24 scholars – Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic – from North America, Israel, and various European countries, contribute to this rich volume on medieval interpretation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (5th through 12th centuries). Geographically, they cover most of the world as it was known in these times: from Syria to Spain, from Rome to the Rhine and the Seine. The volume also contains supplements to the previous volume, on Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon. The indexes (names, topics, references to biblical sources and a broad body of literature beyond) are the key to the wealth of information provided. Undoubtedly, this volume will meet the high expectations set by the reviewers of the first volume (I/1) of the series: "Definitive reference work" (Religious Studies Review) "Mine d'information d'une grande richesse" (Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses) "Monumental ouvrage" (Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique) "A veritable treasury" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly) "The foremost account of Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation" (Expository Times) "Onmisbaar handboek voor jeder een die zich serieus met bijbelstudie bezighoudt" (Stem van het boek) "Respekt gebietende Summe wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Forschung" (Zeitschrift für Altes Testament) Selected chapters 23. The Problem of Periodization of Middle Ages 25. Jewish Bible Interpretation in Early Post-Talmudic Times 26. Gregory the Great 28. Seventh through Ninth Century 1. Isidore of Seville 3. Exegesis in the time of Charlemagne 4. From Angelomus of Luxeuil to Remigius of Auxerre 31. The Flourishing Era of Jewish Exegesis in Spain 1. The Linguistic School: Judah Hayyuj, Jonah ibn Janah, Moses ibn Chiquitilla and Judah ibn Bal'am 2. The Aesthetic Exegesis of Moses ibn Ezra 32. The School of Literal Jewish Exegesis in Northern France 4. Menahem ben Helbo5. Solomon Yishaqi / Rashi (1040–1105) 8. Samuel ben Meir / Rashbam (1080–1160) 33. Jewish Exegesis in Spain and Provence and in the East 2. Abraham ibn Ezra4. Moses ben Nahman / Nahmanides (Ramban) 5. Abraham Maimonides and the Yemenite School 34. The School of St. Victor in Paris 35. Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament 1. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Song of Songs 2. Gilbert of Poitiers and Peter Lombard 6. Albert, Thomas, Bonaventure 36. Development of Biblical Interpretation in the Syrian Churches 38. Literal and Spiritual Scriptural Interpretation: Aspects of Correspondence and Tension between Christian and Jewish Exegesis

Dieses große internationale Standardwerk vereinigt christliche und jüdische Fachleute aus aller Welt. Es stellt die alttestamentliche Exegese von den Anfängen innerbiblischer Schriftdeutung bis zur gegenwärtigen Forschung umfassend dar. Der erste Teilband führt von den Kanonfragen über frühjüdische, neutestamentliche, rabbinische und patristische Deutungen bis zu Augustin. Er endet mit einer Zusammenfassung über Kirche und Synagoge als jeweiligen Mutterboden für die Entwicklung verbindlicher Schriftauslegung. Das Werk ist auf fünf Teilbände angelegt, die im Abstand von ein bis zwei Jahren erscheinen.

Are we able to identify and compare the philosophical perspectives and questions that must be postulated as having been somehow present in the language, ideas and worldviews of the Biblical authors? This book sets out an approach to something that has been generally considered impossible: a philosophical theology of the Old Testament. It demonstrates and addresses the neglect of a descriptive and comparative philosophical clarification of concepts in Old Testament theology, and in so doing treads new ground in Biblical studies and philosophical theology. Recognizing the obvious problems with, and objections to, any form of interdisciplinary research combining philosophical and Biblical theology, this study presents itself as introductory and experimental in nature. The methodology opted for is limited to a philosophical clarification of concepts already found in Old Testament theology, while the findings are presented via the popular thematic approach found in analytic philosophical theologies; with no attempted justification or critique of the textual contents under investigation. These approaches are combined by primarily looking at the nature of Yahweh in the Old Testament. This book offers a new vision of Biblical and philosophical theology that brings them closer together in order that we might understand both more broadly and deeply. As such, it will be vital reading for scholars of Theology, Biblical Studies and Philosophy.

The commentary on the Torah of the eleventh-century French rabbi, Solomon Yishaqi of Troyes (better known as Rashi), is one of the major texts of mediaeval Judaism. Rashi's commentary has enjoyed an almost canonical status among many traditional Jews from mediaeval times to the present day. The popularity of his Torah commentary is often ascribed to Rashi's skillful combination of traditional midrashic interpretations of Scripture with observations on the language employed therein. In this respect, Rashi is often presented as a linguist or grammarian. This book presents a critical reappraisal of this issue through a close reading of Rashi's commentary on the book of Deuteronomy. Falling into two major sections, Part One (Contexts) presents a theoretical framework for the detailed study in Part Two (Texts), which forms the main core of the book by presenting a detailed analysis of Rashi's commentary on the book of Deuteronomy.

