From the beginning of  Jewish printing in the fifteenth century, Midrash Rabba has been the most popular collection of midrashim on the Pentateuch and Five Scrolls, and the most frequently studied and interpreted midrashic text. However, Midrash Rabba is not a unified work.  Rather, it represents a collection of early and late works, differing from each other in style, structure, and context, that span the period from the fifth to the twelfth century. The discussion in this article focuses on components o…