The Bible in Medieval Jewish Scholarship

A Very Short Introduction for Beginning Reception Historians

Chris HeardAssociate Professor of ReligionPepperdine University

Rome falls to the “barbarians.”

476

The Middle Ages fade in.

Jewish literary-theological production still thrives especially in Palestine and Babylonia …

PALESTINE BA

BYLONIA

… and derash* rules Jewish biblical interpretation.

* The nonliteral or homiletically applied meaning of a scriptural text.

Muhammad hears a voice telling him to “Recite!”

610

Islam is on the rise.

Muslims conquer lands they, Jews, and Christians all consider holy.

632–661

Islam draws on Jewish interpretation and lore.

For example …

The devil replied, “Adam, … [w]hen God breathed into you the breath of life, and your face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael brought you and made us worship you in the sight of God; and the Lord God said, ‘Here is Adam. I have made him in our image and likeness.’ … And I answered … ‘I will not worship an inferior and a younger being than I am.’”

From The Life of Adam and Eve 13–14, trans. Wells and Whittaker in Sparks 1984. The Life of Adam and Eve apparently originated within Judaism, and survives in a variety of manuscripts and versions with some obvious Christian additions. This portion of the Latin version seems to derive from a Jewish original of c. AD 1–500.

And We [Allah] created you [Adam], then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblîs, who was not of those who make prostration. He said: What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee? (Iblîs) said: I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou didst create of mud.

Qur’an 7:11–12, Pickthall’s translation.

At Allah’s command, the angels prostrate themselves before Adam—except for Iblîs (i.e., Satan), upper right. Several such illustrations are known from the 16th and 17th centuries—post-Middle Ages, but useful here to illustrate the trend of Islamic echoes of Jewish lore.

Karaite* Jews go “back to the Bible,” rejecting the Oral Torah.

8th Century

* From qara’, the Hebrew word meaning “to read (aloud).” The same root gives us Miqra’, the Hebrew word for “scripture” (i.e., “that which is read [aloud]), analogous to Qur’an (i.e., “that which is recited”) in Arabic.

Saadia ben Joseph (882–942)or Saadia Gaon*

* Head of a Jewish academy (in Saadia’s case, at Sura in Babylonia, the most prestigious one at that time).

Saadia Gaon

* The plain sense or literal meaning of a text.

• Translates the Tanak into Arabic• Writes commentaries on the Torah

and other scriptures• Shifts toward peshat* to answer

Karaites and Muslims

I have seen that despite the loftiness of the Torah and its great importance, it is not God’s only trustworthy source nor guidance set up for his servants in serving Him, but He has two other sources of knowledge for us.

Saadia Gaon

The first precedes this Book and the other succeeds it. The one that precedes it is intuitive knowledge, which is created in the one whose mind is devoid of [all] impediments and pure of [any] defect.

Saadia Gaon

The one succeeding it is the knowledge transmitted by God’s messengers that His righteous prophets passed over by informing [us of] the authentic reports.

Saadia Gaon

These three sources [of knowledge]—I mean intuitive*, written**, and received†

—when they meet, give people perfection.

* Reason. ** Scripture. † Tradition. From the introduction to Saadia’s Torah commentary, as translated by Linetsky (2002).

1 Reason 2 Scripture 3 Tradition

Saadia Gaon

By focusing on peshat, Saadia can better respond to• Islamic promotion of Arabic as the

most excellent language• Karaite insistence on using the

Tanak to the exclusion of Talmud

Saadia Gaon

Muslims from North Africa invade and conquer Spain.

711–718

Christians and Muslims vie for control over Spain …

… for the next seven centuries.

Jewish learning enjoys a “golden age” in Muslim-controlled Spain.

SPAIN BABYLO

NIA

Jewish learning also flourishes in Christian-controlled France.

FRANCE

SPAIN

Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaqi (1040–1105)or Rashi*

* The great medieval rabbis are often known by acronyms of their names: R (for Rabbi) + sh (for Shlomo) + i (for Yitzhaqi).

Rashi• Lives in northern France• Writes peshat commentaries on

almost the entire Tanak• In retrospect, the most influential

medieval commentator on the Tanak and Talmud

There are many homiletic midrashim*, and the rabbis have long ago arranged them in their proper place in Genesis Rabba** and the other midrashim.

