The Book of Job in rabbinic thought.

In the opening chapter of this dissertation, some solutions are offered for the problems arising from the confused and contradictory traditions relating to Job in talmudic-midrashic literature. In successive chapters, the aggadic exegesis of the Book of Job is analysed and evaluated in detail, in order to demonstrate that it was profoundly influenced by traditional views relating to the book's authorship and historical setting. The early tradition that Moses himself was the author of the Book of Job suggested that it shared a special relationship with the Pentateuch, which is presupposed by the Rabbis' consistent use of material from well-defined sections of the book in their expositions and homilies on many aspects of the creation of the world, the corruption of the Generation of the Flood and their ultimate annihilation, and the mythical monsters, to which only a passing allusion is made in the Genesis account of the creation, The aggadic interpretation of the book was influenced further by a tradition of high antiquity, that Job was actually a contemporary of the bondage and the exodus. Consequently, numerous utterances by Job and his companions were treated as allusions to events and personalities involved in Israel's early history as a nation. In the final chapter, the aggadic content of the Targum to Job is re-examined in order to show its conformity with the rabbinic interpretation of the book, and the antiquity of certain traditions preserved in the extant text of the Targum, which may shed some light on the question of the relationship between the existing Targum and the ancient text current in the First Century CE

Wine, women and work: the generic transformation of the Masoretic text of Qohelet 9. 7-10 in the Targum Qohelet and Qohelet Midrash Rabbah

This thesis seeks to understand the generic changes wrought by targum Qohelet and Qohelet midrash rabbah upon our home-text, the masoretes' reading of Qoh. 9. 7-10. An introduction orientates the reader by contextualizing our three subsequent analyses: of the masoretic text (Chapters I and II) of the targum (Chapters III and IV) of the midrash (Chapters V and VI) Hence the Bibical verses are positioned within their structural context, the targumic verses within their wider thematic context (the rabbinic debate on the respective merits of Torah-study, charity and prayer) and the midrashic verses within a methodological context (differing approaches to the study of haggadic midrash). Having located Qoh. 9. 7-10 within their parent text, we are free to define them generically. In Chapter I, we examine the indices of our sample verses' poeticism; and in Chapter II, the generic "nursery" from which our putative verse-fragment emanates, comparing it with Ancient Near Eastern parallels: in the Gilgamesh Epic, Ugaritic Baal myth, Theognidean lyric and Egyptian Royal Instruction. We further argue (a) that, although these may elucidate our sample-text's Sitz im Leben, they do not, demonstrably stand in a direct literary relationship to it; and (b) that it is best understood when read intrabiblically, that is with reference to its wider Wisdom context (the Proverbial "table etiquette" and "temperance" traditions, and the Deuteronomic Calls to Joy). Chapter III introduces our chosen targum-text (Knobel's) of Qoh. 9. 7-10, and investigates its modifications of the Biblical text and co-text, accounting for these in terms of (a) the targum's exegetical presuppositions (its dogmatic agenda) and (b) generic transformation (conversion into a pro-Solomonic oracle). Chapter IV broadens our enquiry by classifying the thematic matrix of the targumic adjustments, their explicit and implicit motifs: the Messianic banquet and sages' charity-obigations (explicit); Torah-study's priority, the world to come and Torah-renewal (implicit). The rabbis' pedagogical preoccupation with personal deportment further contextualises, we argue, the targumic rendition. Our two midrashic chapters offer a selective critique of Qohelet midrash rabbah 9. 7-10: Chapter V assesses its generic transformation of Qoh. 9. 7, principally arguing, with three examples, (one of which, the Abba Tahnah pericope, is further tendered as a case-study in "chriization" - a specialized generic change) that its diverse traditions are thematically congruent (Abrahamic), hermeneutically dextrous comments on the Aqedah. Chapter VI, a quasi-biographical reading of the haggadic stories built around Qoh. 9.10, proposes that these evidence later tradents' reimaging of their predecessors: amoraim generally (in relation to sage-dreams), and R. Judah ha Nasi specifically (in relation to his holiness). The conclusion highlights some methodological issues outstanding from our comparative survey

The Theology of Repentance in Abraham Bar Hiyya's Exegesis on the Book of Jonah

In Sefer Hegyon ha-Nefesh (Meditation of the Sad Soul), Abraham Bar Hiyya (ca. 1065-ca. 1140) addresses the problem of redemption of sinners through contrition and repentance, mostly based on his exegesis of the book of Jonah. According to him, this book reflects three categories of repentants: the completely righteous, the not-completely righteous and the wicked. The first category is represented by the prophet himself; the second by the sailors, who were saved from punishment by their prayers and repentance; and the third by the people of Nineveh, who repented so that the evil decree on them was cancelled. This article studies how Bar Hiyya constructs a theology of repentance based on his exegesis of Jonah, as well as comparing his ideas with those his contemporary Bahya ibn Paquda and considering the influence of Jewish and Muslim sources on Bar Hiyya.Peer reviewe