Rashi, Biblical Interpretation, and Latin Learning in Medieval Europe : A New Perspective on an Exegetical Revolution

In this volume, Mordechai Z. Cohen explores the interpretive methods of Rashi of Troyes (1040–1105), the most influential Jewish Bible commentator of all time. By elucidating the 'plain sense' (peshat) of Scripture, together with critically selected midrashic interpretations, Rashi created an approach that was revolutionary in the talmudically-oriented Ashkenazic milieu. Cohen contextualizes Rashi's commentaries by examining influences from other centers of Jewish learning in Muslim Spain and Byzantine lands. He also opens new scholarly paths by comparing Rashi's methods with trends in Latin learning reflected in the Psalms commentary of his older contemporary, Saint Bruno the Carthusian (1030–1101). Drawing upon the Latin tradition of enarratio poetarum ('interpreting the poets'), Bruno applied a grammatical interpretive method and incorporated patristic commentary selectively, a parallel that Cohen uses to illuminate Rashi's exegetical values. Cohen thereby brings to light the novel literary conceptions manifested by Rashi and his key students, Josef Qara and Rashbam. Cover 1 Half-title page 3 Title page 5 Copyright page 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 Acknowledgments 12 List of Abbreviations 15 Introduction 17 Key Challenges in Rashi Scholarship 21 Understanding Rashi in Light of St. Bruno 35 Outline of this Study 38 1 A New Program of Peshat (“Plain Sense” Exegesis) 42 Rashi and his Peshat School 44 The Text of Rashi’s Commentaries 49 Three Paradigms that Privilege “the Peshat of Scripture” 52 Rashi’s Key Exegetical Concepts and Terminology 68 2 “Settling” the Words of Scripture Using Midrash 71 Midrashic Rendering of the Biblical Narrative 72 Typological Reading 75 Halakhic Reading 77 Disregarding the Talmudic Peshat Maxim 82 Rashi’s Dual Interpretive Goal 85 3 St. Bruno on Psalms: Precedent for Rashi? 95 Grammatical Interpretive Method 96 The Historical/Literal Sense 99 Continuity and Sequence 100 Authorial Intention 103 Bruno and Rashi: Assessing Parallels and Possible Influence 106 4 Comparison to the Andalusian Exegetical School 118 Ties to Judeo-Arabic Scholarship 118 Samuel ben Hofni’s Construction of Peshat 120 Ibn Janah’s Construction of Peshat 129 Further Development of the Peshat Maxim in the Andalusian Tradition 137 Andalusian Conceptions of Peshat vs. Christian Sensus Litteralis 145 5 Comparison to the Byzantine Exegetical School 150 Reuel and the Scholia on the Pentateuch 152 A Possible Source for Rashi? 162 “The Peshat of Scripture” in Leqaḥ Ṭov 166 Peshat in Tobiah ben Eliezer’s Song of Songs Commentary 173 6 Rashi’s Literary Sensibilities and Latin Grammatica 180 Critical Selection of Traditional (Midrashic, Patristic) Commentaries 182 Prologue Format and “the Holy Spirit” 183 Literary Structure: Ordo Artificialis vs. Ordo Naturalis 193 7 Rashi’s Notion of “the Poet” (ha-Meshorer) in the Latin Context 203 The “Poet’s” Structural Intentions 205 Shifts in Perspective, Addressee, and Theme 208 The “Poet” vs. the Biblical Editor 212 “Writer of the Book (Kotev ha-Sefer)” 214 Rashi’s Literary Conceptions and Possible Latin Parallels 215 8 Joseph Qara and Rashbam: Peshat Legacy in Northern France 223 Biographic and Bibliographic Background 226 Attitudes toward Contemporary Modes of Bible Interpretation 231 New Methods of Peshat 237 9 Literary Sensibilities of Peshat within a Latin Context 254 Hermeneutics: Status of Peshat in Relation to Midrash 255 Peshat vs. Halakhah 259 Conceptions of the Biblical Narrator-Editor 264 Reflections of Rashi’s Notion of “the Poet” (ha-Meshorer) in Rashbam 272 Innovation in a Traditional Framework: Peshat and Human Literary Agency 277 “Mosaic” Authorship of the Pentateuch 282 From Rashi to Rashbam: Peshat and the Literary Dimensions of Scripture 286 Bibliography 288 Manuscripts 288 Rabbinic Works Cited 289 Primary Sources 289 Secondary Sources 292 General Index 313 Index of Scriptural References 319 Index of Rabbinic Sources 322 "Introduction Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaqi (1040-1105), known as Rashi, is perhaps the most influential Jewish Bible interpreter of all time. A native of Troyes in the French county of Champagne, Rashi traveled in his youth to study for a decade in the Rhineland talmudic academies (yeshivot) of Mainz and Worms, then the intellectual center of the Ashkenazic (Franco-German) Jewish world.1 He returned to Troyes c. 1070 and established a vibrant school of Jewish learning that ultimately drew from the best and brightest students of the Ashkenazic community, who would, in turn, become its leading rabbinic figures in the twelfth century.2 Rashi's literary output centers on two major works: his Talmud commentary and his Bible commentary, each monumental in its own right.3 Drawing upon his training in the Rhineland academies by the disciples of the renowned Rabbenu ("our rabbi/master") Gershom ben Judah (c.960-1028), known as the "luminary of the diaspora," Rashi composed a line-by-line commentary on virtually the entire Talmud, the central rabbinic work that embodies the halakhah (Jewish law). Continually perfected throughout his lifetime, Rashi's Talmud commentary is comprised of lemmas and gloss-type notes that elucidate this highly complex and cryptic multi-volume rabbinic legal work"-- Provided by publisher "Introduction Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaqi (1040-1105), known as Rashi, is perhaps the most influential Jewish Bible interpreter of all time. A native of Troyes in the French county of Champagne, Rashi traveled in his youth to study for a decade in the Rhineland talmudic academies (yeshivot) of Mainz and Worms, then the intellectual center of the Ashkenazic (Franco-German) Jewish world.1 He returned to Troyes c. 1070 and established a vibrant school of Jewish learning that ultimately drew from the best and brightest students of the Ashkenazic community, who would, in turn, become its leading rabbinic figures in the twelfth century.2 Rashi's literary output centers on two major works: his Talmud commentary and his Bible commentary, each monumental in its own right.3 Drawing upon his training in the Rhineland academies by the disciples of the renowned Rabbenu ("our rabbi/master") Gershom ben Judah (c.960-1028), known as the "luminary of the diaspora," Rashi composed a line-by-line commentary on virtually the entire Talmud, the central rabbinic work that embodies the halakhah (Jewish law). Continually perfected throughout his lifetime, Rashi's Talmud commentary is comprised of lemmas and gloss-type notes that elucidate this highly complex and cryptic multi-volume rabbinic legal work"-- Résumé de l'éditeur Offers new perspectives on the revolutionary interpretive methods and literary conceptions of Rashi (Troyes 1040–1105), the most influential Jewish Bible commentator of all time, by comparison with contemporaneous trends in Latin learning, especially parallels to the Psalms commentary of Rheims Cathedral Master Bruno the Carthusian (1030–1101).