The Relationship between Midrash Genesis Rabbah and the Talmud Yerushalmi: The Evidence of Tractate Ketubbot

At the end of Genesis Rabbah we find remarks on the blessing Jacob bestowed on his sons before death (Gen 49) and on the instructions that, according to the Midrash, he gave to his descendants . Alongside this, GenR places reflections on the last days of R. Yehuda ha-Nasi. Like Jacob before him, the redactor of the Mishnah gave his disciples instructions before his death regarding such matters as burial practices and what rights his widow would be entitled to after his demise. The literary arrangement in GenR creates an image of Jacob that merges the biblical figure with Rabbi, the central figure of rabbinic Judaism. Almost imperceptibly, the focus is no longer on Jacob`s sons, but on the students in the Bet Midrash who honor the deceased master by learning and discussing halakhic norms. Tractate Ketubbot in the Yerushalmi further embellishes Rabbi`s story. At the end of his life, the teacher became ill and went to the Galilean town of Sepphoris. There he stayed for the last 17 years of his life. Rabbi, it is said, claims Jacob`s example for his life`s journey. With regard to his last period of life, he cites Gen 47:28: "Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt" (yKet 12, 3/9-35a, 33-34). Jacob`s and Rabbi`s last years, it is to be understood, were years of exile and mourning. After Rabbi`s death, as after Jacob`s death (Gen 50:15-21), conflicts arose among the survivors. Joseph`s dispute with his brothers was now replaced by the contrast between the students` need to pay their last respects to their teacher and the requirements of the Torah. Despite some philological difficulties, both texts, the final chapters of GenR and yKet, show parallels. When read together, they combine to form a harmonious narrative. Already by its literary form, GenR leads over to Talmudic learning in the Beth Midrash, while yKet draws legitimacy on the biblical Jacob narrative. My lecture will show how closely the two text corpora are interlocked, so that a simultaneous origin seems most likely.