Commentators:R. David Kimchi (Radak)/0

R. David Kimchi (Radak)

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Radak

Name	R. David Kimchi, Radak ר' דוד קמחי, רד"ק
Dates	c. 1160 – c. 1235
Location	Narbonne, Provence
Works	Commentaries on Bereshit, Nevi'im, Tehillim, Mishlei, and Divrei HaYamim, Sefer HaMikhlol and Sefer HaShorashim
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by	R. Yosef Kimchi, R. Moshe Kimchi, Ibn Ezra, Rambam, Ibn Janach, Ibn Chiyyug
Impacted on	Ramban, Meiri

Background

Life

• Name – Rabbi David Kimhi (רבי דוד קמחי) , acronym Radak (רד"ק)
• Dates – c.1160 – c.1235
• Location – Provence (Narbonne).
• Education – Bible, rabbinics, philosophy, science, philology
• Occupation – Teacher of rabbinic texts to youths
• Family – Son of R. Joseph Kimhi, brother of R. Moses Kimhi
• Teachers – His brother R. Moses Kimhi
• Contemporaries – Most notably R. Samuel ibn Tibbon of Provence, purveyor of Maimonides' Arabic works
• Time period
• Radak's family migrated from Spain to Provence in the wake of the Almohade invasion of the mid-12th century, and this Spanish legacy influenced his work substantially, as did the works of Rashi (and to a lesser extent those of others) composed in Northern Europe. Accordingly, Radak's work features a relatively early fusion of Northern European and Spanish influences. Polemical components of his work reflect the influence of his Christian environment.
• Translations of Maimonides' Arabic works began circulating during the early stages of Radak's exegetical career, and the Maimonidean component of his work (along with the writings of Samuel Ibn Tibbon and others) marks the beginning of the Maimonidean-Tibbonian philosophical-exegetical tradition that flourished in 13th-century Provence and beyond. Controversy over Maimonides' thought during Radak's time culminated in his efforts to defend the philosopher, as evidenced in Radak's exchange of letters with Judah Alfakhar in 1232.
• World outlook – Maimonidean philosophy dominates Radak's thought, including, inter alia, his affirmations of creation de novo, the presence of a natural order and the limited role of miracles, and the necessity of resisting the draw of the material world in order to unite with the active intellect and achieve immortality.

Works

• Biblical commentaries – Bereshit, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs, Chronicles.¹
• Grammar – Sefer Mikhlol which contains two parts: Sefer MIkhlol, a work on Biblical grammar and Sefer HaShorashim, a Biblical lexicon.²  These were written before Radak's Biblical commentaries and served as a foundation for them. They contain explanations to dozens of verses in Tanakh,³ but also provide the grammatical knowledge necessary to understand the text. For, according to Radak, attempting to study Tanakh without a grammatical base is almost futile.⁴
• Jewish thought – letters in defense of Maimonides
• Misattributed works – Et Sofer on Masorah (according to recently adduced evidence), as well as some collections of material from the Shorashim mistaken to be independent commentaries

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

• Verse by verse / Topical – Radak says explicitly with regards to his commentaries on the Former Prophets, Yirmeyahu and Divrei HaYamim⁵ that he will comment only on those verses which need explanation. Despite these words, however, in practice, Radak comments on almost every verse.
• Genre – explanatory commentary with partial emphasis on grammar and lexicography; periodic discussion of matters relating to philosophy, science, theology, and ethics
• Style – Radak's commentary is paraphrastic, often interweaving the text and commentary.
• Language – Hebrew
• Peshat and derash –  In his introduction to Yehoshua, Radak notes that he will deal with philology and grammar, turn to rabbinic interpretations when their authoritative explanations are necessary, and include "a few" homiletic midrashim "for lovers of derash". He implies, thus, that his emphasis will be on peshat⁶ while derashic interpretations will simply add occasional color to the commentary. While Radak's focus is definitely peshat, he nonetheless incorporates more midrashim into his commentary than does Rashi,⁷ often quoting them directly. 
• Argues
• Agrees
• Contrast

Methods

Introduction – Radak's exegesis synthesizes the methodologies of both the Spanish and French exegetical traditions, combining the Andalusian emphasis on philology, grammar and rationalism with the Northern French and Provencal focus on literary exegesis, realia and Rabbinic literature.

