In this text Rabbinic scholar David Wiess Halivni offers an explanation for the willingness of the early Sages to attribute to scripture meanings not suggested in the text itself. He posits a sharp discontinuity between what the sages considered a valid meaning and our own modern understanding of textual meaning. He argues that the original meaning of the very work "peshat" was actually "context" rather than "literal" meaning, thus explaining the Rabbis' expressions of respect for peshat in the face of their evident unconcern for literal meaning in the text.