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.