Midrash Tehillim
Encyclopedia
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
in his commentary on I Sam.
Sam.
Sam. can refer to:*Samvat*Books of Samuel...
xvii. 49, and on many other passages. This midrash is called also "Agadat Tehillim" (Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
on Deut. xxxiii. 7 and many other passages), or "Haggadat Tehillim" (Aruk, s.v. סער, and in six other passages). From the 12th century it was called also Shocher Tov (see Midrash Tehillim, ed. S. Buber, Introduction, pp. 35 et seq.), because it begins with the verse Prov. xi. 27, "שחר טוב יבקש רצון ודרש רעה תבואנו", etc.
Editions
The true midrash covers only Ps.Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
i.-cxviii., and this is all that is found either in the manuscripts or in the first edition (Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, 1512). In the second edition (Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, 1515) a supplement was added covering, with the exception of two psalms, Ps. cxix.-cl. The author of this supplement was probably R. Mattithiah Yiẓhari of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, who collected the scattered haggadot on Ps. cxix.-cl. from the Yalḳuṭ
Yalkut
There are several rabbinical works that bear the title "Yalkut" :*Yalkut Yosef*Yalkut Shimoni*Yalkut Makiri*Yalkut Reuveni...
, adding comments of his own. Since Ps. cxxiii. and cxxxi. are in the Yalḳuṭ, the author of the supplement included no haggadic interpretations on these two psalms. This omission has been supplied by S. Buber, in his very full edition of the Midrash Tehillim, by printing, under the superscription of the two psalms, collectanea from the Pesiḳta Rabbati
Pesikta Rabbati
Pesikta Rabbati or P'sqita Rabbita is a collection of Aggadic Midrash on the Pentateuchal and prophetic lessons, the special Sabbaths, etc. It was composed around 845 CE and probably called "rabbati" to distinguish it from the earlier Pesiḳta.In common with the latter it has five entire...
, Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers ....
, and the Babylonian Talmud, so that the midrash in its present form covers the entire Book of Psalms.
Nature of the work
The name of the editor and the date of the redaction of the true midrash (Ps. i-cxviii.) cannot now be determined. The assumption that Rav Johanan or Rav Simon, the son of R. Judah ha-Nasi, edited it can not be substantiated (comp. BuberBuber
Buber is a surname. It may refer to:* Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish scholar, socialist, Zionist, and prominent advocate of a joint Jewish-Arab state of Israel...
, l.c. pp. 3-4). It may, on the contrary, be shown that the midrash is not the work of a single editor. There are many passages containing the same thought. Substantially the same haggadot appear in different forms in different passages, e.g., Ps. vii., No. 6 and Ps. xviii., No. 13; Ps. xviii., No. 25 and Ps. xcv., No. 3; Ps. xviii., No. 26 and Ps. ciii., No. 2; Ps. xxvii., No. 7 and Ps. xciv., No. 5; Ps. xlv., No. 4 and Ps. c., No. 4; Ps. xci., No. 6 and Ps. civ., No. 3.
It has been said that the date of the redaction of the midrash cannot be determined. Haggadic collections on the Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
were made at a very early time, and are mentioned several times in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
im and in Genesis Rabbah, e.g., Yer. Kil. ix. 32b; Yer. Ket. xii. 3, 35a; Gen. R. xxxiii. 2; Ḳid. 33a (comp. Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
ad loc.). But it cannot possibly be assumed that the aggadah collections on the Psalms are identical with the present Midrash Tehillim, since the latter contains many elements of later date.
It can not be denied, however, that much material from those old collections is included in the present midrash. It must therefore be assumed that parts of the old collections had been preserved among the later haggadists. Then, when a midrash to the Psalms was undertaken together with the other midrashim, homilies and comments on single verses were collected from the most diverse sources, and were arranged together with the earlier haggadic material on the Psalms, following the sequence of the Psalms themselves. In the course of time this collection was supplemented and enlarged by the additions of various collections and editors, until the Midrash Tehillim finally took its present form.
Its definitive completion must, according to Zunz
Zunz
Zunz, Zuntz is a Yiddish surname: , Belgian pharmacologist* Leopold Zunz , German Reform rabbi* Gerhard Jack Zunz , British civil engineer- Zuntz :* Nathan Zuntz , German physiologist...
