Adam's garments, the staff, the altar and other biblical objects in innovative contexts in rabbinic literature

In the Bible certain objects appear in association with an individual character or characters and in particular narrative events. Rabbinic exegesis places these objects in new and innovative contexts. That is, the Rabbinic exegetes speak of the object's origin, history and fate: the circumstances under which the object was created, how it came into the possession of a Biblical character, its destiny, and, in some cases, its role in the Messianic era. This thesis examines Rabbinic interpretations of eight Biblical objects: Adam's garments, Abraham's ram, Solomon's throne, the staffs, asses, altars and wells used by various characters, and a divine fire. This is the first collection of the numerous parallel sources that deal with each of these objects. The traditions regarding these objects illustrate the Rabbis' concern with unity and continuity: different Biblical characters and events are linked together by means of the objects. The Rabbinic idea of the transmission of Biblical objects parallels the Rabbis' view of their own literature as having been transmitted through the generations