MIDRASH.
- Meaning and Essence of Midrash (§ 1).
- Date and Structure (§ 2).
- Three Tannaitic Midrashim (§ 3).
Genesis Rabba, Midrashim on Lamentations, PesON End
- Ta4tuma (§ 4).
- Homiletic Midrashim (§ 5).
- Other Exegetical Midrashim (§ 6).
- Compilations (§ 7).
- Narrative, Ethical, and Esoteric Midrashim (§ 8).
The word midraeh occurs in
II Chron. xiii. 22, xxiv. 27
(A. V. " story," margin " commentary,"
R. V. " commentary "), but the meaning in both
passages is doubtful. In post-Biblical usage, the
verb from which the noun is
derived means " to
examine, to elucidate," while the noun expr
"interpretation," especially the interpretation of
Scripture, and then comes to mean the haggadic
(i.e., illustrative and practical) or,
1. Meaning
sometimes, the balachic (i.e., exegetical)
and
commentaries on the Old Testament,
Essence of especially such works as the
Midrash. Mishna,T osephta, and
Talmud (q.v.;
cf.
W. Bacher,
Die dUede Termi
xiologie der jüdischen Schraftausdegung, pp. 25
sqq.,
103 sqq., Leipsic, 1899). The period of the king
dom in Israel was followed not by a hierocracy but
by a rule under the Law (nomocracy), which more
and more controlled the common external life and
also the spiritual life of Israel. This is indicated by
Haggai (ii. 10 sqq.), who makes the priests the reo
ognized teachers of the law, while Ezra's whole
striving was to bring the law of Moses into relation
with common life. It is no wonder, in view of
the changed conditions, that when other institutions
were lost the Jews clung fondly to the written
law, their only possession from the past. Yet this
law was not a complete code; it hardly sufficed for
the period immediately following the exile, still less
could it supply the need when a fuller development
of national life had bloomed. It had to be
fitted to these later times and to be expanded, and
this was done by the proem of midrash. The name
given to this activity was halachic, a collection of
the results being called halakoth. The first au
thoritative collection of this material is that of
Judah ha-Nasi, another is the Tosephta, while very
early halachic material is found in the Baraithoth,
in the midrashim Mekhilta, Siphra, Siphre, etc.
Since the Old Testament was for the Jews the sum
total of all that is good, beautiful, and worthful,
it followed that it was regarded as the sufficient
norm for all purposes of life. The application of
this norm to practical purposes was brought about
through midrash. but in this relation it was usually
called haggada. Haggada sometimes adheres closely
to the Scriptural text, sometimes takes it as a starting
-point for varied expositions, which latter might
be given in the synagogue or at private homes, in
public observances as the Sabbath or festival occa
sions, or at important events of public or
private
life. (For the rules of halachic and haggadic inter
pretation, consult H. L. Straek,
Einleitung in den
Thatmud, VII., § 2,
Leipsic, 1900).
In spite of regulations once existent against
reducing haggada and halacha to writing, it is
abundantly evident that this material did exist in
written form as early as the first part of the third
century, though the purely haggadic midrashim now
extant date from a later time. The time when this
reduction to writing took place is dif
2. Date and ficult to ascertain because of the fre
Structure. quent redactions to which the mate
rial at hand has been subjected and
because the text has not been carefully transmitted,
(cf. L.
Zunz,DiegotteadienstlichenVortrdgederJudm,
Berlin, 1832). Much arduous work upon the man
liscripts is necessary before a history of midrashic
literature can be written. The most productive
midrashic activity dates immediately after the close
of the Babylonian Talmud and ends about 1040
A.D.,
being supplanted by philosophical studies. Many
midrashim contain consecutive exposition of some
book of the Old Testament, e.g., Genesis
rabba;
others consist of homilies based either on the cycle
of synagogue readings or on the cycle of
feasts.
The homilies are usually the development of a
theme on the basis of a text or verse of Scripture,
and in the homiletic midrashim the compilers have
been at pains to collect proems of various kinds to
the themes (cf. S. Maybaum,
Die dltesten Phasen in
der Entwrickdung der jfdiwhen Predigt, i.
14-27,
Berlin, 1901). Thus it is reported of Rabbi Meir
that his lectures were composed of halachic, haggadic, and illustrative materials, and of Rabbi
Thanchum that he prefixed to a halachic lecture
a haggadic introduction. The later midrashim
often introduce a haggadic lecture by discussion of
a halachic problem. The discussion which follows
the proem is usually concerned with only a few
verses, is often concentrated into a single verse or
part of one, for the rest of the section chosen the
exposition being rather cursory in character.
In the midrashim
Mekhilda
(on Exodus),
Siphre
(on Numbers and Deuteronomy), and
Siphra
(on
Leviticus) two tendencies are discerned, that of
the school of Rabbi Akiba and that
of the school
of his contemporary and opponent Rabbi Ishmael.
The second is easily recognized by the
3. Three learned by the names of the teachers
Tannaitic which are given and also by certain
Midrashim. technical expressions which appear.
Mekhilta was in earlier times included
under the term
Siphre;
it treats of
Ex. xii. 1-sxiii.
