Midrash Jonah is the aggadic

midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

In the editions the work consists of two parts. The second part, in which the story of Jonah is allegorically referred to the soul, beginning with the words "Vayomer Adonai la-dag," is reprinted in Adolf Jellinek, ''Bet ha-Midrash''. This part is merely a literal translation from the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

; it is not found in the version printed by C. M. Horowitz (after a Codex De Rossi). The first part, the midrash proper, is found also in

Yalkut Shimoni The ''Yalkut Shimoni'' ( he, ילקוט שמעוני), or simply ''Yalkut'', is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. It is a compilation of older interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, arranged according to the ...

to Jonah with the exception of a few missing passages and with several variations; but here the

Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (also Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer; Aramaic: פרקי דרבי אליעזר, or פרקים דרבי אליעזר, Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer; abbreviated PdRE) is an aggadic-midrashic work on the Torah containing exegesis and re ...

(PdRE) is given as the source (for some passages, Yerushalmi and Bavli).

Date and Authorship

Jellinek assumes that the first part of the Midrash Jonah was compiled subsequently to

. But as many passages which Yalkut Shimoni has in common with the Midrash Jonah—e.g., the penitential prayer given in Jellinek, ''Bet ha-Midrash'' (i. 99) and the description of

Nineveh Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...

's grandeur there—are not found in PdRE; and as, furthermore, the author of Yalkut Shimoni probably did not find all this material in PdRE, he must have taken his quotations from a midrash which was substantially identical with the Midrash Jonah (i.e., with the first part). The author of this midrash borrowed nearly the whole of chapter 10 from PdRE, and borrowed also from Yerushalmi and

Babli The Babli project / barrage is a controversial reservoir project being constructed by Maharashtra across the river Godavari, disputed by Telangana. The Supreme Court of India delivered a ruling after seven years in favour of Maharashtra with the ...

. The version of the Codex De Rossi begins with the passage which in the Midrash Jonah is found in connection with 3:3 et seq.; the extracts borrowed by the latter from Bavli and Yerushalmi and inserted in the course of its commentary to this passage and later are missing in the Codex De Rossi. Then follows the end of part 1 of the midrash, into which chapter 10 of PdRE has been interpolated. (For comparison, in a compilation included in the earlier editions of

Tanhuma Midrash Tanhuma ( he, מִדְרָשׁ תַּנְחוּמָא) is the name given to three different collections of Pentateuch aggadot; two are extant, while the third is known only through citations. These midrashim, although bearing the name of ...

to the pericope

Vayikra The book of Leviticus (, from grc, Λευιτικόν, ; he, וַיִּקְרָא, , "And He called") is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Scholars generally agree ...

,ed. Stettin, ib. § 8 which dates from a later time, chapter 10 of PdRE was also included.) It concludes with the exposition of some verses—Deuteronomy 4:31, Micah 7:8, and others.

References

{{Authority control Midrashim

Contents

Date and Authorship

References