Biblical Personalities in Midrash Aggada

Continuities and transformation of biblical figures in rabbinic exegesis; biblical tracings and the midrashic imagination; an analysis of surface and substratum hermeneutics in the rabbinic reading of scripture; the rhetoric and theology of midrash. Primary texts from Scripture, Talmud, & Midrash will be analyzed. Readings, review quiz, lectures, written or oral examination. For Religious Education Credit register in SMP 3498H or 6498H.