Tobiah ben Eliezer

Tobiah ben Eliezer was a Talmudist and poet of the 11th century, author of Lekach Tov or Pesikta Zutarta, a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot.

Biography Zunz inferred from Tobiah's reference to his father as "the great" and from his mention of the massacre in Mainz in 1096, that he was a native of Mainz and a son of Eliezer ben Isaac ha-Gadol, who is thought by David Conforte to have been one of Rashi's teachers. But as in the course of his work Tobiah often attacks the Karaites and, besides, manifests a thorough knowledge of Muslim customs, Samuel Judah Löb Rapoport concluded that toward the end of his life Tobiah settled in the Land of Israel, the modern-day country of Israel.

As to Tobiah's birthplace, it has been proved by Solomon Buber that he was a native of Kastoria at that time in Bulgaria, as is testified to by Tobiah's countryman Judah Leon Mosconi in his supercommentary on Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch. According to him, the author of the commentary on the Pentateuch mentioned by Ibn Ezra in the preface to his own work was a certain Meïr of Castoria, a pupil of Tobiah b. Eliezer. On the other hand, in his commentary on Ecclesiastes, Tobiah mentions a R. Samson as his teacher; and Buber supposes that he may be identical with the Samson quoted by Rashi in his commentary on Isaiah 58:14 and Amos 6:3. It is also to be concluded from various dates given in Lekach Tov that he wrote it in 1097 and revised it in 1107 or 1108.

Lekach Tov Name Tobiah himself entitled his work "Lekach Tov" in allusion to his name Tobiah; and it is so cited by the earlier rabbis. Since the mid-16th century, however, it has been most often referred to as Pesikta Zutarta (= "the Lesser Pesikta") in distinction to the Pesikta Rabbati (= "the Greater Pesikta"). This second title was because the editors of the part relating to Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Venice, 1546), found no title in the manuscript, but noted that every verse was headed פס "piska", and took it for granted that it was entitled Pesikta. Consequently, the rimed title which, Zunz (l.c.) thinks, was composed by the press-corrector Johanan Treves begins פסיקתא זוטרתא או רבתא ("Pesikta, be it small or great"). In the colophon the editors call it "Pesikta Zutarta." It was owing to the latter title that Lekach Tov was confused with the Pesikta Rabbati by Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya, J. Heilprin, Azariah dei Rossi, and others.

Characteristics In the commentary, every weekly parsha is introduced by a Biblical verse containing the word "ṭob." Moreover, in the text he very often says, "I, Tobiah b. Eliezer" or "Tobiah said." It is true that in the Jerusalem manuscript there occurs very often the expression "our teacher Tobiah b. Eliezer," from which it might be assumed that Lekach Tov was written by Tobiah's pupils; but from a closer examination of the text, and to judge from the Florence manuscript, it is evident that the expression in question is merely a copyist's mistake.

Lekach Tov covers the whole Pentateuch and the Five Megillot. It is in reality half a simple ("peshaṭ") commentary, giving the grammatical meaning of the words, and half aggadah. But in many instances Tobiah declares that the standard interpretation is the simple one. Even in his aggadic interpretation, which he derives from the Talmud and from the pre-Talmudic and post-Talmudic literatures, Tobiah manifests his love of good style. He endeavors to arrange the various midrashim in perfect order and to edit them in few words and clear language. He therefore shortens the midrashic passages, and, instead of the Aramaic in which those passages were written, renders them into good Hebrew, omitting also the foreign words which occur in the midrashim. In the parts of the Pentateuch which deal with the commandments he inserts many halakhot, apparently taken from various halakhic collections, particularly from Achai Gaon's She'eltot. The Talmudic passages which he cites in connection with the halakhot he often interprets according to his own judgment and differently from Rashi.

Throughout the whole commentary Tobiah shows his thorough knowledge of Hebrew grammar and his acquaintance with the works of the earlier grammarians. Incidentally it may be remarked that he seems to have held the opinion that the Hebrew roots are not necessarily triliteral. In certain places he interprets a Biblical word as though it were a mishnaic or Talmudic one. He considers there is not a letter too many or too few in the whole Pentateuch; and he bases many of his aggadic interpretations on the Qere and Ketiv.

One of the main features of his commentary is the allegorical interpretation of all the Biblical passages which speak of God as a corporeal being. He likewise considers that the expressions in R. Ishmael's Heikhalot must be taken figuratively. In many places he refutes assertions of the Karaites, though he does not expressly name their authors. Like many other Biblical commentators, he translates certain words into the language of the country in which he is living, namely, Greek.