, be assigned to the last centuries of the period of the Geonim
Geonim
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
, without attempting to determine an exact date. But Zunz's assumption, that the midrash was compiled in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, cannot be accepted. The work was edited in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, as appears from the language, style, and manner of haggadic interpretations. Nearly all the amoraim mentioned in it are Palestinian rabbis
Palestinian rabbis
Palestinian rabbis encompasses all rabbis who lived in the region known as Palestine up till modern times, but most significantly refers to the early Jewish sages who dwelled in the ancient Holy Land and compiled the Mishna and its later commentary, the Jerusalem Talmud...
, and the few Babylonian amoraim referred to, e.g., R. Ḥida, are mentioned also in Yerushalmi
Yerushalmi
Yerushalmi may refer to:* Jerusalem Talmud * Meurav Yerushalmi * Targum Yerushalmi* Targum Pseudo-Jonathan * Jerusalemite- Family name :* Aharon Yerushalmi...
(comp). Buber, l.c. p. 32, note 131).
The midrash contains homilies on the Psalms and comments on single verses and even on single words. The homilies are as a rule introduced with the formula "as Scripture says." In only a few cases are they introduced as in the other midrashim, with the formula "Rabbi N. N. has begun the discourse," or "Rabbi N. N. explains the Biblical passage." Among the comments on single verses are many which are based on the difference of "ḳeri" and "ketib" (differences of enunciated and written forms, resulting usually from transcription error; see also Masoretes
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
) as well as on the variant spellings of words, plene and defective. Many words, also, are explained according to the numerical value of the letters (Gemaṭria
Gematria
Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...
) or by analysis of their component parts (Noṭariḳon
Notarikon
Notarikon is a method of deriving a word, akin to the creation of an acronym, by using each of its initial or final letters to stand for another word, forming a sentence or idea out of the words. Another variation entails using the first and last letters, or the two middle letters of a word,...
) as well as by the substitution of other vowels ("al-tiḳri"; comp. the collation of all these passages in Buber
Buber
Buber is a surname. It may refer to:* Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish scholar, socialist, Zionist, and prominent advocate of a joint Jewish-Arab state of Israel...
, l.c. p. 10a, b). The midrash is prone to interpreting numbers, contributing likewise thereby important observations on the number of the Psalms and of the sections of the Pentateuch as well as on the number of verses in various Psalms. Thus it enumerates 175 sections of the Pentateuch, 147 psalms (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xix. 22), and nine verses in Ps. xx. (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xx. 2).
Legends and myths
The midrash contains a number of stories, legends, parables, proverbs, and sentences, with many ethical and halakic maxims. Of the interesting myths may be mentioned that of Remus and Romulus, to whom God sends a she-wolf to suckle (Midr. Teh. to Ps.Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
x. 6; Buber
Buber
Buber is a surname. It may refer to:* Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish scholar, socialist, Zionist, and prominent advocate of a joint Jewish-Arab state of Israel...
, l.c. p. 45a), and the legend of Emperor Hadrian, who wished to measure the depth of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
(Midr. Teh. to Ps. xciii. 6; Buber, l.c. p. 208a, b). Among the proverbs which are found only in this midrash may be mentioned the following:
- Walls have ears (Midr. Teh. to Ps. vii. 1; Buber, l.c. p. 31b), i.e., care should be taken in disclosing secrets even in a locked room (comp. RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
in Ber.Berakhot (Talmud)Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
8b, who quotes this proverb). - Woe to the living who prays to the dead; woe to the hero who has need of the weak; woe to the seeing who asks help of the blind; and woe to the century in which a woman is the leader (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxii. 20; Buber, l.c. p. 96b).
Many a custom may be traced to this midrash, e.g., that of not drinking any water on the Sabbath before the evening (Ṭur
Tur
Tur or TUR can stand for:* Arba'ah Turim, a work of Jewish law, also known as the Tur* Jacob ben Asher, its author, also known as the Tur or the Baal Haturim* Tur * Turkish language...
and Shulḥan Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 291; comp. Midr. Teh., ed. Buber, p. 51b, note 48).
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- Midrash Tehillim, ed. Buber, Introduction, Wilna, 1891;
- J. Theodor, Ueber S. Buber's Midrasch, Tehillim, reprinted from the Menorah, Literaturblatt, Hamburg;
- ZunzZunzZunz, Zuntz is a Yiddish surname: , Belgian pharmacologist* Leopold Zunz , German Reform rabbi* Gerhard Jack Zunz , British civil engineer- Zuntz :* Nathan Zuntz , German physiologist...
, G. V. pp. 266-268.