Homiletical Midrash on the Book of Exodus, apparently intended as a continuation of Genesis Rabbah; in Hebrew, it is known as Shemot Rabbah (see also Midrash Aggadah). Divided into 52 sections, it is a composite work of two unequal parts differing in style and terminology. Part 1 covers the first 14 sections and ends at the point (Ex. 12:2) where the Mekhilta De-Rabbi Ishmael begins. In this first portion of the Midrash, each verse of the biblical text (and, at times, each word) is expounded homiletically. While the language employed is basically Mishnaic, traces of early medieval Hebrew can also be detected. The editor's rabbinic sources included the tannaitic and amoraic Midrashim, both Talmuds, and other Midrashim of the Tanḥuma (Yelammedenu) type. In dividing this work into sections, the editor followed the Triennial Cycle of Torah readings once customary in Erets Israel.
The second half of Exodus Rabbah, a homiletical Midrash on chapters 12-40 of the biblical book, is also written in the style of Tanḥuma and the divisions are again based on the triennial cycle. Each section is introduced by a poem (petiḥta), sometimes in the name of R. Tanḥuma. As in Deuteronomy Rabbah, the homilies often conclude with words of consolation and an expression of hope for speedy redemption. The language employed is Mishnaic Hebrew with an admixture of Galilean Aramaic. While utilizing the tannaitic Midrashim, the editor only occasionally draws on the Babylonian Talmud. Since many of the homilies are found also in the Midrash Tanḥuma, Part 2 must have been redacted some time in the ninth century. A copyist, probably in the 11th century, combined the two parts into a single Midrash which Naḥmanides (in his commentary on the Pentateuch) was the first medieval author to quote.
