Milton and Christian Hebraism

Frank Mattern

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In adapting the terse Genesis story of the Fall, Milton was faced with numerous narrative and philological riddles. Where, for exa...

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In adapting the terse Genesis story of the Fall, Milton was faced with numerous narrative and philological riddles. Where, for example, was Adam when Eve was tempted, or what exactly was the meaning of those first Hebrew words addressed to Eve by the serpent? It has long been suggested that in attempting to resolve some of these scriptural problems, Milton was in part influenced by Jewish Bible interpretation. In fact, so substantially has the epic been seen to echo rabbinic exegesis that it has been referred to as Christian midrash. Yet how does this view of Milton's artistic ecumenism tally with the hostility towards the rabbis that pervades early modern Christian writing, including Milton's own prose works? By tracing Christian exegetical debates about what the rabbis had to contribute towards an understanding of the first chapters of the Hebrew Bible, this study attempts to outline the boundaries of early modern interfaith dialogue and to reassess to what extent Milton may have crossed them.