Jewish Exegesis Research Articles

Jewish exegesis and a vernacular translation of the Hebrew Bible

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Real Biblioteca, MS. I.i.8 (=E8) and MS. I.i.6 (=E6) are complementary parts of an almost complete Bible, translated from Latin, and transmitting a Castilian version likely produced in the first half of the thirteenth century. Unlike the remaining books in this two-volume Bible, the Psalter’s heading indicates that the Psalms were translated from Hebrew, by Hermannus Allemanus, a scholar of German origin who took part in the projects sponsored by King Alfonso X. Both the attribution of the translation and its dependence on a Hebrew source have never convinced scholars entirely. In spite of the fact that the literature on the topic is vast, and that the text of the Psalter and its glosses have sparked renewed interest in recent years, the challenge of identifying Hebrew exegetical sources that might have influenced the translation has remained largely unaddressed. This article takes up that challenge and aims to contribute to furthering our understanding of the bearing of the Jewish medieval exegetical tradition on this translation of the Bible.

Bloody Wrath and Healing Touches: Joseph and His Brothers in Early Imāmī Shīʿī Tafsīr

Abstract The meetings between Joseph and his brothers in Egypt are often portrayed in Qurʾān commentaries as dramatic occurrences. A few early Imāmī-Shīʿī commentaries mention a peculiar account that describes the heated clash between the brothers and Joseph following Joseph’s accusation that one of them stole from him. A comparative examination shows that a second version of this tradition appears in contemporary Sunnī exegesis, and that earlier Jewish Midrashim influenced both Muslim versions. This paper will suggest that the Muslim versions consciously altered the Jewish exegetical narrative to agree with the qurʾānic one and that the Islamicized version of the tradition was adopted “back” into later Jewish exegesis. The differences between the Imāmī and Sunnī versions suggest that each community had independent access to rabbinic lore. The paper also studies elements in the Imāmī version that are absent from both the Sunnī and Jewish versions, including unusual bleeding from various organs and a golden pomegranate. Finally, it offers some preliminary observations concerning the considerations that might have led to the unique developments exhibited in the Imāmī version.

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of Nouvelle Théologie*

Witnesses to the Living God: Three Paradigms for Approaching the Politics of <i>Nouvelle Théologie</i>*

Akedah as an Actual Sacrifice

Abstract Akedat Yitzhak (The Binding of Isaac) is one of the most powerful and yet horrifying narratives of the Hebrew Bible, describing a sacrifice which was ultimately not performed, as Isaac was not slaughtered. However, over the centuries Jewish exegesis developed a controversial tradition in which Isaac was in fact sacrificed. This paper traces this tradition from Midrashic texts through Hebrew Crusade narratives into works by modern Jewish artists. The latter offer depictions of the divergent interpretation of the Akedah in the context of the Shoah (Marc Chagall) and in the context of Arab-Israeli conflict in the Land of Israel (Abel Pann). Discussing the complex treatment of the actual sacrifice in modern Jewish culture, the paper demonstrates how these artists engaged with an actual sacrifice at different stages of their artistic career as a way of depicting trauma either on the national or personal level.

De brochure Voor ons ons Jodendom en niet het Christendom van opperrabbijn Justus Tal (1945)

The Booklet Voor ons ons Jodendom en niet het Christendom (For us our Judaism and not Christianity) written by Chief Rabbi Justus Tal (1945) Immediately after the Second World War, the Dutch Chief Rabbi Justus Tal published a booklet in which he defended the Jewish exegesis of the Hebrew Bible and opposed the Protestant Christian interpretation of this holy book. His purpose was to prevent the conversion of Jews to Christianity. This contribution sketches the context in which the booklet appeared and confronts it briefly with some more recent tendencies in the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.

Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, Volume 1 ed. by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein

