Supplements to the Mishna compiled 0441; AD 300.
The Tosefta consists of laws attributed to the authorities named in the Mishna and generally follows the topical program and organization of the Mishna. Both works were the effort of Jewish scholars, working mostly in Palestine, who gathered, evaluated, and correlated the most important traditions from a vast and heterogeneous mass of material that had developed since the time of Ezra ( 0441; 450 BC). The Tosefta may have been meant to complement the Mishna by preserving material that appeared marginal or contradictory.