13. Rabbinization of Non-Rabbinic Material in Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer

Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer (eighth century) is a clear example of the rabbinization of the biblical past. Many of the stories in this rewriting of biblical history have roots outside of rabbinic and even Jewish literature. Gavin McDowell, in ‘Rabbinization of Non-Rabbinic Material in Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer’, shows how Christian, “Gnostic”, and Muslim legends about biblical characters have been altered to make them compatible with existing rabbinic traditions from the Talmud and classical Midrash. Through this process, biblical history, the common cultural patrimony of all these groups, becomes specifically rabbinic history.