Parables in Midrash : narrative and exegesis in rabbinic literature /

Through the example of the parable, Stern studies midrashic discourse, its literary language and rhetorical forms. This enterprise is distinct from the recently growing scholarly focus upon midrashic hermeneutic, that is, upon the character of midrash as an exegetical act. Stern's point is to understand how that hermeneutic is expressed in the written form of the actual literature. To do this, he examines what he terms the "preeminent form of narrative in Rabbinic literature," the king-parable, in which the protagonist is a king symbolizing God. The book unfolds in such chapters as "Composition and Exegesis," "Rhetoric," "Poetics," "Thematics," "The Mashal [Parable] in Context," and "The Mashal in Hebrew Literature," which cover the ancient Near East through the modern period. Since this format does not lead to a systematic presentation of all relevant texts, it precludes a detailed substantiation of Stern's premises regarding the historical development and literary regularization of the parable. At the same time, Stern reveals a great deal about the function of the parable in particular and about midrashic composition in general. Accordingly, the book is necessary reading for all students of midrash as well as for scholars of comparative literature, and it should be acquired by graduate and undergraduate libraries.-A. J. Avery-Peck, Tulane University