“As well as the Holy one, blessed be he, to comfort Israel, so also the wise should comfort his generation.” — Midrash Tanjumá, Parashah Noach

1) What is the Midrash Tanjumá

Definition of genre. It is a midrash homiletical on the whole Torah, composed as collections of derashot (sermons) by parashah. Their distinctive feature is the foreword halachic that opens a lot of units with the formula “Yelammedenu rabbenu...” (“We teach our master,...”), hence the second name of the corpus: Tanjumá-Yelammedenu. Although it supports in materials amoraicos, is a composition post-amoraica Palestine late in Hebrew rabbinical late with a few passages in aramaic, and the presence of loans greco-latino.

2) Dating and provenance

The dating accurate is discussed. The current consensus places the main training the type Tanjumá-Yelammedenu between VI–VII centuries in Palestine (late Antiquity / byzantine period). Some of the witnesses and essays point to centuries VIII–IX for recessions concrete; the oldest manuscript preserved is usually place at the end of the century VIII or IX. Recent studies (Bregman; and collective work of Brill) argue that the material sharing by recessions printed and Buber derived from Palestinian s. VI–VII, while the recension Buber show a phase of fixation in northern Italy in lombard times (559-774).

3) Language and style

Predominates Hebrew rabbinical late, with minimum aramaic in comparison with, for example, Leviticus Rabbah or Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana. Listed helenismos and latinisms typical of the mediterranean environment tardoantiguo.

“God looks at the hearts, not appearances.” — Tanjumá, Mishpatim 2 Reads

4) literary Structure of the derashot

A typical unit (not all are complete) contains:

1. Foreword halachic (yelammedenu): legal questions raised by the assembly and response based on mishnah/baraita (“kakh shanu rabotenu...”).
2. Petiḥtá (opening homiletics): chain a verse of Ketuvim/Neviim with the parashah, using concatenations exegetical.
3. Body aggádicostories, mashal/nimshal, quotes amoraicas (mostly palestinian), exegesis verse to verse.
4. Close parenético/eschatological: often with comfort and hope (hence the name “Tanjumá” = comfort).
   This morphology and, in particular, the formula yelammedenuare trademarks of defining the corpus.

5) the Scope canonical and liturgical cycle

The Tanjumá covers five parts of the Torah and it appears to reflect (at least in part) the practical homiletics sinagogal and the cycle of readings (annual or triennial). Literature Yelammedenu is, above all, a sermonario for Shabbat/holiday, is not a running commentary, verse-by-verse.

“Each generation has its consolation, as well as took your test.” — Tanjumá, Shemot 1

6) Sources and intertextual relationships

The Tanjumá reuse and dialogues with:

• Jerusalem Talmud and, to a lesser extent, Bavli (more visible in sections belated/editorial).
• Midrashim palestinian classic: Genesis/Exodus/Leviticus Rabbah, Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana.
• Traditions (Tanjumá-type) circulated in schools of preaching.
  In particular, Numbers Rabbah (late) and other subsequent builds depend on materials Tanjumá-type.

7) Versions and recessions main

(A) “Tanjumá printed” (recension standard / Yelammedenu).
It is the version that was circulated in print from the s. XVI and that many identified with “Yelammedenu” by his prefaces halájicos. Historical edits key: Constantinople, 1522, Venice 1545, Mantua 1563 (with additions indicated by Ezra of Fano; the marks were lost in reprints later). It is, in large measure, a collection and review that integrates materials from different origins Tanjumá-type.

(B) “Tanjumá Buber” (ed. Salomon Buber, Vilna, 1885).
Buber published a recension differentbased on manuscripts, which differs substantially the printed in Genesis and Exodus, and converges more in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The edition Buber is fundamental to textual criticism and comparative studies family Tanjumá-Yelammedenu.

(C) “Yelammedenu” (lost), and fragments.
Medieval sources testify to a work called “Yelammedenu” today lost as a separate unit; a good part of his material retained absorbed in recessions, printed/“Buber” or fragments (e.g., Genizá).

“The Torah was not given to angels, but to men that stumble and rise.” — Tanjumá, Nitzavim 2

8) theological Themes and recurring motifs

• Providence and judgment/compassion: God judges but also consoles; strong emphasis on teshuvah (repentance) and merit patriarchal.
• Social ethics: justice, charity, and community responsibility.
• Exile and redemption: locks that look to the consolation future of Israel.
• Rhetoric homiletics: heavy use of parables (mashal), inquiry to the listener, and practical application.
  (The illustration of these reasons is verified along the corpus; see the profile of closures homiléticos and the model yelammedenu).