19, xxxi. 12-17, xxcv. 1-3. Originally this was
only halachic in character, the more strictly exegetical material being of later date. Many traces
indicate that
it covered a larger part of the book
than the material which has survived. Editions
are: Constantinople, 1515; Venice, 1545; Vienna,
1865; ib. 1870. "Siphre" (a Talmudic plural
meaning " books ") was originally a collective designation of the Tannaitic midrashim on Exodus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy; when "Mekhilta"
was applied to the midrash on Exodus, "Siphre"
was applied only to the midrash on Numbers and
Deuteronomy. The extant Siphre . on Numbers
arose in the school of Ishmael, though it is of diverse authorship; the haggadic parts on Deuteronomy also
are of that school, but in the
legal portions (on chaps. xii.-xxvi.) it suggests the school
of Akiba. Editions are: Venice, 1545; Vienna,
1864 (part 1 only). Siphra (" the book ") is halachic
and of the school of Alflba, except in viii. 1-x. 8,
xviii. 1-5, xavi. 3-46. It takes its name from the
fact that instruction began not with the first book
of the Pentateuch, but with the third. The basis
is the teaching of Rabbi Judah, a pupil of Akiba;
the final redactor was Chiyya the elder, pupil and
friend of Judah ha-Nasi. The midrash of Ishmael's
school is used only indirectly fcf. Z. Frankel,
Hodogeticd in Mischnam, pp.
307-311, Leipsic, 1859;
D. Hoffmann,
Zur Einleitung in die halachischen
Midraschim,
Berlin, 1887). Editions of Siphra are:
Venice, 1545, 1609-11; Bucharest, 1860; Vienna,
1862; Warsaw, 1866.
Genesis rabbet,
or
Bereshith rabba,
the larger midrash on Genesis, is probably so called in distinction
sea
from a smaller and shorter midrash based upon
Rabbi Oshaya's work. The term
rabba, " large,"
was in late times applied to the most common hag
gadic midrash on the Pentateuch and
4. Genesis even to that on the Rolls. This mid
Rabba, rash on Genesis is an explanation both
Midrashim of words and of things, taking fully the
on Lamen- character of public lectures. Halachic
tations, exposition is rare in it. The range of
Pesikta, and interpretation is large; the basis is
Tanhuma. traceable to Rabbi Oshaya; though
the artistic working-out of the plan is
later, it is still not subsequent to the time of the
redaction of the Palestinian Talmud, and intrusions
of later
matter occur. From xxxii. 4 on, the ma
terials have the stamp of the later haggada, and the
later manuscripts add many details. Apparently
this midrash was never fully completed, for after
xliv. 18 the progress is no longer verse by verse;
chap. xlviii. is lacking in the manuscripts, and chap.
xlix. in the codices has the earmarks of a late re
cension. The view that it was first edited as a
whole between 650 and 750
A.D.
does not seem well
supported. In most editions this midrash is in 100
chapters; the manuscripts vary between 97 and
101 chapters, though all agree in their limits as far
as chap. xcvi., beginning with
Gen. xlvii. 28.
The
basis of the chapter division is not consistent or
uniform. Editions are: the midrash on the Pen
tateuch, Constantinople, 1512; on the
Rolls, Pe
saro (P), 1519, Constantinople, 1520; of the whole,
Venice, 1545; with commentary of Issachar Baer
Kohen, Cracow, 1587-88; of Samuel Japheh Ash
kenazi on Genesis, Venice, 1597 sqq., on Exodus,
ib. 1657, on Leviticus, Constantinople, 1648; of
David Luria and Samuel Straschun, Vilna, 1843
1845. Other editions are: Berlin, 1866; Vilna,
1878. The midrash on Lamentations
(Midraah
Eykah) is
one of the oldest of Palestinian origin.
It is exceedingly rich in proems owing to the fact
that the celebration of the destruction of Jerusalem
was accompanied by lectures on that book. These
lectures are the source of a great part of the
expo
sitions of which the midrash is composed. The re
daction is later than that of the Palestinian Talmud,
though very early materials are used. The expo
sition is of the same character as that of Genesis
rabba--smooth comment with interspersed hag
gadic pieces that are only. loosely attached to their
context. The redaction is prior to 650
A.D.
An
old midrash of the name
Pesilda was
long known
through citations. Its recovery shows that it con
sists of thirty-two homilies delivered on specified
festivals or Sabbaths, and that it was
composed of
two collections, one beginning ,with New Year's
day, the other with Tammuz 17. The manuscripts
show, considerable variations in contents, especially
at the beginning. The question of the date depends
upon. literary relations-it is a question whether
Pesitta is .dependent upon Genesis rabba and the
midrash on Lamentations, or whether it is older
than these. . In the first case its date would be
about 700
A.D,;
in the second case it would be ear
lier than this. It is no longer in its original form,
but has undergone many alterations and has re
ceived many additions. The name means " seotion
," and is derived from the fact that each chapter
was
entitled "Section of . . .". It was edited
by S. Buber (Lyck, 1868), but unfortunately not
on the basis of the Oxford manuscript. The
Midrash Yelamdenu
or
Tanhuma
covers the entire Pentateuch. Originally it contained only one homily
for each Sabbath reading; in its present shape each
homily has a halachic exordium, several introductions, exposition of the first verse of the lesson,
Messianic conclusion. This formed the model of
many collections. Editions are: Constantinople,
1520-22; Venice, 1545; Mantua, 1563; Verona,
1595; with commentaries, Vilna-Grodno, 1831;
Stettin , 1864.
The
Exodus rabba
or
Shemoth rabbais