• I. Grammar and Philology – Unlike some exegetes who separate their grammatical and philological analyses from their content discussions,⁸ Radak combines the two, believing that  one informs the other.

• Defining words – Radak will explain difficult words both by looking at their usage in Tanakh itself and by turning to Rabbinic Hebrew,⁹ Aramaic¹⁰ or Arabic.¹¹ He will often note when a word is a hapax legomenon, and in such cases, might turn to the context to explain it.¹²  Radak will also explain more common words which might take several meanings so as to disambiguate.¹³  In many cases these explanations are either an abridged¹⁴ or more elaborate discussion of what he wrote in Sefer HaShorashim, but there are also definitions which were not discussed in the earlier work.
• Grammar
• II. Rationalism – 
• Miracles – Radak believed in the immutability of nature, leading him to minimize the miraculous, but not to reject it.¹⁵
• He, thus, asserts that, for the most part, Hashem performs miracles by utilizing rather than overturning nature,¹⁶ and that Hashem will only perform miracles when necessary.¹⁷
• At times he will reinterpret verses which describe miraculous phenomenon as being simply metaphors.¹⁸
• Many other miracles, he suggests, were preprogrammed into creation, and so do not really constitute a change in the natural order but rather a planned exception to it.¹⁹
• He further asserts that since Hashem generally runs the world via nature, the righteous do not rely on miracles.²⁰
• Anthropomorphism – Radak, following Rambam and others, asserts that any anthropomorphic language in Tanakh is simply a figure of speech. Hashem does not have body parts or feelings such as regret, sadness or happiness. When Tanakh uses such terms, it is only so humans can understand.²¹ 
• Prophecy – Radak's understanding of prophecy is heavily influenced by Rambam.  Like Rambam, he believes that prophecy is transmitted through intermediaries such as angels,²² that to attain prophecy one must prefect one's self both morally and intellectually and be free from material concerns,²³  and that there are distinct prophetic levels.²⁴
• Angels – Radak maintains that angels are not corporeal but that they can take on a human guise and appear so to humans, who imagine them to be real people.²⁵ In a couple of instances, where angels actively engage in corporeal activities which cannot be easily imagined, he suggests that the story might have taken place in a prophetic vision.²⁶
• Bizarre prophetic actions – Radak maintains that several seemingly bizarre or unrealistic prophetic actions, such as Yeshayahu's walking naked, Hoshea's marrying a prostitute, Yechezkel's eating food cooked in dung or swallowing a scroll, all merely took place in prophetic visions to serve as analogies, and did not happen in reality.²⁷
• His exegesis of philosophically-charged material, especially on the opening chapters of Genesis and Ezekiel, bespeak an effort to apply a systematic Maimonidean approach, supplemented by his own exegetical and philosophical preferences.²⁸
• III. Literary Exegesis
• "The way of the text" – Radak is very attuned to patterns in the Biblical text, often noting that a literary phenomenon or a certain formulation is simply "the way of the text"²⁹ or "דרך הלשון"‎³⁰
• Doubling in Tanakh – Radak often addresses repetition and doublings  in Tanakh, both within a story or verse and between parallel stories.
• In contrast to the midrashic tendency to find significance in every repetition, Radak tends to explain away such doublings as being elements of Biblical style or the manner of people.  Thus, repetition might serve for emphasis³¹ or elaboration³² or be an expression of emotion.³³
• Radak notes that often Tanakh employs synonymous rather than identical language when repeating (כפל הענין במלים שונות), and emphasizes that this is simply the way of the text and one need not to look into the significance of the choice.³⁴   
• "הכתוב שומר הטעמים ולא המלות" – When analyzing parallel passages, such as the two accounts of the servant's story in Bereshit 24, Radak belittles the significance of changes in language, explaining that as long as the meaning is maintained, the choice of word is not important.³⁵
• Sensitivity to literary artistry – In prophetic and poetic passages, Radak often highlights plays on words (לשון נופל על לשון), noting that these are "דרך צחות השלון" (beautifying the text).³⁶

