Midrash and the Meaning of Scripture

Abstract

This chapter opens with an essay on Midrash. It takes up the subject of Midrash from a wide-ranging perspective, and considers basic phenomenological, stylistic, and exegetical features of the subject. The chapter also aims to set the stage for the fundamental importance of Midrash in Jewish literature and culture. For rabbinic interpreters, a major moment is the closure of the scriptural canon, which establishes the principal authoritative textual source for all subsequent developments. The closure established a fixed source, so that all interpretation was to unfold through an examination of its topics and contents, a correlation of its verbal and literary features, and a filling in of legal, theological, and narrative gaps.