ר׳ דוד קמחי

ר׳ דוד בן יוסף קמחי (c.1160–c.1235), the רד״ק, was the foremost member of Narbonne’s Kimhi family of Hebrew grammarians and one of medieval Judaism’s most influential biblical exegetes. His father ר׳ יוסף קמחי died while he was young, and his elder brother ר׳ משה קמחי educated him in grammar, philosophy, and Scripture. He supported himself in part by teaching Talmud. מכלול systematised biblical Hebrew grammar, while its lexical portion, ספר השרשים, organised roots and meanings so effectively that the pair eclipsed many earlier philological handbooks. His commentaries on Genesis, Prophets, Psalms, Proverbs, and Chronicles combine peshat, close grammar, Masoretic observation, rabbinic tradition, philosophy, and occasional anti-Christian polemic. Their clarity made them standard Jewish commentaries and an important conduit of Hebrew learning to Christian Hebraists. During the Maimonidean controversy of 1232 he defended ר׳ משה בן מימון and set out toward Toledo as an emissary of the communities of Narbonne and Lunel, but illness at Ávila prevented completion of the mission. His correspondence with ר׳ יהודה אבן אלפכאר preserves the dispute. He returned to Narbonne and died around 1235.