With Reverence for the Word

List of Contributors Abbreviations

PART I MEDIEVAL JEWISH EXEGESIS OF THE BIBLE 1. An Introduction to Medieval Jewish Biblical Interpretation Barry D. Walfish 2. The Search for Truth in Sacred Scripture: Jews, Christians, and the Authority to Interpret Stephen D. Benin 3. The Tension between Literal Interpretation and Exegetical Freedom: Comparative Observations on Saadia's Method Haggai Ben-Shammai 4. Karaite Commentaries on the Song of Songs from Tenth-Century Jerusalem Daniel Frank 5. Restoring the Narrative: Jewish and Christian Exegesis in the Twelfth Century Michael A. Signer 6. Rashbam as a "Literary" Exegete Martin Lockshin 7. Asceticism and Eroticism in Medieval Jewish Philosophical and Mystical Exegesis of the Song of Songs Elliot R. Wolfson 8. Typology, Narrative, and History: Isaac ben Joseph ha-Kohen on the Book of Ruth Barry D. Walfish 9. The Method of Doubts: Problematizing the Bible in Late Medieval Jewish Exegesis Marc Saperstein 10. Introducing Scripture: The Accessus ad auctores in Hebrew Exegetical Literature from the Thirteenth through the Fifteenth Centuries Eric Lawee 11. On the Social Role of Biblical Interpretation: The Case of Proverbs Alan Cooper

PART II MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN EXEGESIS OF THE BIBLE 12. An Introduction to Medieval Christian Biblical Interpretation Joseph W. Goering 13. The Letter of the Law: Carolingian Exegetes and the Old Testament Abigail Firey 14. The Four "Senses" and the Four Exegetes Edward Synan 15. Laudat sensum et significationem: Robert Grosseteste on the Four Senses of Scripture James R. Ginther 16. Beryl Smalley, Thomas of Cantimpré, and the Performative Reading of Scripture: A Study in Two Exempla Robert Sweetman 17. The Theological Character of the Scholastic "Division of the Text" with Particular Reference to the Commentaries of Saint Thomas Aquinas John F. Boyle 18. Thomas of Ireland and his De tribus sensibus sacrae scripturae Édourad Jeauneau 19. Material Swords and Literal Lights: The Status of Allegory in William of Ockham's Breviloquium on Papal Power A.J. Minnis

PART III MEDIEVAL EXEGESIS OF THE QUR'AN 20. An Introduction to Medieval Interpretation of the Qur'an Jane Dammen McAuliffe 21. Discussion and Debate in Early Commentaries on the Qur'an Fred Leemhuis 22. Weakness in the Arguments for the Early Dating of Qur'anic Commentary Herbert Berg 23. The Scriptural "Senses" in Medieval Sufi Qur'an Exegesis Gerhard Böwering 24. Are There Allegories in Sufi Qur'an Interpretation? Hava Lazarus-Yafeh 25. From the Sacred Mosque to the Remote Temple: Surat al-Isra' between Text and Commentary Angelika Neuwirth 26. Qur'anic Exegesis and History Gerald Hawting 27. The Self-Referentiality of the Qur'an: Sura 3:7 as an Exegetical Challenge Stefan Wild 28. The Designation of "Foreign" Language in the Exegesis of the Qur'an Andrew Rippin 29. The Genre Boundaries of Qur'anic Commentary Jane Dammen McAuliffe

Subject Index Index to Citations from the Bible, Rabbinic Literature, and the Qur'an