Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship

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Inner-Biblical Interpretation

Reading Lamentations with Inner-Biblical Exegesis

By identifying biblical intertexts and parallel phrases, we can better understand the flow, the imagery, and even the core message of Eichah, Lamentations.

Prof. Rabbi

Reuven Kimelman

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Hosea’s Characterization of Jacob

As part of a complaint by God against Israel and Judah, Hosea 12 mentions several stories about Jacob, intended to serve as a model for behavior. But is Jacob a good or bad role model?

Noam Cohen

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The Shema’s Second Paragraph: An Inner-Biblical Interpretation

The second paragraph of Shema (Deuteronomy 11:13-21) has significant overlaps with the first (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), including some identical phrases and core concepts. It was likely written as a later elaboration of the first, a process that may reflect the earliest stages of the Shema becoming a central text.

Prof.

Marc Zvi Brettler

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An Inner-Biblical Elaboration of the Decalogue

Emphasizing the Holiness of Ethics over the Ritual

Prof.

Edward L. Greenstein

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Korban Chagigah from the Torah to the Seder Plate

Prof. Rabbi

Robert Harris

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How and Why Sukkot Was Linked to the Exodus

The scribes who wrote the addendum to the laws of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:42-43) used inner-biblical exegesis to explain the requirement to dwell in booths as a commemoration for the miraculous booths (not clouds) that God created for the Israelites at their first stop on the way to freedom.

Prof. Rabbi

David Frankel

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How Ancient Scribes Tried to Make Sense of the Composite Story of Baal Peor

Prof.

Itamar Kislev

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Kiryat-Arba: The Father of Giants and the City of Four

How the conflation of Kiryat-arba and Hebron created a new mythic character, Arba, father of the giants.

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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Prohibition of Meat and Milk: Its Origins in the Text

The Torah states “do not cook a kid in its mother's milk.” What does this phrase mean, and how did it develop into the prohibition of mixing meat and milk?

Dr. Rabbi

Zev Farber

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