The Challenge of Received Tradition: Dilemmas of Interpretation in Radak's Biblical Commentaries

by Naomi Grunhaus

One of the most vexing problems facing medieval Jewish interpreters of the Hebrew Bible was how to implement the new interpretive strategy of extracting the straightforward, contextual meaning of biblical verses ( peshat ), without neglecting revered ancient rabbinic modes of interpretation ( derash ), which tended to be more fanciful and homiletical. This book investigates the interpretive style of Radak (R. David Kimhi, c. 1160-1232), one of the most preeminent Jewish exegetes, who masterfully utilized both approaches simultaneously. Analyzing his idiosyncratic consistent juxtaposition of peshat and derash -type rabbinic comments, and thoroughly parsing his methodological statements, the book demonstrates how at times he finds rabbinic traditions essential to resolving textual questions that arise in exegesis, while at other times, he affords them only ancillary functions in his commentaries. Naomi Grunhaus also considers in depth Radak's criteria when challenging rabbinic
teachings, whether in narrative or legal contexts, which leads to the conclusion that most often he rejects rabbinic traditions when they appear to contradict textual biblical evidence, but occasionally also on the grounds of implausibility. Particularly noteworthy is the author's discussion of Radak's apparent challenges to rabbinic legal interpretations of Scriptures, an approach which most other exegetes hesitated to take. The book considers the anomaly that Radak regularly quotes rabbinic traditions and relies on traditional authority, while simultaneously challenging this same authority when rejecting certain rabbinic interpretations.

274 pages, Hardcover

First published December 4, 2012

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains why R. David Kimhi (Radak) is worth studying and how he differs from other medieval commentators. Some commentators (such as Rashi) focused heavily on Talmud-era rabbinic interpretations of the Bible, even if those interpretations were farfetched. Other commentators, such as Rashi's grandson Rashbam, focused heavily on the peshat (or more-or-less plain meaning) of the Biblical text, ignoring or rejecting rabbinic interpretations that didn't fit the text. Radak sought to synthesize these two tendencies, sometimes contrasting peshat with rabbinic interpretations, sometimes relying on the latter, and sometimes rejecting those intepretations in favor of peshat.