Rav Shmuel ben Chofni רב שמואל בן חפני
gaon of Sura, who wrote about the Torah in the language of philosophy
He wrote in Arabic and at length: a commentary on the Torah, works on legal methodology, an introduction to the Talmud. Little of it survives, mostly fragments from the Cairo Geniza.
His approach was consistently rationalist, and in places he went further than his contemporaries. His treatment of the raising of Samuel's spirit at En-dor is well known: he explained it as a deception rather than a real apparition — and Rav Hai Gaon, his son-in-law, disagreed.
The disagreement is characteristic of the era: two heads of two academies, related by marriage, differ publicly on how to read the Tanakh, and both remain honoured.
He died in 1013 — most sources agree on that date, though a later one is also found. Sura never rose again after him.
On the timeline
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
Basis: documents and evidence.