Internal Restraints on Gezerah Shawah's Application
Gezerah shawah, one of the thirteen classical midrashic methods, connects two pentateuchal verses by comparing similar words which appear in each thus allowing one verse to clarify some ambiguity, usually legal, in the other. Occasionally both verses clarify each other. Not all similar words in the...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
Penn Press
1990
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 1990, Volume: 80, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 253-282 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Gezerah shawah, one of the thirteen classical midrashic methods, connects two pentateuchal verses by comparing similar words which appear in each thus allowing one verse to clarify some ambiguity, usually legal, in the other. Occasionally both verses clarify each other. Not all similar words in the Pentateuch, however, are interpreted in this fashion. Here I explain the criteria of choice used in the classical halakhic midrashim. Analysis of gezerah shawah expositions shows: 1) The "simple" gezerah shawah has three forms. Form 1 permits a gezerah shawah interpretation when a word or phrase of two words repeats only twice in the Pentateuch. Form 2 allows a gezerah shawah when a formula of three words or more appears only twice in the Pentateuch. Form 3 authorizes a gezerah shawah when similar words appear twice in two verses of a single pentateuchal pericope or legal framework. 2) Another type of gezerah shawah exists in which only a word or phrase "free" or "open" (מופנה) for interpretation may generate a word-comparison. A "free" word or phrase occurs when it is a) redundant in its verse; b) obviated by a successful קל וחומר; c) redundant in light of a midrashic definition; or d) contextually inappropriate. Gezerah shawah mufnah also requires that generative words appear in a single pericope or share related legal rubrics. Thus internal formal constraints limit gezerah shawah's application. Word-comparison interpretations introduced by the formula ונאמר להלן נאמר כאן... but not designated gezerah shawah appear in the classical halakhic midrashim. They are not called gezerah shawah because they do not adhere to gezerah shawah's formal requirements. I call these sources "נאמר כאן interpretations." Because some early amoraim called נאמר כאן interpretations gezerah shawahs, it appeared that gezerah shawah operated without any logical pattern or restraints. This led to external controls on gezerah shawah interpretation like the rule, "No one may create a gezerah shawah on his own." |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1454971 |