Pirkei Rebi Eliezer (Attributed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, the brother-in-law of Raban Gamliel)

(MIDRASH)

Vicenzo Conti

Sabbionetta

1567

Printer’s device on title (Yaari, Printers Marks no. 26)

Vinograd, Sabionetta 54; Benayahu, Cremona-[Sabionetta], 41

One of the earliest aggadic books, Pirkei Rebi Eliezer aimed to inculcate ethical teachings for daily life, by demonstrating moral values deduced from the Biblical narrative. Embellished with many stories, the works’ style at times, waxes poetic, especially concerning the coming of the Messiah, a subject to which many passages are devoted. According to Waxman (History of Jewish Literature vol. I, pp.144-5) “The book is of a peculiar character, it cannot be said to be a strictly ethical book as it contains a good deal of extraneous matters, such as chapters on astronomy, the calculation of the calendar and many exotic legends. It is best characterized as an ethical narrative book.”