Abstract

This study aims to illustrate how the commentary of Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (Nahmanides) illuminates the complexities of the relationships between biblical characters through his intertextual approach to the interpretation of biblical narrative. A close reader of the Bible, Nahmanides interprets texts in relation to other texts, discerning connections that elicit novel insights about the biblical characters and their interactions with one another. Nahmanides employs overt intertextual readings that are marked by literary qualifiers such as כענין and כמו; he also makes intertextual comparisons by oblique means. In his overt intertextual analyses, he refers to a parallel character or cites a related biblical verse from a corresponding narrative scene. In his oblique intertextual analysis, Nahmanides incorporates indirect "quotes" from other texts in the course of formulating his interpretation of the focus narrative. Nahmanides's intertextual analogies, both overt and oblique, motivate the reader of his commentary to derive additional connections among the interrelated texts, broadening the audience's understanding of the relational dynamics among biblical characters and their stories.

pdf

Share