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48-599: The Kenizzites are identified in various ways according to different sources: The Midrash ( Bereishit Rabbah ) and the Jerusalem Talmud offer multiple views, including that the Kenizzites may be the Nabataeans , Edomites , or the people of Asia Minor (situated north of Israel). These interpretations indicate that the Kenizzites are not necessarily Canaanite nations, but could be other nations further from

96-497: A distinct literary genre. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica , "Midrash was initially a philological method of interpreting the literal meaning of biblical texts. In time it developed into a sophisticated interpretive system that reconciled apparent biblical contradictions, established the scriptural basis of new laws, and enriched biblical content with new meaning. Midrashic creativity reached its peak in

144-477: A handful of lines in the Biblical narrative may become a long philosophical discussion Jacob Neusner distinguishes three midrash processes: Numerous Jewish midrashim previously preserved in manuscript form have been published in print, including those denominated as smaller or minor midrashim. Bernard H. Mehlman and Seth M. Limmer deprecate this usage claiming that the term "minor" seems judgmental and "small"

192-560: A manner which helped to refute claims that they were only human interpretations—the argument being that, by presenting the various collections of different schools of thought, each of which relied upon close study of the text, the growing difference between early biblical law and its later rabbinic interpretation could be reconciled. Midrashim that seek to explain the non-legal portions of the Hebrew Bible are sometimes referred to as aggadah or Haggadah . Aggadic discussions of

240-513: A means of rewriting it in a way that both makes it more acceptable to later ethical standards and conforms more to later notions of plausibility. James L. Kugel , in The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1997), examines a number of early Jewish and Christian texts that comment on, expand, or re-interpret passages from the first five books of the Tanakh between

288-574: A running commentary on specific passages in the Hebrew Scripture ( Tanakh ). The word Midrash , especially if capitalized, can refer to a specific compilation of these rabbinic writings composed between 400 and 1200 CE . According to Gary Porton and Jacob Neusner , midrash has three technical meanings: The Hebrew word midrash is derived from the root of the verb darash ( דָּרַשׁ ), which means "resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require", forms of which appear frequently in

336-523: A text. This is not limited to the traditional thirteen textual tools attributed to the Tanna Rabbi Ishmael , which are used in the interpretation of halakha (Jewish law). The presence of words or letters which are seen to be apparently superfluous, and the chronology of events, parallel narratives or what are seen as other textual "anomalies" are often used as a springboard for interpretation of segments of Biblical text. In many cases,

384-479: Is a man's rivalry with his neighbour." (Kohelet IV, 4) . The term Midrash is also used of a rabbinic work that interprets Scripture in that manner. Such works contain early interpretations and commentaries on the Written Torah and Oral Torah (spoken law and sermons), as well as non-legalistic rabbinic literature ( aggadah ) and occasionally Jewish religious laws ( halakha ), which usually form

432-456: Is based on pre-set assumptions about the sacred and divine nature of the text, and the belief in the legitimacy that accords with rabbinic interpretation. Although this material treats the biblical texts as the authoritative word of God, it is clear that not all of the Hebrew Bible was fixed in its wording at this time, as some verses that are cited differ from the Masoretic , and accord with

480-800: Is devoid of understanding, it is the reader" ( Shnei Luchos HaBris , introduction). See also the Maharal's approach . The Aggadah is today recorded in the Midrash and the Talmud . In the Midrash, the aggadic and halakhic material are compiled as two distinct collections: Many of the Torah commentaries , as well as the Targumim , interpret the Torah text in the light of Aggadic statements, particularly those in

528-806: Is found in the Apocrypha , the Pseudepigrapha , the works of Josephus and Philo , and the remaining Judæo-Hellenistic literature; but aggadic exegesis reached its highest development in the great epoch of the Mishnaic-Talmudic period , between 100 and 550 CE. The Aggadah of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud) is the continuation of that of the Tannaim (sages of the Mishna). The final edition of

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576-501: Is inappropriate for midrashim some of which are lengthy. They propose instead the term "medieval midrashim", since the period of their production extended from the twilight of the rabbinic age to the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment . Generally speaking, rabbinic midrashim either focus on religious law and practice ( halakha ) or interpret biblical narrative in relation to non-legal ethics or theology, creating homilies and parables based on

