Kimchi

   French family of Hebrew grammarians. Joseph ben-Isaac Kimchi (c. 1105–70) fled from the Moslem Almohad invasion of Spain and settled in Narbonne in Provence, already the centre of a thriving and cultured Jewish community. Spanish exiles like Kimchi brought new methods of scholarship to the region, particularly in the study of Hebrew grammar which, from their knowledge of Arabic, the Spanish scholars had greatly advanced. In his two grammatical works Kimchi systematized the work of previous Spanish scholars. Kimchi also wrote commentaries on Scripture, religious poems and translations from Arabic. He composed one of the first critical attacks on Christian biblical interpretation written by a Jew in Europe.

   His work was developed by his two sons, Moses (died c. 1190) and David (c. 1160–c. 1235). Moses’ major grammatical work was translated into Latin in 1520 and was one of the main textbooks used by Christian scholars of Hebrew in the 16 century. In a three-volume work, the more famous David summarized all the research that had been done on Hebrew philology in the two centuries preceding, and his book soon became widely used. David was also interested in philosophy and travelled to Toledo, in Spain, to rally the supporters of MAIMONIDES in the controversy over his works. Like his father, he challenged the claims of Christian theologians.