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Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > M > Midrashim


MIDRASHIM

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The term commonly designates ancient rabbinical commentaries on the Hebrew
Scriptures. It is the plural form of the word Midrash which is found only twice
in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 13:22 and 24:27), where it is rendered by
liber (book) in the Vulgate, and by "commentary" in the Revised Version. In
rabbinical parlance, Midrash has the abstract and general sense of study,
exposition of Scripture, while Midrashim are primarily the free and artificial
explanations of the Sacred Text given by its ancient expositors, and secondarily
the collections of such explanations in the shape of commentaries on Holy Writ.


ORIGINS AND KINDS OF MIDRASHIM

After the return from Babylon, the Law was the centre of the life of the Jews at
home and abroad. Henceforth, the one concern of the Jewish authorities was to
make sure that the Mosaic precepts be accurately complied with by all, and under
all circumstances, and it is from this practical standpoint that the Scribes and
after them the Rabbis studied and expounded the contents of their sacred
writings. A part of these contents, viz., the enactments of the Mosaic Law, made
of course directly for the purpose of promoting legal righteousness in Israel;
yet, as these laws had been framed in view of concrete circumstances of the
past, they had to be explained in a more or less artificial way to make them fit
the altered circumstances of Jewish life, or serve as Scriptural basis or
support of the various traditional observances which made up the oral law. All
such artificial explanations of the terms of the Mosaic legislation are legal,
or Halahcic, Midrashim. Distinct from this general kind of Midrashim are those
called homiletical, or Hagadic, which embrace the interpretation, illustration,
or expansion, in a moralizing or edifying manner, of the non-legal portions of
the Hebrew Bible. As the object of this latter kind of Midrashim was not to
determine the precise requirements of the Law, but rather to confirm in a
general manner Jewish hearers in their faith and its practice, Hagadic
explanations of the non-legal parts of Scripture are characterized by a much
greater freedom of exposition than the Halachic Midrashim; and it may be truly
said that Hagadic expositors have availed themselves of whatever material —
sayings of prominent Rabbis (e.g., philosophical or mystical disquisitions
concerning angels, demons, paradise, hell, Messias, Satan, feasts and fasts,
parables, legends, satirical assaults on the heathen and their rites, etc.) —
could render their treatment of those portions of the Sacred Text more
instructive or edifying. Both kinds of Midrashim were at first preserved only
orally; but their writing down commenced with the second century of our era, and
they now exist in the shape chiefly of exegetical or homiletical works on the
whole or parts of the Hebrew Bible.




PRINCIPAL MIDRASHIM

The three earliest and in several respects most important Midrashic collections
are: (1) the Mechilta, on a portion of Exodus, and embodying the tradition
mainly of the School of Rabbi Ishmael (first century); (2) the Siphra, on
Leviticus, embodying the tradition of rabbi Aqiba with additions from the School
of rabbi Ishmael; (3) the Siphre on Numbers and Deuteronomy, going back mainly
to the schools of the same two Rabbis. These three works are used in the
Gemaras. (4) The Rabboth (great commentaries), a large collection of ten
Midrashim on the Pentateuch and Megilloth, which bear the respective names of:
(a) Bereshith Rabba, on Genesis (mainly from the sixth century); (b) Shemoth
Rabba, on Exodus (eleventh and twelfth century); (c) Wayyiqra Rabba, on
Leviticus (middle seventh Century); (d)Bamidbar Rabba, on Numbers (twelfth
century); (e) Debarim Rabba, on Deuteronomy (tenth century); (f) Shir Ashshirim
Rabba, on Canticle of Canticles (probably before the middle of ninth century);
(g) Ruth Rabba, on Ruth (same date as foregoing); (h) Echa Rabba, on
Lamentations (seventh century); (i) Midrash Qoheleth, on Ecclesiastes (probably
before middle of ninth century); (j) Midrash Esther, on Esther (A.D. 940). Of
these Rabboth, the Midrashim on Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are
chiefly made up of homilies on the Scripture sections for the Sabbath or
festival, while the others are rather of an exegetical nature. (5) The Pesiqta,
a compilation of homilies on special Pentateuchal and Prophetic lessons (early
eighth century); (6) Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer (not before eighth century), a
Midrashic narrative of the more important events of the Penteteuch; (7) Tanchuma
or Yelammedenu (ninth century) on the whole Pentateuch; its homilies consist of
a Halachic introduction, followed by several poems, exposition of the opening
verses, and the Messianic conclusion; (8) Midrash Shemuel, on the first two
Books of Kings (I, II Samuel); (9) Midrash Tehillim, on the Psalms; (10) Midrash
Mishle, on Proverbs; (11) Yalqut Shimeoni, a kind of catena extending over all
the Hebrew Scriptures.


IMPORTANCE OF MIDRASHIM

At first sight, one might think that such farrago as the Midrashic literature
could be of interest and value only to a Jew as Jew, inasmuch as the Midrashim
are thoroughly steeped in the spirit of Judaism, bear distinct witness to the
laws customs, doctrines, aspirations of the Jewish race, and record the noblest
ideas, sayings, and teachings of the Jewish sages in early times. The more,
however, he examines the contents of these ancient expository works, the more he
discovers that they are an invaluable source of information to the Christian
apologist, the Biblical student, and the general scholar as well. In this body
of ancient literature there is much in the line of ideas, expressions,
reasonings, and descriptions, which can be used to illustrate and confirm the
inspired records of Christianity and the traditional teachings of the Church,
notably concerning the passages of the Old Testament to be regarded as
Messianic. The Biblical student will at times notice in the oldest parts of the
Midrashim, Scriptural readings anterior to those embodied in the Massoretic
text. Again, "when it is borne in mind that the annotators and Punctuators of
the Hebrew text, and the translators of the [most] ancient versions, were Jews
impregnated with the theological opinions of the nation, and prosecuted their
Biblical labours in harmony with these opinions. . . .the importance of the
Halachic and Hagadic exegesis to the criticism of the Hebrew text, and to a
right understanding of the Greek, Chaldee, Syriac, and other versions, can
hardly be overrated." (Ginsburg, in Kitto's "Cyclop. Of Biblical Liter.", III,
173). Lastly the Philologist, the historian, the philosopher, the jurist, and
the statesman, will easily find in the Midrashim remarks and discussions which
have a direct bearing on their respective branches of study.




SOURCES

UGLINI, Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum, vols XIV-XVI (Venice, 1752-1754);
JELLINECK, Bet Ha-Midrasch (Leipzig, and Vienna, 1853-1877); SCHURER, The Jewish
People in the Time of Christ (New York, 18910; ZUNE, die gottesdienstlichen
Vortrage d. Juden (Frankfort, 1892); WUNSCHE, Bibliotheca Rabbinica (Leipzig,
1880-1885); Trier, 1892, 1893); GRUNHUT, Sofer Ha Likkutim (Jerusalem,
(1898-1901); STRACK, Einl. i. d. Talmud (Leipzig, 1900); OESTERLEY AND BOX, The
Religion and Worship of the Synagogue (New York, 1907).


ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Gigot, F. (1911). Midrashim. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10286b.htm

MLA citation. Gigot, Francis. "Midrashim." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10286b.htm>.

Transcription. Dedicated to Congregation Ben Joseph in Montpelier, VT.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

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