Joseph Kimhi - Exegete

Exegete

Of his exegetical works few have been preserved. Mention is made of his "Sefer ha-Torah," a commentary on the Pentateuch; his "Sefer ha-Miḳnah," a commentary on the Prophets; and his "Ḥibbur ha-Leḳeṭ," of unknown contents. A commentary by him on the Song of Songs exists in manuscript; his commentary on Proverbs has been published by Bär Dubrowo under the title "Sefer Ḥuḳḳah" (Breslau, 1868); and variants to the badly printed text are given by Eppenstein in "Zeit. für Hebr. Bibl." v. 143 et seq. A fragment of his commentary on the Book of Job has been published by Schwarz in his "Tiḳwat Enosh" (Berlin, 1868); the remaining portions, by Eppenstein in "R. E. J." xxxvii. 86 et seq. Many exegetical remarks are scattered throughout Ḳim-ḥi's grammatical works. His method is mostly that of the peshaṭ, i.e., literal interpretation. He frequently follows the Spanish school, without, however, reading into the Scriptural text the scientific knowledge of his own time. He pays a great deal of attention to the context, a point usually neglected by Haggadists. His explanations are short and terse. While criticizing at times some untenable explanations of his predecessors, he accepts such as seem to him to be correct. He is the first eclectic of the Provençal school of exegetes.