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MIDRASH

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MIDRASH , a very See also:

common See also:term in Jewish writings for " exposition " and a certain class of expository literature. The word also occurs twice in the Old Testament (2 Chron. xiii. 22, See also:xxiv. 27; R.V. rather poorly " commentary "). 1. Introduction.—The term (Heb. midrash from Barash "to See also:search out, enquire ") denotes some explanation or exposition, which, in contrast to the more literal exegesis (technically called peshat " See also:simple "), endeavours to reach the spirit lying below the See also:text. It may be defined as a didactic or homiletic development of some thought or theme, characterized by a more subjective, imaginative and See also:ampliative treatment. Jewish Midrash falls broadly into two classes: Halaka (q.v.) or Halaka (walking, way, conduct) and Haggadah (narrative [with a purpose], See also:homily; Aramaic See also:equivalent Aggadah; the incorrect See also:form Agadah rests upon a mistaken See also:etymology). The former dealt with legal and See also:ritual matters; it flourished in the See also:schools and See also:developed into the most subtle See also:casuistry. The latter covered all non-halakic exposition and was essentially popular. It embraced See also:historical and other traditions; stories, legends, parables and allegories; beliefs, customs and all that may be called folk-See also:lore. It fed itself, not upon the See also:laws, but upon the narrative, the prophetical and the poetical writings of the Old Testament, and it had a more spiritual and ethical See also:tone than the Halaka.

In both classes, accepted traditions (written or oral) was reinterpreted in See also:

order to justify or to deduce new teaching (in its widest sense), to connect the See also:present with a hallowed past, and to be a See also:guide for the future; and the prevalence of this See also:process, the innumerable different examples of its working, and the particular application of the term Midrash to an important See also:section of Rabbinical literature complicates both the study of the subject and any See also:attempt to treat it concisely.' Apart from the popular paraphrastic See also:translations of the Old Testament (see See also:TARGUM), the See also:great See also:mass of orthodox Rabbinical literature consists of (I) the See also:independent Midrashim, and (2) the Mishna which, with its supplement the Gemara, constitutes the See also:Talmud. Both contain Halaka and See also:Haggada, although the Mishna itself is essentially Halaka, and the Midrashim are more especially Haggadic; and consequently further See also:information bearing upon Midrash must be sought in the See also:art. TALMUD. These two articles ' For a careful study of the meaning of the term, see W. Bacher, See also:Jew. Quart. Rev. IV. 406-429. 420 handle one of the most famous bodies of See also:ancient literature, which, in its turn, has given rise to innumerable Jewish and non-Jewish See also:works, and has many points of value and See also:interest which cannot be adequately discussed here. It must suffice, therefore, to See also:deal rather broadly with the subject, and to refer for See also:fuller details to the See also:special encyclopaedias, viz.: Hamburger's Real-Encyc. See also:fur Bibel and Talmud, and the very elaborate articles in the Jewish Encyclopedia. 2.

Narrative Midrash.—Of the three different kinds of historical See also:

writing—the genetic or scientific, the purely narrative and the pragmatic—it is the last which, has prevailed among religious historians. It is extremely difficult to avoid the subjective See also:element in dealing with matters of fact, and the religious treatment of See also:history is influenced, however unconsciously, by the See also:mental environment of the writers. In giving greater prominence to events of religious importance and to their bearing upon the spiritual needs of contemporaries they view and interpret the past in a particular See also:light, and will see in the past those growths which only in their own See also:time have become mature. A latent significance is found, a particular connexion is traced, and a continuity is established, the true nature of which must be tested by See also:critical students. Now, it is subjective history which we find in the earliest references to Midrash. The Midrash of the See also:prophet Iddo (2 Chron. xiii. 22) like the Visions and the Histories of Idde and Shemaiah (ix. 29, xii. 15) which are quoted for the lives of See also:Solomon, See also:Abijah and See also:Jeroboam, are evidently quite distinct from the See also:sources cited in the parallel portions of the earlier compilation, and the entire spirit of the narratives is different. Similarly, there is a conspicuous difference of treatment of the See also:life of See also:Joash in 2 See also:Kings xi. seq., compared with 2 Chron. See also:xxiii. seq., which refers to some Midrash of the See also:Book of the Kings (xxiv. 27). Although it is uncertain whether this comprehensive Midrash also included the " books of the Kings " (xvi. r x, See also:xxvii.

