Christian Midrashim

I’m reposting some of my work that was previously posted in other forums in order to gather it all in one place. This essay was originally posted on my “The Second Son” blogspot blog, January 11, 2013.

I’ve been reading James Kugel’s “How to Read the Bible.” He goes through Tanach and provides a basic introduction to biblical criticism, which he contrasts with traditional interpretations. He’s a good writer, and manages to make what is an inherently dry subject, if not exactly exciting, at least very readable. I highly recommend it.

In addition to the traditional Jewish interpretations of the text, the midrashm and meforshim, here and there he also cites Christian exegesis. Christian thinkers interpreted episodes in the Old Testament as foreshadowing Jesus, and it’s interesting how those interpretations are just as believable as the midrashim we’re familiar with.

 For example, Akeidas Yitzchak is seen as foreshadowing the sacrifice of Jesus. Yitzchak is Avraham’s son, just as Jesus is God’s son. Yitzchak carries the wood for the korban on his back, just as Jesus carried his wooden cross. The ram was a substitute sacrifice for Yitzchak, just as Jesus was a substitute sacrifice for humanity. The ram’s head was caught in thorns, just as a crown of thorns was placed on Jesus’ head. All these similarities can’t be coincidences, right?!

Another example. When the Bnei Yisroel were fighting with Amalek, Moshe stood on a hill and lifted his arms. While his arms were outstretched, they were winning, and when his arms dropped, they began to lose. To keep his arms in the air, he had Aron and Chur help hold them up. This episode is explained by the midrashim as Moshe reminding the people to think of Hashem, which in turn made them victorious. But really, did they need the visual reminder? The Christian interpretation is better. Moshe wasn’t pointing to Heaven, he was making the sign of the cross with his outstretched arms. He even had a follower on each side, just like Jesus during the crucifixion. Moshe wasn’t reminding the Bnei Yisroel to think of God, but was invoking the power of Jesus’ sacrifice to convince God  to help them win.

It’s fascinating is how plausible the Christian interpretations are. As much or more plausible than many midrashim I’ve heard. Yet if I had told these interpretations to my rabbeim way back when, they would have been dismissed as, at best, some clever people picking out a few things that they could twist to fit their agenda. But midrashim, those are all the Truth!

[To continue with comic book analogy theme from the last post, we can think of Rabbinic and Christian exegesis as different expanded universes. Both rely on the same source material and both are internally coherent, but they’re not compatible with each other.]