The Rule of Peshat
Jewish Constructions of the Plain Sense of Scripture and Their Christian and Muslim Contexts, 900-1270
by Mordechai Z. Cohen
An exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of the philological method of Jewish Bible interpretation known as peshat
Within the rich tradition of Jewish biblical interpretation, few concepts are as vital as peshat, often rendered as the "plain sense" of Scripture. Generally contrasted with midrash—the creative and at times fanciful mode of reading put forth by the rabbis of Late Antiquity—peshat came to connote the systematic, philological-contextual, and historically sensitive analysis of the Hebrew Bible, coupled with an appreciation of the text's literary quality. In The Rule of "Peshat," Mordechai Z. Cohen explores the historical, geographical, and theoretical underpinnings of peshat as it emerged between 900 and 1270.
Adopting a comparative approach that explores Jewish interactions with Muslim and Christian learning, Cohen sheds new light on the key turns in the vibrant medieval tradition of Jewish Bible interpretation. Beginning in the tenth century, Jews in the Middle East drew upon Arabic linguistics and Qur'anic study to open new avenues of philological-literary exegesis. This Judeo-Arabic school later moved westward, flourishing in al-Andalus in the eleventh century. At the same time, a revolutionary peshat school was pioneered in northern France by the Ashkenazic scholar Rashi and his circle of students, whose methods are illuminated by contemporaneous trends in Latinate learning in the Cathedral Schools of France. Cohen goes on to explore the heretofore little-known Byzantine Jewish exegetical tradition, basing his examination on recently discovered eleventh-century commentaries and their offshoots in southern Italy in the twelfth century. Lastly, this study focuses on three pivotal figures who represent the culmination of the medieval Jewish exegetical tradition: Abraham Ibn Ezra, Moses Maimonides, and Moses Nahmanides. Cohen weaves together disparate Jewish disciplines and external cultural influences through chapters that trace the increasing force acquired by the peshat model until it could be characterized, finally, as the "rule of peshat": the central, defining feature of Jewish hermeneutics into the modern period.
"Mafunzo ya Kiyahudi ya Maana ya wazi ya Maandiko na Muktadha wao wa Kikristo na wa Kiislamu, 900-1270, na Mordechai Z. Cohen, ""Utafiti wa misingi ya nadharia ya njia ya lugha ya tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kiyahudi inayojulikana kama peshat"" - Katika utamaduni tajiri wa tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kiyahudi, dhana chache ni muhimu kama peshat." Kwa ujumla ikilinganishwa na midrash - njia ya ubunifu na wakati mwingine ya kupendeza ya kusoma iliyotolewa na marabi wa Enzi za Kale za Baadaye - peshat ilikuja kuashiria uchambuzi wa utaratibu, wa lugha, na wa kihistoria wa Biblia ya Kiebrania, pamoja na uthamini wa ubora wa fasihi wa maandishi. Katika kitabu chake The Rule of Peshitta, Mordechai Z. Cohen anachunguza misingi ya kihistoria, kijiografia, na nadharia ya Peshitta kama ilivyotokea kati ya 900 na 1270. Kwa kutumia mbinu ya kulinganisha inayochunguza mwingiliano wa Kiyahudi na elimu ya Kiislamu na Kikristo, Cohen anatupa mwangaza mpya juu ya mabadiliko muhimu katika utamaduni wa enzi za kati wa tafsiri ya Biblia ya Kiyahudi. Kuanzia karne ya kumi, Wayahudi katika Mashariki ya Kati walitumia lugha ya Kiarabu na utafiti wa Qur'ani kufungua njia mpya za tafsiri ya lugha na fasihi. Baadaye shule hiyo ya Kiyahudi na Kiarabu ilihamia magharibi, ikisitawi katika al-Andalus katika karne ya kumi na moja. Shule ya Peshitta ilianzishwa kaskazini mwa Ufaransa na msomi wa Ashkenazi Rashi na mzunguko wake wa wanafunzi, ambao mbinu zao zinaangazwa na mwelekeo wa kisasa wa kujifunza Kilatini katika Shule za Kanisa Kuu la Ufaransa. Cohen anaendelea kuchunguza utamaduni wa zamani wa ki-Byzantium wa Kiyahudi, akitegemea uchunguzi wake kwenye maelezo ya karne ya kumi na moja yaliyogunduliwa hivi karibuni na matawi yao kusini mwa Italia katika karne ya kumi na mbili. Mwishowe, utafiti huu unazingatia watu watatu muhimu ambao wanawakilisha kilele cha utamaduni wa tafsiri ya Kiyahudi ya enzi za kati: Abraham Ibn Ezra, Musa Maimonides, na Musa Nahmanides. Cohen anaunganisha pamoja taaluma tofauti za Kiyahudi na ushawishi wa kitamaduni wa nje kupitia sura ambazo zinafuatilia nguvu inayoongezeka inayopatikana na mfano wa peshat hadi iweze kuonyeshwa, hatimaye, kama "sheria ya peshat": kipengele cha kati, cha kufafanua cha hermeneutics ya Kiyahudi katika kipindi cha kisasa.