in Latin characters. At times, several Old French explanations are proposed for a single
biblical phrase.
Jewish intellectual activity in southern France may be divided into two periods: 900–
1150 and 1150–1350. The conquest of the Almohades drove Jews educated in the Judeo-
Islamic methods of exegesis into Provence, particularly Narbonne, in the mid-12th
century. Even before the Spanish-educated Jews arrived, however, Provence hosted
Jewish communities that produced literary works in traditional genres of rabbinic
literature, such as legal codes, Talmudic commentary, and scriptural exegesis. From 1150
to 1350, the study of the Bible continued with careful attention to linguistic problems and
was enhanced by the assimilation of philosophical investigation into Jewish religious
thought. Jewish biblical studies during the 10th century in Provence focused on the
collection of rabbinic Aggadah, or nonlegal material. Rabbi Moses Ha-Darshan (“the
Preacher”) of Narbonne is the main literary source. Scholars have ascribed two
collections to him, Midrash Bereshit Rabbati and Midrash Tadshe.
The arrival of the Kimchi family changed the direction of biblical exegesis in southern
France. Joseph (1105–1170) and his two sons, Moses (d. 1190) and David (d. 1235),
brought with them the Spanish tradition of grammar, lexicography, and philosophical
learning. These approaches contrasted with the homiletical or allegorical traditions that
had dominated biblical studies in previous generations. Joseph Kimchi believed that the
foundation of biblical exegesis lay in the knowledge of grammar. From his commentaries
on the Pentateuch, Job, and Proverbs, as well as citations of his commentaries on the
Prophets by his son David, we can observe Joseph’s gift for resolving exegetical
problems through a proper understanding of grammar and syntax. He also pursued the
broader horizons of biblical meaning that were available through a rationalist approach to
exegesis, and he utilized both grammar and rational analysis to refute Christian
interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. He wrote Sefer HaBerit (“The Book of the
Covenant”) as an apologetic work proving the truth of Judaism. During this same period,
Rabbi Jacob ben Reuben wrote an anti-Christian treatise in Gascony, the Milchamot
HaShem (“The Wars of the Lord”). The spirit of religious polemic and apologetic, so
much part of the broader Christian ambience in mid-12th-century southern France,
pervaded Judaism as well.
The most extensive exegetical writings of the Kimchi family come from David. His
systematic treatise on textual criticism of the Bible, Et Sofer (“The Scribe’s Pen”),
describes manuscript variants and the problems of the Massorah (the traditional
consonantal Hebrew text as furnished with vowels by medieval scribes). His grammar
book, Sefer Mikhlol (“The Compendium”), contained both a dictionary and a description
of Hebrew grammatical rules. He wrote commentaries on Genesis, all the Prophets, the
Psalms, Proverbs, and Chronicles, as well as allegorical commentaries on the Garden of
Eden, Cain and Abel, and the first chapter of Ezekiel. Like his father, David Kimchi
actively pursued polemics against Christian allegorical interpretations of the Hebrew
Bible. Many of these polemical interpretations appear in his commentary on Psalms.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, Jewish communities in Provence witnessed the
development of two genres related to biblical exegesis. Beginning in Posquières, Jewish
esoteric, or mystical, speculation resulted in the composition of the first treatises on that
subject. The doctrines developed in these circles would lead to the production of mystical
writings in Gerona and throughout Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. Jacob ben Abba
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