Derashah
/dəˈrɑːʃə/noun
A Jewish sermon or homiletic interpretation of biblical or rabbinic texts.
Did you know?In Jewish interpretation, derashah is associated with searching beneath the surface of scripture, often drawing ethical or spiritual meaning from details that literal reading might overlook.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*drš
“To seek, inquire, or investigate; a reconstructed Semitic root.”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
דָּרַשׁ (darash)
“To seek, inquire, investigate, or interpret, especially in relation to God or scripture.”
Rabbinic Hebrew
Hebrew
דְּרָשָׁה (derashah)
“An exposition, interpretive teaching, or sermon based on scripture.”
Late Antiquity
Jewish Aramaic/Hebrew
מִדְרָשׁ (midrash)
“Interpretive exposition of biblical passages, and later the literature containing such interpretations.”
19th–20th Century
English
derashah
“A Jewish sermon or homiletical exposition, borrowed from Hebrew usage.”