David Kimhi

David Kimhi (born c. 1160, Narbonne?, Toulouse, France—died c. 1235, Narbonne?) was a European scholar of the Hebrew language whose writings on Hebrew lexicography and grammar became standard works in the Middle Ages and whose reputation eclipsed that of both his father, Joseph Kimhi, and his brother, Moses, a grammarian.

As a boy David Kimhi learned his father’s teachings under the tutelage of his brother and then began to support himself by teaching children the Talmud, the body of Jewish tradition. His own great work, the Sefer mikhlol (“Book of Completeness”), was originally intended to comprise a grammar and a lexicon of the Hebrew language. The latter, however, appeared as a separate work, Sefer ha-shorashim (“Book of the Roots”). (The grammar, edited and translated by William Chomsky, was published in 1933; 2nd ed. 1952.) His work differed from previous grammars in its comprehensive treatment of verbs and covered all the rules of conjugation, punctuation, and accent. Distinguished also by conciseness and clarity, it became the leading grammar for centuries. The lexicon enjoyed a comparable popularity, and, though based largely on the dictionary of Ibn Janāḥ and the writings of Joseph Kimhi, it remains an original work. Kimhi introduced many new etymologies, made comparisons of Hebrew and Aramaic and of Hebrew and Provençal, and included exegetical notes on the biblical contexts of word roots. Another work, ʿEṭ sofer (“Pen of the Scribe”), was a manual covering the rules of punctuation and accent for biblical manuscripts.

David Kimhi was also the most important biblical exegete of his family. The importance of his commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, and other Old Testament books is underscored by their presence, second to those of the great medieval commentator Rashi, in the first printed editions of the Hebrew Bible. (The commentaries were edited and translated into English by various hands and published in 1919–35 as part of Columbia University Oriental Studies.) A staunch supporter of the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides, Kimhi was also extremely skilled in refuting Christian attacks on Judaism and Jews.