Judaism Early Jewish Thought --

¶ … Judaism

Early Jewish thought -- the development of Midrash, Mishnah, Talmud, and Gemara

The development of the identity of the Sage in early Judaic literature, as suggested by the scholar Martin Jaffe, highlighted a new development in the history of Israel and altered the course of its native religion, in contrast to neighboring regions of the Near East. No longer was the Torah's importance confined merely to its mythic structure, as it comprised merely the narrative of the story of the Israeli people -- now commentary, in the form of Midrash, was of equal, if not more importance when interpreting the text. This elevated the figure of the sage, or the commenter who dispensed such words that provided guidance in understanding the 'real meaning' of the text. "While discoursing on Torah, the Sage formed sentences and thoughts not in the Aramaic and Greek dialects of other Jews, but in the classic Hebrew phrases of the scriptures and the renditions of ancient Sages going back to Moses himself. His teaching, moreover, was not confined to his public discourses. Even his most common actions - the way he blesses his bread, uttered his prayers, purchased his vegetables, or cleaned himself - could become sources of Halakah, disciplines by which disciples might pursue their own self-perfection. As an embodiment of Torah he had as well penetrating insight into each disciples character; his rebuke was devastating, while his advice and praise could set a disciple on his own path to perfecting the discipline of Torah." (Jaffe, 1997)

The scholars James Kugel and Rowan a. Greer date this significance of text and commentary above practice and temple Judaism to the "Babylonian conquest of Judea" to 587 BCE, to the Jewish dislocation to Babylon, and even further back in Israel's history, where forced relocation of the Israeli people caused a focus on Judaism as a religion of the book and interpretation of "God's speech" as "a text," rather than a series of rituals or a common sharing of mythical narratives and practices (Kugel & Greer 15 & 19) "This process of interpretation, fostered by forces we shall examine below, grew more and more elaborate by the end of the biblical period. In the centuries just before and after the turn of the common era, the Jewish people pored over their sacred texts with a single-minded intensity, seeking in them not only a history of their ancestors and the glories of days gone by bur a corpus of divine instructions, a guide to proper conduct." (Kugel & Greer, 13)

The earliest form of discussion of such regulations is now known as the Midrash based on a Hebrew word meaning 'interpretation' or 'exegesis'.