Physical
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Only edition. [3], 24, 26-34 ff., octavo, 205:125 mm., wide margins, light age and damp staining. A very good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed. |
Detailed
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Only edition of this grammatical work by R. David Kimhi (Radak). Et Sofer is an abridgement of Radak’s Mikhlol, a two part work consiting of a grammatical portion (Helek ha-Dikduk) which itself came to be known as the Mikhlol and the lexicon (Helek ha-Inyan) known independently as the Sefer ha-Shorashim. A clear and lucid grammar of the Hebrew language. Radak wrote this manual for copyists of the Bible, necessitated by widespread ignorance among scribes and the proliferation of biblical manuscript traditions in the 12th century. In it he treats in detail such problems as the keri and the ketiv and the accents. The title page states that it has been transcribed from the large ancient Bible in the library at Paris. A second title page lists the supervising members members of the Mekize Nirdamim Society. There are prefatory remarks for the reader, Radak’s introduction, and the text in a single column in square letters.
R. David Kimhi (Radak, c.1160-c. 1235) was the son of R. Joseph Kimhi (c. 1105–c. 1170), not only a renowned grammarian, but also an accomplished exegete, poet, translator and polemicist. Joseph, who died when Radak was only ten, had relocated the family from Spain to Narbonne, Provence, to escape the Almohad persecutions. Radak was raised by his brother R. Moses Kimhi, also a grammarian and exegete of note. It is Radak, however, who is the most illustrious member of this distinguished family, excelling in a variety of fields, but most notably as a Bible commentator and grammarian. He was also a defender of Maimonides in the dispute over the Moreh Nevukhim. He has
been widely praised not only in Jewish but also in non-Jewish circles. A Jewish maxim, "If there is no flour (kemah, etymon of Kimhi) there is no Torah", indicates the essential place given to his works.
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