Commentators:R. Yosef Bekhor Shor/0

R. Yosef Bekhor Shor – Intellectual Profile

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R. Yosef Bekhor Shor

Name	R. Yosef Bekhor Shor ר' יוסף בכור שור
Dates	12th century
Location	France
Works	Torah and Tehillim commentaries, novellae on the Talmud, liturgical poems
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced by	Rashbam, R. Tam
Impacted on	Sefer HaGan, Baalei HaTosafot, Ramban

Background

Life He is known to have lived in the 12th-century Northern French Tosafist milieu, and to have been a disciple of Rabbenu Tam.⁵ He was a Halakhist/Talmudist whose novellae are included in Tosafot, as well as a Bible commentator. From his writings it can be deduced that he knew Latin and was familiar with Christian biblical exegesis.⁶ In his commentary, he confronts contemporary Christians and Jews who allegorize the commandments, defending traditional Jewish practice and belief.⁷ He also was a paytan (author of liturgical poems)⁸ who seems to have had a rather well-developed literary sense.⁹ His respected standing within the Tosafist world is attested by frequent use of his commentaries by later Tosafist compendia.¹⁰

• Name – 
  • Hebrew name – ר' יוסף בכור שור¹
  • _ name – 
• Dates – Middle to late 12th century²
• Location – Northern France³
• Education and Occupation – No more than a skeletal history of Bekhor Shor’s life can be constructed from the sources that currently exist.⁴

• Family – Bekhor Shor cites his father once in his commentary,¹¹ and he had a son who is cited in Tosafist literature, called R. Avraham b. R. Yosef of Orleans.¹²
• Teachers – R. Yaakov Tam¹³
• Contemporaries – Rashbam, R. Eliezer of Beaugency,¹⁴ R. Avraham Ibn Ezra¹⁵
• Students – 
• Time period – 
• World outlook – 

Works

• Biblical commentaries – Torah,¹⁶ Tehillim¹⁷
• Rabbinics – 
  • Talmudic novellae – Bekhor Shor is cited a number of times in Tosafot on the Talmud¹⁸
  • Halakhic codes – 
  • Responses to the works of others – 
  • Responsa – Conducted Halakhic correspondence with R. Tam.¹⁹
• Jewish thought – 
• Other works – Piyuttim²⁰
• Misattributed works – 

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

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

Methods

• – 

Themes

• – 

Textual Issues

• Manuscripts – 
• Printings – 
• Textual layers – 

Sources

Significant Influences

• Earlier Sources – 
• Teachers – 
• Foils – 

Occasional Usage

Possible Relationship

Impact

Later exegetes

Supercommentaries

¹ The name is a reference to Devarim 33:17. This page will use the abbreviated form “Bekhor Shor”, which is how both the person and his commentary are often referred to in common parlance.
According to the consensus view, R. Yosef Bekhor Shor is the same person as R. Yosef of Orleans, and R. Yosef b. Yitzchak b. HaNadiv R. Yosef of Chinon, two other names cited in Tosafist literature. There are, however, some scholars who dispute this identification. See Urbach: Ba’alei HaTosafot: 132-134, Y. Nevo, רבי יוסף בכור שור פרשן הפשט: 1-2 (text adjacent to notes 10-19), and Y. Priel, “רבנו יוסף בכור שור: מעמדו בעולם הפרשנות ותהליך החשיפה המחודש של פירושו,” Oreshet 1 (2010, herafter: Priel, R. Yosef): 114-115. Here we will assume the consensus view.

² While there is no direct evidence as to when Bekhor Shor was born or died, we know that he wrote a question to R. Tam (d. 1171) as a young man, which would indicate his birth could not have been much later than 1150. G. Walter (Joseph Bechor Schorr, der letzte nordfranzösische bibelexeget (Breslau, 1890):7-8) estimates that Bekhor Shor was born circa 1140. Regarding when he wrote his commentaries, S.A. Poznanski (מבוא על חכמי צרפת מפרשי המקרא , (Warsaw, 1913): LVIII) notes that Bekhor Shor cites (in Bereshit 33:6) a work by R. Shelomoh ibn Parchon that is known to have been written in 1161. A. Geiger posits that this Italian work could not have spread to Northern France for several years, and thus sets the composition date of Bekhor Shor’s Torah commentary as no earlier than 1170 (see. A. Geiger, ספר פרשנדתא על חכמי צרפת מפרשי המקרא (Leipzig, 1856): 41). Similarly, M. Idel (“"פירוש מזמור יט לר' יוסף בכור שור, Alei Sefer 9 (1981): 64) argues that Bekhor Shor’s commentary to Tehillim was influenced by Chovot HaLevavot, and thus could not have been written before 1161, when that work was first translated into Hebrew.

³ More specifically Orleans, assuming Bekhor Shor is R. Yosef of Orleans.

⁴ There exists a lone medieval report of a historical incident involving Bekhor Shor (see Urbach, Ba’alei HaTosafot: 135). In this account, Bekhor Shor is confronted by a devoted convert to Christianity, and he succeeds in refuting Christianity based on Yeshayahu 52:13 and immediately bringing about the apostate’s repentance.

⁵ See Urbach ibid.: 137-139 for a discussion of the correspondence between the two.

⁶ See Urbach ibid.: 135

⁷ See for example Bekhor Shor to Devarim 10:9 and Vayikra 17:13.

⁸ See below, Works.

