Commentary: On Psalms

Salmon ben Yerūḥīm (Sulaymān ibn Ruḥaym) was a Karaite exegete and polemicist who was active in the vibrant Karaite community in Jerusalem. Salmon was a pioneer in Karaite exegesis after the formative work of Daniel al-Qūmisī in the late ninth century. Salmon wrote an Arabic linear commentary alongside his own Arabic translation of the Bible. Unlike many contemporaries, including other Karaites, he opposed the study of philosophy and “foreign wisdom.” In addition, he composed—in rhyme—pointed Hebrew polemics against Se‘adya Ga’on, whom he used as a stand-in for the entire rabbinic tradition. Salmon thus represents a stage of high tension between Karaites and Rabbanites. Other works of his survive in manuscript, including a work on calendrical intercalation, a frequent subject of interreligious controversy.