The hermeneutics of textual hierarchies in the Babylonian Talmud
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this dissertation I challenge longstanding assumptions regarding the hermeneutical relationships between the various textual layers of the Babylonian Talmud, arguing that inversions of the Talmud's layered hierarchy must not be regarded as aberrant or subversive deviations from a dominant hermeneutical paradigm that is otherwise systematically maintained, but rather must be understood as a key component of the interpretive activity of the creators of the anonymous stratum. Building on a theoretical foundation constructed from observations of canonical textual interpretation more broadly considered, I examine the particular case of the Babylonian Talmud focusing on the ways in which the authors of the anonymous stratum interpret received tradition. By analyzing texts that are constructed around the use of particular repeated terminology, I show how this terminology is employed to create a rhetoric of interpretation that often masks instances in which the anonymous authors assert their own authority over that of their (ostensibly more authoritative) sources. By claiming only to recover the original meaning of statements in received tradition, the anonymous authors are able to rework and even rewrite their canonical sources without threatening the integrity of this corpus, as the authority of the anonymous authors is derived from and contingent upon the continued authority and integrity of received tradition.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2015 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | DeBold, Robert Timothy |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Religious Studies. |
| Primary advisor | Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva |
| Thesis advisor | Fonrobert, Charlotte Elisheva |
| Thesis advisor | Bashir, Shahzad, 1968- |
| Thesis advisor | Weitzman, Steven, 1965- |
| Thesis advisor | Wimpfheimer, Barry S |
| Advisor | Bashir, Shahzad, 1968- |
| Advisor | Weitzman, Steven, 1965- |
| Advisor | Wimpfheimer, Barry S |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Robert Timothy DeBold. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Religious Studies. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2015. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2015 by Robert Timothy DeBold
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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