* Interpretations made according to derash principles. ** A collection of Rabbinic midrashim about Genesis.

Rashi

Whereas I have only come to explain Scripture according to my contextual understanding,* and according to the aggadah** that reconciles the words of Scripture, each word understood according to its character.

From Rashi’s commentary on Genesis 3:8, as given in Harris (2003).* Interpretations made according to peshat principles. ** Rabbinic stories and legends.

Rashi

Christian crusaders retake Jerusalem from its Muslim occupants.

1096–1099

This was the first of several crusades.

Rabbi Samuel ben* Meir (1080–1160)or Rashbam

* Ben means “son of” in Hebrew. I couldn’t find a portrait of Rashbam, so I used a stock photo instead.

Rashbam

• Lives in northern France• Devotes himself thoroughly to

peshat interpretation

Similarly, Rabbi Solomon,* my mother’s father, who illumined the eyes of all the diaspora, who wrote commentaries on the Torah, Prophets and Hagiographa, set out to explain the plain meaning of Scripture.

* That is, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi—Rashi.

Rashbam

However I, Samuel, son of his son-in-law, Meir—may the memory of the righteous be a blessing—[often] disputed [his interpretations] with him to his face. He admitted to me that, if only he had had the time, he would have written new [revised] commentaries, based on the insights into the plain meaning of Scripture that are newly though of day by day.

From Rashbam’s commentary on Genesis 37:2, as translated by Lockshin (1989).

Rashbam

Abraham ibn* Ezra (1089–1164)

* Like Hebrew ben, Arabic ibn means “son of.”

Ibn Ezra

* Legal rulings and teachings about behavior.

• Leaves Muslim Spain in 1140 (to escape persecution?); travels in Italy, France, and England

• Practices peshat, but submits to Rabbinic halakah*

The third approach is the way of darkness and gloom. It lies outside of the circle. This is the approach of those who invent secret explanations for everything in Scripture. They believe that the laws and statutes of the Torah are riddles.*

* Or “allegories.” Ibn Ezra seems to have Christians in mind.

Ibn Ezra

Anyone with a little bit of intelligence and certainly one who has knowledge of the Torah can create his own Midrashim. The Midrashic interpretations are like clothes to the naked body. … The end of the matter is, there is no limit to Midrashic interpretations.

Ibn Ezra

The fifth method is the one upon which I will base my commentary. It appears to me to be correct in the presence of God whom alone I fear. I will not show favoritism to anyone when it comes to interpreting the Torah. I will, to the utmost of my ability, try to understand grammatically every word and then do my best to explain it.

From the introduction to Ibn Ezra’s commentary on Genesis, as translated by Strickman and Silver (1988).

Ibn Ezra

Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1135–1204)or Rambam or Maimonides*

* Once again, the -ides ending, derived from Latin, means “son of.”

Rambam

• Writes a massive commentary on Jewish law (Mishneh Torah)

• Blends Judaism with Aristotelian philosophy (Guide for the Perplexed)

• Sees both literal and metaphorical levels in scripture

[Our sages] use the text of the Bible only as a kind of poetical language [for their own ideas], and do not intend thereby to give an interpretation of the text. As to the value of these Midrashic interpretations, we meet with two different opinions.

Rambam

For some think that the Midrash contains the real explanation of the text, whilst others, finding that it cannot be reconciled with the words quoted, reject and ridicule it.

Rambam

The former struggle and fight to prove and confirm such interpretations according to their opinion, and to keep them as the real meaning of the text; they consider them in the same light as traditional laws.

Rambam

Neither of the two classes understood it, that our Sages employ biblical texts merely as poetical expressions, the meaning of which is clear to every reasonable reader. This style was general in ancient days; all adopted it in the same way as poets [adopt a certain style]. …

Rambam

Now I wonder whether those ignorant persons [who take the Midrashic interpretations literally] believe that the author of this saying gave it as the true interpretation of the text quoted … I cannot think that any person whose intellect is sound can admit this.

Rambam

The author employed the text as a beautiful poetical phrase, in teaching an excellent moral lesson … poetically connected with the above text.

