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 language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 30-50 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Journal of Jewish Studies |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 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,
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israel Science Foundation | ISF 1907/17 |