Parables in Midrash: Narrative and Exegesis in Rabbinic Literature

By David M. Stern

Book Overview

Midrash - biblical interpretation as practiced by the rabbinic sages in late antiquity - is both a repository of classical Jewish tradition and a self-defining literary mode. The parable, or mashal, is the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash. David Stern shows how the mashal was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament, and to kabbalistic parables. Drawing upon work in the fields of oral literature and narrative theory and using representative examples from a wide range of classic Jewish texts, all translated into English, he demonstrates how story and exegesis join in midrash to give rabbinic interpretation its unique character.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674654471
• ISBN13: 9780674654471
• Release Date: November 1991
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 364 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.3" x 6.5"