לתולדות מדרש הכתוב 'קללת אלהים תלוי': בין הלכה כתתית לחז"ל ובין המשנה לתוספתא

This article examines the history of the tannaitic midrash on a difficult verse in Deuteronomy 21:23:'You shall not let his corpse hang on the tree overnight [...] for a hung body is an affront to God'. As a background to the discussion an explanation is proposed for the Sages' refusal to accept the simple interpretation of the verse which is given in the Septuagint, the Neophite translation and the Gospels, and from it the question of the relationship between the two main tannaitic expositions arises: (a) the punishment for affronting God is hanging and (b) a hung body is an affront to God. It is claimed that the earlier tannaitic tradition was to interpret the verse according to its plain meaning: the verse does not express a reason for the hanging, but rather a reason for stopping it. It was from this reading of the verse that the various expositions developed - both those which treat halakhic aspects and those which deal with its conceptual aspects. The source of the interpretation that the punishment for affronting God is hanging is the sectarian halakhah which understood the verse as a justification for renewing hanging as one of the methods of imposing the death penalty by the court. However, in a most interesting fashion this interpretation was taken out of its context in the sectarian halakhah and applied to tannaitic halakhah, based precisely on the simple meaning that the verse opposes hanging. The various midrashim of R. Meir to the verse also accept the reading that it opposes hanging. However, an examination of the relationship between the various midrashim reveals that in one of them R. Meir was making use of allusions in the verse to crucifixion as practised by the Romans. This popular interpretation was adopted in the Mishnah rather than another of R. Meir's expositions - found in the Tosefta - which aims to interpret the verse per se. In that midrash R. Meir gives his extraordinary opinion regarding the relationship between God and man. Although that view was suppressed in the original mishnah, it appears with very great force in the interpretation of the mishnah found in the Tosefta, an interpretation which introduces the word Shekhinah (the Divine Presence) into the original mishnah.