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The Midrash of the Messiah

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The Midrash of the Messiah Risto Santala THE MIDRASH OF THE MESSIAH The Messiah and His Meal in Midrash Ruth Chapters V, VII and VIII and its roots and reflections in corresponding Jewish literature Copyright © 2002 by Risto Santala. Cover copyright © 2002 by Antti Santala ISBN 952-91-4780-5 No part of this book may be reproduced without previous consent of the author: Risto Santala, Kaivokatu 2 A 5, FIN-18100 Heinola, Finland, e-mail: [email protected] This book and three other main Rabbinical studies of the author, “The Messiah in the Old Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings”, “The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings” and “Paul, the Man and the Teacher in the Light of Jewish Sources” can also be found at Internet. Printed by Tummavuoren Kirjapaino Oy, Finland 2002 "Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus - I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places." Is. 45:1 - 3. RaSHI explains that "according to rabbis God will say this to the King Messiah". "He reveals deep and mysterious things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." Daniel 2:22. Midrash Lamentations Rabbah I:51says: "'Light dwells with him'; this is the King Messiah, for it is written: 'Arise, shine, for your light has come'." Is. 60:1 The study is dedicated to Institutum Judaicum Aboense I Table of Content THE PREFACE The topic, its derivation and words of dedication 3 I INTRODUCTION The formulation of the problem and its methodological aspects 9 II FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS IN MIDRASHIC LITERATURE 1. The concept of Midrash: Midrash and its relation to Pesher and Targum 13 2. Midrash Ruth and its position in Midrashic literature 20 2,1 The early Midrashim 21 2,2 The middle Midrashic period 23 2,3 The later Midrashic period 24 3. The literary methods of Midrash: 25 3,1 Common Rabbinic regulations 26 3,2 The special characteristics of Midrash 29 4. Choosing a proper method for Jewish studies: 4,1 The characterization of Greek wisdom and Biblical thought by Thorleif Boman and Shalom Ben-Chorin 31 4,2 The topical method r r as expounded by Aristotle, Giovanni Battista Vico and Jacob Neusner 33 4,3 The present dilemma in Midrashic studies 38 4,4 Our methodological approach to Midrash Ruth 41 II III MIDRASH RUTH RABBAH 1. The various manuscripts and their literary evaluation 46 2. The content of Midrash Ruth Rabbah: 2,1 The content and the division of Midrash Ruth 48 2,2 The Book of Ruth and the Targum 50 2,3 Ruth Rabbah compared with other Midrash Rabbah collections 51 2,4 The moral conduct of the people of Israel in the dispersion 57 2,5 The national disappointment expressed in Midrash Ruth and its equivalents in Jewish sources 59 2,6 The national disappointment in the light of the Siddur 62 2,7 The psychological and symbolic message of Ruth Rabbah 64 2,8 The "hot potato": Elisha Ben Abuyah 66 2,9 The Six parables of the King and their equivalents in the New Testament 69 2,10 The total lack of halakhic purification rules in Ruth Rabbah 72 IV TRANSLATION OF THE "MESSIAH-PARASHIYOTH" IN MIDRASH RUTH RABBAH The English text of Ruth Rabbah V,6, VII,2 and VIII,1 according to the standard Wilna edition 74 to 84 V INTERTEXTUAL AND CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE RESPECTIVE MESSIANIC PASSAGES Specifications concerning Parashah V 1. The numerical pattern "six", . 85 1,1 Seth and other Messianic allusions in the Book of Genesis 86 1,2 The logic of the numeral six 88 III 2. "Come here" "near to the kingdom", 91 3. "The bread of the kingdom", 93 4. "Vinegar" and sufferings, 94 4,1 The place of "vinegar and sufferings" as a whole 95 4,2 The message of the true vine 96 5. Does Isaiah 53 speak of the personality of the Messiah? 