Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

List of Contributors

Transliteration of Arabic

Transliteration of Hebrew

Introduction

Part 1 From Jerusalem to Alexandria

“Singing Songs about Songs”: Biblical and Exegetical Interconnections in Three Hebrew Hymns for Yōm Vayyōshaʿ (the Seventh Dayof Passover)

“Many Beautiful Meanings Can Be Drawn from Such a Comparison”:1 On the Medieval Interaction View of Biblical Metaphor

Part 2 From Granada to Sanaʿa

“The Distinction of Creative Ability” (Faḍl al-ibdāʿ): From Poetics to Legal Hermeneutics in Moses Ibn Ezra

The Biblical Exegesis of Abraham Ibn Ezra as a Hermeneutical Device: A Literary Riddle as a Case Study

The Uses of Scripture in Zechariah al-Ḍāhirī’s Sēfer ha-mūsār

Part 3 From Constantinople to Candia

The Interplay of Poetry and Exegesis in Judah Hadassi’s Eshkōl ha-kōfer

Aaron ben Joseph’s Poem for Pārāshat Yitrō Considered in Light of His Torah Commentary Sēfer ha-miḇḥār

Shemarya ha-Ikriti and the Karaite Exegetical Challenge

Part 4 From Istanbul to Trakai

The Methods of Judah Gibbor’s Biblical Exegesis in Minḥat Yĕhūdā

“The One Who Defeats the Power of the Stars”: Medieval Exegetics in Polish-Lithuanian Karaite Poetry

Berakha ben Joseph’s Commentary on the Piyyūṭīm by Aaron ben Joseph

General Index