Piyyut Commentary in the Genizah

Abstract

Abstract In the following article, the authors present a critical edition of ms. T-S H 10.175. This manuscript is written in a medieval Oriental hand and contains continuous, lemmatic piyyut commentary. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the only such manuscript to be found in the Genizah. All of the piyyutim commented on in the manuscript (to the extent that these are identifiable) were composed by the Classical payyetan Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir. In the edition, the commentary text is transcribed and punctuated, lemmas are marked as such, and the piyyutim that are commented on are identified, along with the biblical and midrashic sources that the commentary employs. The commentary text is analyzed, with special stress on the hermeneutic technique that informs its composition. Together with this analysis, the authors provide an overview of the evidence for piyyut commentary that may be gleaned from the Genizah manuscripts.