Moreover, Derash - to carry a Jewish term into an
alien field - was the method always employed by the Christian
theologians. Throughout the medieval ages they adhered chiefly to
a spiritual, allegoric, moral, and mystic interpretation. In the
employment of this method the literary, grammatical, philologic,
and historical aspect is perforce neglected. Nevertheless, even
among Christian scholars the rational method found some worthy
representatives, especially among the Belgian masters.[61]
The deplorable ease of the Midrashic method readily accounts for
its vogue. The Haggadist is not compelled to hold fast to his
text, his imagination has free play, and is untrammelled
[untrameled sic] by the leading-strings of grammar and good
sense. The task of the exegete properly so called is quite
different. He may not find in the text anything which is not
actually there. He must take heed of the context, of the
probable, and of the rules of the language. The exegete searches
for the idea in the text; the Haggadist introduces foreign ideas
into the text.
"At the same time, whatever the attraction of the Midrashic
method for the Jews of France and Germany, and however great
the wealth of their material, neither this attraction nor this
wealth could take the place of a pure, simple explanation of
the genuine meaning of Scriptures, a meaning which often
served as a basis for the Midrash, and in a vast number of
cases would have remained obscure and incomplete.
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