Reviewed by: Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, Volume 1 ed. by Jeffrey L. Rubenstein Zev Garber jeffrey l. rubenstein (ed.), Studies in Rabbinic Narratives, Volume 1 (BJS 367; Providence, RI: Brown Judaic Studies, 2021). Pp. xxvi + 417. Paper $29. Rabbinic narrative is a relatively new subject taught primarily in the halls of academia rather than between the walls of Yeshiva. In the latter, for example, neither the Talmud (Bavli, primarily, and Yerushalmi) nor its traditional commentaries are introduced or taught as distinct literary forms or genres. Instead, traditional rabbinic writings are distinguished between halakah (Jewish law) and aggadah (diverse literary forms, including, narratives, [End Page 346] homilies, biographies, exegesis, and more) not directly related to the halakic decision-making process. In traditional rabbinic learning, the emphasis is primarily on the ways of halakah and insights related to aggadah are seen as peripheral, nonessential, and redirected for public education. Alternate approaches emerged in the nineteenth century, when academic scholars trained by the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement for the scientific study of Judaism began to probe rabbinic literature for evidence of Jewish life in antiquity, and evaluated the Talmud's narratives about the lives of the ancient rabbis as historical testimony. But how authentic is the recorded history? Does its influence substitute for its factuality? For example, Rabbi Aqiba's death by laceration is included in the 'Eleh 'Ezkerah ("The Ten Martyrs") musap prayer, which is recited primarily in Ashkenazi services on Yom Kippur. Contrary to the talmudic view, the liturgical Ten Martyrs were executed on the same day. There are two reasons given for the execution: (1) they founded schools of learning that ran contrary to imperial edict during the reign of Hadrian; or (2) they were slaughtered to atone for the sins of Joseph's ten brothers, who sold him on Yom Kippur (as per the Book of Jubilees). Both explanations provide ethical and moral challenges, that is to say, whether slaughtered for the spread of Torah and as proxy punishment, nay, execution (see Deut 24:16). More excruciating is Aqiba's contented 'Eḥad' in lieu of spitting at the executioner (saving life), as observed in b. Ber. 61b: When R. Aqiba was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema, and the enemy (Rome) was combing his flesh with an iron comb, and he was accepting upon himself the kingship of heaven with love. His disciples said to him: "Our teacher, why are you content? He said to them, All my days I have been troubled over not fulfilling the verse, 'Love the Lord, your God, with all your soul'; and now that I have the opportunity to complete the Shema properly, shall I not do so?" In recent decades, Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture [Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999]) began to treat narrative in the Talmud as a subject for study in its own right. This volume contains the papers presented at a conference on "Rabbinic Narratives" held at New York University June 4–5, 2018 organized by editor Rubenstein. The inclusions are sensitively introduced by R., who reads the rabbinic narrative in venues of source criticism, redaction criticism, and comparative studies; and all essays are accompanied by a concise detailed explanation to help clarify rabbinic ideas and arguments within the broader historical and ideological context of Jewish religious history. In the Introduction, Rubenstein previews the importance of rabbinic narrative and explains his rationale for the selection and interpretation of the chapters that follow—that is, discussion of diverse examples of rabbinic devices and textual nuances that present the image, experience, teachings, and worldviews of rabbinic masters. Collectively, the book's essays and methodology immerse traditional Jewish exegesis and eisegesis in the cultural, intellectual, legal, and literary history, contexts, and categories of late antiquity to enlighten rabbinic discourse. The result is a thinking person's guide to rabbinic legal and literary contexts and texts that complement nicely traditional midrashic and sermonic approaches in the study of the Torah of Moses. Julia Watts Belser ("'Hornets Came and Consumed Her': Gender, Animality, and Hunger in Bavli Sanhedrin's Stories of Sodom and Noah") speaks of negative and positive...

Secrets of Qohelet: Toward an Exegetical History of a Biblical Text during the Middle Ages

Abstract During the middle ages and early modern period, dozens of Jewish commentaries were written on Qohelet, in Arabic and Hebrew, and representing a very full range of methods and approaches, from Karaite to Rabbanite, grammatical to pietistic, Neoplatonic, Aristotelian, and anti-Aristotelian, even kabbalistic. The purpose of this article – dedicated to the memory of Kalman Bland – is to present some experiments related to the telling of the history of medieval Jewish exegesis of Qohelet in hermeneutical context.

Enoch-Metatron Revisited: Prayers, Adjurations, and Metonymical Hermeneutics in Premodern Jewish Mystical and Magical Texts

&#x0D; This essay explores the construction of interpretive authority as a process of both creation and re-creation of meanings, and their self-legitimization in texts. The process of interpretation in that sense does not simply replace one set of meanings with another but rather metonymically enlarges the pool of signifiers by juxtaposing the traditional and the innovative, thus safeguarding the whole range of possible meanings of texts. The cluster of topoi relating to Enoch-Metatron, a supreme angel featuring in Jewish textual traditions, has often been employed in Jewish exegesis and magical practices in a manner that enabled the new interpretation to nest within the set of older imaginaire, the authority of which is never denied nor supplanted but rather empowers the new reading. This article explores the uses the Enoch-Metatron cluster of motifs as a textual device that served as an organizing principle of interpretive process and conferred authority to new interpretations and new compilations of texts in multiple-text handwritten volumes. The article thus foregrounds a mode of reading and refashioning of earlier Jewish textual traditions of commenting on angelic names, such as that of Enoch-Metatron. It forefronts the perspective of the producers of individual practical compilations as participants in the collective enterprise of authorship and authorization of textual units comprised in each handwritten multiple-text volume.&#x0D;

Mordechai Z. Cohen. The Rule of Peshat: Jewish Constructions of the Plain Sense of Scripture and Their Christian and Muslim Contexts, 900–1270.