624-469: Is not available anywhere other than in the Torah. Targum Neophyti (Deuteronomy 30:12) and b. Baba Metzia 59b claim that this text means that Torah is no longer hidden away, but has been given to humans who are then responsible for following it. Aggadah Aggadah ( Hebrew : אַגָּדָה , romanized :  Aggāḏā , or הַגָּדָה Haggāḏā ; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic : אֲגַדְתָּא , romanized:  Aggāḏṯā ; 'tales', 'fairytale', 'lore')

672-449: Is such that the midrash is a simple lesson to the uninitiated, and a direct allusion, or analogy, to a mystical teaching for those educated in this area. A wealth of literature and artwork has been created in the 20th and 21st centuries by people aspiring to create "contemporary midrash". Forms include poetry, prose, Bibliodrama (the acting out of Bible stories), murals, masks, and music, among others. The Institute for Contemporary Midrash

720-518: Is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism , particularly the Talmud and Midrash . In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine. The Hebrew word haggadah (הַגָּדָה) is derived from the Hebrew root נגד, meaning "declare, make known, expound", also known from

768-765: The Babylonian Talmud is also presented separately in Ein Yaakov , a compilation of the Aggadah together with commentaries. Well-known works interpreting the Aggadot in the Talmud include: The Aggadah has been preserved in a series of different works, which, like all works of traditional literature, have come to their present form through previous collections and revisions. Their original forms existed long before they were reduced to writing. The first traces of

816-499: The Hebrew Bible is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Midrash Midrash ( / ˈ m ɪ d r ɑː ʃ / ; Hebrew : מִדְרָשׁ ; pl. מִדְרָשִׁים midrashim or מִדְרָשׁוֹת ‎ midrashot ) is expansive Jewish Biblical exegesis using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud . The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or " exegesis ", derived from

864-437: The Aggadah as containing a hidden, allegorical dimension, in addition to its overt, literal sense. In general, where a literal interpretation contradicts rationality, the rabbis seek an allegorical explanation: "We are told to use our common sense to decide whether an aggada is to be taken literally or not" (Carmell, 2005). Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746), discusses this two-tiered, literal-allegorical mode of transmission of

912-686: The Aggadah in his Discourse on the Haggadot . He explains that the Oral Law, in fact, comprises two components: the legal component ( חלק המצוות ‎), discussing the mitzvot and halakha ; and "the secret" component ( חלק הסודות ‎), discussing the deeper teachings. The Aggadah, along with the Kabbalah , falls under the latter. The rabbis of the Mishnaic era ( c. 10 to c.  220 CE) believed that it would be dangerous to record

960-663: The Bible. The word midrash occurs twice in the Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles 13:22 "in the midrash of the prophet Iddo ", and 24:27 "in the midrash of the book of the kings". Both the King James Version (KJV) and English Standard Version (ESV) translate the word as "story" in both instances; the Septuagint translates it as βιβλίον (book) in the first, as γραφή (writing) in the second. The meaning of

1008-428: The Hebrew root משך or נטה). According to the latter etymology, aggadah may be seen as "the part of the Torah which draws man towards its teachings", or the teachings which strengthen one's religious experience and spiritual connections, in addition to explaining texts. (See similar re Masorah – in the sense of "tradition" – at Masoretic Text § Etymology .) The Aggadah is part of Judaism 's Oral Torah ,

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1056-404: The Hebrew word in these contexts is uncertain: it has been interpreted as referring to "a body of authoritative narratives, or interpretations thereof, concerning historically important figures" and seems to refer to a "book", perhaps even a "book of interpretation", which might make its use a foreshadowing of the technical sense that the rabbis later gave to the word. Since the early Middle Ages

1104-661: The Holy Land. However, Abraham Ibn Ezra and Nahmanides suggest that the Kenizzites are the same as one of the sons of Canaan listed in Genesis 10 , with names in Genesis 10 reflecting their original names and those in Genesis 15 representing their names in Abraham's time. According to this view, the Kenizzites' identity evolved, and they may be mentioned under different names. Finally, Rabbi Elijah Kramer of Vilna equates

1152-600: The Kenizzites with the Zemarites , thus aligning them with a specific group in the Holy Land's immediate vicinity. In Numbers 32:12 Jephunneh , father of the Israelite leader Caleb , is called a Kenizzite. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Easton, Matthew George (1897). " Kenizzite ". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons. This article related to