•  IV. Realia
• Way of the world – Radak will often explain certain customs in light of the realia of either Biblical times,³⁷ his own time,³⁸ or the way of the world at large.³⁹
• Psychological insights – At times, Radak will provide the psychological motives behind a character's actions or people's behavior in general.⁴⁰
• Scientific knowledge – Radak might explain the narrative in light of his knowledge of the sciences, nature, or geography.⁴¹

• Radak provides explanations for masoretic alternatives reflected by qere-ketiv disparities.
• He displays considerable literary sensitivity of various kinds. He often attributes meaning to extraneous or otherwise distinctive biblical formulations, especially those found in the Pentateuch.
• He provides motives for the actions of biblical characters.
• He seeks to harmonize apparent biblical discrepancies, refusing to allow for the canonization of error on the part the inspired biblical author/editor.
• He recognizes parallelism as a rhetorical ("intensifying") feature of biblical poetry.
• He proposes historical contexts for individual Psalms.
• Crucially, his relatively expansive elucidations of the biblical text mark an important departure from the more concise and atomistic exegesis of his predecessors.

Themes

• Reasons for stories – Radak will often explore the didactic and theological messages relayed by Biblical narratives, questioning what can be learned by the inclusion of both specific details and entire stories.⁴²  Thus, Radak will often note how certain details are included to teach the reader proper behavior,⁴³ give insights into a person's character,⁴⁴ help one understand Hashem's ways,⁴⁵ or to relay historical messages.⁴⁶
• Prophetic Autonomy

Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – five extant manuscripts of commentary on Genesis; varying numbers of manuscripts of other works
• Printings – first printings in 15th and 16th centuries, chiefly in early Rabbinic Bibles; current best editions chiefly in Bar-Ilan's Mikra'ot Gedolot Haketer
• Textual layers – several works reflect stages of revision by the author

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – chiefly Talmud and Midrash, Rashi, R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, R. Jonah Ibn Janah, R. Joseph Kimhi, Maimonides
• Teachers – R. Moses Kimhi

Impact

Later exegetes

Radak's Shorashim became the standard biblical lexicon for centuries; and his commentaries on the Prophets and Writings likewise became standard, heavily influencing commentators such as Abarbanel and forming the basis of others such as Metzudat David.

Supercommentaries

Editions of various commentaries are available with limited annotation, and a more expansive supercommentary is available on Chronicles.

¹ As Radak often references his earlier commentaries in later ones, one can reconstruct the order of their composition as follows: Divrei HaYamim, Tehillim, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, and finally, Bereshit. For some of examples of his self-references see: Tehillim 78:9 (where he refers to his commentary to Divrei HaYamim), Yirmeyahu 22:11 (where he refers to his commentaries on both Divrei HaYamim and Melakhim), or Melakhim I 13:28 (where he refers to his commentary on Tehillim). See also his introduction to Yirmeyahu where he explicitly addresses the order in which he composed the work, writing "וכן כתבתי פירושו אחר פירוש ישעיהו".  A few lines later, he compares what he plans to do in the commentary to what he had done in his commentaries to the Former Prophets (כמו שעשיתי בפירוש ד׳ ספרים הראשונים), providing clear evidence that those had been written before the commentaries to the Latter Prophets.

² The book, with its two parts (the section on grammar and the section on roots), was originally called Sefer HaMikhlol, but later publishers gave each section its own name by which they are now known.

³ See עזרא ציון צלמד "מפרשי המקרא", (ירושלים, 1978):783-788 for a full listing.

⁴ He compares it to one who attempts to plow a field with an ox but without a cattle prod: "אשר למד ותורה לו לקנין / ולא למד יסוד דקדוק ולא בן / כמו חורש אשר ינהג שוורים/ וידו בלי מלמד ודרבן" (Sefer HaMIkhlol, epilogue)

⁵ See his introductions to Divrei HaYamim and Yirmeyahu where he differentiates between his commentaries to these works and his commentary to Yeshayahu, claiming that only Yeshayahu was to be explained verse by verse.

⁶ See his introduction to Divrei HaYamim as well, where he explains that one of the motivations for writing the work was that the only commentaries he found on the book were those in Narbonne who followed "the path of derash".  Here, too, he  implies that his approach will differ, and that he will approach his commentary from a "peshat" perspective.

