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Genesis Rabbah Durham E-Theses The Role and Status of the Biblical Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah WOOLSTENHULME, KATIE,JAYNE How to cite: WOOLSTENHULME, KATIE,JAYNE (2017) The Role and Status of the Biblical Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12197/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Role and Status of the Biblical Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah by Katie Jayne Woolstenhulme Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2017 The Role and Status of the Biblical Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah Katie Jayne Woolstenhulme Abstract This thesis explores the role and status of the biblical matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah, the fifth century CE rabbinic commentary on Genesis. Whilst scholarship on the role of women in the Bible and rabbinic Judaism has greatly increased, the authoritative .have been neglected (האימהות) "group of women known as "the matriarchs The Introduction outlines the research context of this work; the thesis then proceeds in three parts. Part One explores definitions. The first chapter considers the nature of midrash; the rabbinic worldview; and rabbinic exegetical techniques. Genesis Rabbah is then introduced. The second chapter explores the title "the matriarchs." Modern scholars use, but often fail to define, the term, so I turn to ancient texts from Bible to midrash to explore the category's origins. The use of the title "the matriarchs" in Genesis Rabbah is then considered. Two main definitions emerge: first, the matriarchs are the legitimate wives of the patriarchs; secondly, the title sometimes refers to Jacob's four wives, who bore Israel's tribal ancestors. Part Two explores the "matriarchal cycle" in Genesis Rabbah. This cycle has three stages: barrenness, motherhood, and succession. Each matriarch undergoes a transformation from barren woman to the mother of covenant sons. After a brief Preface, each stage is explored. The "matriarchal cycle" is central to rabbinic characterisation of these women. Finally, Part Three considers Genesis Rabbah's portrayal of the matriarchs as representatives of the female sex. This chapter explores positive and negative rabbinic attitudes towards women, focusing on piety, prayer, praise, beauty and sexuality, and the matriarchs exemplifying stereotypical, negative female traits. When portrayed as women, the matriarchs are sometimes portrayed negatively; yet positive traditions dominate. This thesis concludes that for the ancient rabbis, the matriarchs were the historical mothers of Israel, bearing covenant sons, but also the present mothers of Israel, continuing to influence Jewish identity. - 2 - Table of Contents Abbreviations and Text Sources 9 Declaration 15 Statement of Copyright 16 Acknowledgements 17 Dedication 18 I. Introduction 19 1. Research Context 20 2. Thesis Rationale and Methodology 31 3. Thesis Outline 33 Part One: "The Matriarchs" in "Genesis Rabbah" II. Rabbinic Midrash: An Introduction 37 (מדרש) Midrash .1 38 2. The Theory of Midrash: The Rabbinic Worldview 40 3. Common Midrashic Exegetical Techniques 43 4. Rabbinic Texts 47 5. Genesis Rabbah 49 6. A Note on the Text of Genesis Rabbah 51 7. Conclusions 53 - 3 - (האימהות) "III. "The Matriarchs 54 1. Modern Scholarly Understandings of the Term "Matriarch" 55 a. Summary 61 (אב) "and "Patriarch (אם) "A Note on the Titles "Matriarch .2 61 3. The Matriarchs: Biblical Beginnings 62 a. The Matriarchs in the Hebrew Bible 62 b. Marriages between Patriarchs and Handmaids 65 c. Summary 71 4. The Matriarchs in Ancient Jewish Sources 72 a. The Book of Jubilees 72 b. The Damascus Document 76 c. Pseudo Philo's Liber antiquitatum biblicarum 80 d. Early Rabbinic Midrash 88 e. Summary 91 5. Excursus: The Matrilineal Principle 92 a. Summary 97 6. Conclusions 97 in Genesis Rabbah (האימהות) "The Matriarchs" .7 98 a. The Wives of the Patriarchs 99 Paralleled with a (האימהות) "i. The Title "the Matriarchs Male Equivalent 99 ii. Summary 103 "as "Matriarch אם iii. Uses of the Noun 103 iv. Summary 105 (האימהות) v. Characteristics of the Matriarchs 106 b. The Mothers of the Tribal Ancestors 120 - 4 - i. The Matriarchs as "Mothers of the Tribal Ancestors," in Reference to their Children 120 ii. Summary 124 8. Conclusions 125 Part Two: "The Matriarchal Cycle": The Portrayal of the Matriarchs in Genesis Rabbah IV. Preface to Part Two: "The Matriarchal Cycle" 127 1. The Biblical Barren Matriarch Tradition 127 2. "The Matriarchal Cycle" 135 3. "The Matriarchal Cycle" in Genesis Rabbah 139 V. Barrenness 141 1. The Anguish of Barrenness 142 a. Summary 145 2. God's