The ‘Aramean’ of Deuteronomy 26:5: Peshat and Derash

Abstract

“The ideal reader treats the book as full of significance. . . . Ultimately, the holistic interpreter is animated by a respect for his cultural heritage that takes the form of a prejudice in favor of the ancient biblical author-editors and their transmitters. He requires more than a theoretical cause before discounting and disintegrating their products.” 1 These are among the many methodological principles Moshe Greenberg attempted to impart to me as a student. May the Holy- One-Blessed-Be-He account it to him as if he had been successful. The words ארמי אבד אבי at the beginning of the declaration of the ̃first fruits (Deut 26:5) have puzzled exegetes since ancient times. Who is the ארמי ‘Aramean’, and who is אבי ‘my father’? What is the meaning of אבד ? What is the subject and what is the predicate of the clause? How is it connected to the clauses that follow it: “He went down to Egypt and sojourned there with meager numbers, but there he became a great, mighty, and populous nation”