The Exegetical Middah דבר הלמד מענינו and the New Testament
In: Novum TestamentumSearch for other papers by Benjamin Sargent in
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This short study examines the use of the exegetical middah דבר הלמד מענינו in rabbinic literature and notes that the “context” appealed to is literary context: that texts are to be interpreted in the light of other texts immediately before or after them within the scriptural book from which they are read. This observation is intended to clarify the use of the rule for scholars working on the use of Scripture in the New Testament who have often assumed that the “context” it refers to is historical context: that a text is to be interpreted on the basis of its assumed time of origin, often in relation to the time of origin of another text with which they are compared.
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1
J. Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969) 315. However, D.R. Schwartz, “Hillel and Scripture: From Authority to Exegesis,” in Hillel and Jesus: Comparative Studies of Two Major Religious Leaders (ed. J.H. Charlesworth and L.L. Johns; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997) 348f. suggests that Hillel’s own use of Scripture was much more limited than suggested by the middoth.
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4
R.N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 182. Cf. idem, “Early Church Interpretation,” in Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation (ed. S. Porter; New York: Taylor & Francis, 2007) 87. These instances are studied in detail in Benjamin Sargent, David Being a Prophet: The Contingency of Scripture upon History in the New Testament; (bznw 207; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014).
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Mielziner, Introduction to the Talmud, 174-175; J.W. Doeve, Jewish Hermeneutics in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1954) 70-71, and D. Daube, “Rabbinic Methods of Interpretation,” huca 22 (1949) 257.
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Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral, 338; Jeremias, “Paulus als Hillelit,” 94 and D. Cohn-Sherbok, “Paul and Rabbinic Exegesis,” sjt 35.2 (1982) 130.
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The Exegetical Middah דבר הלמד מענינו and the New Testament
In: Novum TestamentumSearch for other papers by Benjamin Sargent in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This short study examines the use of the exegetical middah דבר הלמד מענינו in rabbinic literature and notes that the “context” appealed to is literary context: that texts are to be interpreted in the light of other texts immediately before or after them within the scriptural book from which they are read. This observation is intended to clarify the use of the rule for scholars working on the use of Scripture in the New Testament who have often assumed that the “context” it refers to is historical context: that a text is to be interpreted on the basis of its assumed time of origin, often in relation to the time of origin of another text with which they are compared.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 197 | 31 | 5 |
| Full Text Views | 180 | 2 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 83 | 10 | 1 |