1200-484: The Midrash, and hence contain much material on Aggadah interpretation. Throughout the Talmud, aggadic and halakhic material are interwoven—legal material comprises around 90%. (Tractate Avoth , which has no gemara , deals exclusively with non-halakhic material, though it is not regarded as aggadic in that it focuses largely on character development.) The Talmudic Aggadah, generally, convey the "deeper teachings"—though in concealed mode, as discussed. The aggadic material in

1248-569: The Mishnah, which was of such signal importance for the Halakah, is of less significance for the Aggadah, which, in form as well as in content, shows the same characteristics in both periods. It is important to emphasize the fundamental difference in plan between the midrashim forming a running commentary (מאמרים ביאוריים) to the Scripture text, and the homiletic midrashim (מאמרים לימודיים). When

1296-507: The Septuagint, or Samaritan Torah instead. With the growing canonization of the contents of the Hebrew Bible , both in terms of the books that it contained, and the version of the text in them, and an acceptance that new texts could not be added, there came a need to produce material that would clearly differentiate between that text, and rabbinic interpretation of it. By collecting and compiling these thoughts they could be presented in

1344-428: The authoritative and revealed word of God by the midrashist and his audience, and in which this canonical text is explicitly cited or clearly alluded to". Lieve M. Teugels, who would limit midrash to rabbinic literature, offered a definition of midrash as "rabbinic interpretation of Scripture that bears the lemmatic form", a definition that, unlike Porton's, has not been adopted by others. While some scholars agree with

1392-410: The common Hebrew verb להגיד. The majority scholarly opinion is that the Hebrew word aggadah (אַגָּדָה) and corresponding Aramaic aggadta (אֲגַדְתָּא) are variants of haggadah based on a common linguistic shift from haphalah to aphalah forms. However, a minority of scholars believe that these words derive from a separate Aramaic root נגד meaning "draw, pull, spread, stretch" (corresponding to

1440-448: The deeper teachings in an explicit, mishnah-like, medium. Rather, they would be conveyed in a "concealed mode" and via "paradoxes". (Due to their value, these teachings should not become accessible to those "of bad character"; and due to their depth they should not be made available to those "not schooled in the ways of analysis".) This mode of transmission nevertheless depended on consistent rules and principles such that those "equipped with

1488-428: The function of much of midrashic interpretation has been distinguished from that of peshat , straight or direct interpretation aiming at the original literal meaning of a scriptural text. A definition of "midrash" repeatedly quoted by other scholars is that given by Gary G. Porton in 1981: "a type of literature, oral or written, which stands in direct relationship to a fixed, canonical text, considered to be

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1536-452: The importance of these texts for finding insights into the rabbinic culture that created them. Midrash is increasingly seen as a literary and cultural construction, responsive to literary means of analysis. Frank Kermode has written that midrash is an imaginative way of "updating, enhancing, augmenting, explaining, and justifying the sacred text". Because the Tanakh came to be seen as unintelligible or even offensive, midrash could be used as

1584-470: The keys" would be able to unlock their meaning; to others they would appear as non-rational or fantastic. In line with the above, Samuel ibn Naghrillah (993–1056), in his "Introduction to the Talmud", states that "Aggadah comprises any comment occurring in the Talmud on any topic which is not a commandment (i.e. which is not halachic ) and one should derive from it only that which is reasonable." As regards this, Maimonides (1138–1204), in his preface to

1632-569: The limitation of the term "midrash" to rabbinic writings, others apply it also to certain Qumran writings, to parts of the New Testament , and of the Hebrew Bible (in particular the superscriptions of the Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Chronicles), and even modern compositions are called midrashim. Midrash is now viewed more as method than genre, although the rabbinic midrashim do constitute

1680-538: The midrashic exegesis are found in the Bible itself; while in the time of the Soferim the development of the Midrash Aggadah received a mighty impetus, and the foundations were laid for public services which were soon to offer the chief medium for the cultivation of Bible exegesis. Abtalion and Shemaiah are the first to bear the title darshan , and it was probably by no mere chance that their pupil Hillel

1728-563: The non-legal parts of Scripture are characterized by a much greater freedom of exposition than the halakhic midrashim (midrashim on Jewish law). Aggadic expositors availed themselves of various techniques, including sayings of prominent rabbis. These aggadic explanations could be philosophical or mystical disquisitions concerning angels , demons , paradise , hell , the messiah , Satan , feasts and fasts, parables , legends, satirical assaults on those who practice idolatry , etc. Some of these midrashim entail mystical teachings. The presentation

