Showing papers on "Exegesis published in 1984"

Medieval theory of authorship: Scholastic literary attitudes in the later Middle Ages

Abstract: It has often been held that scholasticism destroyed the literary theory that was emerging during the twelfth-century Renaissance, and hence discussion of late medieval literary works has tended to derive its critical vocabulary from modern, not medieval, theory. In Medieval Theory of Authorship, now reissued with a new preface by the author, Alastair Minnis asks, "Is it not better to search again for a conceptual equipment which is at once historically valid and theoretically illuminating?" Minnis has found such writings in the glosses and commentaries on the authoritative Latin writers studied in schools and universities between 1100 and 1400. The prologues to these commentaries provide valuable insight into the medieval theory of authorship. Of special significance is scriptural exegesis, for medieval scholars found the Bible the most difficult text to describe appropriately and accurately.

R. Moses the Preacher and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

Abstract: R. Moses the Preacher in eleventh-century Narbonne was the compiler of an early example of the genre of biblical commentary to which the later Yalqut Shim'oni belongs, the anthology drawn from a wide range of rabbinic sources. Bereshit Rabbati (henceforth, BR), Midrash Aggadah, and Bemidbar Rabbah to Bemidbar and Naso are the surviving remnants of this work.' R. Moses' use of nonrabbinic traditions as well, including some from the pseudepigrapha, has often been noted.2 The appearance of these traditions

Zebulun and Issachar as an Ethical Paradigm

Abstract: A paradigm, it has been remarked (Blank, I974, pp. I I If.), can be either a boring linguistic model or a rather exciting literary image with its own evolutionary history.' Ethical models often rely upon paradigms as a means of inspiring certain types of behavior patterns. Often, however, paradigms seem to conflict. In later Judaism this conflict often revolved around the tension between the paradigm of the pious doer of l)esed, deeds of lovingkindness, and the paradigm of the scholar. Norman Lamm ( 1971, pp. 212-246) has investigated this tension. He suggests that the Musar Movement, while attractive, has problematic implications for normative Judaism. It holds up the model of ethical piety in contrast to that of Torah scholarship. He contends that the great leaders in Judaism managed to combine a sensitivity to morality-that which lies beyond the line of the law-with intensive scholarship and dedication to the letter of the law itself. The ideal should be, he suggests, the scholar who makes room for deeds of love only when they do not conflict with the primary duty of Torah study. This ideal and the tension it reflects found expression in rabbinic exegesis through the paradigm of the partnership between Issachar and Zebulun. The relationship between these two was inferred from two ancient poems, both of which are obscure and have presented modern scholars with problems of interpretation as any of the modern commentaries demonstrate: Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33 (see for example Speiser, 1964 and Von Rad, 1966). The rabbis saw in the former text a division of labor: Zebulun, setting out on the seas, was a merchant; Issachar, accepting servitude as an ox accepts its yoke, was emblematic of the scholar swaying to the study of Torah. The two passages in

Natural Sciences as Textual Interpretation: The Hermeneutics of the Natural Sign

Abstract: Some pieces of the world, such as the one that the reader is now perusing, are texts. The modern hermeneutical tradition of philosophy has adumbrated methods for interpreting these entities. "We mean by hermeneutics," says Ricoeur,' "the theory of rules that govern an exegesis, that is to say, an interpretation of a particular text or collection of signs susceptible of being considered as a text." The "susceptible" here hints at, or more accurately avoids hinting at, an operation of separating the world into texts and non-texts. The hermeneutical enterprise has typically concerned itself with objects that, even if no meaning has yet been attributed to them, are given to the subject as texts. But it would be unwise to take for granted the answer to the question, "Is this a text?" Whether a given object is indeed a "collection of signs susceptible of being considered as a text" is a matter at least prima facie needing an interpretative act for its determination; and if there is one point agreed on by everyone concerned with hermeneutics, it is the impossibility of assuming as immediately evident the answer to any question requiring interpretation. Certainly there has been no lack of disagreement as to whether particular parts of the world should be regarded as texts or not. A good deal of the obscurity in the debate over the status of psychoanalysis as a science can be seen as stemming from indecision on the part of the founders of the discipline as to whether it was to be a natural or a human science. Although Freud's clinical practice was clearly hermeneutical,' he insisted

The sociolinguistics of bible translation, exegesis and religious language

Abstract: SUMMARY This contribution deals with three matters. First of all an overview is given of the factors which co-determine the form of a linguistic text. Secondly, certain aspects of one of these factors, viz. the linguistic resources available to a speaker, are discussed in more detail. This discussion departs from a social perspective on language, and thus deals mainly with the heterogeneous nature of language as a socially imbedded entity. Several aspects of this matter are discussed, such as: a. The four features of linguistic heterogeneity b. Sociolinguistic varieties, and c. The sociolinguistic repertoire of language users. Thirdly, an attempt is made to provide some pointers as to the relevance of the first two matters for Bible translation, biblical exegesis and religious language, the main point being that the Bible is a collection of texts, and is as such also co-determined by the 6 factors which generally determine linguistic texts.

Saadia's Biblical Exegesis and His Poetic Practice

Abstract: Rav Saadia Gaon is one of the most prominent Jewish authors of the Middle Ages. Each of his works is stamped with the seal of originality. Moreover, in many of his works he created new fields of Jewish knowledge. 1 Among them is the field of biblical commentary, in which the Bible is treated not only as a source of Jewish law and history, but also as literature, as a supreme source of the Hebrew language and its normative grammar, and finally, as an ultimate authority for Jewish thought. 2 However, part of his vast and diversified work is influenced by tradition. This is true specifically of his poetry, in part of which we can easily discern the impact of the paytanic tradition, especially the works of Rav El 0 azar ben Qillir (Tobi, 1980, I, pp. 58-205). But even in his poetry Saadia is a great innovator who founded a new school of medieval Hebrew literature, a school to which the famous Jewish poets of Spain are related. 3 It is our intention in this article to compare Saadia 's biblical commentary with his poetry, in order to examine to what extent these two fields of creativity are related. The need and justification for this examination

A literary commentary on Jerome, Letters 1, 60, 107

Abstract: This thesis consists of a commentary on Jerome, Letters 1, 60, and 107, literary pieces which readily lend themselves to a study of aspects of Jerome's art by the narratio method, and bear witness to his position as a Christian writer with roots in the Classical tradition. It is thus essentially a literary commentary, though matters of text, language, history, theology, and Scriptural exegesis are also discussed where they are of special interest or where such discussion helps to illuminate particular passages. The commentary on each letter is prefaced by an introduction setting out the background, considering the letter as a whole, and indicating the main themes and other points of importance. A general introduction briefly dicusses the text and the manuscripts, the readership of the letters, prose-rhythm as a feature of Jerome's style, Jerome's work on the Latin Bible and his citations from it, and his familiarity with and use of Classical literature.