From La Rochelle to Würzburg and Beyond: Four Bibles from the Hand of the Migrating Scribe-Masorete Ḥayyim ben Isaac

Abstract

Corpus Masoreticum Working Papers 12

Building on the established corpus of the French scribe-masorete Ḥayyim ben Isaac—the two La Rochelle Bibles of 1215 and 1216(?)—this article identifies a third, previously unattributed Bible now split between Cincinnati and Saint Petersburg, as his work. Further, Sarit Shalev Eyni’s re-examination of the 1238 Ambrosian Bible, produced in Würzburg, revealed a crucial link to Ḥayyim ben Isaac’s codices. The Cincinnati-Petersburg Bible confirms his hand in the Masorah of the Ambrosian Bible’s second and third volumes, suggesting that he had migrated to Würzburg by that time. By comparing these Bibles, this article traces Ḥayyim ben Isaac’s career from La Rochelle (Poitou) to Würzburg (Franconia) and considers the effects of migration on both his own scribal output and the prevailing local practices. Finally, it discusses the subsequent histories of the La Rochelle Bibles, which offer further insights into Jewish migration patterns from Poitou.