9) How is cited and works the text today

• To Hebrew: consult Tanjumá (printed) and Tanjumá Buber (both are accessible online with navigation parashot). Sefaria it provides headers, basic variants, and navigation; for serious work, to contrast with the print edition of Buber (Vilna, 1885) and catalogs of witnesses.
• To academic context: fundamental Marc Bregman, The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature and collective volumes of Brill (Studies in the Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature), which bring together state of the question, list of witnesses and evolution of versions.

10) Differences editorials key (printed vs. Buber)

• Genesis/Exodus: higher divergences between the two recessions (order of derashot, content, and formulations).
• Leviticus/Numbers/Deuteronomy: greater similarity textual.
• The printed features added (already in Mantua 1563), some borrowed from other compilations (e.g., Yalqut Shimoni). The loss of the marks typographic original made it difficult to separate the “original” and “addition” to print later.

“The consolation doesn't erase the pain, it morphs into understanding.” — Tanjumá, Vaetchanan 1

11) Methodology homiletics

• Similar to the Haggadá: the prologue legal it is not a treaty halachic; it works as porch rhetorical linking law and exegesis popular.
• Petiḥtá encadenante: articulates the verse far with the parashah by knots lexical and relationships themed; this procedure is structural in Tanjumá-type and in Pesiqta.
• Parable pedagogical: the mashal simplifies theological ideas complex to hearing sinagogal.
• Close parenético: guides ethical action and hope collective.
  (See characterization in the entries of encyclopedias and synthesis academic).

12) Relationship with other midrashim pentateucales

• Genesis/Exodus/Leviticus Rabbah: share palestinian arena and techniques petiḥtábut Tanjumá is distinguished by the regularity of the yelammedenu and by a Hebrew later.
• Numbers Rabbah (second part) and Deuteronomy Rabbah present dependencies and reconfigurations of material Tanjumá-type, a phenomenon already noted by the scholarship of classical and confirmed by the textual criticism modern.

13) Story editorial minimum

• Constantinople, 1522: first impression the Tanjumá.
• Venice 1545: reprint.
• Mantua 1563: base edition of reprints, with additions identified by Ezra b. Isaac Fano (the marks are lost then).
• Vilna, 1885 (Buber): a critical edition of a recension alternative from manuscripts; milestone of the research.

“Who teaches the Torah in times of darkness, to comfort the whole world.” — Tanjumá, Bereishit 3

14) research Topics open

• Chronology fine layers editorial.
• Delimitation between Yelammedenu “lost,” and what absorbed in recessions survivors.
• Cartography of witnesses manuscripts (including Genizá) and its classification.
• Intertextos with liturgy, piyyut and homiletic christian/greco-roman Palestine in the byzantine rite.
  The recent literature (Brill; Gorgias) focuses advances in catalog of witnesses and evolution of versions.

15) How to “read” Tanjumá

1. Choose the recension (printed or Buber) according to the torah portion in the study; for Genesis-Exodus it should be compare both.
2. Rebuild the drive: identify foreword halachic, petiḥtá, body, close.
3. Map sources quoted (Yerushalmi/Bavli/midrashim) and function homiletics (not just the “what says”, but “how to persuade”).
4. Control variants and possible additions of older releases (especially Mantua 1563 and their offspring).

Glossary minimum

• Yelammedenu: formula halachic that opens a derashá (“We teach our teacher...”); by extension, the name of the family literary.
• Petiḥtá: opening homiletic that occur when a verse distant with the parashah.
• Mashal/Nimshal: parable and its application.
• Recension Buber: critical edition of S. Buber (Vilna, 1885).

Conclusion

The Midrash Tanjumá is the great sermonario rabbinic Torah in the tardoantigüedad palestine, recognizable by its foreword halachic (“Yelammedenu”), its architecture petiḥtá and close parenético-consolatorio. To work with rigour: compare recessions (printed/Buber), control variants publishers of the s. XVI, and rely on Bregman/Brill for the chronology and the affiliation textual. With this device, you can analyze each parashah identifying function homiletics, sources and layers editorial with criteria of historical-critical.

“There is No greater greatness to lift the spirit of the fallen.” — Tanjumá, Reeh 4