Mordechai Z. Cohen. <i>The Rule of Peshat: Jewish Constructions of the Plain Sense of Scripture and Their Christian and Muslim Contexts, 900–1270</i>.

David Zvi Hoffmann’s (1843–1921) commentary on the Pentateuch in the context of German-Jewish Orthodoxy’s struggle over the dogmatic principles of Torah

The present article explores Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann’s (1843–1921) exegetical writings – especially his approach to biblical criticism – in the hitherto unexplored context of German-Jewish Orthodoxy’s struggle over the dogmatic principles of Torah. It highlights the parallels and the differences between Hoffmann and other important exegetical protagonists of German Judaism, especially German-Jewish Orthodoxy, as well as the outstanding significance of his enterprise for the latter. Though Hoffmann’s exegetical conclusions conform to a large extent with traditional Jewish exegesis, his methodological principles, his language and the problems he deals with are closely related to contemporary Wissenschaft . So far as the crisis of German-Jewish Orthodoxy at the beginning of the twentieth century is concerned, the question of how much Hoffmann’s exegesis succeeded in bridging the dichotomy between the dogmatic principles of Torah and Wissenschaft remains open.

Żydowska metoda hermeneutyczna na podstawie egzegezy Pieśni nad Pieśniami Abrahama Ibn Ezra i brata Luisa de León

The aim of these article is to present the more important rules of Jewish exegesis developed mainly by Hillel on the example of a commentary on the Song of the Songsof Abraham Ibn Ezra and Luis de León. The text tries to show how traditional Jewishhermeneutics is used in the innovative commentaries of a scholar from Tudela from the XIth century and a theologian from Belmonte from the XVIth century and how the first infl uenced the second. Interpretative methods developed in the most important centers of Judaic thought of the beginning of our era have been used for centuries to explain biblical texts, especially such as Song of Songs, which is recognized by both Old Testament and New Testament commentators as one of the most diffi cult and most mystical Scriptures.

Zacharias Frankel’s Conception of the Septuagint in Context

Abstract Zacharias Frankel had a very low opinion of the abilities of the LXX translators, the quality of their work and the ensuing textual transmission. He considered the Septuagint only useful as a testimony to help prove the antiquity of the halakah, a notion with apologetic value. Methodologically, he conceptualized the genesis of the Greek Pentateuch through the theories of contemporary historical criticism. His monographs on the Septuagint display great continuity with early modern scholarship. This also holds true for the assumption that the Septuagint reflects Jewish interpretation, and the notion of five translators/editors for the Greek Pentateuch. Frankel’s works were considered important, but his innovations, viz. the insistence that all Jewish exegesis was Palestinian in origin and his rejection of textual criticism, were accepted by few and rejected by most scholars, Jews and Christians alike. Frankel’s boldness and his use of German helped to keep his ideas on the scholarly agenda.

Methodology in the Use of the Old Testament in the New: Context and Criteria

Methodology in the Use of the Old Testament in the New: Context and Criteria

“Jacob’s Blessing” (Gen 49:1–28) in Targumic Interpretation

Genesis 49 shows the scene that takes place at the deathbed of the patriarch Jacob. In the face of his upcoming death, Jacob calls on all of his sons that they may listen to and accept his words of valediction. The patriarch addresses each of them individually. This piece of text serves an example of the biblical poetry in which metaphors play an important role. In the Hebrew text there are words and phrases that raise many doubts and questions. Not only contemporary translators and biblical scholars contend with these difficulties, but ancient and medieval commentators did as well. The Aramaic Targums testify to the early Jewish exegesis and interpretation of Gen 49. This article presents the paraphrase and discusses a few selected verses of the Aramaic version of Torah (Tg. Onq., Tg. Neof., Frg. Tg(s)., Tg. Ps.-J.). Based on the above examples, the development of principal Jewish views on eschatology (49:1-2) and of Messianic expectations in context of Jacob’s blessing of the tribe of Judah (49:8-12) is portrayed. The last part of this article comprises the rendering and the meaning of the Targumic animal metaphors based on the examples of Issachar (49:14-15) and of Benjamin (49:27) that significantly differ from the Hebrew text.

