Jewish Biblical Interpretation and Cultural Exchange: Comparative Exegesis in Context

Edited by Natalie Dohrmann and David Stern; Contributing authors: Adele Berlin, Natalie Dohrmann, Reuven Firestone, Daniel Frank, Sara Japhet, Deana Copeland Klepper, Israel Knohl, Fabrizio Lelli, Joseph Lowry, Daniel Sheerin, David Stern, and Megan Hale Williams.

ISBN 10: 081224074X / ISBN 13: 9780812240740

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2008

About this Item

viii, 340 pp. Jewish Culture and Contexts. Dustjacket.

Seller Inventory # 1108I1070

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Jewish Biblical Interpretation and Cultural Exchange: Comparative Exegesis in Context
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 081224074X
• ISBN 13: 9780812240740
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very good condition
• Dust Jacket Condition: dj
• Seller catalogs:
  • Byzantine and Medieval Civilization from East t...

About this title

Synopsis

Biblical interpretation is not simply study of the Bible's meaning. Historically, it has also served as a primary medium for cultural and religious exchange between the great religious traditions of the West. Focusing on moments of signal interest in the history of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptural interpretation from the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods, Jewish Biblical Interpretation and Cultural Exchange offers a unique comparative perspective. Each of the essays treats its subject in relation to the larger cultural context and to other contemporary interpretative traditions. Sources and authors examined in the book include late biblical and early postbiblical compositions, rabbinic legal and homiletical interpretation, Jerome and other early Christian exegetes, Islamic exegesis in both the Qur'an and early Muslim tradition, medieval Jewish and Christian exegetes, and biblical interpretation as evidenced in early modern illustrations of biblical scenes.

The histories of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic interpretation are presented not merely as parallel but as deeply interrelated, not only as reacting and polemicizing against each other but often as appropriating the tools and methods of their rival traditions. Biblical exegesis thus emerges as a forum of active and intense cultural exchange. The volume comes at a crucial time in the study of Jewish relations with Christianity and Islam, and shows how deeply connected and intertwined these three religious traditions truly are.

About the Author

Natalie B. Dohrmann teaches in the Religious Studies Department and is the Director of Publications at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. David Stern is Ruth Meltzer Professor of Classical Hebrew Literature at Penn. He is author of Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies and Parables in Midrash: Narrative and Exegesis in Rabbinic Literature.