7, &c.), and the Midrash of Iddo and other related works, it is clear that the Book of See also:

Chronicles (q.v.) marks a very noteworthy advance upon the records in the (canonical) Book of Kings (q.v.). It is now recognized that the compiler of the former has used many novel narratives of a particular edifying and didactic See also:stamp, and scholars are practically unanimous that these are subsequent to the See also:age of the Israelite See also:monarchy and present a picture of historical and religious conditions which (to See also:judge from earlier sources) is untrustworthy. At the same time various details (as comparison with the Book of Kings shows) are relatively old and, on a priori grounds, it is extremely unlikely that the unhistorical elements are necessarily due to deliberate See also:imagination or perversion rather than to the development of earlier traditions. The religious significance of the past is dominant, and the past is idealized from a later standpoint; and whether the narratives in Chronicles are expressly styled Midrash or not, they are the See also:fruit of an age which sought to inculcate explicitly those lessons which, it conceived, were implied in the events of the past. The value of the book See also:lay not in history for its own See also:sake, but in its See also:direct application to present needs. But the tendency to reshape history for the edification of later generations was no novelty when Chronicles was first compiled (about 4th cent. B.C.), Pragmatic historiography is exemplified in the earliest continuous sources (viz. of the " Deuteronomic " writers, i.e. allied to Deut., especially the secondary portions); and there are many relatively See also:early narratives in which the details have been modified, and the heroes of the past are the See also:mouthpiece for the thought of a later writer or of his age. Numerous instructive examples of the active tendency to develop tradition may be observed in the relation-See also:ship between See also:Genesis and the " Book of See also:Jubilees," or in the embellishments of Old Testament history in the Antiquities of See also:Josephus, or in the widening gaps in the diverse traditions of the famous figures of the Old Testament (See also:Adam, See also:Noah, See also:Enoch, See also:Abraham, See also:Moses, See also:Isaiah, See also:Ezra, &c.), as they appear in non-canonical writings. In such cases as these one can readily perceive the different forms which the same material elements have assumed, and one may distinguish the unreliable accretions which are clearly later and secondary. Accordingly, whenthere are narratives which cannot be tested in this manner, should they show all the See also:internal marks of didactic expansion and date from an age much later than the times with which they deal, their immediate value will not necessarily See also:lie in the details which appear to be of historical interest, but in their contribution to later forms of tradition and phases of thought. So far then, Midrash tends to include moralizing history, whether we See also:call it narrative or See also:romance, attached to names and events, and it is obviously exemplified whenever there are unmistakable signs of untrustworthy amplification and of some explicit religious or ethical aim colouring the narrative. This, however, is only one of the asPects which have to be taken into See also:consideration when one advances to the Rabbinical Midrash.

For Old Testament " Midrash " see further K. Budde, Zeitschr. f. alt-test. Wissenschaft, xii. 37, seq., and commentaries on Chronicles (Q.v.). The elaborate study by the Jewish See also:

scholar See also:Zunz (See also:Die gottesdsenstlichen Vortrage, ch. viii.) is also valuable for bridging the gulf between the canonical and the non-canonical traditions and for its just attitude to the See also:criticism of historical traditions. The rigid See also:line between fact or fiction in religious literature, which readers often wish to draw, cannot be consistently justified, and in studying old See also:Oriental religious narratives it is necessary to realize that the teaching was regarded as more essential than the method of presenting it. Midrash " which may be quite useless for historical• investigation maybe appreciated for the light it throws upon forms of thought. Historical criticism does not See also:touch the reality of the ideas, and since they may be as worthy of study as the apparent facts they clothe, they thus indirectly contribute to the history of their See also:period. In any See also:case, while the true historical See also:kernel of the Midrashic narrative (e.g. dealing with Adam, Moses or Isaiah) will always be a See also:matter of dispute, the teaching to which it is applied stands on an independent footing as also does the application of that teaching to other ages. 3. Continuity of Literature and Material.—Amid obscure vicissitudes in the 7th to 5th centuries, B.C., the Canonical books of the Old Testament gradually began to assume their present shape (see See also:PALESTINE: History). The internal peculiarities show that the compilations are the much edited remains of a larger See also:body of literature, and it may reasonably be supposed that the older sources did not at once perish.

There is See also:

literary critical See also:evidence for See also:late insertions by exilic or later compilers;' the compiler of Chronicles apparently refers to accessible works; and there is a See also:close material relationship between the Old Testament and later literature. All this suggests that Old See also:Hebrew writings, apart from those preserved in the See also:Canon, persisted to a relatively late period. No a priori distinction can be made and no precise See also:chronological line can be See also:drawn between the books of the Canon (See also:Canticles, See also:Ecclesiastes, See also:Esther, See also:Ezekiel and See also:Proverbs had been at one time or another subjects of debate among the Rabbis) and the Apocrypha (See also:Ecclesiasticus, See also:Judith, See also:Maccabees aid See also:Tobit, were " allowed "); and the intimate relation between them appears in the See also:character of the " See also:Wisdom Literature " (e.g. Proverbs, and the Wisdom of Solomon), in the treatment of the stories of Esther and See also:Daniel (the history of Susanna), and also in the twofold recensions Ezra and r Esdras. Historical or narrative Midrash is exemplified in the " canonical " books Daniel, Esther, See also:Jonah and See also:Ruth, and in the " apocryphal " stories of Daniel (viz. Susanna, where the point lies in the name Daniel " See also:God is judge "), Esther, Judith, Tobit (and the Ahiqar See also:cycle of stories), the See also:story of Zerubbabel (r Esd. iii. seq., the sequel of which belongs to the canonical Ezra), and the martyrdom of Eleazer (2 See also:Mace. vi. seq., compare 4 Mace.). This is not the See also:place to See also:notice the course of Jewish literary activity in Palestine or See also:Alexandria, whether along the more rigid lines of Pharisaic legalism (the development of the canonical " priestly " See also:law), or the popular and less scholastic phases, which recall the earlier apocalyptical tendencies of the Old Testament and were cultivated alike by early Jewish and See also:Christian writers. But after the fall of See also:Jerusalem, partly through the need for systematizing the traditional See also:post-biblical law, and partly through disputes with the Christians, orthodox Rabbinism received the stamp which has since characterized it. The traditional or oral law was codified in the Mishna (see TALMUD, § r seq.), the Canon was ' E.g. Judg. i. (see G. F.

