Medieval Ashkenazi Bible interpretation : a textual analysis of Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor's Torah commentary

Rabbi Joseph Bekhor Shor is a Torah commentator and a Tosafist from the twelfth century. Only a single copy of his commentary exists. This might suggests that it was not much in demand, and is confirmed by the fact that it was not published until the modern era. Nonetheless, his commentary attracted later commentators among the Tosafists in the field of Torah exegesis.Bekhor Shor's commentary demonstrates various types of linguistic features of Bible interpretation, such as, grammar, etymology, semantics, and syntax. It also deals with the style and some literary features of the Bible. Each feature presented in this study, includes extensive examples that demonstrate Bekhor Shor's use of them. Some similarities are found between the commentaries of the Tosafists and that of Bekhor Shor, considering his specific linguistic-literary features of exegesis.Possible influences on Bekhor Shor's trend of linguistic and literary exegesis of the Torah-Pentateuch text is the intellectual atmosphere of Peshat and linguistic activity in Ashkenaz in his generation, and the teachings of Ibn Ezra, Rabbenu Tam, and Rabbi Samuel Ben Meir.This study indicates, different from the generally accepted view, that Bekhor Shor dealt with various kinds of linguistic and literary exegesis in the course of his elucidation and explanation of the Torah