Commentators:Ramban's Updates/1

Ramban's Updates to his Torah Commentary¹

Introduction

The "open book" phenomenon, in which an author continuously updated the text of his work even after its initial dissemination, is well attested in medieval times.² However, the case of Ramban's Torah commentary is singular in that we possess five manuscripts which contain lists of the passages which Ramban updated.³ These lists also tell us that Ramban made these changes to his commentary after his arrival in Israel, and three of the manuscripts⁴ tell us that Ramban himself sent out their updates.⁵

Moreover, we are fortunate to have an abundance of manuscripts of Ramban's commentary through which one can see evidence for the various stages of the incorporation of his additions and changes.⁶ Taken together, the explicit lists and the various textual witnesses of the commentary itself provide us with a unique window through which one can glimpse the workings of Ramban's thought processes and modus operandi in the final years of his life.⁷

It is clear from several factors that the five explicit lists, which together total almost 140 additions, are not a complete catalogue of Ramban's later changes to his commentary. First, in Bereshit 35:16 Ramban records his change of opinion as a result of his travels in Israel ("ועכשיו שזכיתי ובאתי אני לירושלים"), and this case is not included in any of the lists.⁸ Second, there are significant discrepancies between the lists as far as which updates are included.⁹ Finally, there are additional passages in the commentary which are either related to some of the updates on the lists or contain some of the distinctive features of these updates.¹⁰

Indeed, a painstaking comparison of the various extant manuscripts of Ramban conducted in 2001¹¹ revealed over 130 more updates which Ramban made to his commentary which are not found on any of the lists. Most of these changes are smaller than the ones recorded in the lists, and it is likely that this was a major factor in their not being included on the lists. Generally, the same manuscripts¹² which lack the changes which are on the explicit lists are also missing these additional updates.¹³ These updates share many of the features of the changes on the explicit lists such as newly gained geographical knowledge of Israel and sources to which Ramban gained access only upon his arrival in Israel.¹⁴

Ramban invested a great deal of time and energy to make sure that people would possess updated versions of his commentary,¹⁵ and to a great extent he was successful. While there are numerous manuscripts which are missing some of the updates, most if not all manuscripts incorporated some of them,¹⁶ and many included almost all.¹⁷ Most citations of Ramban's commentary by later medieval commentators also reflect the updated text.¹⁸ And, finally, most of the printed editions¹⁹ generally reflect the fuller and updated version of the commentary.²⁰

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The side navigation menu provides links to tables for each Chumash containing Ramban's updates, both listed and unlisted. The apparatus details some of the manuscripts in which the updates are missing, appear in the margins, or included on the explicit lists. One can also click the colored toggle to switch between how the commentary looked in its original and final forms. Note: Much additional manuscript data has not yet been uploaded to the site; please check back for updates.

In the images below, one can compare various manuscripts of Ramban's commentary on a particular verse and see examples of texts where Ramban's update is completely missing, added in the margin, or integrated into the commentary.

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Bereshit 35:16 and 48:7

MS Paris 223 – Ramban Bereshit 35:16 – Ramban's original version (Rachel is buried in the Ramah) with his later update in the margin.

MS Paris 224 – Ramban Bereshit 35:16 – Ramban's update (Rachel is buried near Beit Lechem) is incorporated into the text.

MS Paris 219 – Ramban Bereshit 48:7 – Ramban's original version (Rachel is buried in the Ramah) before his double correction.

MS Paris 221 – Ramban Bereshit 48:7 – The text reflects Ramban's double correction of his original interpretation (consistent with his update of 35:16), while the gloss between the lines mistakenly reinserts the original rejected version (see notes to Table).

MS Paris 225 – Ramban Peirush HaKatzar Bereshit 48:7 – Ramban's update is in the text, but in Bereshit 48:7, rather than Bereshit 35:16 (like in his regular commentary).

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Shemot 10:14

MS Paris 224 – Ramban Shemot 10:14 – Original version of the commentary before Ramban's update.

MS Paris 223 – Ramban Shemot 10:14 – Ramban's update (regarding climate in Egypt and citation of R. Chananel) is in the margin.

