Scriptural Exegesis
gathers voices from an international community of scholars to consider the many facets of the history of biblical interpretation and to question how exegesis shapes spiritual and cultural creativity. Divided into four broadly chronological sections that chart a variety of approaches from ancient to modern times, the essays examine texts and problems rooted in the ancient world yet still of concern today. Eighteen chapters incorporate the expertise of contributors from a diverse range of disciplines, including ancient religion, philosophy, mysticism, and folklore. Each embraces the challenge of explicating complex and often esoteric writings in light of Michael Fishbane's groundbreaking work in exegesis.
Deborah A. Green and Laura S. Lieber: Introduction I: The ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible: The shape of the text 1: Jan Assmann: Myth as historia divina and historia sacra 2: Bernard M. Levinson: The Neo-Assyrian origins of the canon formula in Deuteronomy 13:1 3: Ernest Nicholson: Traditum and traditio: The case of Deuteronomy 17:14-20 4: Marc Zvi Brettler: The riddle of Psalm 111 5: William M. Schniedewind: Calling God names: An inner-biblical approach to the Tetragrammaton II: Intertestamental, postbiblical, and rabbinic literature: Reimagining the text 6: Israel Knohl: The Suffering Servant: From Isaiah to the Dead Sea Scrolls 7: Yehudah Liebes: The Work of the Chariot and the Work of Creation as mystical teachings in Philo of Alexandria 8: Joanna Weinberg: A rabbinic disquisition of Leviticus 26:3-13: A utopian vision between Jews and Christians 9: Marc Hirshman: Yearning for intimacy: Pesikta d'Rav Kahana and the temple 10: Moshe Halbertal: 'If the text had not been written, it could not be said' III: The medieval period: A new textual imagination 11: Kalman P. Bland: Cain, Abel, and brutism 12: Elliot R. Wolfson: 'Sage is preferable to prophet': Revisioning midrashic imagination 13: Moshe Idel: On angels and biblical exegesis in thirteenth-century Ashkenaz 14: Eli Yassif: 'Virgil in the Basket': Narrative as hermeneutics in Hebrew literature of the Middle Ages 15: Gilbert Dahan: Fabula: Concerning Christian exegesis in the Middle Ages 16: Bernard McGinn: Women reading the Song of Songs in the Christian tradition IV: The modern period: The human and divine in the text 17: Naftali Loewenthal: Finding the radiance in the text: A Habad hasidic interpretation of the Exodus 18: Paul Mendes-Flohr: Between sensual and heavenly love: Franz Rosenzweig's reading of the Song of Songs
Reviews for Scriptural Exegesis: The Shapes of Culture and the Religious Imagination: Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbane
It is a fitting tribute to a distinguished scholar that this Festschrift covers so much ground ... these are detailed technical papers which offer penetrating analysis and fascinating insights into neglected aspects of the Jewish and Christian interpretative traditions. * Alan Le Grys, Journal for the Study of the New Testament *
