Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 What is ‘Midrash’?
- 2 Traditional motifs in early rabbinic exegesis I: Job and the Generation of the Flood
- 3 Traditional motifs in early rabbinic exegesis II: Job and Israel's early history as a nation
- 4 Popular legends and traditions I: the archetypal sage
- 5 Popular legends and traditions II: the archetypal priest-king
- 6 Popular legends and traditions III: the regenerating tree
- 7 The midrashic background for James 2:21–23
- 8 Elements of Near-Eastern mythology in rabbinic Aggadah
- 9 Conclusions
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index of sources
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
4 - Popular legends and traditions I: the archetypal sage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 What is ‘Midrash’?
- 2 Traditional motifs in early rabbinic exegesis I: Job and the Generation of the Flood
- 3 Traditional motifs in early rabbinic exegesis II: Job and Israel's early history as a nation
- 4 Popular legends and traditions I: the archetypal sage
- 5 Popular legends and traditions II: the archetypal priest-king
- 6 Popular legends and traditions III: the regenerating tree
- 7 The midrashic background for James 2:21–23
- 8 Elements of Near-Eastern mythology in rabbinic Aggadah
- 9 Conclusions
- Appendices
- Select bibliography
- Index of sources
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
Summary
Exegetical traditions of the type discussed in the preceding two chapters – further examples of which will be cited subsequently – may represent only one aspect of a more extensive corpus of popular knowledge upon which the early preachers relied in their selection of proemial verses. A further factor, which does not appear to have been considered hitherto, is the store of legends and traditions which abound in aggadic sources. Many of these are of great antiquity, as can be seen from the material relating to the Generation of the Flood cited above. Rabbinic Midrask, as we observed earlier, is to be regarded only as the latest phase in the process of the amplification of biblical narratives, which has its origins in the Bible itself. Moreover, it reached a highly developed form long before the beginning of the Christian Era, as is suggested by such works as Jubilees, and the more recently discovered Genesis Apocryphon. It is highly probable that such traditions were being popularised at an early period, (a) through the weekly homilies, which have provided much of the material for our extant midrashic works; and particularly (b) through the medium of the Targum, the paraphrastic translation of the weekly scriptural lections, which amplified both the narrative and legal sections of the Pentateuch, as can be seen from our extant Targumim. In due course, this continuous and widespread practice of publicly expounding the Scriptures in the ancient synagogues, gave rise to a considerable corpus of popular knowledge, not only of the contents of the biblical text, but also of the numerous traditions and legends with which it was embellished.
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Midrashic ProcessTradition and Interpretation in Rabbinic Judaism, pp. 79 - 94Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995