Cited by 1Biblical Studies and InterpretationHistorical and Linguistic StudiesReligion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 1 of the 1 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 69 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer y exégesis cristiana oriental

Open access
SPURLING, Helen, GRYPEOU, Emmanouela·2007·Collectanea Christiana Orientalia

Abstract

Este artículo estudia la utilización de las tradiciones procedentes del Oriente Cristiano para poder comprender el desarrollo de los motivos contenidos en el Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer. El proceso del desarrollo del material contenido en el PRE es analizado en detalle, con especial referencia al resto de la literatura judáica. Sin embargo, un número de motivos que representan un nuevo desarrollo en el PRE son, así mismo, ideas comunes en fuentes del Oriente Cristiano. Este artículo se ocupa de cuatro ejemplos del PRE, que reflejan una exégesis que se encuentra también en tradiciones del Oriente Cristiano y marcan una tentativa inicial para identificar aquel material del PRE que puede haber sido influenciado por el pensamiento cristiano.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This article argues that several distinctive motifs in *Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer* (PRE) may reflect awareness of Eastern Christian, especially Syriac, exegesis. It examines four examples—Sammael and the serpent, the Sethite/Cainite generations, the Cave of Machpelah/Temple Mount, and the ark’s levels—as an initial attempt to identify possible Christian influence on PRE.

Key findings

  • In PRE, Sammael is explicitly named as the leader of angels and the architect of Eve’s corruption, and he rides the serpent; the paper says this agency of the serpent for Sammael is not common in rabbinic literature and is closest to Syriac traditions such as the *Cave of Treasures*, Ephrem, Narsai, and Ishodad of Merv.
  • PRE ch.22 is described as the first rabbinic source that unambiguously contrasts the righteous descendants of Seth with the wicked descendants of Cain in exegesis of Genesis 6:1–8, and it identifies the “daughters of men” with the daughters of Cain; the paper cites Klijn that “In PRE for the first time” the Sethites are righteous and Cainites wicked.
  • PRE locates the Cave of Machpelah “outside of Mount Moriah,” i.e. the Temple site, has Adam build his own tomb, and says Adam feared his bones would become an object of idolatry; Christian sources instead place Adam’s burial at Golgotha/Jerusalem, while the *Cave of Treasures* identifies the Cave with the Temple.
  • PRE ch.23 describes 366 rooms for creatures on each level of the ark and assigns the lowest level to cattle and beasts, the second to birds, and the third to reptiles, abominable things, and people; the paper says this order matches Ephrem’s *Hymns on Paradise* 2.12, the *Cave of Treasures*, and a Hippolytus fragment, unlike Genesis rabbah 31.11 and Sanhedrin 108b.

Methods

  • Comparative exegetical study of four selected motifs from PRE, read against earlier Jewish rabbinic and pseudepigraphic sources and against Christian Oriental sources in Greek, Syriac, Coptic, and Arabic.
  • The analysis uses close textual comparison of PRE passages with works such as the *Cave of Treasures*, Ephrem, Narsai, Ishodad of Merv, Julius Africanus, Origen, Procopius, and Theodore bar Koni.
  • No quantitative or systematic corpus analysis is used; the argument is based on identifying parallel motifs and assessing whether they are better explained by inner-Jewish development or possible Christian influence.

Limitations

  • The paper states that it is “an initial endeavour” and that the material “may have been influenced by Christian thought”; its conclusions are presented as possibilities or strong likelihoods rather than definitive proof.
  • The text makes evident that the argument rests on only four examples and on parallel motifs, without direct evidence of historical transmission between Christian and Jewish communities.
  • The paper also notes uncertainty about some comparative sources, such as the provenance and authorship of the Arabic Hippolytus fragments, and acknowledges that some later Jewish texts contain similar traditions but lack the intermediary role of the serpent.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.21071/cco.v4i.14747

Cites

1 of 1 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

55 Sources not found · 41 No basis given · 29 Own interpretation · 8 Not checked yet · 8 Own result

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 43
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 40
69 of 69
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The author(s) of Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer had knowledge of and access to Christian exegetical traditions.

    “Given the widespread popularity of the idea of the devil using the serpent as an intermediary in Christian sources, it seems likely that PRE may have incorporated such a tradition through knowledge of the Christian idea.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Similarity between Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer and Christian sources indicates influence rather than independent derivation from a common source.

    “If we consider that this motif is found in different versions in various Greek and Syriac Christian sources from the fourth to the seventh century, while it is only found explicitly first of all in PRE, there is a strong possibility that we have here an influence of the Christian exegetical tradition on PRE.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The absence of a motif in earlier rabbinic literature means it was not part of the Jewish tradition available to Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer.

    “However, we have no direct parallel for the description of the generation of the flood in the terms of the contrast between the generations of Seth and Cain in rabbinic sources earlier than PRE.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Christian traditions and sources discussed were earlier than or contemporaneous with PRE and accessible to its editor(s).

    “Given the widespread popularity of these ideas in Christian circles, the possibility that PRE may have developed and included this tradition through the influence of the Christian motif should be considered.”
    “The proximity both geographically and linguistically between centres of Judaism and the Christian East also facilitates the possibility of an interchange of ideas between these two groups.”
4 of 4

Citations

Cites

Part of this paper’s reference list could not be split into single entries.

Show all 1 references

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Christianity", in G.A. ROBBINS, Genesis 1-3 in the History of Exegesis (Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988), pp. 186-222; cf. also GLENTHØJ, Cain and Abel, p. 279.
  2. See Juan Pedro MONFERRER-SALA, "Gn 6,1-4 a la luz de un fragmento exegético contenido en el Kitāb al-taɛrīj al-maØmūɜa ɜalà al-taᐓqīq wa-l-tasdīq de Eutiquio de Alejandría", Miscelánea de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos, 49 (2000), pp. 117-130.
  3. See SU-MIN, RI, La Caverne des Trésors. Les Deux Recensions Syriaques, CSCO 486, Script. Syr. 207 (Louvain: Peeters, 1987), pp. 38-40.
  4. As it occurs in the Arabic Kitāb al-Maǧāll Cf. J. P. MONFERRER-SALA, Apócrifos árabes cristianos. Introducción, traducción y notas J.P. Monferrer, «Pliegos de Oriente» (Madrid: Trotta, 2003), pp. 71 and 79.
  5. See B. BAGATTI, "Note sull'iconografia di 'Adamo sotto il Calvario' (Tavv. 1-12)", Liber Annuus XXVII (1977), pp. 5-32. The topos of the flood is also found in the Muslim traditions, see J. P. MONFERRER-SALA, "Fragments from the Testament of Adam in Some Arabic Islamic Sources", Journal of Medieval and Islamic History 4 (2004-5), pp. 16-17.

Cited by

Metadata

Authors
SPURLING, H., & GRYPEOU, E.
Affiliations
University of Cambridge (GB)
Venue
Collectanea Christiana Orientalia
Published
2007-10-01
Volume
4
Pages
217-243
ISSN
  • 1697-2104 (ISSN-L)
  • 2386-7442
OpenAlex
W4388920882
Cited by
1
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
es
Open access
Locations
Collectanea Christiana Orientalia (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Historical and Linguistic Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Religion, Theology, History, Judaism, Christianity
Keywords
Christian exegesis, Eastern Christian tradition, Jewish-Christian relations, intertextuality, Jewish apocrypha, exegesis

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