The Rabbinic Legacy: Amoraic Midrash

Although it is difficult to determine their absolute dates, the seven classical aggadic midrashim were edited in the land of Israel, probably in the fifth and sixth centuries CE. These works fall into two main types. Exegetical midrashim (e.g., Genesis Rabbah, Lamentations Rabbah) provide a verse-by-verse running commentary on a biblical book, while homiletical midrashim (e.g., Leviticus Rabbah) expound the first verse (or verses) of the weekly portion, following the triennial cycle of synagogue readings practiced in the land of Israel in antiquity or the readings for special Sabbaths and festivals (e.g., Pesikta de-Rav Kahana).

The early aggadic midrashim (Genesis Rabbah, Leviticus Rabbah, Lamentations Rabbah, Esther Rabbah, Song of Songs Rabbah, Ruth Rabbah, and Pesikta de-Rav Kahana) contain many highly developed literary forms, including the classical proem, of which several examples are provided in this section. The classical proem serves as the introduction to a homily on the opening lectionary verse or verses. It begins by citing a verse (a co-text) from another section of the Bible—usually the Writings if the lectionary verse is from the Pentateuch or the Pentateuch if the lectionary verse is from the Writings—and proceeds to demonstrate the connection between the two through an often elaborate series of expositions and additional verse citations that conclude with the opening lectionary verse itself. In some midrashim, a number of independent homilies are combined to form a large compound proem.

The proem form reaches its peak in these early midrashim. Later midrashim, completed after the seventh century CE, were increasingly influenced by the pseudepigraphic and apocalyptic literature of the Second Temple era in both content (e.g., increased reference to angels and demons) and form (e.g., increased attribution to pseudepigraphic single authors instead of anonymous compilations). Among the midrashim of the seventh to the tenth century CE are the exegetical midrashim Exodus Rabbah and Ecclesiastes Rabbah, the homiletical Tanḥuma, as well as the Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer. Works from the tenth to twelfth century CE, such as Numbers Rabbah, contain no classical proems and are written in medieval Hebrew.