MS Paris 221 – Ramban Shemot 10:14 – Ramban's update is incorporated in the text.

A list of Ramban's updates (MS Oxford 2253/17) – Ramban's update to Shemot 10:14 is recorded in the list of changes.

*With thanks to the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

¹ The Introduction, Hosafot lists, and analysis presented here are based on an unpublished seminar paper by H. Novetsky, "Nahmanides' Amendments to his Commentary on the Torah", submitted in 1997 to Prof. David Berger, and his subsequent analysis in 2001 of the available microfilms of the Ramban manuscripts housed at the מכון לתצלומי כתבי יד of the Jewish National University Library. At that time, the findings were shared with Dr. Mordechai Sabato, and the manuscript findings and paper were shared with Prof. Yisrael Ta-Shma (who subsequently shared the paper with Jonathan Jacobs). The current section on the alhatorah.org site was uploaded and made publicly available in June/July 2013. Shortly thereafter, Y. Ofer and J. Jacobs, published their book, תוספות רמב"ן לפירושו לתורה שנכתבו בארץ ישראל, and uploaded an accompanying website which referenced our work. As they note, more research still remains to be done on this topic.

² See I. Tashma, "The 'Open Book' in Medieval Hebrew Literature: The Problem of Authorized Editions", Bulletin of John Rylands Library 75 (1993): 17-24. For a helpful survey and citations of relevant literature, see Y. Galinsky, "לבירור אופיים של מהדורות 'ספר מישרים' לר' ירוחם בן משולם", Shenaton HaMishpat HaIvri 26 (2011): 148-150.

³ Four of these manuscripts (London 208, Parma 3535, Munich 137, and Parma 3258) were collated and published by K. Kahana, "הוספות הרמב"ן לפירושו לתורה", HaMaayan 9:1 (1968): 25-47. The fifth (Oxford 2253/17) does not add any new material. See also the earlier article of M.Z. Eisenstadt "מכתב הרמב"ן מארץ ישראל בענין צורת השקל ומשקלו", Talpiyot 4:3-4 (1959): 606.

The London 208 and Parma 3535 lists are virtually identical, and the bulk of their updates are from Sefer Bereshit. In contrast, the Munich 137, Parma 3258, and Oxford 2253/17 lists (which are all related to each other) contain updates only on the books from Shemot through Devarim (there are three updates from Shemot – Devarim which are found only in the London 208 and Parma 3535 lists).

⁴ In contrast to the Munich 137, Parma 3258, and Oxford 2253/17 list(s), the Parma 3535 and London 208 list appears to not have been authored by Ramban himself. It was rather collected by a scribe from the marginal notes on Ramban's autograph copy ("בפירוש החמשה חומשים שלו בפירוש זה") of his commentary. This is apparent from the formulation in the heading of the Parma 3535 list which speaks of the scribe collecting the updates "one by one to form a whole list" ("וראיתי להעלותם עוד פה, אחד לאחד למצוא חשבון"). See Y. Ofer, "The Two Lists of Addenda to Nahmanides Torah Commentary: Who Wrote Them?", JSQ 15 (2008): 321-352, who adduces much evidence for this from the contents of these lists. It would seem likely that Ramban also sent out his own list of updates on Bereshit (which has not survived), and that for this reason, the Munich 137, Parma 3258, and Oxford 2253/17 list(s) begin only from Sefer Shemot. [Ramban's own list would likely have been far more comprehensive than the scribal collection found in London 208 and Parma 3535.]

⁵ Explicit mention of Ramban sending updates to his commentary from Israel is also made by R. Yosef Albo.

⁶ Manuscripts which, in their entirety, generally represent the earlier stage of Ramban's commentary before his updates include Paris 220, London-Weinman (41386), Paris 224, and Fulda 2 (with the exception of the second half of Shemot). Other manuscripts which reflect the non-updated version in only certain chumashim include Munich 137, London 209, Yerushalayim 371, Turin 11, Parma 3258, and Cambridge 524,1. It is noteworthy that Parma 3255 generally contains only the updates recorded in the lists (but there are exceptions in both directions). The data regarding Ramban's updates also has significant value for constructing a genetic map of the relationship between the various textual witnesses of the commentary.

