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5 unusual facts about Midrash Tehillim


Midrash Tehillim

Of the interesting myths may be mentioned that of Remus and Romulus, to whom God sends a she-wolf to suckle (Midr. Teh. to Ps. x. 6; Buber, l.c. p. 45a), and the legend of Emperor Hadrian, who wished to measure the depth of the Adriatic Sea (Midr. Teh. to Ps. xciii. 6; Buber, l.c. p. 208a, b).

From the 12th century it was called also Shocher Tov (see Midrash Tehillim, ed. S. Buber, Introduction, pp. 35 et seq.), because it begins with the verse Prov. xi.

This omission has been supplied by S. Buber, in his very full edition of the Midrash Tehillim, by printing, under the superscription of the two psalms, collectanea from the Pesiḳta Rabbati, Sifre, Numbers Rabbah, and the Babylonian Talmud, so that the midrash in its present form covers the entire Book of Psalms.

Many words, also, are explained according to the numerical value of the letters (Gemaṭria) or by analysis of their component parts (Noṭariḳon) as well as by the substitution of other vowels ("al-tiḳri"; comp. the collation of all these passages in Buber, l.c. p. 10a, b).

Midrash Tehillim (Hebrew: מדרש תהלים) or Midrash to Psalms is a haggadic midrash known since the 11th century, when it was quoted by Nathan of Rome in his Aruk (s.v. סחר), by R. Isaac ben Judah ibn Ghayyat in his Halakot (1b), and by Rashi in his commentary on I Sam. xvii.



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