The (Im)possibility of Separating Rabbinic Texts into Literary Genres: Form Analysis and Text Linguistics

This paper analyzes rabbinic homiletic texts from the perspective of form analysis in combination with text-linguistic theories. My study indicates that, from the perspective of functional considerations, it is not meaningful to lift small literary forms from a coherent text that depends on a co-text to create meaning. Additionally, the concepts of genre and parable need to be abandoned and replaced by texttype and mashal. The form-analytical description of rabbinic homilies is based on research performed at the Institute of Judaic Studies in Frankfurt am Main. The text-linguistic concepts are based on strict formalizations that demonstrate textual relations. These theories are applied to rabbinic homilies found in the Pesiqtot and the Tanhuma-Yelammedenu literature. A case study focuses on Pesiqta Rabbati 30 on Isaiah 40:1 »Comfort, comfort My people, says Your God,« a haftarah reading after the Ninth of Av.