⁷ An analysis of the Ramban's updates makes plain that he never rested on his laurels but rather continued to tinker with his masterpiece commentary whenever he discovered a new source or insight.

⁸ Ramban's note regarding the Shekel coin he saw in Akko (mentioned by R. Yosef Albo and published in many editions at the end of his Torah commentary) details a similar change of opinion. In Munich 137 and Oxford 2253/17 it forms part of the introduction to the list, while in Parma 3258 it immediately follows the list.

⁹ See note above comparing the two lists.

¹⁰ See below and see Textual Issues in Ramban's commentary.

¹¹ See footnote 1 above.

¹² Interestingly, most of the manuscripts of the "Peirush HaKatzar" of Ramban do not contain these updates (although there are some notable exceptions). It is likely that the "Peirush HaKatzar" came into existence (perhaps already during Ramban's lifetime) before the updates had been circulated. It is also noteworthy that some of the updates that are found in the "Peirush HaKatzar" appear in a different place in the commentary (see Bereshit 48:7 and image below).

¹³ There is, as to be expected, variation between the manuscripts regarding the updates (both the explicitly listed ones and the ones not listed), between books of the Torah and even within the same book. Some of this may be due to scribal diligence or lack thereof, but it is likely that, in part, this reflects that Ramban updated his commentary in stages, and different copyists had different lists.

¹⁴ For elaboration, see Textual Issues in Ramban's commentary.

¹⁵ Most of Ramban's updates were merely additions, and these were easier to incorporate. In a minority of cases, though, Ramban needed to correct and delete from his original text. In some of these cases, he appears to have attempted as much as possible to work the change around the words of the original version, thereby minimizing the number of words which needed to be removed or replaced. See examples in his updates to Bereshit 35:18 and Shemot 24:1.

¹⁶ Only Fulda 2, Paris 223, and Parma 3255 do not include the famous update to Bereshit 35:16, and each of these does contain other updates. Y. Ofer (cited above) opines that five of the updates (Bereshit 1:8, 6:4, 13:12, Shemot 10:2, Devarim 21:18) listed in the scribal collection in London 208 and Parma 3535 are "imagined addenda". However, three of these five cases are, in fact, missing in various other manuscripts, and Devarim 21:18 has distinct parallels to R. Yosef Bekhor Shor and Chizkuni (a feature of many of the other updates). Moreover, if the London 208–Parma 3535 list was working off an autograph copy of Ramban, it could contain errors and corruptions, but would be unlikely to have invented completely new updates.

Ofer also contends that Munich 137 (which contains only Vayikra thru Devarim) represents a "pure first edition", and that any text present in Munich 137 cannot be an update. However, this cannot be true if Devarim 21:18 (which is found in Munich 137) is, in fact, an update, and more evidence needs to be presented before adopting Munich 137 as a pure first edition witness. [It should also be noted that at least four of the updates which appear on the Munich 137 update list are missing from the parallel Oxford 2253/17 list.]

¹⁷ See note above that the findings for the "Peirush HaKatzar" are different, as it branched off earlier.

¹⁸ This is true for most of the citations in the Derashot of R"Y Ibn Shuib, R. Bachya's commentary, and the Tur's Long Commentary. Examples of exceptions are: R"Y Ibn Shuib Devarim 18:9, 34:11, R. Bachya Bereshit 42:3, 48:7, Tur Bereshit 10:5, Ritva Sefer HaZikkaron Bemidbar 20:1, Devarim 34:11.

¹⁹ Beginning with the Lisbon printing in 1489 and especially the Napoli printing in 1490. Most later printings were based on the Napoli edition or one of its derivatives.

²⁰ Exceptions where either Ramban's original interpretation was preserved (without his later corrections) or his addition was not incorporated include: Bereshit 48:7, Shemot 13:5, 20:16, 21:9, 24:1, 24:3, concluding poem, Vayikra - introductory poem, 25:1, Bemidbar 4:16, 13:22, 14:41.