Spider or lizard? Proverbs 30:28

RASHI, was known for being one of the greatest Hebrew scholars of his time. He is also said to have had access to materials that are no longer available. He is still well known among Jews for his Biblical commentary. Certainly his opinions shouldn't be entirely ignored.

At the time of the Reformation Christian scholars chose to go back to the original languages for the source of the Scripture. The Hebrew Old Testament used was obtained from Jewish sources. Direct sources of information on the Hebrew language were desired. I think RASHI's work became an important part of that process because his works were readily available and (more or less) covered the entire Old Testament.

Have you considered the question - where did the Christian scholars get their knowledge of Hebrew? Not just the obscure words but almost all of their knowledge of Hebrew must have ultimately come from Jewish sources. The Hebrew language was passed down through the generations by Jewish tradition. RASHI was part of that body of traditional scholars.

RASHI sometimes disagreed with himself. I don't think that he is necessarily a final authority. In matters where other souces aren't entirely satisfactory, however, he carries a lot of weight.

BTW I think that RASHI was a strong influence in the translation of Luther's version also.

...A.F...