Mishnaic Hebrew and Its Status in Ramban’s Commentary on the Torah and Its Relationship to Biblical Hebrew

Abstract

This article deals with the status of Mishnaic Hebrew in Ramban’s commentary on the Torah and its relationship to Biblical Hebrew within this commentary. It begins with a survey of the status of Mishnaic Hebrew in parts of the Hebrew literature preceding Ramban, as well as a presentation of the main characteristics of his commentary on the Torah.The main body of the article classifies the various occurrences of Mishnaic Hebrew in Ramban’s commentary according to the type of relationship between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew reflected in each case: occurrences indicating that Ramban views the two layers as a single linguistic entity; occurrences indicating that he distinguishes between them; and cases in which he draws on Talmudic Aramaic to interpret Biblical Hebrew. The article concludes that Ramban regards Mishnaic Hebrew as a direct continuation of Biblical Hebrew, while remaining aware of the differences between them. The unification of the two in his commentary is thus דווקא (implicitly) grounded in the recognition that they constitute two distinct and separate linguistic layers. It also appears that Ramban treats Mishnaic Hebrew as a unified and cohesive entity. This is evident in the wide range of sources from the Mishnah and the Talmud that he cites as linguistic evidence for his interpretations, as well as in his use of generalizing expressions in presenting and analyzing them.