Islamic Influences on the Emergence of Historical Sensibilities among the Karaites: The Story of the Tower of Babel

Traditional Jewish interpretations of the story of the tower of Babel, as preserved in various midrashic collections, concentrated on sins committed by the builders on account of which they deserved divine punishment. The main purpose of such an approach was to draw from the scriptural account a moral lesson, regardless of the historicity of the narrated events, their dating, chronology, etc. In contrast, medieval Karaites living in the lands of medieval Islam shifted the main focus of their exegetical interest in this text to history, including the history of the text. Exploring historicizing tendencies in medieval Karaite commentaries on this biblical narrative, this essay ponders the seemingly simple question of what made the Karaite exegetes of the time discover history and read biblical stories as true histories. It demonstrates how the exegetes' novel approach to Scripture may have resulted from their engagement with the surrounding Muslim culture, which was concerned with establishing the historical context of the qur'anic revelation and investigating the reasons and circumstances of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl). Tracing specific Islamic influences on the Karaites' reading of the story of the tower of Babel, the essay argues that they can be detected not in direct borrowings of specific interpretations, but on a meta level, owing to differences between Muslim and Jewish conceptualizations of revelation, which engendered diverging exegetical responses to Scripture in the two religions. Finally, the essay addresses the question of the Karaites' contribution to the history of Jewish exegesis of this chapter.

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use

Intertestamental, Apocrypha, NT Use Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, and Fred W. Guyette 891. [Sibylline Oracles 3] Ashley L. Bacchi, Uncovering Jewish Creativity in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles: Gender, Intertextuality, and Politics (JSJSup 194; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2020). Pp. xi + 240. $126, €105. ISBN 978-90-0442434-0. In this volume, a revision of her 2015 GTU dissertation (E. S. Gruen, director, who provides a foreword to the volume), B. reclaims the importance of the Sibyl as a female [End Page 322] voice of prophecy and reveals new layers of intertextual references that address political, cultural, and religious dialogues in 2nd cent. b.c.e. Ptolemaic Egypt. Her investigation stands apart from prior studies of the topic due to its re-orienting the discussion about the desirability of the Sibyl pseudonym into an issue of gender. B.'s study also raises questions about the impact of identifying the author's message with a female prophetic figure and challenges previous identifications of paraphrased Greek oracles and their function within the text. Verses that have been seen as anomalous within the document are reinterpreted by her, not as instances of Greek subterfuge of Jewish identity, but rather as sources of nuanced support of monotheistic themes. [Adapted from published abstract] After an introduction, B.'s volume continues with five chapters entitled respectively: (1) Hellenistic Complexities and Cultural Hybridity; (2) Why the Sibyl: Reclaiming a Female Voice of Prophecy; (3) Establishing Prophetic Authority and Challenging Gender Norms; (4) The Sibyl in the Muses' Bird Cage; and (5) The Sibylline Titan Account as Multi-Layered Commentary, followed by a conclusion. The volume's end-matter consists of two appendixes (Content Overview of Book III and Apotheosis of Homer Marble Relief), a bibliography, and indexes of primary sources and people, places, and subjects.—C.T.B. 892. [Philo De Abrahamo] Daniel Lanziger (ed.), Das Leben des Weisen: Philo von Alexandria, De Abrahamo (SAPERE 36; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020). Pp. xii + 334. €84. ISBN 978-16-157537-2. This volume appears in a series (Scripta Antiquitatis Posterioris ad Ethicam Religionemque pertinentia [SAPERE]) that features texts and translations of writings of the first through fourth centuries a.d. of an ethical and religious content. The volume opens with editor L.'s Introduction to the Philonic allegorical treatise De Abrahamo that addresses the following nine points about the work: (1) preliminary remarks; (2) the place of De Abrahamo in Philo's corpus as a whole; (3) time, place, and circumstances of composition; (4) literary form; (5) structure; (7) central themes (acquisition of virtue by learning, Jewish law and universal law; piety and love of others); (8) Philo's allegorical interpretation of Scripture; and (9) overview of the divergences of this edition vis-à-vis the 1902 edition of L. Cohn. The volume continues with the Greek text and its German translation of the treatise on facing pages, followed by endnotes to the text and translation (these are the joint work of L. and Heinz-Günther Nesselrath). The volume's third main section consists of six essays concerning various aspects of Philo's corpus: Maren R. Niehoff, "Philon als Biograph"; Maximilian Forschner, "Philo philosophicus?"; Simone Seibert, "Der Weg des Weisen. Der Dreischnitt Hoffnung—Umkehr—Gerechtigkeit in Philons De Abrahamo, mit Vergleichen zur Tabula Cebetis, Joseph und Aseneth und der Psychomachie von Prudentius"; Friederike Oertelt, "Philons Frauenbild. Die Darstellung Saras und Hagars in De Abrahamo"; Matthias Adrian, "Schrift—Orakel—Prophetie"; and Nicolai Sinai, "Von Philon zu Ibn ʿArabi. Abraham im islamischen Kontext." The volume's "Appendix" comprises a bibliography, two indices (passages cited and names and topics, both selective) and information concerning the contributors.—C.T.B. 893. Hanna Liss, Jüdische Bibelauslegung (utb 5153; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020). Pp. xxvii + 538. €40. ISBN 978-3-8252-5135-2. This textbook provides an overview of the history and hermeneutics of Jewish interpretation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible from the Middle Ages to contemporary [End Page 323] approaches. In her introduction, L. reflects on the scholarly treatment of exegetical traditions as well as on the role of Jewish exegesis as part of a Jewish theology. The first chapter summarizes the transmission...