From Guide for the Perplexed III,43, as translated by Friedländer (1904).

Rambam

Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (1194–1270)or Ramban or Nachmanides*

* The ch is pronounced as in Chris, not as in choice. It is sometimes written as ḥ or just h (with no c).

Ramban

* A form of Jewish mysticism that flourished during and after the Middle Ages.

• Fuses peshat and derash• Reads the Tanak mystically following

principles of kabbalah,* such as- Numerology- Alphabetic speculation

Everything that was transmitted to Moses our teacher through the forty-nine gates of understanding was written in the Torah explicitly or by implication in words, in the numerical value of the letters or …

Ramban

… in the form of the letters, that is, whether written normally or with some change in form such as bent or crooked letters and other deviations, or in the tips of the letters and their crownlets, as the Sages have said …

From the introduction to Ramban’s commentary on Genesis, as translated by Chavel (1971).

Ramban

Rabbi Levi ben Gershom (1288–1344)or Ralbag or Gersonides

Ralbag

• Combines philosophy and biblical commentary• Usually discusses three aspects of a text

- Difficult words and phrases- Contextual meaning- Philosophical, moral, and legal lessons

In general, the Torah is not a coercive nomos which compels us to believe things that are incorrect, or to do things which have no benefit, as the multitude thinks.

Ralbag

Rather, it is a perfect nomos of absolute perfection, as is made clear in our commentary to the Torah, so that the perfection in it will lead men to desire that they conduct themselves according to this perfect nomos. This is in accordance with the definition of a perfect nomos, as the Philosopher* explained.

From Ralbag’s Wars of the Lord, as translated by Staub (1982).* For Ralbag, Aristotle is “the Philosopher” and Rambam is “the Master the Guide.”

Ralbag

Constantinople falls to the Ottomans.

1453

The Middle Ages begin to fade out.

Christians complete the Reconquista, expelling Muslims from Spain.

Modernity is coming.

1492

Primary SourcesIbn Ezra, Abraham. 1988. Commentary on the Pentateuch: Genesis. Trans. H. Norman Strickman and

Arthur M. Silver. New York: Menorah.Linetsky, Michael, ed and trans. 2002. Rabbi Saadiah Gaon’s Commentary on the Book of Creation.

Northvale and Jerusalem: Jason Aronson.Lockshin, Martin I. 1989. Rabbi Samuel ben Meir’s Commentary on Genesis: An Annotated Translation.

Jewish Studies 5. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen.Maimonides, Moses. 1881. Guide of the Perplexed. Trans. M. Friedländer. London: Society of Hebrew

Literature.Pickthall, Mohammed Marmaduke. 1953. The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation.

New York: Penguin.Ramban (Nachmanides). 1971. Commentary on the Torah: Genesis. Trans. Charles B. Chavel. New York:

Shilo.Rashi. 1973. Commentaries on the Pentateuch. Trans. Chaim Pearl. New York: Viking.Sparks, H. F. D., ed. 1984. The Apocryphal Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Includes

Wells’s and Whittaker’s translation of The Life of Adam and Eve.)Staub, Jacob J. 1982. The Creation of the World According to Gersonides. Chico: Scholars Press. (Includes

Staub’s translation of Wars of the Lord 6:2:1–8.)

Secondary SourcesBakhos, Carol. 2009. “Jewish Midrashic Interpretation in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.”

Pp. 113–140 in A History of Biblical Interpretation, Vol. 2, The Medieval through the Reformation Periods. Ed. Alan J. Hauser and Duane F. Watson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Harris, Robert A. 2009. “Medieval Jewish Biblical Exegesis.” Pp. 141–171 in A History of Biblical Interpretation, Vol. 2, The Medieval through the Reformation Periods. Ed. Alan J. Hauser and Duane F. Watson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Kaltner, John. 1999. Ishmael Instructs Isaac: An Introduction to the Qur’an for Bible Readers. Collegeville: Liturgical Press.

Sawyer, John F. A. 2009. A Concise Dictionary of the Bible and Its Reception. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Telushkin, Joseph. 2008. Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History. Rev. ed. New York: HarperCollins.

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