Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

Words and Verses

One final point about the “how” of ancient biblical interpretation: it al-

ways worked via a scrupulous examination of the precise wording of the

biblical text. Even when the issues addressed by interpreters were broader

— divine omniscience, Abraham’s character, Isaac’s apparent passivity —

these were always approached through the interpretation of a specific

verse, indeed, sometimes through a single word in the verse. “Do you want

to know what ‘after these things’ means in the story of Abraham and Isaac?

It meansafter these words.” “Do you know whythe two of them walked to-

getheris repeated? The second time is a hint that Abraham had just told

Isaac he was to be sacrificed, and he agreed.” It was always from such pre-

cise points of wording that larger issues were approached.

Ancient biblical interpretation was thus, no matter how broad its in-

tentions, formally an interpretation of single verses. And this is what en-

abled specific interpretations to travel so widely. Teachers in school as well

as preachers in synagogue or church would, in the course of explaining a

biblical text, inevitably pass on an insight into this or that verse: “Here is

what it is really talking about!” Thereafter, all the listeners would know

that such was the meaning of that particular verse, and they would think of

it every time the verse was read in public; indeed, they would pass on the

explanation to others. Since the biblical text was known far and wide and

often cited — the Torah, in particular, was learned by heart at an early age

— a clever answer to a long-standing conundrum would circulate quickly

throughout the population.

Nowadays, such verse-centered interpretations are known asexegetical

motifs —“motifs” because, like musical motifs, they were capable of being

inserted into different compositions, reworked or adapted, and combined

with other motifs to make a smooth-running narrative. After a while,

retellers sometimes did not even bother to allude to the particular biblical

verse in question, but simply incorporated the underlying idea into their

retelling. Thus, for example, the idea that Abraham had explained to Isaac

that “the lamb for the burnt offering [is you,] my son,” and that Isaac, far

from fleeing, had willingly embraced his martyrdom, shows up in a variety

of retellings, some of them terse, but others lovingly expanding on the ba-

sic idea:

Going at the same pace — no less with regard to their thinking than

with their bodies...theycame to the designated place. (Philo,Abr.172)

172

james l. kugel

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:00 PM