Midrash synonyms

The term Midrash, however, more commonly implies agada, i.e.

Very important for the study of Midrashic literature are the Yalgut (gleaning) Shim`oni, on the whole Bible, the Yalqut Mekhiri, on the Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs and Job, and the Midrash ha-gadhol, 2 all of which are of uncertain but late date and preserve earlier material.

In the East, Tanhum ben Joseph of Jerusalem was the author of commentaries (not to be confounded with the Midrash Tanhuma) on many books of the Bible, and of an extensive lexicon (Kitab al-Murshid) to the Mishnah, all in Arabic.

The two parts are distinguished by difference of style; the Hebrew principle of parallelism of clauses is employed far more in the first than in the second, which has a number of plain prose passages, and is also rich in uncommon compound terms. In view of these differences there is ground for holding that the second part is a separate production which has been united with the first by an editor, an historical haggadic sketch, a midrash, full of imaginative additions to the Biblical narrative, and enlivened by many striking ethical reflections.

As a teacher he was one of the first to discriminate between the various strata in rabbinic records; to him was due the revival of interest in the older Midrash and in the Palestinian Talmud, interest in which had been weak for some centuries before his time.