See also:

Moore, Ency. Bib. " Historical Lit.," See also:col. 2085, See also:middle), 2 Sam. ix.-xx., &c. fixed, and the fluctuations in the See also:MSS. of the Old Testament (which, like the numerous See also:variations in the See also:Septuagint, complicated exact exegesis) gave way to what was virtually a single text. Moreover, the important body of apocalyptical and pseudepigraphical literature, with all its links between See also:Christianity and Judaism, See also:fell into disfavour on both sides. This literature is especially valuable because it illustrates contemporary Halaka and Haggada, and it illuminates the circle of thought with which Jesus and his followers were See also:familiar; it thus fills the See also:gap between the Old Testament and the authoritative Rabbinical Midrashim which, though often in a form several centuries later, not rarely preserve older material?. A few See also:miscellaneous examples of related Midrashic details may be cited : i. The book of Jubilees (a haggadic and halakic Midrash on Genesis, about 2nd See also:century s.C.), contains the story of the See also:war between Amorite Kings and See also:Jacob (ch. xxxiv.). This is known to the probably contemporary Testament of See also:Judah and to much later Midrashim (See also:Mid. Wayyisa'u, Yalqut Shimeoni, also the apocryphal " book of See also:Jashar "), and is evidently connected with the cryptic allusion to the See also:capture of See also:Shechem in Gen. xlviii. 22 (R.V. marg.).

Unless we suppose that the latter was suddenly See also:

expanded into the stories which thenceforth persisted, it may be inferred that an old extra-canonical tradition (for which a case can be made) continued to survive the compilation of Genesis (q.v.) and ultimately assumed the various exaggerated forms now extant. Naturally the See also:probability of such a tradition—the merest hint of which happens to be preserved in Gen. loc. cit.—does not See also:prejudice the problem of its origin or accuracy; in Jub. the story is useless for Jacob's history, and is probably influenced by a recollection of more See also:recent events in the Maccabaean age. ii. A curious See also:account of war between See also:Egypt and See also:Canaan after See also:Joseph's See also:death recurs in Jub. xli., Test. of See also:Simeon, viii., and See also:Benjamin vii., and is connected with details (See also:burial of Jacob's sons at See also:Hebron) recorded by Josephus (See also:Ant. ii. 8). Josephus in turn has another story wherein Moses leads the Egyptians against See also:Ethiopia (Ant. ii. lo, for See also:parallels see Moore, Ency. Bib. col. 2089 seq.), and this is found in the late chronicles of See also:Jerahmeel and the Book of Jashar (cf. also Mid. Dibre ha-yamim shel-Mosheh; see Jew. Ency. viii. 573 seq.). The former may be linked with Gen.

1. 9 (where the See also:

con-course of chariots and horsemen would invite See also:speculation), and the latter with the Cushite wife of Moses; but although one may See also:grant that the canonical sources do not by any means preserve all the older current traditions, the contents of the latter cannot be recovered from the later persisting Midrashim.2 iii. The allusion in See also:Jude v. 9 to the contention of the See also:archangel See also:Michael for the body of Moses belongs to a See also:group of traditions which have been collected by R. H. See also:Charles (See also:Assumption of Moses, pp. 105 seq.), and it appears that the incident was familiar to See also:Clement of Alexandria, See also:Origen and other early writers. Moreover, Jude v. 16 agrees very closely with the Latin version of the Testament of Moses, which has other parallels in Matt. xxiv. 29; Acts vii. 36. 38 seq.

(ibid. pp. Ixii. seq.). Here may be added Jannes and Jambres, who withstood Moses (2 Tim. iii. 8) ; these or related names were known to the See also:

elder See also:Pliny (See also:xxx. i. ii), See also:Apuleius (first See also:half of 2nd century), Origen (who refers to a book of Jannes and Mambres), and various earlier and later Jewish sources; see I. Abrahams, Ency. Bib. col. 2327 seq. ; H. St J. See also:Thackeray, Relation of St See also:Paul to con-temporary Jewish thought (See also:London, 1900), pp. 215 sqq. iv.

