Scripture As Logos by Yadin Azzan;

Author:Yadin, Azzan;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2019-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

ii)

Middah can also refer to the “measure” that one receives for good or bad actions, that is, reward or punishment.65 This meaning, too, is irrelevant.

iii)

Finally, middah signifies the character or nature of a person or thing:

Four characters [middot]6 among people: He who says, what is mine is mine and what is yours is yours—this is the common type … What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine—this is ‘am ha-’aretz, etc. (m. Avot 5.10; Danby, p. 457)

Or:

Four characters [middot] among the disciples: Quick to learn and quick to forget—his gain is canceled by his loss; slow to learn and slow to forget—his loss is canceled by his gain, etc. (m. Avot 5.12; Danby, p. 457)

The similarity of these phrases (and others like them)67 to the middot formula in the Rabbi Ishmael midrashim is readily apparent, as in both cases the middah is followed by the preposition , whose root meaning is “in” or “with respect to.” This is significant since the phrase “This is a middah in the Torah” cannot mean that the middot are listed in the Torah, since they are not. The Avot passages use middah + to refer to typical modes of behavior of people, students etc., and this, I propose, is precisely the meaning of : “This is the typical mode of behavior of Scripture.” Applying this meaning to the middot of the Rabbi Ishmael midrashim yields, for example: “This is the typical mode of behavior of Scripture: any discussion stated in one place, which omits a specific matter and is then repeated—the repetition is only for the sake of the omitted matter.” Or: “It is typical for Torah to have a general term need a specific term, and so on.” On this reading, the middot are not imposed upon the biblical text; they emerge from recognizing a mode of expression as typical of Scripture.68 Here, too, then, the lead agent of interpretation is Scripture, and it is from Scripture that the interpreter takes his cues.

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