R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon – Intellectual Profile

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R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon
Name
R. Shemuel b. Chofni Gaon
ר' שמואל בן חפני גאון (הכהן), רשבח"ג
Dates9??-1013
LocationBaghdad
WorksCommentary and translation on Torah, Halakhic works
Exegetical CharacteristicsRationalist
Influenced byR. Saadia
Impacted on

Background

Life

  • Name – R. Samuel b. Ḥofni Gaon
    • Hebrew name – ר' שמואל בן חפני גאון
  • Dates – 9??-1013
  • Location – Pumbedita
  • Education –
  • Occupation – Av Beit Din and Gaon of Yeshivat Sura
  • Family – one son and two daughters (one of whom was the wife of R. Hai Gaon)
  • Teachers –
  • Contemporaries – R. Sherira ben Hananiah
  • Students –
  • Time period – Geonic period
    • –
  • World outlook –

Works

  • Biblical commentaries – Bereshit (2nd half), Bemidbar, Devarim
  • Rabbinics:
    • Talmudic novellae – Commentaries on Bavli Shabbat, Yevamot, Ketubot, and Introduction to the Study of Mishnah and Talmud
    • Halakhic codes – many treatises on various subjects
    • Responsa – several found in collections of Geonic responsa

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

  • Verse by verse / Topical –
  • Genre – 
  • Structure – 
  • Language – Hebrew
  • Peshat and derash –

Methods

  • The verses are examined for any textual anomalies, and these anomalies are explained from a rationalist point of view in keeping with the simple meaning of the text.

Themes

Textual Issues

  • Manuscripts –
  • Printings – 
  • Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

  • Earlier Sources –
  • Teachers – 
  • Foils – 

Occasional Usage

  • –

Possible Relationship

  • –

Impact

Later exegetes

  • R. Yonah in Janah
  • Ibn Ezra
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