Opening the Gates of Interpretation

Mordechai Z. Cohen, Ph.D. (1994) in Bible, Yeshiva University, is Professor of Bible and Associate Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University. He has published extensively on Jewish Bible interpretation, including Three Approaches to Biblical Metaphor (Brill, 2003).

• INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1: THE GEONIC-ANDALUSIAN HERITAGECHAPTER 2: ZĀHIR AL-NASS IN MAIMONIDES’ SYSTEMCHAPTER 3. RATIONALE FOR THE COMMANDMENTSCHAPTER 4: MASHAL AS HERMENEUTICAL MODELCHAPTER 5: HALAKHIC EXEGESIS AND MUSLIM JURISPRUDENCECHAPTER 6. MAIMONIDES’ RULE OF PESHAT PRIMACYCHAPTER 7: TRANSFORMATION OF THE PESHAT PRINCIPLECHAPTER 8: INTEGRATING HALAKHAH AND PESHATCHAPTER 9: COORDINATING PESHAT AND ZĀHIRCHAPTER 10: THE GATES OF TA’WĪL AND INTERPRETIVE CREATIVITYCONCLUSION: MAIMONIDES IN THE EXEGETICAL CONSTELLATIONAPPENDIX A: MEANING AND TRANSLATION OF THE PESHAT PRINCIPLEAPPENDIX B: THE TERM PESHAT IN MAIMONIDES’ OTHER WRITINGSAPPENDIX C: IBN EZRA’S LIST OF EXAMPLES IN YESOD MORA

"With its indexes, appendices and bibliography, Cohen’s work makes an important contribution to Jewish intellectual history and to biblical scholarship. It will appeal to the specialist and is an essential text for an academic Judaica collection." - Randall C. Belinfante, in: Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews Vol. 2, No. 1 (2012)"It is a valuable contribution to the entire study of medieval biblical exegesis and will undoubtedly serve as the basis of all subsequent discussions of Maimonides' hermeneutics." - Daniel J. Lasker, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev