ABSTRACT
For Jews and Christians of late antiquity, scriptural interpretation served to offer moral lessons, anchor theological convictions, bolster beliefs, and respond to competing intramural as well as interreligious claims. Making sense of biblical stories and figures from Adam to Ezra, Eve to Esther, was also a means by which rabbis and church writers responded to wider cultural currents and sociopolitical exigencies. This chapter introduces readers to rabbinic and early Christian exegetical texts and methods, separately and comparatively. It also addresses current scholarly trends in the study of late antique Christian and Jewish interpretation.
