What Is Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon bar Yoḥai?

Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon bar Yoḥai is a halakhic (legal) midrash on the book of Exodus likely redacted sometime in the third century CE. Despite its title, this midrash is attributed to the school of R. Akiva and exemplifies the interpretive methods of that school. In addition to its halakhic expositions, it includes aggadic (nonlegal) expositions on narrative portions of Exodus. The text is composed primarily in western Aramaic and survives only in fragments from the Middle Ages and quotations in other texts.