Значение образа (Пс. 132/133) в традиционной иудейской и христианской экзегезе. Часть II

Псалом 132 по Синодальному тексту (133 - по нумерации масоретского текста), является одной из пятнадцати «песней восхождения», входящих в состав Псалтири (Пс. 119-133). Данный псалом интересен литургической привязкой к ритуалу Иерусалимского храма, с которым его связывает упоминание о елее, сходящем на бороду Аарона (Пс. 132, 2). Автор использует метафору елея для усиления оттенка радости собратьев по вере, собравшихся в храм для совместной молитвы (ст. 1). Целью настоящего исследования является обзор методов интерпретации образа елея, сходящего на бороду Аарона в ранней еврейской и греческой языковых традициях толкования Священного Писания. Для этих целей проводится анализ метафоры елея в источниках иудейской экзегезы (Сифрей Бамидбар, Сифра, Талмуд, Мидраш Танхума) и христианской экзегезы (Климент Александрийский, Ориген, Афанасий Александрийский, Василий Кесарийский, Иоанн Златоуст, Феодорит Кирский). Далее на основе историко-филологического метода определяется место «елея» в содержании псалма по современным экзегетическим исследованиям. В результате было выявлено, что в источниках иудейской экзегезы значительное внимание уделяется поиску исторической основы помазания священства благовонным елеем в контексте обрядов Иерусалимского храма. Источники христианской экзегезы тяготеют к мессианской интерпретации гимна, в которой помазание Аарона миром толкуется как прообраз помазания Христа и верующих в Него Святым Духом. Итак, образ елея мог рассматриваться в древних религиозных традициях как отправная точка для актуальных на то время рассуждений о роли Аарона или Христа, а также об этических требованиях к кандидатам на помазание. Psalm 133 according the numeration of the Masoretic text, or 132 according the numeration of the Septuagint, is one of the fifteen «songs of ascents» (Psalms 119-133 - hereinafter numbering according to the Synodal text) that are part of the Book of Psalms. Рsalm 132 is interesting for its liturgical attachment to the ritual of the Jerusalem Temple, with which it is associated with the mention of «precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron» (Ps. 132, 2 ESV). The author uses the «oil» metaphor to enhance the shade of joy of fellow believers gathered in the temple for prayer (v. 1). The purpose of this study is to review methods for interpreting the image of «oil falling on Aaron’s beard» in the early Jewish and Greek exegetical traditions. For these purposes, an analysis of the «oil» metaphor is carried out in the sources of the Jewish exegesis (Sifra Bamidbar, Talmud, Midrash Tanhuma) and the Christian exegesis (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Cyrus). Further, on the basis of the historical-philological method, the place of «oil» in the content of the psalm according to modern exegetical studies is determined. As a result, it was revealed that in the sources of Jewish exegesis was considerable attention to the search for the historical basis of the anointing of the priesthood with «incense oil» in the context of the rites of the Jerusalem temple. Sources of Christian exegesis lean toward a messianic interpretation of the hymn, in which the anointing of Aaron was interpreted as a prototype of the anointing of Christ and those who believe in Him with the Holy Spirit. Thus, the image of the «oil» could be considered as a starting point for discussions about the role of Aaron or Christ, as well as the ethical requirements for anointing candidates.

