Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer and Eastern Christian Exegesis

Abstract

This paper will discuss the use of traditions from the Christian Orient for the understanding of the development of the motifs in Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer. The process of the development of the material in PRE is much discussed, with particular reference to other Jewish literature. However, a number of the motifs that represent a new development in PRE are also common ideas in sources from the Christian Orient. This paper will focus on four examples from PRE which reflect exegesis also found in traditions of the Christian Orient, and mark an initial endeavour to identify the material in PRE that may have been influenced by Christian thought.