Rashi - Linguist despite Himself A Study of the Linguistic Dimension of Rabbi Solomon Yishaqi's Commentary on Deuteronomy

The commentary on the Torah of the eleventh-century French rabbi, Solomon Yishaqi of Troyes (better known as Rashi), is one of the major texts of mediaeval Judaism. Rashi's commentary has enjoyed an almost canonical status among many traditional Jews from mediaeval times to the present day. The popularity of his Torah commentary is often ascribed to Rashi's skillful combination of traditional midrashic interpretations of Scripture with observations on the language employed therein. In this respect, Rashi is often presented as a linguist or grammarian. This book presents a critical reappraisal of this issue through a close reading of Rashi's commentary on the book of Deuteronomy. Falling into two major sections, Part One (Contexts) presents a theoretical framework for the detailed study in Part Two (Texts), which forms the main core of the book by presenting a detailed analysis of Rashi's commentary on the book of Deuteronomy.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements         Abbreviations            Part I ContextsChapter One  A Well-Trodden Path?     Chapter Two  The Colour of Rashi's Shoelaces    Chapter Three  Rashi's Precursors         Part II TextsChapter Four  Rashi Comments on a Verse     Chapter Five  Rashi Comments on a Chapter    Chapter Six  Rashi Comments on a Book     Chapter Seven  Conclusions       Appendix          Bibliography          Indexes