Rav Shmuel ben Chofni רב שמואל בן חפני
gaon of Sura, who wrote about the Torah in the language of philosophy
Rav Shmuel ben Chofni was gaon of Sura from about 4758 (998) and one of the last of its heads. His daughter was married to Rav Hai Gaon, head of Pumbedita—in these years the two academies of Babylonia were joined by kinship.
He wrote about the Torah in the language of philosophy: his commentary explains what is written by way of reason, and in this he walks beside Rav Saadia Gaon. Where the bounds of that way run, he and Rav Hai weighed differently—their dispute over how to understand the account of the spirit raised at En-dor is well known. It is a dispute of the kind conducted for the sake of Heaven: both sides ask what the verse actually says, and differ in the answer, not in fidelity to what is written.
The sources name the year of his passing differently: 4773 (1013) and 4794 (1034). We give both and do not decide for the sources.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- Commentary of Rav Shmuel ben Chofni on the Torah — the rationalist reading; the dispute with Rav Hai over the apparition at En-dor
- Geonic responsa — his responsa to the communities within the general corpus of geonic responsa
Basis: documents and evidence.