Bahya ben Asher

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Bahya ben Asher (13th cent. CE). Jewish commentator and kabbalist. Serving as Dayyan in Saragossa, he produced a commentary on the Pentateuch (Be'urʿal ha-Torah, 1291) which interpreted the text literally, homiletically, rationally and kabbalistically. It was very popular. He is important in the history of Kabbalah in that he preserves and quotes the mystical teaching of Naḥmanides' contemporaries. He adopted a four-level interpretation of scripture: (i) peshat, plain or literal; (ii) midrash, homiletical; (iii) sekhal, reasoned and argued; (iv) sōdh, derived from mystical union with God. This approach is summarized under the mnemonic, pardes.