MIDWIVES
2.S7
MIDWIVES
"commentary" in the Kevised Version. In rabbini-
cal parlance, Midrash has the abstract and general
sense of study, exposition of Scrijdure, while Mid-
rashim are primarily the free and art ificial explanations
of the Sacred Text given by its ancient expositors,
and secondarily the collections of such explanations in
the shape of commentaries on Holy Writ.
Origin and Kind.s of Midra.shim. — After the re- turn from Babylon, the Law was the centre of the life of the Jews at home and abroad. Henceforth, the one concern of the Jewish authorities was to make sure that the Mosaic precepts be accurately complied with by all, and under all circumstances, and it is from this practical standpoint that the Scribes and after them the Rabbis studied and expounded the contents of their sacred writings. A part of these contents, viz., the enactments of the Mosaic Law, made of course directly for the purpose of promoting legal righteous- ness in Israel ; yet, as these laws had been framed in view of concrete circumstances of the past, they had to be explained in a more or less artificial way to make them fit the altered circumstances of Jewish life, or serve as a Scriptural basis or supjjort of the various traditional observances which made up the oral law. All such artificial explanations of the terms of the Mosaic legislation are legal, or Halachic, Midrashim. Distinct from this general kind of Mitlrashim are those called homiletical, or Hagadic, which embrace the in- terpretation, illustration, or expansion, in a moralizing or edifying manner, of the non-legal portions of the Hebrew Bible. As the object of this latter kind of Midrashim was not to determine the precise require- ments of the Law, but rather to confirm in a general manner Jewish hearers in their faith and its practice, Hagadic explanations of the non-legal parts of Scrip- ture are characterized by a much greater freedom of exposition than the Halachic Midrashim ; and it may be truly said that Hagadic e.xpositors have availed them- selves of whatever material — sayings of prominent Rab- bis (e. g., philosophical or mystical disquisitions con- cerning angels, demons, paradise, hell, Messia.s, Satan, feasts and fasts, parables, legends, satirical assaults on the heathen and their rites, etc.) — could render their treatment of those portions of the Sacred Text more instructive or edifying. Both kinds of Mid- rashim were at first preserved only orally; but their writing down commenced with the second century of our era, and they now exist in the shape chiefly of exegetical or homiletical works on the whole or parts of the Hebrew Bible.
Principal Midr.v.shim. — The three earliest and in several respects most important Midrashic collections are: (I) the Mechilla, on a portion of Exodus, and embodying the tradition mainly of the School of Rabbi Ishmael (first century); (2) the Siphra, on Leviticus, embodying the tradition of Rabbi .\qiba with additions from the School of Rabbi Ishmael ; (3) the Siphre, on Numbers and Deuteronomy, going back mainly to the schools of the same two Raljliis. These three works are used in the Gemaras. (4) The Rabboth (great commentaries), a large collection of ten Midrashim on the Pentateuch and Megilloth, which bear the respective names of: (a) Bereshith Rabba, on Genesis (mainly from the sixth century) ; (b) Shemoth Rabba, on Exodus (eleventh or twelfth century) ; (c) Wayyiqra Rablia, on Leviticus (middle of seventh century); (d) Baraidbar Rabba, on Num- bers (twelfth century) ; (e) Debharim Rabba, on Deuteronomy (tenth century) ; (f) Shir .\shshirim Rabba, on Canticle of Canticles (probably before middle of ninth century) ; (g) Ruth Rabba, on Ruth (same date as foregoing) ; (h) Echa Rabba, on Lam- entations (seventh century) ; (i) Midrash Qoheleth, on Ecclesiastes (probably before middle of ninth cent- tury); (j) Midrash Esther, on Esther (a. d. 040). Of these Rabboth, the Midrashim on Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are chiefly made up of
homilies on the Scripture sections for the Sabbath or
festival, while the others are rather of an exegetical
nature. (5) The Pesiqta. a compilation of homilies on
special Pentuteuchal and Prophetic lessons (early
eighth century) ; (6) Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer (not before
eighth century), a Midrashic narrative of the more
important events of the Pentateuch; (7) Tanchuma
or Yelawmedcnu (ninth century) on the whole Penta-
teuch; its homilies consist of a Halachic introduction,
followed by several proems, exposition of the opening
verses, and the Messianic conclusion; (S) Midrash,
Sliemucl, on the first two Books of Kings (I, II Sam-
uel); (9) Midrash Tehiltim, on the Psalms; (10) Mid-
rash Mishle, on Proverbs; (11) Yalqut Shimeoni, a
kind of catena extending over all the Hebrew Scrip-
tures.