1776-405: The root verb darash ( דָּרַשׁ‎ ), which means "resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require". Midrash and rabbinic readings "discern value in texts, words, and letters, as potential revelatory spaces", writes the Hebrew scholar Wilda Gafney . "They reimagine dominant narratival readings while crafting new ones to stand alongside—not replace—former readings. Midrash also asks questions of

1824-500: The scholars undertook to edit, revise, and collect into individual midrashim the immense array of haggadot, they followed the method employed in the collections and revisions of the halakhot and the halakhic discussions. The form which suggested itself was to arrange in textual sequence the exegetical interpretations of the Biblical text as taught in the schools, or the occasional interpretations introduced into public discourses, etc., and which were in any way connected with Scripture. Since

1872-436: The schools of Rabbi Ishmael and Akiba , where two different hermeneutic methods were applied. The first was primarily logically oriented, making inferences based upon similarity of content and analogy. The second rested largely upon textual scrutiny, assuming that words and letters that seem superfluous teach something not openly stated in the text." Many different exegetical methods are employed to derive deeper meaning from

1920-478: The tenth chapter of Tractate Sanhedrin ( Perek Chelek ), describes three possible approaches to the interpretation of the Aggadah: Maimonides' approach is also widely held amongst the non-rationalistic, mystical streams of Judaism—thus, for example, Isaiah Horowitz ( c.  1555 -1630) holds that "none of these sometimes mind-boggling 'stories' are devoid of profound meaning; if anyone

1968-516: The text. In the latter case they are described as aggadic . Midrash halakha is the name given to a group of tannaitic expositions on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. These midrashim, written in Mishnaic Hebrew , clearly distinguish between the Biblical texts that they discuss, and the rabbinic interpretation of that text. They often go well beyond simple interpretation, and derive or provide support for halakha. This work

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2016-440: The text; sometimes it provides answers, sometimes it leaves the reader to answer the questions". Vanessa Lovelace defines midrash as "a Jewish mode of interpretation that not only engages the words of the text, behind the text, and beyond the text, but also focuses on each letter, and the words left unsaid by each line". An example of a midrashic interpretation: "And God saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there

2064-472: The third century BCE and the second century CE. Kugel traces how and why biblical interpreters produced new meanings by the use of exegesis on ambiguities, syntactical details, unusual or awkward vocabulary, repetitions, etc. in the text. As an example, Kugel examines the different ways in which the biblical story that God's instructions are not to be found in heaven (Deuteronomy 30:12) has been interpreted. Baruch 3:29-4:1 states that this means that divine wisdom

2112-426: The traditions providing the authoritative interpretation of the Written Torah . In this context, the widely-held view in rabbinic literature is that the Aggadah is in fact a medium for the transmission of fundamental teachings (Homiletic Sayings— מאמרים לימודיים ‎) or for explanations of verses in the Hebrew Bible ( Exegetic Sayings— מאמרים ביאוריים ‎). Rabbinic thought, therefore, understands much of

2160-464: The work of the editor was often merely that of compilation, the existing midrashim show in many passages the character of the sources from which they were taken. This was the genesis of the midrashim which are in the nature of running haggadic commentaries to single books of the Bible, as Bereshit Rabbah, Eikah Rabbati, the midrashim to the other Megillot, etc. See Midrash for more details. Ein Yaakov

2208-669: Was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day." ( Genesis 1:31)—Midrash: Rabbi Nahman said in Rabbi Samuel's name: "Behold, it was very good" refers to the Good Desire; "AND behold, it was very good" refers to the Evil Desire. Can then the Evil Desire be very good? That would be extraordinary! But without the Evil Desire, however, no man would build a house, take a wife and beget children; and thus said Solomon: "Again, I considered all labour and all excelling in work, that it

2256-407: Was formed to facilitate these reinterpretations of sacred texts. The institute hosted several week-long intensives between 1995 and 2004, and published eight issues of Living Text: The Journal of Contemporary Midrash from 1997 to 2000. According to Carol Bakhos, recent studies that use literary-critical tools to concentrate on the cultural and literary aspects of midrash have led to a rediscovery of

2304-568: Was the first to lay down hermeneutic rules for the interpretation of the Midrash ; he may have been indebted to his teachers for the tendency toward aggadic interpretation. These two scholars are the first whose sayings are recorded in the aggadah . The new method of derush (Biblical interpretation) introduced by Abtalion and Shemaiah seems to have evoked opposition among the Pharisees. Much Aggadah, often mixed with foreign elements,

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