Midrash Rabbah (Great Midrash). Shmot Rabbah

Midrash Rabbah is the most important anthology of Jewish interpretations of the Pentateuch and also of the Five Scrolls. Ten independent works, including numerous interpretations of Scripture by Talmudic sages and their followers, were selected by medieval compilers from the vast body of Talmudic literature and incorporated into the canon of traditional Jewish writing. The first printed edition of Midrash Rabbah on the Pentateuch was published in 1512 in Constantinople and is still in demand by both ordinary readers and scholars who create their own commentaries based on it.

The book presented to the reader in this volume is the second part of Midrash Rabbah, namely the midrash on the book of Shmot (Exodus). This remarkable collection of interpretations, parables, and legends is primarily related to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Shmot Rabbah is not a homogeneous composition, but a compilation of two separate texts: Shmot Rabbah I and Shmot Rabbah II, but as a single work, it has been known since at least the 13th century.

Previously, within the framework of the Library of Jewish Texts, a Russian translation of the first and oldest of the books included in the collection of Midrash Rabbah: Bereshit Rabbah (in two volumes), as well as the midrashim on the Five Scrolls — Esther Rabbah, Ruth Rabbah, Shir HaShirim Rabbah, and Kohelet Rabbah — was published. Before this, none of the works included in the collection of Midrash Rabbah had been translated into Russian.