Biblical Narrative and the Formation of Rabbinic Law

This book presents a new framework for understanding the relationship between biblical narrative and rabbinic law.

Jane L. Kanarek (Author)

9781107047815, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 July 2014

226 pages, 1 table
22.2 x 14.4 x 1.8 cm, 0.35 kg

'Kanarek's work it important to any student of rabbinic literature and Judaism, as it approach the heart of Jewish tradition. Her examination of the interplay between rabbinic law and biblical narrative comprises a wonderfully succinct argument that assists the reader in recognizing the exegetical approach of Amoraic rabbis.' William Hart Brown, The Biblical Review

This book presents a new framework for understanding the relationship between biblical narrative and rabbinic law. Drawing on legal theory and models of rabbinic exegesis, Jane L. Kanarek argues for the centrality of biblical narrative in the formation of rabbinic law. Through close readings of selected Talmudic and midrashic texts, Kanarek demonstrates that rabbinic legal readings of narrative scripture are best understood through the framework of a referential exegetical web. She shows that law should be viewed as both prescriptive of normative behavior and as a meaning-making enterprise. By explicating the hermeneutical processes through which biblical narratives become resources for legal norms, this book transforms our understanding of the relationship of law and narrative as well as the ways in which scripture becomes a rabbinic document that conveys legal authority and meaning.

1. Introduction
2. He took the knife: the binding of Isaac as ritual resource
3. The paradigmatic virgin: Rebekah's marriage and exegetical choice
4. Avoiding the obvious: Joseph's disappearance and the creation of legal meaning
5. Textual fragmentation and an assembly of ten
6. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Judaism: sacred texts [HRJS], Judaism: life & practice [HRJP], Old Testaments [HRCF1]