Jewish traditions of Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees recur in the Targums, Midrashic works, and earlier in the book of Jubilees (ch. xii., ed. Charles, p. 91; cf. also Judith v. 6 seq.). The legends of his See also:

escape from a fiery See also:furnace may have a philological basis (ur interpreted as " See also:fire "), but the allusion to the redemption of Abraham in Isa. See also:xxix 22 seems to indicate that older tradition was fuller than the present records in Genesis, and supplies another example of the See also:link connecting the Old Testament with Rabbinical thought. v. Not to multiply examples further, it may suffice to refer to (a) the apparent belief that the See also:serpent tempted See also:Eve to unchastity (2 See also:Cor. xi. 2 seq., see Thackeray pp. 5o seq.) ; (b) the descent of the angels upon See also:earth (Gen. vi. 1 seq.; Jude 6, 14 seq., see Charles, Jub. p. 33 seq., Clermont-Ganneau, Quart. Statements of the See also:Pal.

Explor. Fund, 1903, pp. 233 seq. and the Midr. Abkir. see Jew, Ency. viii. 572) ; (c) the relationship between the Midrashic developments of the story of Esther in Josephus, the See also:

Greek and Old Latin Versions, the Targums and later Jewish sources (see L. B. See also:Paton, See also:Comm. on Esther, pp. 20, 100 and passim) ; and finally (d) the numerous See also:minor miscellaneous parallels noticed in recent annotated See also:editions of the 1 On the history of his intermediate See also:stage see E. Scharer, Hist. of Jew. See also:People (See also:Edinburgh, 1886), Germ. Gesch. Jiid.

Volkes; M. Friedlander, Relig. Bewegungen innerhalb See also:

des Judentums See also:im Zeitalter Jesu (See also:Berlin, 1905) ; W. Fairweather, Background of the Gospels (Edinburgh 1908). See also APOCALYPTIC LIT. and APOCRYPHAL LIT. 2 See also:Note also the allusion to the wisdom of Moses in Acts vii. 22, upon which contemporary writings are See also:pretty well informed.pseudepigraphical literature (especially those of R. H. Charles). (See further TALMUD, § 5.) 4. Midrashic Exposition.—The Talmud poetically describes Midrash as a See also:hammer which wakes to shining light the See also:sparks which slumber in the See also:rock; and the simile is a happy one when one considers the exegetical implements, the workmen and their workmanship. For the expository or interpretative Midrash was See also:bound up with rules and methods which often appear crude and arbitrary, they are nevertheless those of the age and they helped to build up lasting monuments .0 It was believed that the Written Word had an See also:infinite fulness; according to the Midr.

Bemidbar Rabbah every word of the Law had seventy different aspects, and See also:

Philo of Alexandria held that there are no superfluous words in Scripture. Consequently an exaggerated emphasis is often laid upon single words; as, for example, in the school of See also:Rabbi 'Aqaba, where even individual letters were forced to reveal their meaning. Thus, since the Hebrew eth, which marks the See also:accusative, is also the preposition " with," Deut. x. 20 (" See also:thou shalt fear [eth-] Yahweh thy God ") was interpreted to include the veneration of the doctors of the law along with Yahweh.' Many examples of literal See also:interpretation can of course be found, but arbitrary cases of the See also:kind just noticed are due either to an obviously far-fetched interpretation or to the endeavour to find some authoritative support for teaching which it was desired to inculcate. Thus faulty See also:proof rather than faulty inference is illustrated when the word " in-number " (Ex. xii. 4) was used to confirm the Halaka that the See also:man who killed the See also:Passover See also:Lamb must know how many people were about to See also:share it (Jew. Ency. viii. 57o). Often the biblical text cannot be said to See also:supply more than a hint or a See also:suggestion, and the particular application in Halaka or Haggada must be taken on its merits, and the teaching does not necessarily fall because the exegesis is illegitimate. To take another specimen: the Mekilta on Ex. xx. 25 infers from the unusual form of the word "it," that the See also:prohibition of See also:iron applies only to it, i.e. the See also:altar, and not to stones used in See also:building the See also:temple. This Halaka is followed by a haggadic explanation of the prohibition: " iron abridges life while the altar prolongs it; iron causes destruction and misery, while the altar produces reconciliation between God and man; and therefore the use of iron cannot be allowed in making the altar." 5 Such were the sparks that could be hammered out of the rock, and it is instructive to observe similar exegetical methods in the New Testament.

Emphasis upon a single word is illustrated by Gal. iii. 16, where the See also:

argument rests upon the word " See also:seed " (and not the plural " seeds ") in the proof-text, and the same word in Rabbinical writings is used to support other arguments.6 By identical kinds of exegesis Lev. xix. 14 (not to put a stumbling See also:block before the See also:blind) is the ground for cautioning a See also:father against striking an adult See also:child, and Deut. See also:xxv. 4 (the law of the muzzled ox) is used to show that God's labourer is worthy of his hire? Again, since through Eve See also:sin entered into the See also:world, woman must be subordinate to man (I Tim. ii. 11-14), or, she who has thus extinguished " the light of the world " should atone by See also:lighting the festal candles on the See also:sabbath (Talm. Shabb. 5b). By the allegorical method Isa. lxi. is interpreted as applying to Jesus (See also:Luke iv. 16-22), and frequently passages which origin-ally had another application have a Messianic reference in 3 For the Rabbinical " rules " and examples of their working see F. See also:Weber, Bid. Theologie (See also:Leipzig, 1897), pp.

