With Reverence for the Word Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

by McAuliffe, Jane Dammen; Walfish, Barry D.; Goering, Joseph W.

• ISBN13: 9780195137279
• ISBN10: 0195137272
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This volume is the first trilateral exploration of medieval scriptural interpretation. The vast literature written during the medieval period is one of both great diversity and numerous cross-cultural similarities. These essays explore this rich heritage of biblical and qur'anic interpretation.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	xiii
Abbreviations	xvii
PART I MEDIEVAL JEWISH EXEGESIS OF THE BIBLE
An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation	3	(10)
Barry D. Walfish
The Search for Truth in Sacred Scripture: Jews, Christians, and the Authority to Interpret	13	(20)
Stephen D. Benin
The Tension between Literal Interpretation and Exegetical Freedom: Comparative Observations on Saadia's Method	33	(18)
Haggai Ben-Shammai
Karaite Commentaries on the Song of Songs from Tenth-Century Jerusalem	51	(19)
Daniel Frank
Restoring the Narrative: Jewish and Christian Exegesis in the Twelfth Century	70	(13)
Michael A. Signer
Rashbam as a ``Literary'' Exegete	83	(9)
Martin Lockshin
Asceticism and Eroticism in Medieval Jewish Philosophical and Mystical Exegesis of the Song of Songs	92	(27)
Elliot R. Wolfson
Typology, Narrative, and History: Isaac ben Joseph ha-Kohen on the Book of Ruth	119	(14)
Barry D. Walfish
The Method of Doubts: Problematizing the Bible in Late Medieval Jewish Exegesis	133	(24)
Marc Saperstein
Introducing Scripture: The Accessus and auctores in Hebrew Exegetical Literature from the Thirteenth through the Fifteenth Centuries	157	(23)
Eric Lawee
On the Social Role of Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Proverbs 22:6	180	(17)
Alan Cooper
PART II MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN EXEGESIS OF THE BIBLE
An Introduction to Medieval Christian Biblical Interpretation	197	(7)
Joseph W. Goering
The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament	204	(21)
Abigail Firey
The Four ``Senses'' and Four Exegetes	225	(12)
Edward Synan†
Laudat sensum et significationem: Robert Grosseteste on the Four Senses of Scripture	237	(19)
James R. Ginther
Beryl Smalley, Thomas of Cantimpre, and the Performative Reading of Scripture: A Study in Two Exempla	256	(20)
Robert Sweetman
The Theological Character of the Scholastic ``Division of the Text'' with Particular Reference to the Commentaries of Saint Thomas Aquinas	276	(8)
John F. Boyle
Thomas of Ireland and his De tribus sensibus sacrae scripturae	284	(8)
Edouard Jeauneau
Material Swords and Literal Lights: The Status of Allegory in William of Ockham's Breviloquium on Papal Power	292	(19)
A. J. Minnis
PART III MEDIEVAL EXEGESIS OF THE QUR'AN
An Introduction to Medieval Interpretation of the Qur'an	311	(9)
Jane Dammen McAuliffe
Discussion and Debate in Early Commentaries of the Qur'an	320	(9)
Fred Leemhuis
Weaknesses in the Arguments for the Early Dating of Qur'anic Commentary	329	(17)
Herbert Berg
The Scriptural ``Senses'' in Medieval Sufi Qur'an Exegesis	346	(20)
Gerhard Bowering
Are There Allegories in Sufi Qur'an Interpretation?	366	(10)
Hava Lazarus-Yafeh†
From the Sacred Mosque to the Remote Temple: Surat al-Isra' between Text and Commentary	376	(32)
Angelika Neuwirth
Qur'anic Exegesis and History	408	(14)
Gerald Hawting
The Self-Referentiality of the Qur'an: Sura 3:7 as an Exegetical Challenge	422	(15)
Stefan Wild
The Designation of ``Foreign'' Languages in the Exegesis of the Qur'an	437	(8)
Andrew Rippin
The Genre Boundaries of Qur'anic Commentary	445	(18)
Jane Dammen McAuliffe
Subject Index	463	(20)
Index to Citations from the Bible, Rabbinic Literature, and the Qur'an	483