⁷ F. Talmage, David Kimhi: The Man and the Commentaries (Massachusetts, 1974): 74, writes, "If Radak was bringing midrashim for the lovers of peshat it would appear that he himself was chief among them... He did not bring all of the midrashic corpus. Yet as one peruses the commentaries, verse after verse, chapter after chapter... one almost feels that he tried to."

⁸ See, for example, Ralbag who has a section of his commentary entitled "פירוש המילים" and a distinct section "פירוש הענין".

⁹ See, for example, Bereshit 26:20, 45:17, Shofetim 5:26, 7:3, 9:27, 20:38, Shemuel II 16:12, Melakhim I 1:9, Melakhim I 12:33, Melakhim II 4:16, Yeshayahu 41:21. or Yirmeyahu 42:6.  For discussion, see ניסן נצר, "תרומתו של "רד"ק לפתרון מלים מקראיות יחידאיות בצורה או בשימוש לאורה של לשון-חכמים in HUCA (1988): 1-11.

¹⁰ In many of these cases, he is drawing off the Aramaic Targumim.

¹¹ Radak often brings such explanations in the name of his father or others, and it is likely that Radak himself was not particularly fluent in the language. For some examples, see Yeshayahu 1:22. 3:9, 14:19, 65:11, Yirmeyahu 3:14, 16:5, 51:32, or Hoshea 4:14.

¹² Thus, he often writes "אין לו חבר במקרא...ופירושו לפי עניינו".   See, for example, Shemuel II 17:20, Yeshayahu 9:4, 11:15, 33:20, 56:10, or 66:11.  In many cases, he follows Ibn Ezra's lead in noting and explaining these words.

¹³ See, for exampleBereshit 26:9 and Yirmeyahu 32:30 on the meaning of the word "אך", Yirmeyahu30:2, Yechezkel 23:42 and Yirmeyahu 4:23 on the various meanings of the word "אל" or Yeshayahu 24:10 and Tehillim 39:6 on the meaning of "כל".

¹⁴ See, for example Yirmeyahu 18:2, where he writes " וסבפר השרשים הארכתי בפירושו עוד".

¹⁵ Thus, he maintains that the snake in the garden miraculously talked (Bereshit 3:1), the skin tunics were miraculously made for Adam and Chavvah (Bereshit 3:21) and that there really was a shamir, the worm who could split stones (Melakhim I 6:7).  Similarly, though he brings an opinion that the boys revived by Eliyahu and Elisha were simply unconscious, he prefers the possibility that they actually died and were brought back to life. [This might also be motivated by the controversy over Rambam's discussion of resurrection and a need to affirm the concept.]  So, too, though he raises the possibility that the sign of the fleece was seen by Gidon only in a prophetic dream, he prefers the option that it occurred in reality.

¹⁶ See Yehoshua 5:2 where he writes, "כי אף על פי שמשנה מנהג העולם בקצת הנסים בקריעת ים סוף והירדן ועמידת השמש לא יעשה כן ברוב הנסים כי אפילו בנצוח המלחמות ועזרו לאוהביו היה עושה ע״י סבה כמנהג העולם". Thus, for instance, see Melakhim I 17:21 and Radak Melakhim II 4:31 where he shows how Eliyahu and Elisha's actions to revive the boys was an attempt to make their resurrection as natural as possible..

¹⁷ See, for example, his comments to Bereshit 2:21 (regarding the necessity of putting Adam to sleep rather than miraculously easing his pain), Yehoshua 5:2 (regarding why Hashem preferred the people to delay circumcision rather than miraculously ensure their health in the wilderness),  Yehoshua 6:5 (where he suggests that only the part of the wall of Yericho, that which was necessary for the Israelite army, fell).  In each case, he maintains that Hashem ill refrain from overturning nature when not necessary.

¹⁸ See, for example, his comments to Yeshayahu 13:10 and Yoel 2:10, 3:3.  Cf. his commentary to Yeshayahu 11:6 (וְגָר זְאֵב עִם כֶּבֶשׂ) where he maintains that the predatory nature of animals will not change in Messianic times, but for textual reasons does not read the verse as an allegory for world peace.

¹⁹ See Radak Bereshit 2:1, drawing off Bereshit Rabbah 85, where he notes that already during the six days of creation Hashem commanded that the sea split, the sun stand still, the ravens feed Eliyahu, the lions not harm Daniel and that the fish save Yonah.