109–125; C. A. See also:

Briggs Study of See also:Holy Scripture (Edinburgh, 1899), ch. xviii.; Jew. Ency. xii. 3o—33 ; S. Schechter, See also:Hastings's Dict. See also:Bible, v. 59, 63 ; and H. L. Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud (Leipzig, 1908), pp. I19–is3i. So See also:Aquila, the See also:disciple of Aqaba, translates the accusative particle by ouv; see W.

R. See also:

Smith, Old Test. in the Jew. See also:Church, p. 63. 1 Oesterley and See also:Box, See also:Religion and See also:Worship of the See also:Synagogue (London, 1907), p. 8o; pp. 44-97 deal with Midrashic and other Jewish literature. e Mish. Sanhed. iv. 5, see A. Geiger, Zeit. f. morgenland. Gesellschaft, 1858, pp.

307 sqq., S. R. See also:

Driver, Expositor, ix. (1889), p. 18 seq. 2 The Talmud Mo'ed Qalan, 7a, and New Testament (1 Cor. ix. 9, i Tim. v. 18) respectively. Christian and Rabbinical teaching. Similarly the application of Hos. ii. 23, not to the scattered tribes of See also:Israel, but to the Gentiles, is common to the Mishna and to See also:Romans ix. 25 seq.

(Sanday and Headlam, Comment. ad loc.) The Apostle Paul, once a disciple of the famous Rabbi See also:

Gamaliel, uses in i Cor. x. 4 (" the spiritual rock that followed them ") a familiar Jewish Haggada which, however, he reinterprets, even as, when he identifies the " rock " with See also:Christ, he diverges from the Alexandrian Philo who had identified it with Wisdom or the Word of God. Moreover, not only are passages thus taken out of their context, but they are combined, especially when they contain the same words or phrases, or appear to have the same or similar thoughts or aims. The Talmud, with a reference to Prov. xxxi. 14 (" she bringeth her See also:food from afar "), says " the words of the Torah are poor (or deficient) in one place but See also:rich in another." Hence in the Mid. Siphre on See also:Numbers RV. 39, " ye shall not seek after . . . your own eyes " is explained to refer to See also:adultery, after the words of See also:Samson " she is pleasing in my eyes " (Judg. xiv. 3); and on Deut. vi. 5 it charges man to love the See also:Lord " with all thy soul . . . even if he should take away thy soul," the teaching being based upon Ps. xliv. 22.1 Similarly, in the New Testament, after the same method, Mal. iii.

1 and Is. xl. 3 (linked by the phrase " to prepare the way ") are combined in See also:

Mark i. 2 seq.; Abraham's faith (Gen. xv. 6) and temptation (xxii. 1) are associated in See also:James ii. 21-23, as also in contemporary Jewish thought; and by other combined quotations Paul enunciates the universality of sin (Rom. iii. ro sqq.) and the See also:doctrine that Christians are God's temple (2 Cor. vi. 16 sqq). Proceeding upon such Iines as these, the See also:Jews wove together their Midrashic homilies or sermons where, though we may find much that seems See also:commonplace, there are See also:illuminating parables and proverbs, metaphors and similes, the whole affording admirable examples of the contemporary thought and culture, both of the writers and—what is often overlooked—the level of their hearers or readers. Like many less ancient discourses, the Midrashim are See also:apt to suffer when read in See also:cold See also:print, and they are sometimes judged from a stand-point which would be prejudicial to the Old Testament itself. But they are to be judged as Oriental literature and if they contain jarring extravagances and puerilities, one may recall that even in See also:modern Palestine it was found that the natives understood See also:Robinson Crusoe as a religious book more readily than the See also:Pilgrim's Progress (J. See also:Robertson, Early Rel. of Israel, 1892, p. 66).

In making See also:

allowance for the defects (without which they would probably not have appealed to the age) it must be remembered that some of the Rabbis themselves recognized that the Midrashic Haggada was not always estimable. An interesting example of combined See also:quotation is illustrated in Matt. xii. 4-8, where the teaching of Jesus on the law of the Sabbath rests upon 1 Sam. xxi. 1-6, Num. See also:xxviii. 9 seq. and Hos. vi. 6. Apropos of this law the Rabbinical arguments are See also:worth noticing. Apparently the severe rules laid down in Jubilees 1. 8-12 (see R. H. Charles, ad loc.) were exceptional. It was allowed that the Sabbath need not be too rigorously kept, and this was justified by Exod. xxxi.

13, where the singular use of the restrictive particle ak (EV " verily ") supported the teaching that other Sabbaths need not be observed. Also, from the words " holy unto you " (v. 14) it was taught that " the Sabbath is given to you to desecrate in case of need, but thou art not given to the Sabbath." Hence the Sabbath might be broken when life was in danger. Moreover, it was argued that a See also:

battle need not be stopped from religious considerations, e.g. the Sabbath. This was justified by Deut. xx. 20 " until it fall " (Talm. Shabb. 19a). Also, the Passover Lamb could be sacrificed on the Sabbath, and See also:justification for this was found in Num. ix. 2 " in its See also:season" (Pesah. 66a). See further on this subject, and on the evasions of the Sabbath law, S.

