Does Rashbam's commentary on the Torah acknowledge the commentaries of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra?

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Abstract

Research concerning the relationship between Rashbam and Ibn Ezra has focused to date on the question of whether Ibn Ezra was familiar with Rashbam's commentary on the Torah. In this article we investigate the inverse question - whether Rashbam knew of and referred to Ibn Ezra's commentaries on the Torah. The possibility arises in light of Ibn Ezra's stay in northern France during the period when Rashbam was active there, and also on the basis of several anonymous references in Rashbam's work which are identical to explanations found in Ibn Ezra's commentaries. We present seven examples which may point to the influence of Ibn Ezra's commentaries on the work of Rashbam. We discuss the possibility that Ibn Ezra's commentaries came to Rashbam's knowledge only after the latter had completed his own commentary on the Torah, and that he integrated his responses to Ibn Ezra's interpretations in addenda to his own work.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)291-304
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Jewish Studies
Volume61
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010

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