Importance of Midrashim. — At first sight, one might think that such farrago as the Midrashic litera- ture could be of interest and value only to a Jew as Jew, inasmuch as the Midrashim are thoroughly steeped in the spirit of Judaism, bear distinct witness to the laws, customs, doctrines, aspirations of the Jew- ish race, and record the noblest ideas, sayings, and teachings of the Jewish sages in early times. The more, however, he examines the contents of these ancient expository works, the more he discovers that they are an invaluable source of information to the Christian apologist, the Biblical student, and the general scholar as well. In this body of ancient literature, there is much in the line of ideas, expres- sions, reasonings, and descriptions, which can be used to illustrate and confirm the inspired records of Chris- tianity and the traditional teachings of the Church, notably concerning the passages of the Old Testa- ment to be regarded as Messianic. The Biblical stu- dent will at times notice in the oldest parts of the Midrashim, Scriptural readings anterior to those em- bodied in the Massoretic text. Again, "when it is borne in mind that the annotators and punctuators of the Hebrew text, and the translators of the [most] ancient versions, were Jews impregnated with the theological opinions of the nation, and pro.secuted their Biblical labours in harmony with these opinions . . . the importance of the Halachic and Hagadic exegesis to the criticism of the Hcl^rew text, and to a right miderstanding of the Greek, ( 'haldee, Syriac, and other versions, can hardly be overrated " (Ginsburg, in Kitto's "Cyclop, of Biblical Liter. ", III, 173). La,stly the philologist, the historian, the philosopher, the jurist, and the statesman, will easily find in the Mid- rashim remarks and discussions which have a direct bearing on their respective branches of study.
UoouNi. Thrsaurus Antiquitatum. Sacrnrum. vols. XIV-XVI (Venice. 1752-17.^4); Jkllineck, Bet Ha-Midrasch {Leipzig, .in.l Vicnini. is:):(-is77): .SCHURER, The Jewish People in Ike Time of Cliri.<t (Xcw York, 1891); ZuNZ. die goltesdienslKchen V,)W/r, «,,/.,/,„/, „ (Fr-iiikfort, 1892); Wjinsche, Bibliotheca
li'ii ' !l ,,p.|L., 18S0-1S85; Trier. 1892, 1893); Grunhut,
N"' // ' '-//I (Jerusalem, 1898-1901); Strack, £ini.
i '11 1 iipzig, 1900): Oesterley and Box, The
R'l':i- ' / W .nxhip of the Synagoaue (New York. 1907).
Francis E. Gigot.
Midwives come under the canon law of the Church in their relation towards two of the sacraments, baptism and matrimony. As regards marriage, their testimony is frequently required in cases de non conxumma/o malrimonio, whether owing to the im- pediment of impotency or because a dispensation is asked super matrimonio rata tantum. In such cases, the testimony of three midwives is held sutlicient in practice, since the number seven mentioned in the " Cor- pus Juris Canonici " (c. 4,deProbat.) is not considered to be obligatory in law, though some older canonists insisted on the necessity of having the testimony of seven midwives. As regards the sacrament of bap- tism the office of midwives is of the highest impor- tance. _ On them frequently devolves the duty of conferring this sacrament, under circumstances where
