A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism.

• Author: Ulmer, Rivka
• Position: Book review

A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism. Edited by MATTHIAS HENZE. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING CO., 2012. Pp. xv + 568. $50 (paper).

This book is a multi-author collection with a variety of approaches to the chosen topic of biblical interpretation in "early" Judaism. The title provides the parameters of the collection, "Early Judaism" thus referring to interpretive activities between the time of the emergence of a canon of the biblical writings in the (Hebrew) Bible, ca. third century B.C.E., and the beginnings of rabbinic literature, ca. third century C.E. As a compendium it contains surveys of previous scholarship and some innovative perspectives. The editor, Matthias Henze, is to be lauded for the task of rendering the chapters into a logical sequence. Henze did a marvelous job organizing the unyielding material that assists the reader in navigating the book and its contents.

Part 1, introduction, is an essay by James L. Kugel, "The Beginnings of Biblical Interpretations." Kugel's contribution is an excellent introduction to the Hebrew Bible, summarizing some of his previous scholarship. An example of his insight is evident in his definition of the term "Hebrew Bible" (p. 3 n. 1), which "is a somewhat slippery term" referring to the Bible of rabbinic Judaism, the Christian "Old Testament," but not the Apocrypha. Kugel comments that scholars lack substantial knowledge regarding the method of interpretation that transpired during Ezra's reading of the law. Kugel refers to both the third-century b.C.e. Septuagint translation and the extra-biblical Second Temple literature as repositories of ancient interpretations, thereby setting the stage for the remainder of this book. Additionally, Kugel uses the more recent term "assumption," which, as one may note, was successfully applied to rabbinic texts. According to Kugel, interpreters have four assumptions: the Bible is cryptic, but perfect, it is a book of lessons, and it derives from a divine source.

Part 2, "The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament," has chapters by Yair Zakovitch, "Inner-biblical Interpretation"; Martin Rosel, "Translators as Interpreters: Scriptural Interpretation in the Septuagint"; and Edward M. Cook, "The Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the Targums." Zakovitch's essay exhibits methodological weaknesses, such as using "overt" and "covert" in his analysis of interpretation, as well as such terms as "interbranching" that could have been...