Lamentations Rabbah - Relation To Bereshit Rabbah

Relation To Bereshit Rabbah

The character of the interpretation in that part of the midrash which contains the running commentary to Lamentations is on the whole the same as in the Bereshit Rabbah. Side by side with the simple interpretation of sentences and words, and with various midrashic explanations dating from different authors, whose comments are placed in juxtaposition, the Midrash contains haggadic passages having some sort of relation to the verse; as, for instance, in connection with the verse "at the beginning of the watches" (ii. 19) is introduced the whole discussion of Yerushalmi, Ber. 2d, on the statement of the Mishnah, "to the end of the first watch"; in connection with the words "let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in heaven" (iii. 41) is introduced a story from Yer. Ta'an. 65a, telling how R. Abba bar Zabda preached on this verse during a fast-day service.

It is not strange that for similar expressions, such as "en lo . . ." and "lo maẓ'ah manoah" occurring in Lam. i. 2, 3, and Gen. viii. 9, xi. 30, Eichah Rabbah (ed. Buber, pp. 31a et seq.) uses the explanations of Ber. R. xxxviii. and xxxiii., end; or that in the Eichah Rabbah the same aggadah is found three times (pp. 23a, 56a, 56b)—i.e., in explaining the three passages Lam. i. 1, ii. 4, and ii. 5, in each of which the word "like" occurs; or that the same comment is applied to iii. 53 and iii. 56; or that a sentence of R. Simeon b. Laḳish is used five times—namely, to iii. 3, 18, 22, 26, 32; or that the explanation for reversing the order and putting the letter פ before ע is given twice—namely, to ii. 16 and iii. 46.

Only a few verses in ch. iii. are entirely without annotations. To some verses (ii. 20, iii. 51, iv. 13, 18, 19) are added the stories to which they were referred, even though they are also found in the large collections on ii. 2 and i. 16: "For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water." These collections, as well as the long passage on i. 5 ("her enemies prosper"), giving so many accounts of the sufferings of Israel, including the times of the First and Second Temples and the fateful revolt under Bar Kokba, are the most impressive in the Midrash to Lamentations; they form an integral part of the work, like the interesting sagas and stories to Lam. i. 1 on the greatness of the city of Jerusalem and the intelligence of her inhabitants.

Jerusalem and Athens are contrasted in ten stories. The Scriptural words "the populous city, the city great among the nations," are vividly interpreted in the Midrash as meaning "great in intelligence." In connection with iv. 2, "the sons of Zion, the splendid ones " (Hebr.), the Midrash tells of social and domestic customs. The stories of Eichah Rabbah fill over fifteen columns of the Venice edition (about eleven in the first chapter), and include more than one-fourth of the midrashic comments (without the proems). Without these stories the differences in size of the several chapters would have been less apparent, even if (as was perhaps the case) the first chapter, in the form in which the author knew it, offered more opportunity for comments than did the other chapters. From this it is erroneously concluded in the Gottesdienstliche Vorträge that "the last sections were added later"; and, furthermore, "that the completion of the whole work must not be placed before the second half of the seventh century," because Zunz concludes that the empire of the Arabians is referred to even in a passage of the first chapter.

However, according to a reading of S. Buber's edition (p. 39a), which is the only correct one as shown by the context, Seir, not Ishmael, is mentioned in connection with Edom in this passage to i. 14. The other arguments of the Gottesdienstliche Vorträge likewise fail to prove such a late date for the Midrash, especially since Zunz himself concludes that the authorities mentioned therein by name are not later than Yerushalmi. All that can be definitely stated is that Lamentations Rabbah was edited after the completion of that Talmud, and that Bereshit Rabbah must also be considered as of earlier date, not so much because it was drawn upon, as because of the character of the proem collection in Eichah Rabbah. Like Bereshit Rabbah, this Midrash is also of Judean origin, and rich in foreign words, especially Greek.

It certainly is not strange that the "Vive domine imperator!" with which R. Johanan b. Zakkai is said to have approached Vespasian in his camp, should have been reproduced. The same phrase was likewise transmitted in Aramaic and Hebrew form, in Buber's edition and in the Aruk. The Midrash is quoted, perhaps for the first time, by R. Hananeel under the name "Agadat Eichah." Many passages are quoted by R. Nathan, who invariably calls the work "Megillat Eichah." The term "Eichah Rabbati," which is general even now, is used to designate the many extracts in Yalḳuṭ which have been included with the other Biblical books. In Eichah Rabbah itself the sources are almost always missing. The names "Midrash Eichah," "Midrash Ḳinot," "Megillat Ḳinot," are also found in the old authors. In Yalḳuṭ there are likewise long extracts from a Midrash on Lamentations published under the name "Midrash Zuṭa" (Berlin, 1894) by Solomon Buber.