R. Joshua Raphael b. Israel Benveniste (1590?–1665?), Turkish rabbi, physician, grammarian, and poet; brother of R. Hayyim Benveniste. R. Joshua was born in Constantinople and was a disciple of R. Joseph b. Moses Trani and R. Abraham Alegre. He studied grammar under E. Isaac Uzziel, and medicine under Isaac Caro, the physician. While serving as rabbi in Constantinople, he accepted the rabbinate of Sophia, after the community had agreed to all of his conditions, but the Constantinople community objected and prevailed upon him to remain. For some years Joshua was rabbi of Bursa. Many communities, even Karaites, addressed their problems to him, and responsa written by him, as early as 1610, are extant. R. Benveniste was a versatile author and many of his works are still regarded as basic in their fields. He devoted himself particularly to the Jerusalem Talmud, which was largely neglected in his day.

His commentary to the following tractates was published: Berakhot, Pe'ah, Orlah, Hallah, and Bikkurim of the order Zera'im (Constantinople, 1662); a number of tractates of Mo'ed, Nashim, and Nezikin (Constantinople, 1749). The commentary has frequently been reprinted together with the text. His Seder ha-Get and Seder Halizah were published in Get Pashut (Constantinople, 1719) of R. Moses ibn Habib. According to R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulai, his four volumes of responsa, Sha'ar Yehoshu'a, were destroyed by fire after 1677. Some of his 97 responsa on Hoshen Mishpat, which have remained in manuscript (Jewish Institute, Warsaw, no. 13), were published in Husiatin in 1904 and many of his responsa were published in the books of his contemporaries. His other published works are Oznei Yehoshu'a (Constantinople, 1677), sermons, and Avodah Tammah (Constantinople, 1691–95), an exposition of the Avodah in the Day of Atonement liturgy, and a clarification of the variant readings. The following remain in manuscript: Mishmeret ha-Mitzvot (JTS, Ms. 0347), a poetic arrangement of the commandments in accordance with the enumeration of Maimonides; Levush Malkhut, describing the greatness of the Creator as evinced in the human anatomy, written in the style of the Keter Malkhut of Solomon ibn Gabirol; Perek be-Shir (Montefiore Ms. 377), on prosody and meter; and a treatise on medicine.

הפירוש הוא רק על החלק ההלכתי של הירושלמי (כאמור בהקדמת המחבר), ולפיכך הטכסט של הטכסט של אגדות הירושלמי נשמט ולא נדפס. למעשה גם סוגיות אחרות שהמפרש לא עסק בהן, לא נדפסו. על קצת מסכתות מס[דר] מועד: פסחים, תעניות, מגילה, חגיגה, מועד קטן, וס' נזיקין: קמא, מציעא, בתרא, מכות, הוריות. [1], ח, סו, עא דף.