Abstract

Medieval Jewish scholars in Christian lands often found it necessary to address challenges posed to their beliefs by the dominant faith culture in their society. Apart from the dedicated literary genre, other forms of medieval Jewish writing reflect anti-Christian polemics. This chapter focuses on a set of generally critical remarks by Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) regarding Christianity, which are best understood in the context of his critiques of Islam. It examines selected statements of his relating to biblical interpretation, as these highlight some of his own thoughts about Jewish Bible interpretation and what might make it unique. The technical terminology Maimonides uses in his criticism of the uniquely Christian hermeneutical stance described in Mishneh Torah , namely the peshat-nistar dichotomy, is explored here. For both Ibn Ezra and Maimonides, peshuto shel Mikra' reflects the single true intent of Scripture, as opposed to midrashic elaborations which must not be regarded as genuine exegesis. Keywords:Abraham ibn Ezra; Christian Biblical Hermeneutics; Islam; Jewish Bible interpretation; Mishneh Torah ; Moses Maimonides; peshat; Rashi; Scripture

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