Commentators Cited on this Site

רש"י (ר' שְׁלֹמֹה בֶּן יִצְחַק : 1040 -1105) Rashi lived in Troyes, France, and wrote explanations to the Bible and the Talmud. His commentaries are considered indispensable to the study of these works.

אבן עזרא (ר' אַבְרָהָם אִבְּן עֶזְרָא : 1089 -1164) Ibn Ezra lived in Spain where he wrote poetry and a commentary to the Bible. He was also a physician, philosopher and translator.

רמב"ם (ר' מֹשֶׁה בֶּן מַימוֹן : 1138 - 1204) Maimonides was a philosopher, halakhist, physician and prolific author. Among his works are a commentary to the Mishnah,מוֹרֶה הַנְּבוּכִים - his philosophical treatise, and מִשְׁנֶה תּוֹרָה - an encyclopedic work of Jewish law. Rambam lived in Egypt.

רד"ק (ר' דָּוִד קַמְחִי : 1160 - 1235) Radak was a French grammarian and Biblical commentator. His grammar text is called מִכְלוֹל.

רמב"ן ר' מֹשֶׁה בֶּן נַחְמָן) : 1194 -1270) Ramban lived in Spain before moving to Israel in his old age. He wrote commentaries to the Bible and the Talmud, as well as responsa, philosophical works, and a critique of the רמב"ם's book סֵפֶר הַמִּצְווֹת. He was also a physician, and participated in a famous disputation against a Jewish apostate.

סֵפֶר הַחִינּוּךְ (ר' אַהֲרֹן הַלֵּוִי : 13th century) This book is a sequential study of all the commandments in the Torah. Entries discuss the sources, laws and meanings behind the Mitzvot.

רלב"ג (ר' לֵוִי בֶּן גֵּרְשׁוֹן : 1288 - 1344) רלב"ג lived in France and wrote a Bible commentary with several parts. He discusses the literal meaning of the text, and explores philosophical, ethical and legal lessons to be learned from the Torah.

כֹּל בּוֹ ( ר' אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן בֶּן ר' יַעֲקֹב מִלּוּנֵיל: 14th century) This halakhic work is an abridged version of the author's magnum opus, אוֹרְחוֹת חַיִים.

ספורנו (ר' עוֹבַדְיָה בר' יַעֲקֹב סְפוֹרְנוֹ : 1470 - 1550) This Italian rabbi wrote a commentary to the Bible, as well as philosophical and mathematical works.

Note: sources from the Gemara which are quoted on this website can be found in the standard editions of the Talmud, all of whose paginations are the same. Citations from midrashic works, however, may vary from the versions available to readers, since variant editions exist for these rabbinic texts. Similarly, readers may occasionally detect slight differences between the verse numbers noted in the entries, and Bibles you might use to locate sources. Here too, Biblical texts sometimes disagree with regard to the division, and hence numbering of the verses.

For further study:

אנציקלופדיה לאישים בתנ"ך, דב קמחי (יבנה, 2003)

אישי התנ"ך באספקלריא של חז"ל, יש"י חסידה (ראובן מס, תשמ"ח)

סדר הקורות בתנ"ך, אליעזר שולמן (משרד הבטחון, 1995)

Who's Who in Tanakh, David Mandel (Ariel Books, 2004)