(RaDa”K). Sepher HaShorashim [“Book of Roots” - lexicon to the Bible]

KIMCHI, DAVID

Astruc de Toulon

Constantinople

1513

Printed in three columns. Our copy contains the prefatory poem by Joseph Bibas, lacking in many copies (see Ya'ari). Despite few faults, a fine copy

Vinograd, Const. 37; Ya'ari, Const. 21; Mehlman 1253

The famous Provencal exegete and grammarian R. David Kimchi (1160?-1235?), was a life-long anti-Christian polemicist. Most famous in this respect are his Teshuvoth LaNotzrim (Responses to Christians), culled from his commentary to Psalms. However, a trace of the anti-Christian polemic is also to be found in his Sepher HaShorashim. Under the entry “elem” (f.86), Rada”k, quoting his father R. Joseph Kimchi, derides the Christian assertion that the word “almah” (a young girl) in Isaiah 7:14 refers to a virgin birth (parthenogenesis). Remarkably, the passage has survived intact in our copy. In other copies consulted, the offending lines were struck by the ever-watchful censor