Ramban: Nachmanides Commentary on the Torah : Translated and Annotated: Bereishis/Genesis

Ramban: Nachmanides Commentary on the Torah : Translated and Annotated: Bereishis/Genesis by Charles B. Chavel. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780883280065.

Nahmanides Torah commentary is the mature work of an accomplished scholar, in which he deals in profound detail with each aspect of the Biblical text. He was familiar with the commentaries of Rashi and Ibn Ezra, and he discusses their explanations carefully, often expressing his disagreement. In many of his works he displays a strong conservative leaning, and this is evident in his Torah commentary as well: He makes use of his formidable erudition and ingenuity in order to support the traditional teachings of the accepted religious sources, and severely attacks scholars (including Ibn Ezra) who do not display proper respect for the traditional explanations. Rambans commentary was one of the earliest documents to include references to the teachings of the Kabbalah. This system of esoteric mysticism, based on a theory of ten divine powers whose workings may be discerned in the words of the Biblicla text, had evolved over the previous generations among the Jewish mystics of Provence, but it was carefull preserved as a secret doctrine that could not be taught publicly. Nahmanides included several Kabbalistic interpretations in his commentary, which he inroduced as "according to the way of truth." He tried to sidestep the restrictions against public teaching of the doctrine by formulating in such a brief and cryptic way that they could not be understood by anyone who was not already familiar with Kabbalistic symbolism.