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139 results for: Midrash

Dictionary Entries (3 more entries. View all »)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Cite This Source
mid·rash    Audio Help   [Seph. Heb. mee-drahsh; Ashk. Heb. mi-drahsh] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural mid·ra·shim    Audio Help   [Seph. Heb. mee-drah-sheem; Ashk. Heb. mi-draw-shim] Pronunciation Key, mid·ra·shoth, mid·ra·shot, mid·ra·shos    Audio Help   [Seph. Heb. mee-drah-shawt; Ashk. Heb. mi-draw-shohs] Pronunciation Key.
1.an early Jewish interpretation of or commentary on a Biblical text, clarifying or expounding a point of law or developing or illustrating a moral principle.
2.(initial capital letter) a collection of such interpretations or commentaries, esp. those written in the first ten centuries a.d.
[Origin: 1605–15; < Heb midrāsh lit., exposition]

—Related forms
mid·rash·ic    Audio Help   [mid-rash-ik] Pronunciation Key, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopedia Articles (134 more entries. View all »)
Columbia Electronic EncyclopediaCite This Source


Midrash [Heb.,=to examine, to investigate], verse by verse interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures, consisting of homily and exegesis, by Jewish teachers since about 400 B.C. Distinction is made between Midrash halakah, dealing with the legal portions of Scripture, and Midrash haggada, dealing with biblical lore. Midrashic exposition of both kinds appears throughout the Talmud. Individual midrashic commentaries were composed by rabbis after the 2d cent. A.D. up to the Middle Ages, and they were mostly of an aggadic nature, following the order of the scriptural text. Important among them are the Midrash Rabbah, a collection of commentaries on the Torah and the Five Scrolls (the Song of Songs, Esther, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes), and the Pesikta Midrashim, concerning the festivals. This body of rabbinic literature contains the earliest speculative thought in the Jewish tradition.

See H. L. Strack, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (1931, repr. 1969); L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Bible (1956); N. N. Glatzer, Hammer on the Rock (1962).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004, Columbia University Press.
Licensed from Columbia University Press




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