Commentary (Hastings' Dictionary)

Thus RV translates midhrOsh (c'-i-i-:, A V • story ') in the only passages in which that word is found, 2 Ch 13, 24-. Tlie temi il uir<uh,' s&ys Driver (LOT^ 497), 'is common in post-Hibl. literature. Darash is *' to search out," " investignte," "explore"; as applied to Scripture, to discover or develop a thou^'ht not apparent on the surface, — for instance, the hidden iiieauiiig of a word, or the particulars implied by an allusion {f-.g.

what Ahraliam did in Ur of the Chaldees, what Eldad and Aledad said when they prophesied, the circumstances of Moses' death, etc.) The Midrash may be defined as an imaginative develoi>meut of a thought or theme suggested by Scripture, especially a did.ictic or homiletic exposition, or an eouying religious story (Tobit and Susanna are thus Midrashim).' The two Midrasliim of OT are (1) 'The Midrash of the Propliet Iddo' (2 Ch 13-), and (2) 'The Midrash of the Book of Kings ' (24-'').

They were probably didactic developments of the historical narratives we possess, making use of these narra- tives to emphasize some religious truth ; but nothing is known of them beyond their titles. See under Chronicles. J. Hastings.