Aug 2, 2016

Common Attitudes and Approaches of Ancient Jewish Interpreters

I was interested to  read the following list from James Kugel regarding common attitudes and approaches of Jewish
interpreters of the biblical text. Kugel derives these four assumptions from reading Second Temple literature.
  1. The Bible is a fundamentally cryptic document.
  2. The Bible is a great book of lessons.
  3. The Bible is perfectly consistent and free of error or internal contradictions.
  4. Every word of Scripture comes from God.
James L. Kugel, “The Beginnings of Biblical Interpretation,” in A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism, ed. Matthias Henze (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), 14.

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