Genesis Rabbah, the earliest rabbinic commentary on the book of Genesis, was composed in Roman Palestine around the fifth century CE and continued to be studied throughout medieval and modern times. In this volume, an international team of scholars explores the literary formation and textual transmission of this work as well as the historical, cultural, religious, and political contexts in which it was composed.
Genesis Rabbah, the earliest rabbinic commentary on Genesis, was composed in Roman Palestine around the 5th century CE. In this volume, an international team of scholars explores the literary formation and textual transmission of this work in late antiquity, and the historical, cultural, religious, and political contexts from which it emerged. Some essays study the multi-layered nature of this text, the relationship of the traditions within the collection to one another and to other compositions, its redaction, its manuscript history, and the interpretive strategies it applies to biblical verses. Other essays explore how the midrash engages with Greco-Roman literature, competing theological and exegetical ideas found in contemporary Christian works, and other genres of Jewish literature. The collection aims to advance scholarly conversations about the classical rabbinic corpus; midrash; religions of late antiquity; interactions between Jews, Christians, and others in the Greco-Roman world; and the reception of
Genesis Rabbah in medieval and modern times.
Table of contents:
Sarit Kattan Gribetz/David M. Grossberg: Introduction:
Genesis Rabbah, a Great Beginning -
Michael Sokoloff: The Major Manuscripts of
Genesis Rabbah -
Sarit Kattan Gribetz: Between Narrative and Polemic: The Sabbath in
Genesis Rabbah and the Babylonian Talmud -
Peter Schäfer: Genesis Rabbah's Enoch -
Chaim Milikowsky: Into the Workshop of the Homilist: Comparison of
Genesis Rabbah 33:1 and
Leviticus Rabbah 27:1 -
Martha Himmelfarb: Abraham and the Messianism of
Genesis Rabbah -
Carol Bakhos: The Family of Abraham in
Genesis Rabbah -
Maren Niehoff: Origen's Commentary on Genesis as a Key to
Genesis Rabbah -
Laura Lieber: Stage Mothers: Performing the Matriarchs in
Genesis Rabbah and Yannai -
Joshua Levinson: Composition and Transmission of the Exegetical Narrative in
Genesis Rabbah -
David M. Grossberg: On Plane-Trees and the Palatine Hill: Rabbi Yishmael and the Samaritan in
Genesis Rabbah and the Later Palestinian Rabbinic Tradition -
Martin Lockshin: Peshat in
Genesis Rabbah -
Marc Hirshman: The Final Chapters of
Genesis Rabbah 
