Creator Bio
Joseph Bekhor Shor
b. ca. 1140
Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor was an exegete, Tosafist, and poet born in Orléans, in northern France. He was a student of Jacob ben Meir (Rabbenu Tam), and a written exchange between the two survives in the latter’s Book of the Upright (Sefer ha-yashar). Joseph composed a Hebrew commentary on the Torah and on the Psalms. His approach was generally focused on the peshat (plain meaning) of scripture, though less rigidly than other twelfth-century northern French figures. Joseph’s commentaries also contain significant anti-Christian polemics. His name appears in printed Tosafot on the Talmud, and he composed several piyyutim (liturgical poems) that address the calamities of his day.
Content by Joseph Bekhor Shor
Primary Source
Commentary: On Genesis
On Genesis 18:2, 22:8
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and he saw three men standing over against him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed down to the earth, [and said . . . ] (Genesis 18:2…
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Commentary: On Exodus
On Exodus 30:1
You shall make an altar for burning incense. (Exodus 30:1)
The kingdom of heaven resembles a kingdom on earth. Just as human kings do, they make an incense burner—the sacrificial altar is like a…
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Commentary: On Numbers
On Numbers 12:7-8, 20:8
My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the Lord. (Numbers 12:7–8)
With him I speak…
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God, God of gods and Master of masters
God, God of gods and Master of masters, who takes no bribes and shows no partiality,Your sons are poor and needy before You, coming before You in tearful supplication.Their sigh is great, and…