אבנימ

Biblical Hermeneutics Part Third Chapter 2

Having outlined the history of ancient Jewish exegesis from Ezra to the formation of the Talmud, Terry proceeds to trace the trends of interpretation in rabbinic exegesis thence up to the time of the Reformation. This history is necessarily one of continued confusion and lack of clarity, since the veil remains upon the heart of Israel (2 Corinthians 3.14-16).

Through the centuries, we may say that there have been broadly speaking, two groups of Jewish exegetes: the Talmudists, who were at the first represented by the Pharisees, and the Rationalists, first represented by the Sadducees. For a long time the Talmudists had the ascendancy with their mystical, cabalistic approach, which abandoned any attempt at reasonable exegesis. Yet groups and individuals have arisen at various times over the centuries to resist the superstitious follies of the Talmudists, advocating a more reasoned and literal approach. One of the first of these groups was the Karaites, who rejected the oral tradition, and insisted on a plainer interpretation of the sacred texts.

Yet it was not until the 9th and 10th centuries, especially in Spain, that we find anything approximating a well-considered grammatical method. Among the great rabbis who led in this movement were Rashi, Aben-Ezra, Moses Maimonides and David Kimchi. But from that time to the Reformation, and even to the present, the general drift in Judaism has been toward rationalism, rejecting doctrines of Messiah, miracles and the resurrection. So it is that Judaism has in the main moved from the predominance of one flawed hermeneutical methodology to that of another.