My new theory is that every midrash that describes an event can be read in one of the following 12 ways.
In brief, I think there are three ways to describe how the Sages thought about their midrashim, and four ways to describe how they knew about their midrashim, yielding 12 possible outcomes.
I think most Haredim default to #1 and most self-described rationalists default to #11 or #12. My own view is that most midrashim are #7 #8 or #11 but I confess that in my youth I also held #1, #2 and the whole row of #9 - #12
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