Biur al HaTorah [commentary to the Pentateuch].

BACHIAH BEN ASHER.

Giorgio di Cavalli

Venice

1566

Title within architectural arch. Title of each of the Five Books within an elaborate woodcut border incorporating the elephant-and-castle printer’s mark of Cavali (Yaari, Printer’s Marks 33). Stamp of Moshe ben Michel on title.

Vinograd, Venice 514.

R. Bachiah ben Asher ben Chalawa (13th-century), Dayan of Saragossa, was a Kabbalist of the school of R. Solomon ibn Adret of Barcelona (the Rashb"a). His Commentary here is one of the most influential encyclopedic works on the Torah. Utilizing a wide variety of sources, noteworthy are his Kabbalistic references, Midrashic interpretations as well as citations from lost Midrashim. The immense popularity of Rabbeinu Bachiah’s work is attested to by the dozens of super-commentaries that have been written upon it.