David Kimhi

A medieval Provençal rabbi known by the acronym Radak, whose grammar of biblical Hebrew, Mikhlol, and etymological dictionary, Sefer HaShorashim, became the standard reference works for understanding the language of the Hebrew Bible. His running commentaries on the Prophets, Genesis, Psalms, and Chronicles read scripture through both grammar and ethics, and his interpretations were influential enough to shape the translators of the King James Bible directly. He also defended Maimonides's rationalist philosophy against contemporaries who wanted it suppressed, and engaged Christian scholars in public theological debate.