Commentators:Character Consolidation/1

Character Consolidation

Introduction

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Consolidation of Characters

 I. Identification of three or more different names as the same person:

• Moshe – Vayikra Rabbah 1:31:3About Vayikra Rabbah
• Yitro – Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Shemot 18:1, see our discussion in Shemot 18.
• Beor and other evil doers – Bavli Sanhedrin 105aSanhedrin 105aAbout the Bavli
• Sichon and other Canaanite kings – Bavli R"H 3a
• Shelomo – Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:11:1About Shir HaShirim Rabbah
• Nevat and other evil doers – Bavli Sanhedrin 101b
• Sancheriv and other Assyrian kings – Bavli Sanhedrin 94a
• Koresh and other Persian kings – Seder Olam Rabbah 30, Bavli R"H 3b

II. Identification of two characters with different names as the same person:

• Yiskah as Sarah – Seder Olam Rabbah 2120About Seder Olam Rabbah, Bavli Sanhedrin 69bSanhedrin 69bAbout the Bavli
• Malkizedek as Shem – Bereshit Rabbah 56:1056:10About Bereshit Rabbah
• Keturah as Hagar – Bereshit Rabbah 61:461:4About Bereshit Rabbah
• Shifrah and Puah as Yocheved and Miryam/Elisheva – Shemot Rabbah 1:131:13About Shemot Rabbah
• Efrat as Miryam – Shemot Rabbah 1:171:17About Shemot Rabbah
• Pinchas as Eliyahu – Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) Shemot 6:18Shemot 6:18About Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan)

III. Identification of two characters with the same or similar names as the same person:

• Haran the father of Yiska with Haran the brother of Avraham – Bavli Sanhedrin 69bSanhedrin 69bAbout the Bavli
• Potiphar and Potiphera – Bavli Sotah 13b
• Hirah and Hiram – Bereshit Rabbah 85:485:4About Bereshit Rabbah
• Calev the son of Chetzron with Calev the son of Yefuneh – Yerushalmi Yevamot 10:7 (see Ibn Ezra Short Commentary Shemot 24:14)
• Ovadyah the steward of Ahav with Ovadyah the prophet – Bavli Sanhedrin 39b

IV. Identification of anonymous people with known personalities:

• Naamah as Noach's wife – Bereshit Rabbah 23:3
• Og as the fugitive from Sedom – Bavli Niddah 61a
• Eliezer and Yishmael as Avraham's servants – Bereshit Rabbah 48:13, Vayikra Rabbah 20:2
• Dinah as Shimon's wife and Asenat's mother – Bereshit Rabbah 80:11
• Menashe as Yosef's steward – Bereshit Rabbah 91:8
• Datan and Aviram as the sinners in Egypt and the wilderness – Shemot Rabbah 1:30, Tanchuma Buber Beshalach 24
• Calev and Pinchas as Yehoshua's spies – Tanchuma Buber Shelach 1
• Eved Melekh HaKushi as Barukh – Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer 53

V.  Identification of one anonymous person with another:

• Paroh in Shemot 1-2 with Paroh of Bereshit 37-50 and Paroh of Shemot 3-15 – see Melekh Chadash.
• The officers of the nation in Egypt with the princes or seventy elders – Bemidbar Rabbah 12:16, Shemot Rabbah 5:20

Consolidation of Objects

I. Identification of objects with other objects:

• Esav's clothing with the leather garments of Adam and Chavah – Bereshit Rabbah 63:13
• Yaakov and Yehudah's staff with Moshe's staff – Yalkut Shimoni Chukat 763

II. Identification of places with known places:

III. Identification of unknown dates with known ones:

• Angel's visit to Lot – 15 Nisan
• Giving of the Decalogue – 6 Sivan
• Moshe's descent with the 1st Tablets – 17 Tammuz
• Moshe's descent with the 2nd Tablets – 10 Tishrei
• Night of the return of the spies – 9 Av

Analysis

I. Why does the Midrash identify characters?

• Omnisignificance – Identifying anonymous or unknown figures explains why details are mentioned – Ramban Shemot 6:23
• Solve exegetical problems – see our discussion of Yitro's names in Shemot 18.
• Avoiding theological problems –
• Demonstrate reward and punishment – see Nechama Leibowitz in עיונים בספר במדבר pp.95-96.
• Character development and embellishment – 

II. Textual hooks and parallels

III. Difficulties with methods:

• Why would Tanakh use different names in different places?