²⁰ See Bereshit 12:12 and Radak Shemuel I 16:2 and examples there.

²¹ Thus, he writes on Bereshit 8:1: "דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם להבין השומעים" and similarly in Bereshit 9:15: "הכל הוא דרך משל כלשון בני אדם".  See similar statements in Bereshit 1:3, 2:2, 6:6, 8:21, 11:7, Shofetim 9:13, 10:16, Yirmeyahu 14:8, Yonah 4:10, Zekharyah 7:14, 14:4, Malakhi 3:16 and Tehillim 2:4, 40:6.

²² See, for example, his comments to Yeshayahu 50:5.

²³ See his intorduction to Tehillim, Yirmeyahu 1:5, Bereshit 45:27, Yeshayahu 28:9, and Yoel 1:3.

²⁴ See Radak's introduction to Tehillim where he distinguishes between "רוח הקודש" and "נבואה", .  Radak's categorization does not follow Rambam's exactly, omitting some of Rambam's levels and conflating others.

²⁵ See Bereshit 32:26 where he notes how many angels (such as the angels who speak to Yehoshua, Gidon, or Lot) appear as men to humans though they are not in fact corporeal; the appearance is only in the human's imagination.

²⁶ Since Yaakov's struggle with the angel involved actual touch, and the angel was not simply a figure seen by Yaakov, Radak asserts that either the whole episode took place only in a prophetic vision or that Hashem made an exception and gave the angel a temporary human form (Bereshit 32:26). Radak also raises the possibility that all of Bereshit 18, the story of Avraham's guests, was similarly but a prophetic vision.  As he simultaneously maintains that Chapter 19 took place in reality, it seems that he is bothered not by the human guise which was but an appearance, but by the fact that Avraham's guests actively ate. [On that verse, he notes that if it was not a prophetic dream one must maintain that it simply appeared that they ate, with the food miraculously disappearing.] Radak's reading of the story of "בני אלהים" consorting with "בנות האדם" to refer to the corrupt sons of judges rather than angels might similarly be motivated by the problematic of angels having relations with humans.

²⁷ See his comments to Yeshayahu 8:1, 20:23, Yechezkel 2:8, 4:4, 5:1, 8:3, 9:4, and Hoshea 1:2.

²⁸ See Shemuel I 20:19,  Melakhim I 11:27,

²⁹ See for example, his comments to Bereshit 25:16 (that the text will often write a general statement after including details: כלל אחר פרט), 28:10 (that it is the way of the text to mention the beginning and end of a process and leave out the details of the middle), 41:10 (that the text might employ reptition to resume a narrative after a break).

³⁰ See, for instance, his comments to Bereshit 23:1, where he explains the triple repetition of the word "שנה" as being a common example of literary artistry ("דרך צחות הלשון"), 43:8 (regarding the repetion of the word "גם"), 45:20 (that the verb "חס", to have pity, is often paired with the word eye rather than heart).

³¹ See, for example, Shofetim 5:7, Melakhim I 20:33, Melakhim II 4:15, Yeshayahu 6:11, Yirmeyahu 22:29, 23:5,  Yechezkel 21:20, 39:4, Tehillim 21:7, 106:5.

³² See Bereshit 30:20, Yehoshua 6:18, 26, Shofetim 8:35, Melakhim II 10:6.

³³ See Yirmeyhau 4:19, Melakhim I 18:36 where doubling expresses distress or Yechezkel 16:6 where it serves to encourage.

³⁴ In this he is influenced by Ibn Ezra before him. See, for example, Bereshit 20:1, 21:1, 32:8, 43:14, Yeshayahu 1:2.

³⁵ In this, too, Radak follows Ibn Ezra. See Bereshit 18:13, 24:39, ShemueI II 8:3, Yirmeyahu 6:12, 8:10.

³⁶ See, for example, his comments to Yeshayahu 5:7 regarding "וַיְקַו לְמִשְׁפָּט וְהִנֵּה מִשְׂפָּח לִצְדָקָה וְהִנֵּה צְעָקָה", See also: 57:6, 65:11 (compare Ibn Ezra there), Yirmeyahu 6:1, 6:27, 48:2, 51:2, Mikha 1:10-15. He will also note how Tanakh might slightly change the vocalization for aesthetic beauty, to pair it with another word. For instance, see Shemuel II 3:25 (מוצאך and מובאך and other examples there) or Yechezkel 16:3..

