Biblical Hermeneutics

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL HERMENETICS ; M. M. NINAN
the holy," sounds in itself somewhat mystical. Akiba's favorite pupil, R. Meir, added to his
master's interpretation of the book in the same spirit; thus upon ch. i. verse 12, he explains,
"while the King sitteth at his table, the spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof," as
signifying that while the King of Kings was in heaven occupied in giving the Law to Moses,
Israel fell into sin (Ex. xxxii.) with the golden calf, of which it is said, "These be thy gods, O
Israel" (Cant. R., in loco). From the controversy that arose between Meir and Judah b. Ilai
concerning this exposition, it is evident that there were other pupils of Akiba who accepted
his typo-allegorical method of interpretation. Meir was in so far independent of
contemporaries that he saw also the sinister events of Israel's history depicted in the book,
while the general understanding was that, being a love-song between God and Israel, it could
therefore contain nothing in the way of reproach. Meir allegorized the earliest Bible history as
well; his explanation of "coats of skin" (Gen. iii. 21) as "coats of light" (Gen.
R. xx. 12) is interesting; the same idea played quite a part in the earlier Gnostic and
Christian literature.
Judah the Patriarch.
Concerning R. Judah, the editor of the Mishnah, the important statement is made that he
interpreted the Book of Job as an allegorical representation of the sin and punishment of the
generation of the flood (Gen. R. xxvi. 7). Many allegorisms are quoted in the names of his
disciples. Bar ḳappara interprets Jacob's dream (Gen. xxviii. 12) in the following manner: "A
ladder set up on the earth," that is the Temple; "the top of it reaching to heaven," that is the
pillar of smoke from the sacrifices; "the angels ascending and descending on it," these are
the priests who mount and descend the steps leading to the altar; "and behold the Lord stood
above it," that refers to Amos, ix. 1, "I saw the Lord standing upon the altar" (Gen. R. lxviii.
12). Rab and Samuel, the founders of the academies in Babylonia, are also named as the
authors of allegorisms which, however, have nothing specifically Babylonian about them, but
are quite in the spirit of Palestinian interpretation.
Palestinian Amoraim.
While the Babylonian schools did very little for the Haggadah in general and for allegory in
particular, in Palestine the golden age of allegorism dawned when the Amoraim interpreted
everything in the Bible—legend, history, and law—in an allegorical manner. But it would be
incorrect to attribute the vast allegorical material of Midrash and Talmud exclusively to the
particular Amoraim named as their authors. In the tradition of the Haggadah, the subjectmatter
was everything, the name of the author nothing; so that the same Haggadah is
continually found quoted with different sponsors who applied the traditional interpretation to
their own times. It is hardly to be supposed that a new and sudden development of the
tendency toward allegorization took place at any one epoch. Only later generations which had
the older material before them compiled that of the various epochs. The following illustrations
are taken from different parts of the Pentateuch: R. Simeon b. Laḳish explains the second
verse of Gen. i. as follows: "The earth was without form," that means Babylon; "and void,"
that means Media; "and darkness," that means Greece (the Antiochian persecutions); "upon
the face of the deep," that means the wicked empire (Rome); "And the spirit of God moved,"
that means the spirit of the Messiah; "upon the face of the waters," that is, when Israel shall
be repentant; for water (compare Lam. ii. 19) symbolizes repentance (Gen. R. ii. 4).
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