Role in Childbirth and the Reversal of Barrenness 145 a. God's Control Over Childbirth 145 b. God's Support of the Disadvantaged, Especially Barren Women 150 c. God Ensures the Reversal of Barrenness By His Power 151 d. Summary 157 3. The Matriarchs as Representatives: Of the Disadvantaged 157 a. Matriarchs as Representatives of the Disadvantaged 157 b. The Reversal of Barrenness and Its Consequences 158 c. Summary 163 4. The Matriarchs as Representatives: Of the National Identity 163 a. Use of the Biblical Barren Matriarch Tradition and its Development 163 b. Matriarchs as Representatives of the National Identity 169 c. Scriptural Texts Applied to the Matriarchal Narratives 171 - 5 - d. Summary 174 5. Conclusions 175 VI. Motherhood 176 1. Pregnancy and Childbirth 177 a. The Physical Act of Childbearing 177 b. Death During Childbirth 180 c. Summary 183 2. Identity 184 a. Sons Are Identified Through Their Mothers: By Name 184 b. Sons Are Identified Through Their Mothers: By Traits 191 c. Summary 194 3. Family Dynamics 195 a. Husbands' Respect For Their Wives as Mothers 195 b. Sons' Respect For Their Mothers 202 c. Summary 209 4. Maternal Protection of the Covenant Son 210 a. The Role of Motherhood in Each Matriarch's Story 210 b. Sarah and Isaac 211 c. Rebekah and Jacob 217 d. Leah, Rachel, and the Tribal Ancestors 226 e. Summary 227 5. National Motherhood 228 a. The National Dimensions of Matriarchal Motherhood 228 b. Sarah: The First Mother of Israel 230 c. Rebekah: The Mother of Two Nations 240 - 6 - d. Leah and Rachel: The Mothers of Tribal Ancestors 245 e. Leah 246 f. Rachel 251 g. Summary 259 6. Conclusions 260 VII. Legitimacy and Succession 261 (אשׁת חיל) "Sarah as the "Capable Wife .1 261 a. Summary 268 2. Sarah and Rebekah as Exemplars of Chastity and Purity 269 3. Rachel in Relationship with God 275 4. Summary 277 5. Marriages 277 a. Legitimate Unions 277 b. Illegitimate Unions 284 c. Summary 288 6. Matriarchal Succession 289 a. Summary 293 7. Conclusions 294 Part Three: The Rabbis and the Matriarchs as Women VIII. The Rabbis and the Matriarchs as Women 296 1. Positive Rabbinic Portrayals of the Matriarchs as Women 297 a. Prayer and Praise 297 b. Piety 308 c. Summary 314 d. Beauty and Sexuality 314 - 7 - e. Summary 322 2. Negative Rabbinic Portrayals of the Matriarchs as Women 323 a. Stereotypical Negative Characteristics 323 b. Summary 327 c. Beauty and Sexuality 327 d. Summary 334 3. Conclusions 334 IX. Conclusions 336 1. Brief Conclusions 336 2. The Unity of Genesis Rabbah 339 3. The Views of Modern Scholarship 340 4. The Matriarchs: The Bible versus Midrash 341 5. Further Research 342 X. Bibliography 344 - 8 - Abbreviations and Text Sources Key Primary Texts J. Theodor and Chaim Albeck, eds., Bereschit Rabba mit kritischem Apparat und Commentar, 2 vols. (Veröffentlichungen der Akademie für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, Berlin: Z. Hirsch Itzkowski, 1912-29; repr. in 3 vols., Jerusalem: Wahrman, 1965). K. Elliger and W. Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, (5th rev. ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997). Hanoch Albeck, Shishah Sidrey Mishnah, 6 vols. (Jerusalem; Tel Aviv: Bialik Institute and Dvir, 1959) Primary Text Translations NRSV New Revised Standard Version. JPS Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Freedman H. Freedman, trans., Midrash Rabbah Genesis, 2 vols., (London, 1951). Neusner Jacob Neusner, trans., Genesis Rabbah: A New American Translation, 3 vols., (Atlanta, Georgia, 1985). Danby Herbert Danby, trans., The Mishnah, (Oxford, 1964, repr. from 1933 ed.). Soncino Isidore Epstein, ed., The Babylonian Talmud, 18 vols., (London, 1936-52). Jacobson Howard Jacobson, A Commentary on Psuedo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum, 2 vols., (Leiden, 1996). Lauterbach Jacob Z. Lauterbach, trans., Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, 2 vols., (Philadelphia, 1993). VanderKam James C. VanderKam, trans., The Book of Jubilees, (Leuven, Peeters, 1989). Primary Text Abbreviations used in Freedman cur. edd. current editions of Genesis Rabbah - 9 - MS(S) Manuscript(s) NV New Version: New Version of Bereshith Rabah on the Blessings of the ,of R. Hai Gaon (Venice, 1601; Hamburg משפטי שבועות Patriarch Jacob, in 1781; cur. Vilna ed.): Contains a midrash on Jacob's blessings in Gen 49-50, which most MSS include. MSV Vatican Manuscript 30: Freedman notes that chapters 95-97 of MSV, dealing with Gen 46-48, replace cur. edd. chapters 95-96. Reference Works BDB F. Brown, S. Driver, and C. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, (Peabody, Massachussetts, 2008, repr.
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