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"What a breach you have made for yourselfl" The History of Jewish Interpretations of Genesis 38 Maayan Lustigrnan Department of Jewish Studies McGill University, Montreal June 2007 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. © Maayan Lustigrnan, 2007 Libraryand Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-38458-9 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-38458-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada 2 Table of Contents Abstract. ............................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements .................................................................. 5 Introduction ........................................................................... 6 Genesis 38 .................................................................... 6 Literary Context .......................................................... '" 9 Themes and Difficulties in Genesis 38 .................................... 10 Chapter 1: The Early Interpreters ................................................... 14 Introduction .................................................................. 14 Inner-biblical interpretations .............................................. 14 Apocryphal and Pseudepigraphal Texts ................................. 19 Other Greco-Roman Texts ................................................. 23 Translations and Versions ofthe Bible ................................... 26 Conclusion. '" ............................................................... 34 Chapter 2: The Early Rabbinic Corpus ............................................ 36 Introduction .................................................................. 36 Talmudic Texts ............................................................... 36 Midrashic Texts ..............................................................42 Conclusion ....................................................................46 Chapter 3: Medieval and Pre-Modem Interpretations .......................... .48 Introduction .................................................................. 48 Shelomo Yitzhaqi ............................................................ 48 Shmuel ben Meir ............................................................ 52 Avraham Ibn Ezra ........................................................... 55 David Kimhi .................................................................. 57 Joseph Bekhor Shor ......................................................... 59 Moshe ben Nahman ......................................................... 60 Bahya ben Asher .............................................................63 Yaakov ben Asher ............................................................ 65 Levi ben Gershom ........................................................... 67 The Zohar ... " ................................................................ 70 Yitzhak Abravanel ........................................................... 72 Obadiah ben Jacob Sfomo ................................................. 74 The Karaites ................................................................. 74 The Sixteenth- to Eighteenth Centuries .................................. 75 3 Yehudah ben Bezalel Loew ................................................ 75 Yaakov Culi .................................................................. 77 Conclusion .. ................................................................. 78 Chapter 4: The Modem Commentaries ............................................ 80 Introduction ................... " ............................................. 80 Yaakov Tzevi Mecklenburg ................................................. 81 Samuel David Luzzatto ...................................................... 83 Baruch Halevi Epstein ...................................................... 85 Joseph Herman Hertz ....................................................... 86 Menahem Kasher ............................................................ 88 The Soncino Chumash ...................................................... 90 Ephraim Avigdor Speiser ................................................... 91 Gunther Plaut ....................................... " ...................... 93 Nahum Sarna ................................................................ 95 The Stone Chumash ......................................................... 97 Robert Alter ...................... , ........ , ........ , ......................... 99 Conclusion ................................................................... 101 Conclusion ............................................................................. 103 Historical Developments ................................................... 105 Bibliography .................. '" .................. '" ................................. 11 0 Bible Interpretations ............................... " ........................ 11 0 General Works ............................................................... 114 4 Abstract This thesis traces the history of Jewish Bible interpretations of Genesis 38, a story that is significant for the history of the early Israelites and today's Jews, as it purports to describe the origins of the Davidic line. 1 have exposed the possible implications of this account throughout history by exploring interpretations from biblical to modern times and have attempted to define the various difficulties that are addressed. This history is presented as a dialogue and, in this way, 1 have explored the intricate connections between interpreters and their proposed understandings of the narrative. Ce mémoire retrace l'histoire de l'interprétation biblique juive du chapitre 38 de la Genèse, un passage important dans l 'histoire de la civilisation hébraïque puisqu'il décrit l'origine de la lignée du roi David. J'explore les conséquences des interprétations de ce passage tout au long de l'Histoire, depuis les temps bibliques jusqu'à l'époque contemporaine, et ce, en cherchant à préciser les enjeux philosophiques abordés. Je présente l'histoire des interprétations successives de ce passage sous la forme d'un dialogue au travers duquel j'explore l'univers complexe des interrelations entre, d'une part, ceux qui interprètent et, d'autre part, les interprétations qu'ils proposent du texte. 5 Acknowledgements This study would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. Many thanks to my advisor, Dr. B. Barry Levy, who read my numerous revisions, and who always reminded me to be patient with my work. l would also like to thank Joyce Rappaport for her help and suggestions. Thank you to my friends and family who offered their constant support. Finally, many thanks are due to my parents who endured this long pro cess with me and al ways offered their guidance and love. 6 Introduction Genesis 38 1About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. 2There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and cohabited with her. 3She conceived and bore a son, and he named him Er. 4She conceived again and bore a son, and named him Onan. sOnce again she bore a son and named him Shelah; he was at Chezib when she bore him. 6Judah got a wife for Er his first-bom; her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judah's first-bom was displeasing to the Lord, and the Lord took his life. 8Then Judah said to Onan, "Join with your brother's wife and do your dut y by her as a brother-in-Iaw, and provide offspring for your brother." 9But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his, let it go to waste whenever he joined with his brother' s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. IOWhat
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