Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>]

Leeory Malachinsky writes:

> Whatever we make of this at least it shows some knowledge of
> extra-biblical books or traditions, though whether or not Nachmanides was
> influenced by some such tradition I'm not competent to say. Perhaps
> someone with a more thorough knowledge of Ramban's writings/commentary is
> able to elaborate.
>

This a very important point. We know today that extra-biblical books did
survive in Judaism down to the High Middle Ages; viz.Ben Sira (and the
Damascus Covenant? I forget) from the Cairo Genizah. Now you mention that
Nachmanides in the introduction to his Torah Commentary quotes
Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Solomon) from the Aramaic.
Someone ought to (or perhaps already has!) write a study on the survival of
extra-biblical books and traditions in medieval Judaism and Jewish
commentaries.
Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Chairman
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
44905 Israel