish people. It has served as the primary vehicle for the education of countless Jews over the centuries, professional scholars and laypeople alike. Recently it has even filled sports arenas both in the United States and in Israel with devotees, celebrating the conclusion of the 7-year cycle in which the study of the entire Bavli is regularly completed.