BACHIAH BEN ASHER

Biur al HaTorah [commentary to the Torah]
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 Cavalli (Yaari, Printer’s Devices 33).
ff. 251. Stained in places, opening few leaves neatly remargined, signatures on title. Bound in Valmadonna-custom mahogany calf inlaid in blind and gilt. Folio. Vinograd, Venice 514.
Venice: Giorgio di Cavalli 1566
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 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 dozen or so super-commentaries that have been written upon it.