A lost homily on Gehenna and repentance in Midrash Tehillim

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Abstract

This article offers philological and conceptual analyses of a series of derashot from Midrash Tehillim which address the judgement of the wicked at the entrance to Gehinnom. The analysis shows that the version preserved in printed editions is missing a single, conceptually significant derashah. This lost derashah was preserved in just one witness, a unique manuscript of eastern provenance. This derashah, attributed to R. Berekhya, presents a unique depiction of the dialogue between God and the wicked at the entrance to Gehenna and apparently grapples with the long-standing theological tension between opposing understandings of the nature of the sentencing of the wicked to Gehenna.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)30-50
Number of pages21
JournalJournal of Jewish Studies
Volume74
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, 2023.

Funding

6. In recent years I have been leading a large-scale research project focusing on the reconstruction of Midrash Tehillim. This project has allowed me to arrive at the findings that underlie this article. The project has been funded through a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF 1907/17). I would like to thank my colleagues, Dr Elhanan Shiloh, Ben-Zion Eshel and Dr Yonatan Sagiv,

FundersFunder number
Israel Science FoundationISF 1907/17

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