Rashbam

Samuel ben Meir called Rashbam (* around 1085 in Ramerupt; † around 1174 ) was a Jewish commentator of Tanakh and Talmud in the 12th century. He is a grandson of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam 's brother

Life

His life data are not clearly established. He was born 1080-1085 in Ramerupt, a village in northern France, died probably at the end of the 1150s. Raschbams father Meir had studied at the famous scholar Rashi and married his daughter Jochebed. Even Samuel ben Meir pursued his studies especially with his grandfather in Troyes. In some cases, Rashi accepted the opinion of his grandson and changed his own comment accordingly.

Samuel ben Meir earned his living as a shepherd and wine. He was also familiar with worldly affairs and had possibly knowledge of Latin. As Rashi he admits some old French expressions explanations. He took part in disputations with Christians part. In addition to his commentaries on Tanakh and Talmud, he also wrote Pijjutim and wrote a grammatical work on the Hebrew language, Sefer Daikut.

It seems that he has all the books of the Bible with a commentary; but receive is only his commentary on the Torah, the five books of Moses. His comments are limited aware of the literal meaning of the text, the Pshat (see PaRDeS ).