Parables in Midrash

David Stern is Harry Starr Professor of Classical and Modern Jewish and Hebrew Literature at Harvard University.

Parables in Midrash is one of the most sophisticated and mature works on rabbinic literature in this century… All readers will find the book an extremely valuable synthesis of cutting-edge methodologies, thorough knowledge of textual traditions, and the best exegesis of traditional literature the academy has to offer.

• Abbreviations Note on Translations and Transliterations Introduction 1. Composition and Exegesis The Rabbinic Parable Mashal, Parable, and Allegory Mashal and Ma'aseh The Origins of the Nimshal The King-Mashal Stereotyping Eikhah Rabhah 4.11 The Mashal as Traditional Literature From Narrative to Exegesis The Mashal and Midrashic Hermeneutics 2. Rhetoric The Occasions of the Mashal Three Models for the Mashal Meshalim of Praise and Blame Eikhah Rabbah 3.21 3. Poetics Theorizing Midrash Narrative or Exegesis? Narrative Convention and Exegetical Novelty Gaps, Ambiguities, and Narrative Conceits Point of View and Authorial Presence The Implied Interpreter Characterization Anthropomorphism 4. Thematics Apologetics Polemics Eulogy and Consolation Complaint Regret and Warning 5. The Mashal in Context The Problem of Context in Midrash The Mashal and the Homily The Mashal and the Petihta The Mashal and the Aggadic Narrative The Mashal and the Exegetical Enumeration Series of Meshalim The Mashal in Midrash 6. The Mashal in Hebrew Literature From the Ancient Near East to Late Antiquity The Parables in the Synoptic Gospels From the Tannaim to the Amoraim Tanna de-Bei Eliyahu Sefer Habahir Maimonides and Other Philosophers The Zohar and Other Mystical Texts Modern Hebrew Literature Appendix A: Nonparabolic Narratives in Rabbinic Literature Appendix B: Hebrew Texts of the Meshalim from Eikhah Rabbah Notes