Commentators:Character Consolidation/1
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Character Consolidation
Introduction
Consolidation of Characters
I. Identification of three or more different names as the same person:
- Moshe – Vayikra Rabbah 1:3
- Yitro – Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Shemot 18:1. For discussion, see Yitro – Names
- Beor and other evil doers – Bavli Sanhedrin 105a
- Sichon and other Canaanite kings – Bavli R"H 3a
- Shelomo – Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:1
- 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 21, Bavli Sanhedrin 69b
- Malkizedek as Shem – Bereshit Rabbah 56:10
- Keturah as Hagar – Bereshit Rabbah 61:4. See also: Avraham's Many Wives.
- Lavan as Bilam – Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan)1
- Shifrah and Puah as Yocheved and Miryam/Elisheva – Bavli Sotah 11b, Shemot Rabbah 1:13. For discussion, see: Who are the Midwives.
- Efrat as Miryam – Shemot Rabbah 1:17
- Pinchas as Eliyahu – Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) Shemot 6:18
III. Identification of characters with the same or similar names as the same person:
- Haran the father of Yiska with Haran the brother of Avraham – Bavli Sanhedrin 69b
- Potiphar and Potiphera – Bavli Sotah 13b
- Hirah and Hiram – Bereshit Rabbah 85:4
- Calev the son of Chetzron with Calev the son of Yefuneh – Yerushalmi Yevamot 10:7, Bavli Sotah 11b (Cf. Ibn Ezra First 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. For more, see Did Yaakov's Sons Marry Canaanites.
- 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 Shemot 10, Tanchuma Buber Beshalach 24
- Zipporah as the Cushite whom Moshe married – Sifre Bemidbar, Tanchuma, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer. See also: Miryam's Critique of Moshe and his Cushite Marriage
- Calev and Pinchas as Yehoshua's spies – Tanchuma Buber Shelach 1
- Eved Melekh HaKushi as Barukh – Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer
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 – Bavli Sotah 11a. See discussion in New King or Dynasty
- The officers of the nation in Egypt with the princes or seventy elders – Shemot Rabbah 5:20, Bemidbar Rabbah 12:16
Consolidation of Objects
I. Identification of objects with other objects:
- Esav's clothing and 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:
- Beit El and Yerushalayim –
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 – As Midrash views every word in Torah as significant, it finds the presence of anonymous or unknown figures who play no other role elsewhere troubling. By identifying such figures with known characters, it can explain why such details are mentioned – See Ramban Shemot 6:23.
- Solve exegetical problems – At times, an identification serves to solve exegetical difficulties. See, for example, Shadal's discussion of the Midrashic identification of Sarah as Yiskah and the discussion of Yitro's names in Shemot 18.
- Addressing apparent misdeeds of the righteous – Giving a Jewish identity to an idolator or Canaanite can obviate problems of apparent "intermarriages". See, for instance, the identification of Shimon's Canaanite wife with Dina.
- Demonstrate reward and punishment – Nechama Leibowitz2.
- Character development – Identifying villains with other wicked individuals (or the worthy with meritorious people) serves to further blacken (or whiten) their characters. This fits the Midrashic tendency to augment the faults of evil characters and amplify the merits of righteous figures.
- Bridge history – when Midrash connects figures who live centuries apart, its goal might be to bridge history and show continuity over the generations, similar to the concept of מעשה אבות סימן לבנים
II. Difficulties with method:
- Why would Tanakh use different names in different places?
