Midrash Rabbah

2,921 texts · Page 83 of 325

The great Midrash Rabbah, a collection of aggadic midrashim on the Torah and the Five Megillot. These rabbinic commentaries explore the deeper meanings of Scripture through parable, allegory, and legend.

Light of the First Day and Noah

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:8

We often think of it as a storybook tale, but the details, as the Torah and later rabbinic interpretations reveal, are surprisingly strict. , shall we? The verse in Genesis 8:17 co...

CreationAdam & EveNoah & FloodTorah

Adam and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:9

It wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction of gratitude. According to Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient midrashic (interpretive) text on Genesis, there was some serious divine calculus at play...

CreationAdam & EveNoah & FloodPatriarchs

Antoninos and Creation

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:10

Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, tackles this very question, and it turns out, it's a battle as old as time. The text starts with a...

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The Great Flood and Isaiah

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:11

We make them all the time – to loved ones, to ourselves, and, if we believe, God makes promises to us. But what happens when the very foundations of the world seem to shift? What t...

CreationNoah & FloodTorahProphecy

The Great Flood of Solomon

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:12

It turns out, our tradition has some fascinating ideas about this, rooted in the stories of Noah and the Flood. We find in Genesis 9:1, immediately after the Flood, that “God bless...

CreationCreaturesAdam & EveNoah & Flood

Adam and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:13

The very beginning of that relationship, after the flood, is what we're talking about today. Specifically, the verses in Genesis 9 that deal with what we can and cannot do in this ...

CreationAdam & EveNoah & FloodPatriarchs

Levi: Dawn of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:14

The verse at the heart of this discussion is Genesis 9:6: "One who sheds the blood of man, by man his blood shall be shed, as He made man in the image of God." Simple enough on the...

CreationHell/GehennaAdam & EveNoah & Flood

Reish Lakish in Battle

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 34:15

It all starts with a verse in Genesis. "And you, be fruitful, and multiply; [teem on the earth, and multiply upon it]" (Genesis 9:7). Sounds pretty straightforward. But Reish Lakis...

CreationNoah & FloodTorahProphecy

The Great Flood and Nechemya

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 35:1

The story of Noah, after the flood, grapples with this very question. We all know the story: the world drowned in sin, Noah builds an ark, saves his family and the animals. But wha...

CreationNoah & FloodTorah