The Midrash on Psalms: Vol 1

596 Pages·1959·20.626 MB·English

by  Leon Nemoy, Saul Lieberman, Harry A. Wolfson, William G. Braude

YALE JUDAICA SERIES
EDITOR
LEON NEMOY
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
SAUL LIEBERMAN HARRY A. WOLFSON
VOLUME XIII
THE MIDRASH ON PSALMS
(MIDRASH TEHILHM)
The Midrash on Psalms
(the first of two volumes)
TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW AND ARAMAIC BY
WILLIAM G. BRAUDE
Rabbi, Congregation Sons of Israel and David
Providence, Rhode Island
FREIE UNIVPRSITAT PEFUN
NEW HAVEN
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1959
© / 959 by Yale University Press, Inc.
Set in Granjon type and printed
in the United States of America by
Vad-Ballou Press, Inc., Binghamton, N.Y.
All rights reserved. Th 'u book, may not be
reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form
(except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publishers.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 58-6535
- FA s i KTJL 11 -
EDITOR’S NOTE
On July i, 1956, Professor Julian J. Obermann retired as editor
of the Yale Judaica Series, while generously retaining his editorial
supervision of three volumes which were in the course of prepara­
tion. He had just sent to the press the first of these volumes when
an illness against which he had been struggling for several years
overcame him. He died on October 17.
Perhaps only those intimately familiar with the progress of
the Series can fully appreciate the enormous amount of thought
and labor as well as the dedicated devotion which Professor Ober­
mann gave to it from the beginning, some fifteen years ago. His
careful planning, his insistence on high standards of scholarship,
accuracy, and precision, and his unfailing readiness to advise and
help contributed largely toward making the Series what it is
today. His advice, out of the wealth of his editorial experience,
will be sorely missed.
The future volumes of the Series will, it is hoped, continue the
tradition established by Professor Obermann.
New Haven L. N.
November 1958

cnant tne rsaims,
and
To my wife, Pen, but for whose
faith and love this work might not
have been done

CONTENTS
VOLUME i
Editor’s Note V
Introduction xi
The Midrash on Psalms 1
Book I (Psalms 1-41) 3
Book II (Psalms 42-72) 441
VOLUME 2
Book III (Psalms 73-89) 1
Book IV (Psalms 90-106) 85
Book V (Psalms 107-150) J95
Abbreviations 39i
Notes 397
Glossary 529
Indexes 533
1. Passages cited 535
a. Biblical 535
b. Mishnaic 572
2. Authorities 575
3. Subjects and names 585

INTRODUCTION
i.
The Midrashic method of interpreting Scripture is old. Through­
out Talmudic literature there is ample evidence that the method
existed in Palestine well before the Common Era. Moreover, Pal­
estinian Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Hellenistic Jewish
writings, and the New Testament contain abundant material
that makes use of this method. An allusion to it may even be
found as early as the time of Ezra who, for the benefit of his
compatriots returning from Babylonia, reinterpreted parts of
Scripture which appeared strange or antiquated to them.1
Though the method is old, it was not until the second century
of the Common Era that the compiling of Midrashim was
actually begun, and thereafter it was continued throughout the
Talmudic period well into the Middle Ages. But even post-
Talmudic Midrashim—which, to be sure, occasionally have local
and temporary coloring—are in effect new literary arrangements
of old material that goes back to Talmudic times.
It is to this type of later Midrashim that the Midrash on Psalms
(Midrash Tehillim) belongs. On the basis of internal evidence,
such as a possible allusion to the Moslem caliphate (6.2), a sup­
posed reference to Apulia and Sicily (9.8), and similar instances
of local and temporary coloring,2 some scholars have concluded
that Midrash Tehillim was compiled in Italy and as late as the
ninth century. Nevertheless, as in all other Midrashim, the over­
whelming body of material in Midrash Tehillim goes back to the
Talmudic period.
Like other Midrashic works which are inspired by certain
1. Sec Neh. 8:8; and introduction to Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmacl, ed. Lauter-
bach, Philadelphia, 1933.
2. See below, p. xxvii. Other instances are a reference to the Goths (25.14); a
late Latin word like locotenentes (149.1); and an Arabic phrase used to explain
a Hebrew word (119.59).