An ancient Jewish homiletic commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures, in which free use was made of moral, parables, and legendary illustration. Collections of multiple authors, Midrashim are organized according to the schedule of Scriptural readings in the synagogue. Also, the mode of treatment characteristic of this class of commentaries. Halakhic Midrashim. Scriptural commentary in the style of Midrash, intended to establish legal principles from the verses or passages being studied. Aggadic Midrashim. Scriptural commentary offering non-legal interpretations.

(plural: midrashim) literally, an inquiry or investigation, but as a technical term, "midrash" refers to a rabbinic interpretation, or exposition, of biblical text. The term can also be applied to a collection of such expositions or, capitalized, to the whole midrashic literature written during the first millennium A.D.

(exposition) is a rabbinic commentary on the Bible that explains legal points (primarily, midrash halakah) or brings out lessons by story, parable, or legend (primarily, midrash aggadah). The midrashim were written from the Mishnaic period to the 13th c.

literally "study", but more accurately "interpretation". Bible commentary which examines the meaning of unclear passages, inconsistancies, discontinuities, etc. They sometimes take the form of stories or retellings and elaborations of the stories at hand.

normally what you might think of as an interpretive story or parable.

An interpretative method through which the deeper meaning of texts can be extracted; covers both aggadic and halachic subject matter.

Verse by verse exegesis of the Old Testament by Jewish teachers over the centuries. Many volumes of such have been published. (Fine, John V.A. Jr. The Late Medieval Balkans, 624)

rabbinic tales and explanations of the Torah

"Inquire" or "investigate". ("Drash" or "Drosh" are shorter ways of saying the same thing.) Commentaries on the Torah and all subsequent related writings and interpretations. A tradition from the earliest times to the present. (The phrase, "The Midrash", refers to commentary in the Midrash Rabbah, a collection of commentaries on the five books of the Torah and the five books ("scrolls" or megillot) of the Kethuvim (Writings) annually read in the synagogue (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther).

Classical rabbinic biblical interpretation. A collection of biblical sermonic material dating from the second to fifth centuries CE.

Heb. (to search) A type of rabbinic literature consisting of biblical exegesis and sermons.

Rabbinic commentary and interpretation on the scriptures

Often people use the word "midrash" to mean a post-biblical story that "fills in" some "missing" aspect of a biblical story or embellishes it. A more technical definition of traditional midrash might be: a teaching, legal or homiletic, that is derived through the word-play between the teacher's words and one, or usually more, biblical texts.

(pl., midrashim): A general term applied to a large and very important section of Jewish literature.

a type of interpretation where one Biblical passage is used to uncover the meaning of another, or where two passages which pose an apparent contradiction to one another are harmonized by means of a third passage which resolves the contradiction.

(from Hebrew derash, "sermon"). Stories, sermons, parables, and other material explaining the Talmud. See Jewish Texts: Midrash.

an interpretation; a story that fills in gaps in the Torah narrative, or answers questions about the narrative; (when capitalized) any of several volumes of such stories compiled by rabbis of the Talmudic era.

Explains biblical text from the ethical and devotional point of view.

(MID·ras h). The Talmudic exposition of biblical verses. The Talmud includes two types of midrash, Halakhic, which contains expositions of the Halakhic contents of the Torah, and Aggadic, containing homiletic explanations of the underlying significance of biblical text.

From a root meaning "to study," "to seek out" or "to investigate." Stories elaborating on incidents in the Bible, to derive a principle of Jewish law or provide a moral lesson.

an ancient Jewish way of teaching, often by making heavy use of the gift of story-telling

an ancient style of teaching that makes heavy use of illustration in the form of parables, storytelling or liberally expanding on the original narrative

a parable or narrative interpretation or an interrogative dialogue with which one explores a sacred text, usually the stories to be found in the Torah - the Five Books of Moses - or the rest of the Old Testament

Part of Jewish scripture: a collection of teachings of the ancient Rabbis, giving their interpretation of the Torah and defining Jewish law.

Rabbinic commentary on the Bible, clarifying legal points or bringing out lessons by stories, parables, or legends.

Stories that expand on biblical events, either to provide a moral lesson or clarify a point.

Rabbinical work with homiletic interpretations

The "commentary" literature developed in classical Judaism that attempts to interpret Jewish scriptures in a thorough manner.

(a) any one of the classical collections of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Torah (see *derush); (b) a particular passage therefrom

Biblical texts (Old Testament usually) retold to provide help for believers.

explanations on biblical text usually aggadic by tanaim and later

Legends, stories, and fantastic elaborations of Scripture. Jews have been creating midrash for thousands of years, and still do so today; it is often an imaginative, creative reconstruction or reconfiguration of sacred text. The interpretative approach known as midrash halakah explores the full meaning of biblical law. Midrash aggadah, on the other hand, sometimes aims to derive a moral principle, lesson or theological concept from the biblical text.

The classical collection of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Bible.

From the Hebrew "to interpret, to explain," the halakhic or haggadic traditions transmitted as an explanation or commentary on a biblical verse. There are separate volumes of midrashim for each of the biblical books.

Homiletical exposition of the Torah

A rabbinic method of interpreting text, often through the telling of stories.

A parable used to elucidate a point in a Biblical or sanctified text.

one of the classical collections of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Torah, on the non-literal level of derush.

Rabbinic commentary and explanatory notes, homilies and stories on scriptural passages.

A deeper more fanciful interpretation of passages from the Torah like reading between the lines. A Midrash does not have quite the force of Torah or Talmud but are frequently considered in explaining or interpreting Torah. LIDRASH means to seek or interpret. A DROSH is a commentary on some part of the Torah.

(pl. midrashim) lit. "retelling": a story or collection of (often ancient) extra-scriptural Torah stories. A Beis Midrash is a house of learning.

in Rabbinic Judaism, a running exposition and ever-evolving commentary upon the Hebrew scriptures, i.e., the Tanakh.

Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of exegesis of a Biblical text. The term "midrash" also can refer to a compilation of Midrashic teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical or homiletical commentaries on the Tanakh (Jewish Bible).