³⁷ See, for example, Bereshit4:18 and 10:13 (on the Biblical custom of naming children after events that occur), 24:67 (on living arrangements of husbands and wives), 25:34 and 31:46 (that eating a meal served to establish a treaty), 34:20 (regarding the role of the "city gate"), 38:4 (on which parent names a child), and 38:8 (on levirate marriage in the patriarchal period).

³⁸ See Bereshit 23:6 (regarding burial practices), Shemeuel I 20:19 (concerning not working on the enew moon), Melakhim I 11:27 (on kings making escape routes),

³⁹ See, for example, Bereshit 5:3, 24:61, 27:1, 27:4, 27:25, 29:4, 29:22, 40:16, 41:9, 47:7 or 49:10, Melakhim II 21:13, Yeshayahu 8:20, 60:11, Yirmeyhau 4:2, 31:4, Tehillim 31:11,  Malakhi 2:14

⁴⁰ See, for example, Bereshit 25:28 regarding why each of Rivka and Yitzchak preferred the son that they did, Yeshayahu Hoshea 7:10 on the tendency of the elderly to repent, Tehillim 35:14, on the relative pain of losing a mother versus a father, or Yeshayahu 47:1 on the association between weakness and a life of pleasure.

⁴¹ In many comments he speaks of animal behavior. See, for example, Bereshit 8:7 (explaining Noach's choice to send a raven and dove specifically),Yirmeyahu (on the migration patterns of storks), Hoshea 13:8 (regarding bears' attachment to their young), Mikhah 1:15 (regarding eagles). Elsewhere, he speaks about the working of the body: Bereshit 49:12,  Tehillim 102:5 or 139:14. He touches on geographical knowledge in Yechezkel 47:9, 26:14, Amos 9:3 and botany in Chagai 2:19 and Yeshayahu 18:5.

⁴² See, for example, Bereshit 9:20 (regarding the inclusion of the story of Noach's drunkenness, brought to teach both about the evils of wine and to give background about the Canaan's cursed status) Bereshit 19:32 (about the evils of incest and to introduce Moav and Ammon), Bereshit 25:28-30 (that the story of the sale of the birthright is meant to provide insight into the characters of both Yaakov and Esav),  Bereshit 26:23 about the historical lessons that can be learned from the story of Yitzchak's well digging, or Bereshit 39: 7 (that the story of Mrs. Potiphar teaches lessons in both self control and trust in Hashem).

⁴³ See, for example, Bereshit 18:3, 19:3, 24:18 where Radak notes that the details of Avraham, Lot and Rivak's hospitality come to teach proper treatment of guests, 24:64 or 29:23, that one can learn from Rivka and Yaakov's actions lessons in modesty, 32:14, that Yaakov's preparations for his encounter with Esav teach that one should not trust in miracles, or 39:7, that one should learn from Yosef to conquer one's inclinations.

⁴⁴ See, for example, Bereshit 24:30, where Radak suggests that Lavan's actions are shared to reveal his greed,  Bereshit 25:10 that the sale of the cave of Machpelah is repeated to highlight Avraham's belief in Hashem despite obstacles along the way, or Bereshit 25:26-28 that the story of the buying of the birthright reveals Esav's rashness and insatiable appetite, while the mention of his marriage in Bereshit 26:35, teaches about his insensitivity to his parents.

⁴⁵ See, for example, Bereshit 24:62, 27:1, 36:20, 38:26, 39:7,

⁴⁶ Radak does not use the language of "מעשה אבות סימן לבנים" (the actions of the fathers are a sign for the children) but in several places appears to apply the concept. For example, he notes that Yaakov's grasping Esav's was a "sign" that eventually he would dominate over his brother (Bereshit 25:26) or the story of the digging of wells and ensuing quarrels was a "sign" of which lands would eventually fall under Israel's sovereignty (Bereshit 26:23).  Other stories which are included to give the reader insight into historical developments include the births of Ammon and Moav (19:32) and the cursing of Canaan (9:20).