Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MIDRASH

A primary mode of rabbinic biblical interpretation. The origins of midrash (from Heb. drš, “to search” or “investigate”) may lie within the OT itself. For example, according to 1 Chr. 5:1, because he “defiled” his father’s bed, Reuben’s birthright was given to the sons of Joseph; this seems to provide an elaboration on the fate of Reuben, which remains vague in Genesis, by taking up several threads there (Gen. 35:16-22; 48:5-7; 49:3-4) and tying them into a coherent whole. Interpretive strategies similar to midrash or, perhaps the antecedents thereof, can be seen in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha as well as in some of the versions of the OT. Among the closest analogues to midrash is the pesher interpretation found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Whatever the origins of midrash, we know of the phenomenon best from its practice in rabbinic Judaism. Midrash, aside from being a method of interpretation, is also used to designate the literature that arose from such interpretation. Two main types of this literature correspond to the two primary ways in which the midrashic method was applied. Halakhah concentrates on ritual and civic legal matters and Haggadah on more discursive literary and religious concerns. In practice this division is simplistic due to the overlap between the two. A further way to designate and distinguish midrash is by the sources of the interpretations. Midrash produced by the rabbis prior to the coalescence of the Mishnah (ca. 200 c.e.) is called Tannaitic. Midrash produced after that date until ca. the 6th century is called Amoraic. Midrash can also be divided into the categories of expositional and homiletical. Expositional midrash, for the most part, represents a verse-by-verse interpretation of Scripture, and homiletical midrash is primarily concerned with a particular topic or issue and draws on Scripture at large. Finally, medieval Jewish interpreters distinguish midrash (or derash) from peshat or “plain sense” interpretation. This suggests something of the indeterminate nature of midrashic interpretation.

Larry L. Lyke

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MIDRASH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)