Shechter, Studies in Judaism, pp. 297 sqq.; ibid. in C. G. See also:

Montefiore, Hibbert Lectures (for 1892), Appendix; ibid. Hastings' Dict. Bib. v. 63, and also S. R. Driver, Hastings' Dict. iv. 32o seq. With the above interpretations, cf. A.

H. See also:

McNeile on Matt. xii. 5, See also:John vii. 23: " the a priori element in them perhaps suggests that [these verses] were due to later reflexion on the See also:part of Christians who had realized the inadequacy of the law " (Swete's Camb. Bibl. Essays, 1909, p. 226). For other examples illustrating Rabbinical methods of exegesis in the New Testament, see McNeile, pp. 221, sqq. (" Our Lord's use of the Old Testament ") ; Briggs, op. cit. pp. 436, 1 Cited by S. Schechter, Hastings, Dict.

Bible, v. 64. sqq., and Thackeray, op. cit. (ch. vii. " use of the Old Testament," ch. viii. " St Paul the Haggadist "). The latter observes (p. 203) : " the arguments by which Paul tried to convince his opponents of the true meaning of the Old Testament as pointing forward to Christ, are those which they would themselves have employed for another purpose; and to some extent we need not doubt that they were selected for that very See also:

reason. They were the arguments which were best calculated to See also:appeal to them." Quite in accordance with Rabbinical See also:custom is the See also:system of question and See also:answer (Rom. x. 5, seq., i6 seq.), and the argument in the sequence: statement, objection and reply, appears already in the book of See also:Malachi (q.v.). 5. The Jewish Midrashim.—The earlier stages in the growth of the extant Rabbinical Midrashim cannot be traced with any certainty.

Although there are several allusions to early written works, other references See also:

manifest an objection to the writing down of Haggada and Halaka. Perhaps it was See also:felt that to preserve uniformity of teaching in the schools it was undesirable to popularize the extant collections, or perhaps the references must be reconsidered in the light of those significant changes after the fall of Jerusalem which have been mentioned above (§ 3).2 However this may be, the independent HalakOth (where the oral decisions are interpreted or discussed on the basis of the Old Testament) were gradually collected and arranged according to their subject in the Mishnah and Tosephta (TALMUD, § 1), while in the halakic Midrashim (where the decisions are given in connection with the biblical passage from which they were derived) they follow the sequence of the text of the Old Testament. The Haggada was likewise collected according to the textual sequence of the Old Testament. But the sermons or discourses of the homiletic Midrashim are classified according to the See also:reading of the See also:Pentateuch in the Synagogue, either the three See also:year cycle, or else according to the sections of the Pentateuch and Prophetical books assigned to special and See also:ordinary Sabbaths and festival days. Hence the latter are sometimes styled Pesiqta (" section "). The homiletic Midrashim are characterized by (a) a proem, an introduction based upon some biblical text (not from the See also:lesson itself), which led up to (b) the exposition of the lesson, the first See also:verse of which is more fully discussed than the See also:rest. They conclude (c) with Messianic or consolatory passages on the future See also:glory of Israel. A feature of some Midrashim (e.g. nos. 4, 5d, e, and 7 below) is the halakic exordium which precedes the proems.3 Among the more important Midrashim are: i.—Mekilta (See also:Aram. " measure," i.e. " See also:rule ") best known as the name of a now imperfect halakic Midrash on Exod. xii.–xxiii. 19 (also xxxi.

12-17 and See also:

xxxv. 1-3). It represents the school of R. (Rabbi) See also:Ishmael, is a useful source for old Haggadah (especially on the narrative portions of See also:Exodus), and is interesting for its variant readings of the Canonical Massoretic text." Edited by See also:Blasius Ugolinus, Thes. Antig. Sacr. xiv. (See also:Venice, 1744, with a poor Latin See also:translation), more recently by J. H. See also:Weiss (See also:Vienna, 1865) and M. See also:Friedmann (ibid. 1870), Germ. trans. by J. See also:Winter and A.

Wiinsche Leipzig, 1909). See further J. Z. Lauterbach, Jew. Ency. viii. 444 seq. ii. Siphra (Aram. the book ") or Torath Kohanam (" the law of the priests "), a commentary on See also:

Leviticus, mainly halakic, the text being a source for various See also:maxims. (On Lev. xix. 17 seq., neighbourly love and See also:abstinence from vengeance constitute, according to R. Aqiba, the great principle of the Torah.) It is useful for the interpretation of the Mishnah See also:treatises Qodashim and Teharoth. Latin trans. in Ugolinus, vol. xiv.

; recent editions by I. H. Weiss (Vienna, 1862), and with the commentary of Shimshon (Samson) of Siens (See also:

Warsaw, 1866) ; see Jew. Ency. xi. 330 sqq. iii. Siphre (Aram. " the books "), an old composite collection of Halaka on Numbers, after R. Ishmaei's school; and on Deut. after that of R. Aqiqa, although the haggadic portions belong to the former. Latin in Ugol. xv.; recent edition, with See also:good introduction by Friedmann (Vienna, 1864); see Jew. Ency. xi.

