Maimonides and the hermeneutics of concealment : deciphering scripture and midrash in The guide of the perplexed
Annotation Maimonides and the Hermeneutics of Concealment demonstrates the type of hermeneutic that the medieval Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) engaged in throughout his treatise, The Guide of the Perplexed. By comprehensively analyzing Maimonides' use of rabbinic and scriptural sources, James Arthur Diamond argues that, far from being merely prooftexts, they are in fact essential components of Maimonides' esoteric stratagem. Diamond's close reading of biblical and rabbinic citations in the Guide not only penetrates its multilayered structure to arrive at its core meaning, but also distinguishes Maimonides as a singular contributor to the Jewish exegetical tradition. Book jacket
eBook, English, ©2002
State University of New York Press, Albany, ©2002
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource (x, 235 pages)
9780791489239, 9780791452486, 079148923X, 0791452484
794928161
Front Matter
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: The Poetry of Midrash and Heterogeneity of Scripture
Midrash on Midrash
Shir Hashirim Rabbah 1:8 and the Parabolic Method
Genesis Rabbah 9 and Flash Technique
Genesis Rabbah 27 and Prophetic Radicalism
Intertextual Foils in the Guide
Parabolic Precision vs. Parabolic Flourish
Solomon s ""Married Harlot"" as Foil to Jacob
""The Lord hath forsaken the earth""
Divine Immutability and Providence. I: 11 The ""Sitting"" of Indifference
I: 12 ""Rising"" and the Role of Metatron
1: 13 ""Standing on the Mount of Olives "": The Intellectualization of a Messianic Vision
I: 14 ""Adam ""-Situating Man in the Providential Scheme
I: 15 Moses-The Paragon of an Elitist Providence
The Seven Units of Jacob's Ladder and Their Message
I. ""Ladder""
2. ""Set up on earth""
3. ""And the top of it reached heaven""
4. ""Angels of God"" (elohim)
5-6. ""Ascending and descending""
7. ""And behold the Lord (YHVH) stood above it""
The Coalescence of Three Interpretations. Chapter 111:24 of the Guide
Trial Passages
Omission of a Trial Passage: Bitter Waters and the Perfect Law
The Quarry of Efficient Causality
Reflections on the Ultimate Verses of the Guide
Text and Prooftext
Back Matter
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Back Cover