Editing Midrash (section)

== As method ==
Midrash is now viewed more as method than genre, although the rabbinic midrashim do constitute a distinct literary genre.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SLvrV1dnBOUC&dq=evans+%22more+as+method%22&pg=PA14 Craig A. Evans, ''To See and Not Perceive: Isaiah 6.9-10 in Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation'' (Bloomsbury 1989), p. 14]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=o6dbnmzzaUkC&dq=midrash+method+genre&pg=PA59 Jonathan S. Nkoma, ''Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Essays'' (African Books Collective 2013), p. 59]</ref> According to the ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'', "Midrash was initially a philological method of interpreting the literal meaning of biblical texts. In time it developed into a sophisticated interpretive system that reconciled apparent biblical contradictions, established the scriptural basis of new laws, and enriched biblical content with new meaning. Midrashic creativity reached its peak in the schools of [[Rabbi Ishmael]] and [[Rabbi Akiva|Akiba]], where two different hermeneutic methods were applied. The first was primarily logically oriented, making inferences based upon similarity of content and analogy. The second rested largely upon textual scrutiny, assuming that words and letters that seem superfluous teach something not openly stated in the text."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Talmud#ref34866 |title=''Encyclopaedia Britannica''. article "Talmud and Midrash", section "Modes of interpretation and thought" |access-date=2018-07-31 |archive-date=2018-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801005707/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Talmud#ref34866 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many different exegetical methods are employed to derive deeper meaning from a text. This is not limited to the traditional [[Rabbi Ishmael#Hermeneutic rules|thirteen textual tools]] attributed to the [[Tannaim|Tanna]] [[Rabbi Ishmael]], which are used in the interpretation of {{transliteration|he|[[halakha]]}} (Jewish law). The presence of words or letters which are seen to be apparently superfluous, and the chronology of events, parallel narratives or what are seen as other textual "anomalies" are often used as a springboard for interpretation of segments of Biblical text. In many cases, a handful of lines in the Biblical narrative may become a long philosophical discussion.

Jacob Neusner distinguishes three midrash processes:
# paraphrase: recounting the content of the biblical text in different language that may change the sense;
# prophecy: reading the text as an account of something happening or about to happen in the interpreter's time;
# parable or allegory: indicating deeper meanings of the words of the text as speaking of something other than the superficial meaning of the words or of everyday reality, as when the love of man and woman in the Song of Songs is interpreted as referring to the love between God and Israel as in Isaiah 5.<ref>{{bibleverse|Isaiah|5:1-6}}</ref> Similar systems were later adopted by other religions, such as Christianity, and applied to texts such as the [[New Testament]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=e-CPBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22types+of+midrash-processes%22&pg=PA1 Jacob Neusner, ''What Is Midrash'' (Wipf and Stock 2014), pp. 1−2 and 7−8]</ref>