Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai


The Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is a Halakic midrash on Exodus from the school of Rabbi Akiva, attributed to Shimon bar Yochai. No midrash of this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature, but medieval authors refer to one which they call either "Mekhilta de-R. Simeon b. Yohai" or "Mekhilta Ahrita de-R. Shimon", or simply "Mekhilta Akheret".

Current status

The Mekhilta de-R. Shim'on had disappeared, but some extracts from it were preserved in the collection known as Midrash haGadol, as Israel Lewy first pointed out. These fragments were collected by David Zvi Hoffmann and published under the title Mechilta des R. Simon b. Jochai.
This Mekhilta compiled from Midrash haGadol preserves abundant material from the earliest Scriptural commentaries, quoting, for instance, a sentence from the Doreshei Reshumot on Exodus 21:12 which is found nowhere else. It contains also much from post-Talmudic literature, for the collector and redactor of the Midrash haGadol had a peculiar way of dressing sentences of such medieval authorities as Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Arukh, and Maimonides in midrashic garb and presenting them as ancient maxims.
A critical version, using newly discovered fragments of texts, was later published by Yaakov Nahum Epstein and his student Ezra Zion Melamed.

English editions