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''Cervera Bible'', David Kimhi's Grammar Treatise David Kimhi (, also Kimchi or Qimḥi) (1160–1235), also known by the
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
as the RaDaK () (Rabbi David Kimhi), was a
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
,
biblical commentator This is an outline of commentaries and commentators. Discussed are the salient points of Jewish, patristic, medieval, and modern commentaries on the Bible. The article includes discussion of the Targums, Mishna, and Talmuds, which are not regarde ...
, philosopher, and grammarian.


Early life

Kimhi was born in
Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...
, a city in
Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...
,
Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...
, then under the rule of
Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...
. He was the youngest son of Rabbi Joseph Kimhi and the brother of
Moses Kimhi Moses Kimhi (c. 1127 – c. 1190), also known as the ''ReMaK'', was a medieval Jewish biblical commentator and grammarian. Birth and early life Kimhi was born around 1127, the eldest son of Joseph Kimhi and the brother of David Kimhi, known as ...
, both also biblical commentators and grammarians. Kimhi was raised by his older brother Moses following the untimely death of their father. Later, he supported himself by teaching Talmud to the young. He was well versed in the whole range of Hebrew literature, and became the most illustrious representative of his name. Works of the Kimhi family were underwritten by the ibn Yahya family of
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
in the
Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...
.


Rabbinic career and scholarship

Kimhi saw himself primarily as a compiler and summarizer. As a noted Hebrew grammarian, his book ''Mikhlol'' () and his
dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
of the
Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...
called ''Sefer HaShorashim'' (, "Book of Roots") draws heavily on the earlier works of
Judah ben David Hayyuj Judah ben David Hayyuj (, ) was a Maghrebi Jew of Al-Andalus born in North Africa. He was a linguist and is regarded as the father of Hebrew scientific grammar. Judah was born in Fez, then part of the Fatimid Caliphate, about 945. At an early ...
and
Jonah ibn Janah Jonah ibn Janah () or Abū al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ (), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain). Born in Córdoba, ibn Janah was mentored there by Isaac ibn Gikatilla and Isaac ibn ...
, as well as from the work of his father. These two books were originally written as one, although over the years they have come to be printed separately. This book, while based on his predecessors, shows a significant amount of innovation, stakes out new territory in his scholarly fields, and from a methodological point of view is superior to what came before. For example, in the ''Mikhlol,'' Kimhi expounds on his predecessors' opinions in a clear, straightforward way with a comprehensive approach to the Hebrew structure. ''Sefer Hashorashim'' highlights his talent as a writer because of its logical organization, particularly the way he bases his definitions upon etymology and comparisons between languages. Another of Kimhi's works, "'Eṭ Sofer," () was a sort of abridged version of ''Mikhlol'' and acted as a manual for Biblical scribes. This was a necessary compilation of rules for the writing of Bible-rolls, Masoretic notes, and accents, due to widespread ignorance among the scribes of the 12th century. Kimhi also delved into philosophy and the
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
s, and was very much influenced by both
Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...
and
Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
. In later life, he took part in the controversy surrounding the works of Maimonides and staunchly defended him. He even sent letters to other rabbis in order to gain their support. His stance on philosophy was moderate and therefore permitted its study to those whose belief in God and fear of heaven was firm. Kimḥi also participated in public debates with Christians. According to Kimḥi, Christian interpretation demonstrated a corruption of the text and in some cases was inapplicable and irrational. He mostly attacks the allegorical method of interpretation and Christian claims towards the "true Israel" by stressing the superior morality and religiosity of the Jews. His interpretations were the favourite of the translators of the
King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...
.


Commentaries

Kimhi is known primarily for his biblical commentaries on the books of the
Prophets In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...
. He also wrote commentaries on the books of
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...
,
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...
, and Chronicles. His biblical work mirrors his grammarian work, and focuses on issues of language and form as well as upon content. He explains words on the basis of their grammatical construction and their etymological development. His commentary also includes homiletic and philosophical material, ''
niqqud In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikud ( or ) is a system of diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Several such diacritical systems were developed in the Ea ...
'' (vocalization), rabbinic tradition of the reading, and literal meaning of the words. He also addresses key issues such as the authorship of the various books and the historical eras in which the prophets were active, as well as other
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
and
geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
questions. His commentary on Genesis tends toward the philosophical. He seeks out the
ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...
underpinnings of the stories, believing that they were not included in the text for purely historical reasons, but rather for their moral message. He makes extensive use of the ancient
Targum A targum (, ''interpretation'', ''translation'', ''version''; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ) that a professional translator ( ''mǝṯurgǝmān'') would give in the common language o ...
translation of the text into
Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Jewish Palestinian Aramaic also known as Jewish Western Aramaic was a Western Aramaic language spoken by the Jews during the Classic Era in Judea and the Levant, specifically in Hasmonean, Herodian and Roman Judaea and adjacent lands in the ...
attributed to
Jonathan ben Uzziel Jonathan ben Uzziel () was one of the 80 ''tannaim'' who studied under Hillel the Elder during the time of Roman-ruled Judea. Jonathan ben Uzziel is mentioned several times in the Talmud. Jonathan rendered an Aramaic translation (targum) of the ...
, commenting on it and bringing variant readings. The commentary also includes a mystical interpretation of the
Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.. The location of Eden is described in the Book of Ge ...
and the story of
Cain and Abel In the biblical Book of Genesis, Cain and Abel are the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. The brothers made sacrifices, each from his own fields, to God. God had regard for Ab ...
. A similar, mystical interpretation by Kimhi can also be found in his
glosses A gloss is a brief notation, especially a marginal or interlinear one, of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text or in the reader's language if that is different. A collection of glosses is a ''glossar ...
on the final chapter of the
Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Nevi'im#Latter Prophets, Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and one of the Major Prophets, major prophetic books in the Christian Bible, where it follows Book of Isaiah, Isaiah and ...
, describing the Divine Chariot. When he does not understand a particular text, he follows the example of
Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...
and writes, "I did not understand the reason why this story appears in this particular place," or "I did not find a proper reason for it." His work extensively influenced the "''Metzudos''" commentary by R.
David Altschuler Rabbi David Altschuler of Prague (1687-1769) was a biblical commentator and the author of a classic commentary, known as the ''Metzudot'', to the Hebrew Bible's Nevi'im and Ketuvim. Altshchuler is also known as the ''Baal Metzudot'', "Author of ...
.


Commemoration and legacy

Radak Street in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
's
Rehavia Rehavia or Rechavia (, ) is an upscale neighbourhood in Jerusalem. It is bordered by Nachlaot and Sha'arei Hesed to the north, Talbiya and Kiryat Shmuel, Jerusalem, Kiryat Shmuel to the south, and the Valley of the Cross to the west. Rehavia was ...
neighborhood is named for him.Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research
/ref>


References


Relevant literature

*Grunhaus, Naomi. (Autumn 2003). The commentary of Rabbi David Kimhi on Proverbs: A case of mistaken attribution. ''Journal of Jewish Studies'' 54(2): 311-327.


External links


Sefer Hashorashim
(Book of Hebrew Words Roots)


David Kimchi's response to Christianity in his Psalm commentaryGale Virtual Reference LibraryRadak on Genesis
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimhi, David 1160 births 1235 deaths Medieval Hebraists Bible commentators Provençal Jews Rabbis from Narbonne 13th-century French rabbis 12th-century French rabbis French people of Spanish-Jewish descent Jewish grammarians Linguists of Hebrew Grammarians of Hebrew