Opening the gates of interpretation : Maimonides' biblical hermeneutics in light of his Geonic-Andalusian heritage and Muslim milieu / by Mordechai Z. Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Mordechai Z.

Series:

Études sur le judaïsme médiéval ; t. 48.

Etudes sur le judaïsme médiéval

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Maimonides, Moses, 1135-1204.

Maimonides, Moses.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc--Spain--Andalusia.

Bible. Old Testament--Hermeneutics.

Bible. Old Testament--Islamic interpretations.

Saʻadia ben Joseph, 882-942.

Saʻadia ben Joseph.

Commandments (Judaism).

Islamic interpretations of sacred works.

Hermeneutics.

Spain.

Spain--Andalusia.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 566 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2011.

Summary:

The biblical hermeneutics of the illustrious philosopher-talmudist Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) has long been underappreciated, and viewed in isolation from the celebrated philological schools of "plain sense" (peshat) Jewish Bible exegesis. Aiming to redress this imbalance, this study identifies Maimonides' substantial contributions to that interpretive movement, assessing its achievements in cultural context. Like others in the rationalist Geonic Andalusian school, Maimonides' understanding of Scripture was informed by Arabic learning. Drawing upon Greco-Arabic logic, poetics, politics, physics and metaphysics, as well as Muslim jurisprudence, he devised sophisticated new approaches to key issues that occupied other exegetes, including a variety of interpretive cruxes, the reconciliation of Scripture with reason, a legal hermeneutics for deriving halakhah (Jewish law) from Scripture, and the nature of interpretation itself. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 New Directions in Scholarship 2

2 Maimonides on Peshat: Conflicting Views? 4

3 Goals of this Study 14

4 Methodological Points 14

5 Maimonides' Exegetical Sources 21

6 Outline of this Study 27

Part 1 Zahir Al-Nass

Chapter 1 The Geonic-Andalusian Heritage 31

1 Saadia: Rationalist Interpretation 33

2 Samuel ben Hofni: Peshat Equated with Zahir 50

3 Samuel ha-Nagid: Continuation in Muslim Spain 54

4 Ibn Janah: Peshat as Philological Interpretation 57

5 Judah Ibn Bal'am: Return to Saadia's Model 67

6 Moses Ibn Ezra: Poetic Dimensions of Scripture 70

7 Abraham Ibn Ezra: Peshat as "the Truth" 74

Chapter 2 Zahir al-Nass in Maimonides' System 87

1 Four Uses of the Term Zahir al-Nass 90

1.1 Elementary Sense 91

1.2 Manifestly Correct Sense 93

1.3 Superficial Sense 97

1.4 Basic Sense 100

2 "Devaluation" of Peshat? 105

2.1 Approach to Anthropomorphism: Theory of Metaphor 106

2.2 Contextual-Philological Analysis 108

2.3 Biblical and Rabbinic Parables: Sensitivity to Genre 109

2.4 Prophetic Hyperbole: Poetic and Stylistic Awareness 111

3 Zahir vs. Halakhic Tradition 114

3.1 Deut 25:11-12 115

3.2 Exod 23:19 116

3.3 Exod 14:13 118

3.4 Exod 34:6, Deut 14:21 120

3.5 Lev 19:17 123

3.6 Lev 21:12 125

Chapter 3 Rationale for the Commandments 129

1 Programmatic Statements: Zahir al-Nass vs. Fiqh 130

2 Precedents in the Tradition: Ibn Janah and Rashbam 138

2.1 Independence from Rabbinic Interpretation 146

2.2 Philological-Contextual Interpretation 147

2.3 Rationalism 151

2.4 Historical Sensitivity 156

3 Reliance on Internal Scriptural Evidence 160

4 Historical Thinking and Sources 166

5 Rationalism and Universalism 172

6 Assessment of Maimonides' Method 177

Chapter 4 Mashal as Hermeneutical Model 185

1 Theory: Zahir and Batin 185

1.1 Philological Analysis 186

1.2 Literary Analysis 189

2 Song of Songs 203

2.1 Pre-Maimonidean Readings: National Allegory 204

2.2 Maimonides' Philosophical Reading 208

2.3 Post-Maimonidean Philosophical Readings 212

3 Job 217

3.1 Saadia's Commentary 218

3.2 Abraham Ibn Ezra's Commentary 222

3.3 Maimonides' Commentary 224

4 Conclusion 238

Part 2 Peshuto Shel Miqra

Chapter 5 Halakhic Exegesis and Muslim Jurisprudence 243

1 The Geonic-Karaite Debate 243

2 Usul al-Fiqh (Muslim Jurisprudence) 247

3 Theories of Halakhah in al-Andalus 252

4 Maimonides' Theory of the "Sources of the Law" 257

4.1 Transmitted Interpretations 261

4.2 Derivations through the "Thirteen Middot" 264

4.3 Derashot 276

Excursus: Another Classification of the "Sources of the Law" 280

Chapter 6 Maimonides' Rule of Peshat Primacy 283

1 Principle #2 287

2 Invoking the Rule of Peshat 293

3 Applications 304

3.1 Lev 11:43 307

3.2 Deut 14:1 309

3.3 Lev 21:12 312

3.4 Exod 20:20 315

3.5 Lev 19:14 318

3.6 Num 17:5 320

3.7 Deut 23:24 325

3.8 Num 4:20 327

3.9 Exod 20:21 328

4 Unique Definition of Peshateh di-Qera 330

5 The Rule and Its Exceptions 335

Chapter 7 Transformation of the Peshat Principle 347

1 Talmud 348

2 Saadia and Samuel ben Hofni 359

3 Ibn Janah 360

4 Rashi, Rashbam 362

5 Abraham Ibn Ezra 365

6 Nahmanides 375

Chapter 8 Integrating Halakhah and Peshat 383

1 Halakhah as Exegetical Determinant 384

1.1 Exod 16:29 384

1.2 Deut 25:6 391

1.3 Deut 12:4 394

1.4 Deut 24:16 395

1.5 Exod 22:30 397

2 Peshat Re-shaping Halakhah 401

2.1 Lev 21:2-4 402

2.2 Num 31:23 406

2.3 Lev 21:12 409

3 Conflicting Values: Talmudic and Exegetical 412

3.1 Deut 22:13, 24:1 414

3.2 Exod 22:30 418

3.3 Lev 22:8, 17:15 422

Part 3 Comprehensive Overview

Chapter 9 Coordinating Peshat and Zahir 429

1 Integrated Legal Hermeneutics: Peshuto Shel Miqra 429

2 Independent Exegesis: Zahir al-Nass 445

Chapter 10 The Gates of Ta'wil and Interpretive Creativity 455

1 Tension of Ta'wil 456

1.1 Opening "the Gates" 456

1.2 Shutting "the Gate" 458

2 Outside the Realm of Halakhah 461

2.1 Limits Due to Consensus 462

2.2 Other Limitations 463

2.3 Subjectivity of Application 465

3 Within the Realm of Halakhah 466

3.1 As Qiyas 466

3.2 As Transmitted Interpretation 472

3.3 As "Deep Interpretation" 474

4 Necessity of Ta'wil 478.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9789004189324

9004189327

OCLC:

711864812