From Scribes to Scholars

Rabbinic Biblical Exegesis in Light of the Homeric Commentaries

by Yakir Paz

Book cover: From Scribes to Scholars

Extent: 388 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Biblical Studies, Classical Studies, Jewish Studies

Series: Culture, Religion, and Politics in the Greco-Roman World

Series volume number: 6

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2022)

ISBN: 9783161616303

9.09 x 6.06 inches

Price: $187.00

In stock

Urmas Nommik studies the beginnings of the patriarchal narratives specifically in the context of the royal courts of ancient Israel and Judah. A redaction-critical approach combined with motif criticism allows an insight into connections between the oldest texts in Genesis and the ancient Near Eastern royal traditions.


Yakir Paz argues that ancient Homeric scholarship had a major impact on the formation of rabbinic biblical commentaries and their modes of exegesis. This impact is discernible not only in the terminology and hermeneutical techniques used by the rabbis, but also in their perception of the Bible as a literary product, their didactic methods, editorial principles and aesthetic sensitivities. In fact, it is the influence of Homeric scholarship which can best explain the drastic differences between earlier biblical commentaries from Palestine, such as those found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the scholastic Halakhic Midrashim (second to third century CE). The results of the author’s study call for a re-examination of many assumptions regarding the emergence of Midrash, as well as a broader appreciation of the impact of Homeric scholarship on biblical exegesis in Antiquity.

  • By (author) Yakir Paz