Winner of the 2020 Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the category of Jewish Thought and Culture Bal tashḥit, the Jewish prohibition against wastefulness and destruction, is considered to be an ecological ethical principle by contemporary Jewish environmentalists. Waste Not provides a comprehensive intellectual history of this concept, charting its evolution from the Bible through classical rabbinic literature, commentaries, codes of law, responsa, and the works of modern environmentalists. Tanhum S. Yoreh uses the methodology of tradition histories to identify pivotal moments in the development of the prohibition—in particular, its transition into an economic framework. He finds that bal tashḥit's earliest stages of conceptualization connect the prohibition against wastefulness with avoidance of self-harm. This connection is commonplace within contemporary environmental thought and a universalizing Jewish principle with important contributions to be made to Jewish and general societal ecological discourse. This narrative provides a foundation for understanding bal tashḥit as an environmental ethic for today and tomorrow.

This collection of essays offers an inquiry into the complex interaction between exegesis and poetry that characterized medieval and early modern Karaite and Rabbanite treatment of the Bible in the Islamic world, the Byzantine Empire, and Christian Europe. Discussing a variety of topics that are usually associated with either exegesis or poetry in conjunction with the two fields, the authors analyze a wide array of interactions between biblical sources and their interpretive layers, whether in prose exegesis or in multiple forms of poetry and rhymed prose. Of particular relevance are mechanisms for the production and transmission of exegetical traditions, including the participation of Jewish poets in these processes, an issue that serves as a leitmotif throughout this collection.

This book presents a critical edition and translation of Salmon b. Yeroham’s Judaeo-Arabic commentary on Qohelet. The introduction situates the work in the history of Qohelet exegesis and discusses the primary themes: asceticism, eschatology, opposition to philosophy.

Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume Two provides the first ever extensive commentary on the Jewish and Christian reception history of the first two books of the Psalter (Psalms 1-41 and 42-72). It explores the various uses of the Psalms, over two millennia, in translation and commentary, liturgy and prayer, study and preaching, musical composition and artistic illustration, poetic and dramatic imitation, and contemporary discourse. With lavish illustrations, using examples from both music and art, Psalms Through the Centuries: Volume Two offers a detailed commentary on each psalm, with an extensive bibliography, a large glossary of terms, and helpful indices. It is an ideal resource both for students and scholars in the academy and for lay people and ministers in church and synagogue. Psalms Through the Centuries is published within the Wiley Blackwell Commentary series. Further information about this innovative reception history series is available at www.bbibcomm.info

Samuel Ibn Tibbon (c. 1165-1232) - the eminent translator, philosopher, and exegete - is most famous for his Hebrew translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed . However, he wrote original works as well, and laid the foundations for a distinctive philosophical-exegetical movement, what is today called 'Maimonideanism'. James T. Robinson's book includes a first English translation of Ibn Tibbon's commentary on Ecclesiastes, which was the foundational work of the Maimonidean tradition. The translation, with full annotation, is accompanied by an introduction, which provides relevant historical, philosophical and exegetical background, explains difficult passages, and identifies Ibn Tibbon's important contributions to the emergence of Maimonideanism. The author analyzes Ibn Tibbon's sources and influences (in Jewish philosophy and exegesis and in Graeco-Arabic philosophy, especially al-Farabi and Averroes), discusses his theory and method of exegesis, and explains the main arguments and allegories of the work which relate to the problem of human perfection. Responding to and developing the various positions of his time - especially the infamous view of al-Farabi that immortality of the soul is nothing but an old wife's tale - Ibn Tibbon argues that conjunction with the active intellect is possible but rare: only one man in a thousand can attain it. Thus, while the elite few should pursue it - through a life of study and contemplation - the many should focus on perfection in this world: they should eat, drink, and show the soul good.

In The Heirs of Theodore Seth M. Stadel examines Aḥob of Qatar, a late 6th-century East Syriac biblical commentator, and his surviving Old Testament exegetical works. He further investigates what can be deduced of Aḥob’s influence on the later East Syriac exegetical tradition, and he details the originality of Aḥob’s exegesis, especially in comparison with earlier and contemporary Greek and Syriac sources. By presenting the first annotated edition, English translation, and study of Aḥob’s extant Old Testament exegetical works, Stadel is able to show that Aḥob represents a distinct voice within the East Syriac exegetical tradition.