99 5,1 Isaiah 53 in the Talmud 105 5,2 Isaiah 53 in the Zohar tradition related to Midrash 107 5,3 Isaiah 53 in Jewish prayer literature 111 5.4 Reflections on Isaiah 53 in the Middle Ages 113 6. To be "satisfied", linked with "to eat in this world and in the Messianic age", 6,1 A conceptual analysis of "eating to the Messiah" 115 6,2 The tradition of Elijah and the Messianic age 116 6,3 The fate of the Torah in the Messianic age 120 6,4 The interplay between and 122 7. The first and the last Redeemer 123 7,1 The Rabbinic exposition of these concepts 124 8. "The kingdom taken from him for a time", 126 8,1 The potential denial of the Messiah for a time 126 8,2 The potential second advent of the Messiah 129 8,3 The "kingdom", one of the favorite concepts of Midrash Ruth 132 8,4 The heavenly "seat" in the light of Psalms 2 and 110 133 8,5 The vision of the kingdom in the Siddur 138 9. The "blessing in the stomach" of Ruth, 140 10. Recording of good deeds, 145 10,1 Good deeds in the Jewish and Christian context 146 10,2 Elijah the celestial scribe 148 IV 10,3 Elijah and the Messiah in the Jewish prayer book, the Siddur 151 10,4 Penuel, the Angel of the Lord, the Angel of the Covenant, the Prince of the Countenance and the Lord of the Covenant 153 10,5 The Messiah as the Prince of the Countenance and the Metatron in the Siddur 154 10,6 The heavenly scribe in the light of Talmudic literature 155 10,7 Why does Midrash Ruth deal with the disputation concerning the heavenly scribe? 158 Specifications concerning Parashah VII 1. A concealed solution to the Messianic mystery 161 2. The secret of the "closed Mem" 162 3. The Song of Songs as a key-text for Messianic interpretation 164 Specifications concerning Parashah VIII 1. The tainted descent of Ruth and the evil inclination in Jewish and Christian literature 167 1,1 The problem of free will and original sin 168 1,2 Some extracts concerning free will in Midrash Ruth and the New Testament 170 1,3 The evil inclination in the writings of Qumran 172 1,4 The evil inclination in the light of the Siddur 173 2. Discussion concerning Perez, 174 3. The "ladders of princes and kings" 4. The genealogical tree of the Messiah linked with the New Testament 180 V VI THE SAGES BEHIND THE MESSIANIC PARASHIYOTH IN MIDRASH RUTH 184 1. The Sages in the "Messiah-Parashiyoth" 185 2. The tradition of Midrash Ruth visualized in schemes 191 VII THE MESSIAH AND HIS MEAL IN RESPECTIVE JEWISH LITERATURE 195 1. The bridge to the relevant literature 195 1.1 Preliminary results of our intertextual approach 196 2. The Messianic meal in the Dead Sea Scrolls 2,1 The common characterization of the Qumran Scrolls in this context 199 2,2 The Messianic meal at Qumran and its special aspects 204 3. The Messianic meal in the New testament 3,1 The limits of our inspection 207 3,2 The historical background of the Passover meal 211 3,3 The message of the bread 213 3,4 The message of the wine 218 3,5 The eternal perspective in the Holy Communion 221 3,6 "The blessing of the song" and the "hallel" 222 4. The Didache and its Messianic banquet 227 4,1 The Didache as a bridge between Jewish and Christian thinking 227 4,2 The Didache as source material for the Holy Communion 228 5. The third meal in the tradition represented by the Zohar, the Talmud and the New Testament 5,1 The third meal and its specifications in the Zohar 232 5,2 The third meal in the tradition of the Talmud 234 5,3 The third meal reflected in the New Testament 237 6. The Messianic meal in the light of the Jewish prayer literature 239 6,1 The banquet of King David in the Siddur 240 VI VIII CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING THE MESSIAH AND HIS MEAL IN ITS JEWISH FRAME OF REFERENCE 1. Conclusions concerning the method and content of our study 245 2. Specifications about the Messianic idea in Midrash Ruth 2,1 The enigma of Isaiah 53 in its Jewish frame of reference 250 2,2 The Messianic age and the Torah 252 2,3 The potential second advent of the Messiah 254 2,4 The enigma of the birth of the Messiah 254 2,5 Elijah and Metatron 255 2,6 The secret of "the closed Mem" in Isaiah 9:6 257 2,7 Good deeds and free will 258 2,8 The genealogy of the Messiah 260 3. New light on the Messianic meal 3,1 The "piece of bread" projected in old sources 263 3,2 The wine and its interpretations 264 3,3 The "hallel" linked with the eternal perspective 265 3,4 Other similar Messianic banquets in the old tradition 265 3,5 The special message of the so called "third meal" 267 3,6 The holy banquet in Didache 269 3,7 The third meal in the book of Siddur 270 4. "What then shall we say", ? 273 5. The scheme of the content and the roots of our study 275 VII APPENDIX 279 It is difficult to grasp the nature of the main Hebrew sources. Therefore we give some extracts of them visualized as they appear in the original texts: 1.
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