Opening the Gates of Interpretation (Etudes Sur Le Judaisme Medieval)

597 Pages·2011·2.6 MB·English

by  Mordechai Z. Cohen

Opening the Gates of Interpretation
Études sur
le Judaïsme Médiéval
Fondées par
Georges Vajda
Dirigées par
Paul B. Fenton
TOME XLVIII
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/ejm.
Opening the Gates of
Interpretation
Maimonides’ Biblical Hermeneutics in Light of His
Geonic-Andalusian Heritage and Muslim Milieu
By
Mordechai Z. Cohen
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohen, Mordechai Z.
Opening the gates of interpretation : Maimonides’ biblical hermeneutics in light of his
Geonic-Andalusian heritage and Muslim milieu / by Mordechai Z. Cohen.
p. cm. — (Études sur le judaïsme médiéval ; t. 48)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-18932-4 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Maimonides, Moses, 1135–
1204. 2. Bible. O.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish. 3. Bible. O.T.—Criticism,
interpretation, etc.—Spain—Andalusia. 4. Bible. O.T.—Hermeneutics. 5. Bible.
O.T.—Islamic interpretations. 6. Sa’adia ben Joseph, 882–942. 7. Commandments
(Judaism) I. Title. II. Series.
BS1186.C64 2011
221.6’092—dc22
2011014526
ISSN 0169-815X
ISBN 978 90 04 18932 4
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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To my father, Josef B. Cohen
(א ילשמ) ךָמֶּ אִ תרַוֹתּ שֹׁטּתִּ לאַ וְ ךָיבִ אָ רסַ וּמ ינִבְּ עמַ שְׁ
ויניעב ומענ יכ הבח ירבד עומשל ול וברעיש רבג ךרד :םש ךישלא
תויהמ רצבי אל יכ ,ויבא ונחיכוי רשאכ השעי אל ןכו ,רסומ תוחכותמ
.ול בוטל תרתוסמ הבהא תאפמ הלוגמ באה תחכות
Listen, my son, to your father’s discipline
And do not neglect your mother’s teachings (Prov 1:8)
A man is naturally pleased by hearing sweet words of endearment,
rather than of rebuke and discipline. Not so when his father rebukes
him, since a father’s open rebuke is motivated purely by hidden love
for his benefit.
(Commentary of Moses Alshekh)
To my teacher, Arthur Hyman
םימש ארומכ ךבר דובכו . . . ךלשכ ךילע ביבח ךדימלת דובכ יהי
(ןתנ יברד תובא)
May the honor of your student be as dear to you as your own . . . and
the honor of your teacher as the fear of Heaven.
(Avot de-Rabbi Nathan)

CONTENTS
Preface .................................................................................................. xiii
Note on Translations, Transliterations and Citations .................. xxi
Acknowledgments ............................................................................... xxiii
List of Abbreviations .......................................................................... xxix
Introduction ......................................................................................... 1
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 ONE
ẒĀHIR AL-NASṢ ̣
Chapter One. The Geonic-Andalusian Heritage .......................... 31
1. Saadia: Rationalist Interpretation ........................................... 33
2. Samuel ben Hofni: Peshat Equated with Ẓāhir .................... 50
3. Samuel ha-Nagid: Continuation in Muslim Spain .............. 54
4. Ibn Janah: Peshat as Philological Interpretation ................. 57
5. Judah Ibn Balʿam: 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 Two. Ẓāhir al-Nasṣ ̣in Maimonides’ System ................. 87
1. Four Uses of the Term Ẓāhir al-Nasṣ ̣ .................................... 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
viii contents
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. Ẓāhir 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 Three. Rationale for the Commandments ..................... 129
1. Programmatic Statements: Ẓāhir al-Nasṣ ̣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 Four. Mashal as Hermeneutical Model .......................... 185
1. Theory: Ẓāhir and Bātịn ........................................................ 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
contents ix
PART TWO
PESHUTO SHEL MIQRA
Chapter Five. Halakhic Exegesis and Muslim Jurisprudence .... 243
1. The Geonic-Karaite Debate ..................................................... 243
2. Usụ̄ l 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 Six. 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 Seven. 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