The Antiquity of Psalter Shape Efforts

In recent decades, Psalms scholarship has paid increasing attention to the overall editorial arrangement of the book of Psalms, and to the placement of individual psalms as their literary context. An obvious objection to this enterprise is its novelty, especially since the Psalms have enjoyed unparalleled exegetical attention in the history of Christian and Jewish exegesis. This objection is fed by the nearly ubiquitous inaccurate presentation of Psalter-shape readings as originating in 1985 with Gerald Wilson. While Wilson has changed the landscape and is deservedly named as the recent ancestor of this project, that history is inaccurate. We will show that a desire to understand the shape of the whole Psalter, and its editorial intention, can be dated to the second century, leading through various stages to full-length commentaries following this approach being attempted in the nineteenth century. Finally, without detracting from Wilson’s unique contribution, we will show that he was not alone in his own day but that others were engaged in this task concurrently and in the decades before him.

The Midrashic Impulse

The Midrashic Impulse

Значение образа елея, стекающего на бороду Аарона (Пс. 132/133) в традиционной иудейской и христианской экзегезе. Часть I

Псалом 132 по Синодальному тексту (133 - по нумерации масоретского текста), является одной из пятнадцати «песней восхождения», входящих в состав Псалтири (Пс. 119- 133). Данный псалом интересен литургической привязкой к ритуалу Иерусалимского храма, с которым его связывает упоминание о елее, сходящем на бороду Аарона (Пс. 132, 2). Автор использует метафору елея для усиления оттенка радости собратьев по вере, собравшихся в храм для совместной молитвы (ст. 1). Целью настоящего исследования является обзор методов интерпретации образа елея, сходящего на бороду Аарона в ранней еврейской и греческой языковых традициях толкования Св. Писания. Для этих целей в первой части статьи проводится анализ метафоры елея в источниках иудейской экзегезы (Сифрей Бамидбар, Сифра, Талмуд, Мидраш Танхума) и христианской экзегезы (Климент Александрийский, Ориген, Афанасий Александрийский, Василий Кесарийский, Иоанн Златоуст, Феодорит Кирский). Далее, во второй части статьи, на основе историко-филологического метода определяется место «елея» в содержании псалма по современным экзегетическим исследованиям. В результате было выявлено, что в источниках иудейской экзегезы значительное внимание уделяется поиску исторической основы помазания священства благовонным елеем в контексте обрядов Иерусалимского храма. Источники христианской экзегезы тяготеют к мессианской интерпретации гимна, в которой помазание Аарона миром толкуется как прообраз помазания Христа и верующих в Него Святым Духом. Итак, образ елея мог рассматриваться в древних религиозных традициях как отправная точка для актуальных на то время рассуждений о роли Аарона или Христа, а также об этических требованиях к кандидатам на помазание. Psalm 133 according the numeration of the Masoretic text, or 132 according the numeration of the Septuagint, is one of the fifteen «songs of ascents» (Psalms 119-133 - hereinafter numbering according to the Synodal text) that are part of the Book of Psalms. Рsalm 132 is interesting for its liturgical attachment to the ritual of the Jerusalem Temple, with which it is associated with the mention of «precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron» (Ps. 132, 2 ESV). The author uses the «oil» metaphor to enhance the shade of joy of fellow believers gathered in the temple for prayer (v. 1). The purpose of this study is to review methods for interpreting the image of «oil falling on Aaron’s beard» in the early Jewish and Greek exegetical traditions. For these purposes, an analysis of the «oil» metaphor is carried out in the sources of the Jewish exegesis (Sifra Bamidbar, Talmud, Midrash Tanhuma) and the Christian exegesis (Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Theodore of Cyrus). Further, on the basis of the historical-philological method, the place of «oil» in the content of the psalm according to modern exegetical studies is determined. As a result, it was revealed that in the sources of Jewish exegesis was considerable attention to the search for the historical basis of the anointing of the priesthood with «incense oil» in the context of the rites of the Jerusalem temple. Sources of Christian exegesis lean toward a messianic interpretation of the hymn, in which the anointing of Aaron was interpreted as a prototype of the anointing of Christ and those who believe in Him with the Holy Spirit. Thus, the image of the «oil» could be considered as a starting point for discussions about the role of Aaron or Christ, as well as the ethical requirements for anointing candidates.