Rashi: The Greatest Exegete

The paradigmatic master of medieval rabbinic commentary was Rashi (Rabbi Solomon b. Isaac, 1040-1105) a scholar from the north of France. While he is often credited with the move to “literal commentary” in medieval times, even a cursory study of his commentaries reveals how indebted he was to the rabbinic exegesis of the earlier classical compilations. With Rashi we witness the mature development of a new paradigm of interpretation. He delicately balances his interpretations between gloss and exposition. He picks at and edits the earlier Midrash materials and weaves together with them into his commentary the results of new discoveries, such as philology and grammar. His main proposition is hardly radical within rabbinism. He accepts that there is one whole Torah of Moses consisting of the oral and written traditions and texts. In his commentaries he accomplished the nearly seamless integration of the basics of both bodies of tradition.

"Rabbi Shlomo ben Itzhak HaTzarfati (hébreu : רבי שלמה בן יצחק הצרפתי Rabbi Salomon fils d’Isaac le Français) plus connu sous les noms de Rachi, Rabbi Salomo et Salomon de Troyes, est un rabbin, exégète, légiste, décisionnaire, poète et vigneron champenois du xie siècle (Troyes, c. 1040 - 13 juillet 1105).

"Principalement connu de nos jours pour ses commentaires sur la quasi-totalité de la Bible hébraïque et du Talmud de Babylone, il est l’une des principales autorités rabbiniques du Moyen Âge et compte parmi les figures les plus influentes du judaïsme. Il est aussi l’un des rares savants juifs à avoir influencé le monde chrétien, son exégèse biblique ayant influencé, par le truchement de Nicolas de Lyre, la traduction de la Bible par Martin Luther." (Wikipedia)