332 seq. The above works, although of 5th century or later date in their present form, contain much older material, which was perhaps first redacted in the earlier part.of the 2nd century, A.D. They are of 2 See, on this point, Jew. Ency. viii. 549 seq., 552, 576; Schechter, op. cit. p. 62; St See also:

rack, op. cit. pp. to sqq. 3 See more fully Jew. Ency. viii. 553. Cf. for the structure, the hopeful concluding notes in the prophecies (e.g. See also:Amos) and the discourse after the reading of the lesson from the prophets in Luke iv. 17 sqq., Acts xiii.

15 sqq. See I. Abrahams in Swete's See also:

Cambridge Bibl. Essays (1909), pp. 174 seq. Palestinian origin, although the See also:main redaction was made in Babylonia.' iv. Tanhuma, one of the See also:oldest on the lessons of the Pentateuch, with many proems ascribed to R. Tanhuma See also:ben (" son of ") Abba, one of the most famous haggadists of Palestine (4th century), who systematized and fixed the haggadic literature. This collection of 158-161 homilies is also known as T. Yelammedenu, from the opening words, Yel. Rabbenu, " our Rabbi teaches us "; on the critical questions connected with the titles and the present redaction (probably 5th century), see Jew. Ency. viii.

56o seq., xii. 44 sqq. Recent edition by Buber (Wi1na, 1885). v. Midrash Rabbah (or Rabboth), a large collection of very diverse origin and date, probably not completed before the 13th century. It covers the Pentateuch (1st ed., See also:

Constantinople, 1512) and the " Five Rolls " (See also:Pesaro, 1519; the whole printed first at Venice, 1545) ; Germ. trans. by A. Wiinsche, Bibliotheca rabbinica (Leipzig, 188o-1885). The several portions are named after the ordinary Jewish titles of the Old Testament books with the addition of Rabbah " great." These are (a) Bereshith (" in the beginning," Gen. i. I) Rabbah, on Genesis, the oldest and most valuable of haggadic Midrashim. Traditionally ascribed to R. Hoshaiah (3rd. century), 'but in the main a redaction of 6th century. Ed.

J. Theodor; see Jew. Ency. iii. 62 seq. ; viii. 557 seq. (b) Shemoth (" names " Exod. i. 1) •R., a composite and incomplete See also:

work of 11th and 12th century date, but valuable nevertheless for its Tanhuma homilies. Exod. i.-xi. is a commentary on the text in continuation of (a).' See Jew. Ency. viii. 562 (c.) Wayyigra (" and he called ") R., on Leviticus, perhaps 7th century, based upon sources in 2 and 5a above. It is characterized by its numerous proverbs (e.g. on xix.

6: " do not care for the good pup of a See also:

bad See also:dog, much less for the bad pup of a bad dog "). See Jew. Ency. viii. 56o, xii. 478 seq. (d) Bemidbar (" in the See also:desert of . . . ") R., 33 homilies on Numbers, mainly derived from 4 above (though in an earlier text), with a later haggadic exposition, perhaps of 12th century, on Num. i.-vii. See Jew. Ency. i1. 669 sqq., viii. 562.

(e) Debarim (" words ") R., independent homilies on See also:

Deuteronomy, of about A.D. 900, but with a good collection of Tanhumas and excerpts from the old sources. See Jew. Ency. iv. 487 seq. (f) Shir (" See also:song ") R., or (after the opening words) Aggadath Hazith, a late compilation of haggadah on Canticles, illustrating the allegorical interpretation of the book in reference to the relation between God and Israel (so already in the exegesis of R. Aqiba, cf. also 2 Esd. v. 24, 26, vii. 26). For this and other Mid. on this popular book, see Jew. Ency. viii. 564 seq., xi.

291 seq. (g) Mid. Ruth or Ruth Rabbah, a compilation including an exposition of 1 Chron. iv. 21-23, xi. 13-15 and interesting Messianic references. For this and similar Mid. or Ruth, see Jew. Ency. viii. 565, x. 577 seq. (h) Ekah (" how ") Rabbathi, a compilation of about the 7th century on See also:

Lamentations, from sources cited also in the Palestinian Talmud. See also:Thirty-six proems precede the commentary. See Jew.

Ency. v. 85 seq. (i) Mid. Koheleth or Koh. Rabbah, on Ecclesiastes; see Jew. Ency. vii. 529 sqq.; viii. 565. (j) Mid. Megillath Esther, dating, to judge from its indebtedness to See also:

Josippon (the pseudo-Josephus), after loth century. On this and other similar works dealing with this ever-popular book, see Jew. Ency. v.

