First—Bovoh Kamma, or First Gate.—This first section treats of all such damages, which may be recovered for injuries done, either by man or beast.
Second—Bovoh Meziah, or Middle Gate.—This treats of the laws of usury. It explains what is, and what is not, considered an act of usury. It speaks also on matters of special trust; of letting or hire, and such like transactions between man and man.
Third—Bovoh Bosroh, or Last Gate.—This treats of the laws relating to commerce, copartnership, buying and selling; also, the laws of inheritance, and the right of succession.
The above three sections are called by the Talmud and Mishna, gates, because, in the East, the courts of law were held within the gates of the city.
Second—Sanhedreen, or Senate.—This speaks of the great senate, as also of the minor courts of judicature; of the causes for trial, and the nature of the punishment inflicted for the several crimes; the four kinds of death, as the penalty for capital offenses. It describes, also, very minutely, the mode to be adopted by the Judges in the examination of witnesses.
Third—Maccous, or Punishment.—This portion treats more especially of that which may constitute false testimony, or inadmissible evidence; the laws relative to the forty stripes inflicted on the delinquent; the reason why the rabbins directed that only thirty-nine stripes should be inflicted instead of forty, as stated in the bible; also, the manner in which the said punishment should be administered. It relates, likewise, the regulations to be observed by such persons who were compelled to seek shelter in the cities of refuge.
Fourth—Shevungous, or Oaths.—This section explains the laws to be observed in the administration of an oath; in what cases an oath shall or shall not be submitted to the contending parties; who shall or who shall not be considered qualified to take the oath.
Fifth—Adoyous, Testimonies or Evidences. This treats of the decisions of the many important cases, collected from the evidence and testimony of the most eminent and learned rabbins and doctors of the great Sanhedrin of olden times.
Sixth—Avoudoh Zoroh, or Idolatry.—This section is so called, as it treats of all manner of idolatry. It is also entitled the "the worship of the planets." It explains the manner and form of the different modes of worship, as practised by the idolatrous nations, with the view of preventing the Israelite from becoming contaminated by them.
Seventh—Ovous, or Fathers.—This section contains the history of those holy fathers who, in their respective ages, successively received by tradition the oral law; from the days of Moses, the great lawgiver, down to the period when it was compiled and committed to writing by the celebrated rabbinu Hakodesh. It contains, also, many of the wise sayings, aphorisms, and moral maxims of the learned men, and is therefore called the "Ethics of the fathers."