(known as Rashbam; c. 1085-1174). Bible commentator and talmudist; grandson of Rashi and elder brother of Rabbenu Tam. Born in Ramerupt near Troyes, France, Samuel studied mainly under Rashi, but also under his father Meir, one of the first Tosafists (see Tosafot).
Samuel probably wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible but only that on the Pentateuch, published in 1881, has been preserved in its entirety. Part of his commentary on Esther, Ruth, and Lamentations has been published (in 1855) and some of his commentaries are still in manuscript; those on Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, published under his name, are not by him. His commentaries are marked by an extremely literal interpretation of the text (Peshat), even when this interpretation opposes the Halakhah. Thus he holds that, according to the literal meaning of the text, it is not necessary to wear phylacteries (Tefillin) and that the Hebrew day is to be kept from morning to evening, an interpretation criticized by Abraham Ibn Ezra in his Iggeret ha-Shabbat. There is no suggestion that Samuel did not accept the halakhah as binding; he simply saw no contradiction between the plain meaning of the Torah and the authoritative tradition, which operated according to different principles. According to Samuel, his grandfather, Rashi, admitted that if he had the time he would have had to write another commentary, more in accordance with the literal approach then current. Samuel had good knowledge of Hebrew grammar and was conversant with Old French and Latin (he quotes the Vulgate). He attacked christological exposition of the Bible.
A number of Samuel's talmudic commentaries have been preserved. He completed the commentary on Pesaḥim Chapter 10, on which Rashi is very brief, and that on the greater part of Bava Batra, which Rashi had left unfinished: These commentaries, which are lucid but extremely verbose, are included in the standard editions of the Talmud.