241, viii. 566, and Paton's Comment. on Esther, p. 104. vi. Pesigta (" section ") or P. de-See also:

Rab Kahana, contains 33 or 34 homilies (on the See also:principal festivals), the first of which opens with a See also:sentence of R. Abba See also:bar Kahana, who was confused with a predecessor, Rab Kahana. Although it goes back to early Haggada it has received later additions (as is shown by the technique of the proems). Edited by S. Buber (See also:Lyck, 1868), Germ. trans. by A. Wiinsche (Leipzig, 1885) ; see Jew. Ency. viii. 559 seq.

Not to be confused with this is: vii. Pesigfa Rabbathi.—A very similar but larger collection of 51 homilies, of which 28 have a shalakic exordium prefixed to the Tanhuma-proems, perhaps of 9th century. Edited by M. Friedmann (Vienna, 1880). Quite another and later work is the Pes. Zutarta or Legah Tab of Tobiah b. Eliezer of See also:

Mainz (trans. Ugolinus, vol. xv. seq. ; ed. Buber, 188o) ; see Jew. Ency. viii. 561 sqq.

viii. In addition to the more prominent Midrashim mentioned above there are numerous self-contained works of greater or less interest. Some are connected with Old Testament books; e.g. Aggadath Bereshith, 83 homilies on Genesis, each in three parts connected with a section from the lectionary of the Pentateuch, and one from the Prophets, and a See also:

Psalm (ed. Buber, See also:Cracow, 1903; see Jew. Ency. viii. 563) ; the Mid. Tehillim on the See also:Psalms (Germ. trans. A. Wiinsche, See also:Trier, 1892-1893), &c. Others are historical, e.g. Pirqe or Baraitha de-Rabbi Eliezer, a fanciful narrative of events ' They contain (as I.

Abrahams has pointed out to the present writer) a good deal of haggada, but far more halakic material than those which follow. The latter (nos. 4 sqq.) also contain halaka, but the See also:

chief contents are haggadic and homiletical. 2I. Abrahams points out to the writer that the rest is more See also:summary. This difference is accounted for by the fact that Exod. xii. onwards and the rest of the Pentateuch have independent Midrashim: the Law proper was held by the Rabbis to begin at Exod. xii.selected from the Pentateuch, &c.; the See also:eschatology is interesting. Though associated by name with a well-known 1st century Rabbi, it is hardly earlier than the 8th (Latin trans. by Vorstius, See also:Leiden, 1644; see Jew. Ency. viii. 567). Further, the Megillath Ta'anith (" See also:roll of fasts "), an old source with a collection of miscellaneous legends, &c. ; Megillath Antiokhos, on the martyrdom under See also:Hadrian; Seder'Olam Rabbah, on biblical history from Adam to the See also:rebellion of Bar Kokba (Barcocheba); the " Book of Jashar "; the See also:Chronicle of Jerahmeel," &c. Liturgical Midrash is illustrated by the Haggada shel Pesah, part of the ritual recited at the domestic service of the first two Passover evenings.

In Mid. Ta'ame Haseroth we-Yetheroth, Hebrew words written " defectively " or " fully," and other Massoretic details, are haggadically treated. Finally See also:

Kabbalah (q.v.) is exemplified in Othiyyoth de R. Aqiba on the See also:alphabet, and M. Tadshe (or Baraitha de-R. Phinehas b. Ya'ir), on See also:groups of numbers, &c.; of some interest for its relation to the book of Jubilees. ix. Of collections of Midrash the chief are (a) the Yalqut Shimeoni, which arranges the material according to the text of the Old Testament (extending over the whole of it), preserves much from sources that have since disappeared, and is valuable for the criticism of the text of the Midrashim (recent ed. Wilna, 1898) translation of the Yalqut on See also:Zechariah by E. G. See also:King (Cambridge, 1882 ; see further Jew.

Ency. xii. 585 seq.). (b) Yal. ha-Makiri, perhaps later, covers only certain books, is useful for older sources and their criticism; portions have been edited by Spira (1894, on Isaiah) ; Buber (1899, on Psalms) ; Griinhut (1902, on Proverbs). (c) Midrash ha-Gadol (" the great "), an extensive See also:

thesaurus, but later (quoting from See also:Ibn Ezra, See also:Maimonides, &c.); the arrangement is not so careful as in (a) and (b). See further Jew. Ency. viii. 568 seq. Of modern collections special mention must be made of A. See also:Jellinek's See also:Bet ha-Midrasch (Leipzig, 1853) and A. Wiinsche's valuable translations; to those already mentioned must be added his Aus Israels 'Lehrhallen (excerpts of a more miscellaneous character (Leipzig, 1907 sqq.). Besides See also:dictionary articles on this subject (S. See also:Schiller-Szinessy, Ency.

Brit., 9th ed.; H. L. Strack, Real-Ency. f. Protest. Theol. u. Kirche; and especially J. Theodor and others in the Jew. Ency), see D. See also:

Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung in die halachischen Midraschim (Berlin, 1888), and the great work by Zunz, Die gottesdienstlichen Vortrage der Juden, 2nd ed. by N. Briill (See also:Frankfort on Main, 1892). These, as also the citations in the course of this See also:article, give fuller information. (See further TALMUD.) (S.

A.

End of Article: MIDRASH

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