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Lockshin's Rashbam's Commentary on Leviticus and Numbers belongs in every private and public library of biblical and/or Judaic studies. It should be included in the syllabi of courses in medieval Hebrew biblical exegesis in colleges, seminaries and universities. It should be a sine qua non for anyone who would like to understand or interpret the immensely difficult but highly rewarding biblical books of Leviticus and Numbers.--Review of Biblical Literature

In the twelfth century C.E., Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam), a pious and learned rabbi, wrote a biblical commentary that broke radically with the way that rabbis generally interpreted the Bible. His method emphasized the "plain" meaning of the text; it avoided the use of legends or far-fetched interpretations--even those that had been hallowed by tradition--and sought to explain the biblical text, rather than to edify. This book makes Rabbi Samuel's work on Leviticus and Numbers available to the English reader for the first time in a readable translation with helpful notes. Primarily of interest to students of biblical exegesis, this work will also be useful for students of rabbinics, medieval Jewish intellectual history, history of Hebrew language, and Jewish-Christian polemics.

Award-winning author Martin I. Lockshin is Associate Professor of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics, and Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies, at York University in Toronto.