Palmer sets up a dichotomy between text as “work” and text as “object.” There is a similar issue in the interpretation of the Torah. This issue is eloquently laid out by Mordechai Z. Cohen in his article, “‘The Best of Poetry…’: Literary Approaches to the Bible in the Spanish Peshat Tradition” (Torah U-Madda Journal, Vol. 6). Cohen opposes the Spanish tradition with the Midrashic. Namely, does the Torah “speak in the language of men” (the Spanish tradition) or not (the Midrashic tradition)?
The Spanish tradition views the words as an outer shell that needs to be interpreted to bring out the inner core–the meaning. There is, however, an intrinsic connection between the outer shell and the inner core. The outer shell points to, in some way, what’s contained within. This view is beautifully summed up by the Rambam in his introduction to the Moreh HaNevuchim, וצריך שיהיה בגלויו מה שיורה המתבונן על מה שבתוכו (There must be within the revealed that which directs those who contemplate it to what is within.) The various practitioners of the Spanish tradition more or less hewed to the Rambam’s approach.
The Midrashic tradition views the words of the Torah as having an omnisignificance. Every word, even every letter, points to various meanings. At times those ideas only have a tenuous relationship to the actual semantics of the sentence. (These articles, by Y. Elman, are essential reading on the topic of omnisignificance in biblical interpretation, “‘It Is No Empty Thing’: Nahmanides and the Search for Omnisignificance” and “The Rebirth of Omnisigificant Biblical Exegesis”)
On some level, the Spanish approach corresponds with text as “work,” and the Midrashic with text as “object.” However, this is not entirely accurate. The Spanish tradition evinces more of a tension between Torah as object and Torah as work.
On the one hand the Spanish tradition believes that the text shares the characteristics of a human work of literature and, therefore, can apply methods one would apply to a human work. One can talk about the beauty of the work, the inclusion of words for the sake of aesthetic effect, extra words that are only there for their literary value, etc. On the other hand, the Spanish tradition views the Torah as “object”–one of God’s creations. As the Rambam writes in the 8th principle in his Introduction to Chelek:
כל דבור ודבור מן התורה יש בהן חכמות ופלאים למי שמבין אותם ולא הושג תכלית חכמתם ארוכה מארץ מדה ורחבה מני ים ואין לאיש אלא להלך בעקבות דוד משיח אלהי יעקב שהתפלל גַּל עֵינַי וְאַבִּיטָה נִפְלָאוֹת מִתּוֹרָתֶךָ תהילים קי״ט:י״ח
Every single statement in the Torah contains wisdoms and wonders from someone who contemplates them. The extent of their wisdom is longer in measure than the length of the earth and broader than the Sea. All a man can do is follow on the heels of David, the anointed one of the God of Jacob who prayed, “Expose my eyes that I may glimpse wonders from your Torah.” 119:18)
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