- Title Pages
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Abbreviations
- 1 An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation
- 2 The Search for Truth in Sacred Scripture: Jews, Christians, and the Authority to Interpret
- 3 The Tension between Literal Interpretation and Exegetical Freedom: Comparative Observations on Saadia's Method
- 4 Karaite Commentaries on the Song of Songs from Tenth-Century Jerusalem
- 5 Restoring the Narrative: Jewish and Christian Exegesis in the Twelfth Century
- 6 Rashbam as a “Literary” Exegete
- 7 Asceticism and Eroticism in Medieval Jewish Philosophical and Mystical Exegesis of the Song of Songs
- 8 Typology, Narrative, and History: Isaac ben Joseph ha-Kohen on the Book of Ruth
- 9 The Method of Doubts: Problematizing the Bible in Late Medieval Jewish Exegesis
- 10 Introducing Scripture: The <i>Accessus ad auctores</i> in Hebrew Exegetical Literature from the Thirteenth through the Fifteenth Centuries
- 11 On the Social Role of Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Proverbs 22:6
- 12 An Introduction to Medieval Christian Biblical Interpretation
- 13 The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament
- 14 The Four “Senses” and Four Exegetes
- 15 Laudat sensum et significationem: Robert Grosseteste on the Four Senses of Scripture
- 16 Beryl Smalley, Thomas of Cantimpré, and the Performative Reading of Scripture: A Study in Two <i>Exempla</i>
- 17 The Theological Character of the Scholastic “Division of the Text” with Particular Reference to the Commentaries of Saint Thomas Aquinas
- 18 Thomas of Ireland and his <i>De tribus sensibus sacrae scripturae</i>
- 19 Material Swords and Literal Lights: The Status of Allegory in William of Ockham's <i>Breviloquium</i> on Papal Power
- 20 An Introduction to Medieval Interpretation of the Qurʼān
- 21 Discussion and Debate in Early Commentaries of the Qurʼān
- 22 Weaknesses in the Arguments for the Early Dating of Qurʼānic Commentary
- 23 The Scriptural “Senses” in Medieval Ṣūfī Qurʼān Exegesis
- 24 Are There Allegories in Ṣūfī Qurʼān Interpretation?
- 25 From the Sacred Mosque to the Remote Temple: Sūrat al-Isrāʼ between Text and Commentary
- 26 Qurʼānic Exegesis and History
- 27 The Self-Referentiality of the Qurʼān: Sura 3:7 as an Exegetical Challenge
- 28 The Designation of “Foreign” Languages in the Exegesis of the Qurʼān
- 29 The Genre Boundaries of Qurʼānic Commentary
- Subject Index
- Index to Citations from the Bible, Rabbinic Literature, and the Qurʼān
The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament
The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament
- Chapter:
- (p.204) 13 The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament
- Source:
- With Reverence for the Word
- Author(s):
Abigail Firey
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The favored authorities of Carolingian intellectuals—Augustine, Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose—left no works dedicated specifically to detailed exegesis of Leviticus. Hrabanus Maurus relied on Hesychius and Origen, the latter the only author mentioned by Cassiodorus as an interpreter of Leviticus in the description of his cabinets of biblical commentaries. Not only was Leviticus addressed only intermittently by most patristic writers, but few exegetes chose to explore it systematically after Claudius and Hrabanus. While it might appear that Hrabanus and Claudius were simply victims of social obligations and a highly systematized, programmatic approach to biblical studies in which commentators marched through the books of the Old Testament in sequence, their commentaries on Leviticus could have been composed in the context of a volatile cultural milieu. These commentaries may well mark an important stage in the development of Christians' perception of Jews as Other, in terms not only of doctrine, but also of culture.
Keywords: Leviticus, Claudius, Hrabanus Maurus, biblical commentaries, exegesis, culture, Christians, Jews, Old Testament
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- Title Pages
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Abbreviations
- 1 An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation
- 2 The Search for Truth in Sacred Scripture: Jews, Christians, and the Authority to Interpret
- 3 The Tension between Literal Interpretation and Exegetical Freedom: Comparative Observations on Saadia's Method
- 4 Karaite Commentaries on the Song of Songs from Tenth-Century Jerusalem
- 5 Restoring the Narrative: Jewish and Christian Exegesis in the Twelfth Century
- 6 Rashbam as a “Literary” Exegete
- 7 Asceticism and Eroticism in Medieval Jewish Philosophical and Mystical Exegesis of the Song of Songs
- 8 Typology, Narrative, and History: Isaac ben Joseph ha-Kohen on the Book of Ruth
- 9 The Method of Doubts: Problematizing the Bible in Late Medieval Jewish Exegesis
- 10 Introducing Scripture: The <i>Accessus ad auctores</i> in Hebrew Exegetical Literature from the Thirteenth through the Fifteenth Centuries
- 11 On the Social Role of Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Proverbs 22:6
- 12 An Introduction to Medieval Christian Biblical Interpretation
- 13 The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament
- 14 The Four “Senses” and Four Exegetes
- 15 Laudat sensum et significationem: Robert Grosseteste on the Four Senses of Scripture
- 16 Beryl Smalley, Thomas of Cantimpré, and the Performative Reading of Scripture: A Study in Two <i>Exempla</i>
- 17 The Theological Character of the Scholastic “Division of the Text” with Particular Reference to the Commentaries of Saint Thomas Aquinas
- 18 Thomas of Ireland and his <i>De tribus sensibus sacrae scripturae</i>
- 19 Material Swords and Literal Lights: The Status of Allegory in William of Ockham's <i>Breviloquium</i> on Papal Power
- 20 An Introduction to Medieval Interpretation of the Qurʼān
- 21 Discussion and Debate in Early Commentaries of the Qurʼān
- 22 Weaknesses in the Arguments for the Early Dating of Qurʼānic Commentary
- 23 The Scriptural “Senses” in Medieval Ṣūfī Qurʼān Exegesis
- 24 Are There Allegories in Ṣūfī Qurʼān Interpretation?
- 25 From the Sacred Mosque to the Remote Temple: Sūrat al-Isrāʼ between Text and Commentary
- 26 Qurʼānic Exegesis and History
- 27 The Self-Referentiality of the Qurʼān: Sura 3:7 as an Exegetical Challenge
- 28 The Designation of “Foreign” Languages in the Exegesis of the Qurʼān
- 29 The Genre Boundaries of Qurʼānic Commentary
- Subject Index
- Index to Citations from the Bible, Rabbinic Literature, and the Qurʼān