Biblical Hermeneutics

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN
means Ahithophel, who was of the tribe of Judah; "Moab is my wash-pot" means Gehazi;
"Over Edom will I cast out my shoe" means Doeg, the Edomite (Sanh. 104b).
Closely allied with this ancient form of Palestinian allegorism must have been that of the
Essenes. The author of a book sometimes ascribed to Philo reports that among the Essenes,
after the public reading from the Scripture, "another, who belongs to the most learned,
stepsforward and expounds that which is not known, for in greatest part such men explain by
means of symbols in the old-fashioned manner" ("Quod omnis probus liber," xii.). They
certainly possessed many such allegorical interpretations of Scripture in writing (see Philo,
"De Vita Contemplativa," iii.).
To base upon the above report the inference that Essene allegorism was drawn from Hellenic
sources—as Zeller ("Philosophie der Griechen," vol. iii, part 2, p. 293) has done—is
erroneous; for no Alexandrian would have spoken so disparagingly of Hellenic allegorism as
to call it "old-fashioned," whereas the Alexandrians may well have deemed the Palestinian
Allegorical Interpretation out of date—it was too Judaic for them.
Early Tannaim.
The early Haggadot of the Tannaim contain only few specimens of their Allegorical
Interpretation. R. Johanan b. Zakkai is credited with five allegorical interpretations, four of
which refer to Biblical passages (Ex. xx. 16, 25; xxxii. 16; Lev. iv. 22; see Tosef., B. ḳ. vii.
3), and it is remarked that he explained the Scriptures as a parabolic charm (ḥomer); that is,
allegorically, in the style of the Symbolists,
(Bacher, "Ag. Tan." i. 33). This applies
also to R. Johanan's younger contemporary Gamaliel II. (Soṭah, 15a). But the allegorizer of
this period is Eleazar of Modiim, an uncle, according to rabbinical tradition, of Bar Kokba. The
Mekilta upon Ex. xvii. 8 contains a running allegorization. Thus: Amalek's onset was directed
against those who were weak in faith, wherefore Moses sent men without sin to their
protection. "The top of the hill," where Moses took his stand, signifies the pious deeds of the
patriarchs and matriarchs, who are considered as the highest pinnacles of the human race.
"Moses' hands became heavy" whenever Israel's sins prevented the effects of prayer. Aaron
and Hur represented the merits of their progenitors Levi and Judah. Moses vanquished
Amalek by his prayers, wherefore it is written in verse 13, , , literally, "by the mouth of
the sword"; by the mouth, prayer replaces the sword. Many such allegorical interpretations
by R. Eleazar are contained in the Midrashim (see Bacher, l.c. i. 211 et seq.).
Akiba and His School.
Though Akiba is not quoted as the author of so many allegorisms as Eleazar, he is known as
the first tanna to allegorize an entire book of the Bible, the Song of Solomon. This was
undoubtedly an important factor in quelling the opposition to the canonization of this book
(Mishnah Yad. iii. 5). From the scant remains of this allegory only so much is evident, that he
perceived in the Song of Solomon a representation of the relations between God and Israel,
portraying in its passages the most conspicuous events in the history of the nation, past and
to come. Alongside of this typological interpretation of this book, the essential features of
which have been crystallized in Targum and Midrash, there may have stood that mystical
interpretation which, according to Origen ("Canticum Canticorum," hom. iv.), was held in
such high esteem among the Palestinian Jews that its study was forbidden to those not of
mature years. Akiba's assertion (Mishnah, l.c.) that the Song of Solomon is "of the holiest of
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