ABSTRACT
Every commentator approaching a given text brings to bear on it a personal store of ideas and attitudes — a personal intellectual cache, so to speak — including, inter alia, basic conceptions, thought patterns developed over many years, and worldviews. This applies not only to ideas and concepts, but also to realia, that is, material culture. This notion encompasses material culture in general, including all aspects of actual, “real” life, in urban and rural settings, at home and in the marketplace: clothing, work tools and eating utensils, buildings, commerce, and so on.1 The material culture within which he lives is part of the commentator’s intellectual cache. As such, it is likely to be reflected in the commentator’s interpretations of texts, and even to shape these interpretations to one degree or another. As a result, the commentator will at times portray the reality described by the text as being identical to that of the commentator’s own times, which of course is not the case.2 Such interpretation may make it difficult to understand the text, and may give rise to an interpretation that is not in accord with its intended meaning.