⁹ Urbach (ibid.: 137-138) discusses a Halakhic question sent by R. Yosef of Orleans and another scholar to R. Tam that is presented in the form of a novella-like dialogue between two litigants. Urbach has this to say about it: "אין לנו מימי הביניים דוגמאות רבות של פרוזה חיה וגמישה כזו, שחוט של חן משוך עליה". Although the question was signed also by the other scholar, Urbach sees it as likely that Bekhor Shor was the actual author, as the rest of the correspondence on the matter is addressed by R. Tam solely to him.

¹⁰ Though the commentaries often appear uncredited. Such compendia include Da’at Zekeinim, Hadar Zekeinim, and Chizkuni. He is cited less frequently in Moshav Zekeinim, Pa’aneach Raza, and Minchat Yehudah. See Y.H. Nisan, Medieval Ashkenazi Bible Interpretation: A Textual Analysis of Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor's Torah Commentary (McGill University MA thesis, 1997, hereafter: Nisan, Analysis): 103-118, for an in-depth analysis of this issue.

¹¹ In his commentary to Vayikra 23:16. He does not mention his father’s name, but it seems to have been Yitzchak, see note above in the Name section.

¹² See Urbach, ibid.: 140-141.

¹³ See Urbach, Ba’alei HaTosafot: 132-139 regarding Halakhic correspondences between Bekhor Shor and R. Tam. Bekhor Shor, however, never mentions R. Tam or his grammatical work Hakhra’ot in his Torah commentary. Urbach (ibid.:136) theorizes that this is because Bekhor Shor paid scant attention to grammatical matters in his commentary. There are, however, cases where Bekhor Shor seems to be following his master’s commentary despite not citing him. See Nisan, Analysis: 92. See also ibid.: 19-25, for an analysis of Bekhor Shor’s grammatical comments.

¹⁴ A Northern French peshat exegete.

¹⁵ The relationship between Ibn Ezra and Bekhor Shor is a matter of scholarly debate. Ibn Ezra is mentioned twice in Bekhor Shor’s commentary (Bereshit 49:4, Shemot 24:11), but both instances are introduced with the note “haggah”, apparently indicating that it was added by a copyist. There are affinities between the commentaries in a number of places, but on the question of influence there are a range of opinions, from those who think it indisputable that Bekhor Shor was acquainted with Ibn Ezra’s commentaries, to those who claim that Bekhor Shor was completely unaware of Ibn Ezra’s commentaries. Some scholars also see some potential influence of Bekhor Shor on Ibn Ezra. See Nisan, Analysis: 83-90.

¹⁶ Published in 1994 by Mosad HaRav Kook as: בכור שור פירושי התורה (Ed. Y. Nevo), and recently included in Mikraot Gedolot HaKeter published by Bar Ilan University. For other editions, see Priel, R. Yosef: 116-117. All editions have been based on a sole extant manuscript – Munich 52. Bekhor Shor’s commentary belongs to the Northern French peshat school, which included commentators such as Rashi, R. Yosef Kara, Rashbam, and R. Eliezer of Beaugency, the latter two being contemporaries, or older contemporaries, of Bekhor Shor. Scholarly consensus views Bekhor Shor as occupying a middle position between Rashi’s extensive reliance on Midrash, and the relatively extreme rejection of Midrash by R. Yosef Kara and Rashbam (see M. Lockshin, “האם היה יוסף בכור שור פשטן?,” Iggud: Selected Essays in Jewish Studies Volume 1: The Bible and Its World, Rabbinic Literature and Jewish Law, and Jewish Thought (2005): 161-172). A number of scholars have noted that a distinguishing trait of Bekhor Shor’s commentary is his tendency to focus on psychological issues within the Torah’s narrative (see Y. Nevo, "The Exegetical Method of R. Joseph Bekhor Shor” (Leiden, 1987): 40-46). Moreover, Urbach (Ba’alei HaTosafot: 134) observes that Bekhor Shor’s commentary excels in its sensitivity to the Torah’s narrative style (see above, Occupation, regarding Bekhor Shor’s literary sense). Bekhor Shor is further distinct from other Northern French commentators in his efforts to avoid any anthropomorphism, to explain miracles in a naturalistic manner, to provide rationalistic reasons for the commandments, and to defend the actions of the Patriarchs against criticism (ibid.). It is striking that the first three of these tendencies are hallmarks of the approach of Rambam (who lived at roughly the same time as Bekhor Shor in Egypt) and other Sephardic medieval rationalist interpreters. Urbach (ibid: 134-135) theorizes that what led Bekhor Shor in this direction, more than any potential influence of Sephardic commentators, was his need to counter the claims of local Christian critics and Jewish heretics (some of whom apparently allegorized the Torah’s mitzvot). Bekhor Shor criticizes certain comments of Rashbam that play into the hands of those who allegorize the mitzvot. See Bekhor Shor to Devarim 10:9, and Urbach, ibid.:135.

¹⁷ Only fragments of this commentary have been preserved. They were published in: Z. Kahn, "Le Livere de Joseph le Zalateur", REJ 3 (1881): 5, and M. Liber, "Bibliographie", REJ 58 (1909): 309-311. See also the note above in Dates.

¹⁸ For a list of citations see Urbach, Ibid.: 132, note 2.

¹⁹ See See Urbach, ibid.: 132-139.

²⁰ Four of Bekhor Shor’s selichot, and one “Akedah” were published in A.M. Haberman "פיוטי ר' יוסף ב"ר יצחק מאורליינש", Tarbiz 9 (1938): 323-342. And a piyyut with an acrostic spelling יוסף בכור שור is extant in manuscript.