Pentateuchal Women Portrayed in Tannaitic Midrash: A Close Reading of Ancient Rabbinic Texts that Closely Read the Text

Abstract

Abstract The Tannaitic Midrashim offer a unique and ancient view of the reception of the bible by the earliest generations of rabbis. This study describes how the close readings and textual analyses in these midrashim resulted in a fuller picture of biblical ideas and characters; in this case, the women of the Pentateuch. The tannaitic midrashic texts that describe Zipporah, Miriam, the Daughters of Zelophehad and Serah bat Asher are isolated and analyzed in order to see how the ancient rabbis read the biblical stories of these women and then elaborated on them in their exegetical writings.