Inner-Biblical Interpretation

By identifying biblical intertexts and parallel phrases, we can better understand the flow, the imagery, and even the core message of Eichah, Lamentations.

As part of a complaint by God against Israel and Judah, Hosea 12 mentions several stories about Jacob, intended to serve as a model for behavior. But is Jacob a good or bad role model?

The second paragraph of Shema (Deuteronomy 11:13-21) has significant overlaps with the first (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), including some identical phrases and core concepts. It was likely written as a later elaboration of the first, a process that may reflect the earliest stages of the Shema becoming a central text.

Emphasizing the Holiness of Ethics over the Ritual

The Cow That Laid an Egg (!)

The scribes who wrote the addendum to the laws of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:42-43) used inner-biblical exegesis to explain the requirement to dwell in booths as a commemoration for the miraculous booths (not clouds) that God created for the Israelites at their first stop on the way to freedom.

How the conflation of Kiryat-arba and Hebron created a new mythic character, Arba, father of the giants.

The Torah states “do not cook a kid in its mother's milk.” What does this phrase mean, and how did it develop into the prohibition of mixing meat and milk?