JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A manuscript long believed to contain a commentary by the medieval Torah commentator Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi, has been identified as an apparently lost copy of a Torah commentary by Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, known as Rashbam, Rashi’s grandson and one of the leading Torah commentators of the medieval period, according to several Israeli media reports.

The discovery has generated interest among scholars of Jewish texts and medieval manuscripts. According to the reports, the manuscript had been housed for years in the Ginzburg Collection at Russia’s National Library and was cataloged as a copy of Rashi’s commentary.

Researchers said the document lacked identifying features and began in the middle of the Book of Genesis, making its authorship difficult to determine.

The manuscript came under renewed examination by researcher Israel Dovitsky, who noticed details that raised questions about its traditional classification.

Scholars reviewing the document concluded that it was not a copy of Rashi’s commentary but rather a manuscript of Rashbam’s commentary on the Torah, a work that had long been considered lost in its original form.

Experts say the reclassification is significant because it sheds new light on the transmission of medieval Jewish texts and may offer valuable material for the study of Rashbam’s interpretation of the Torah.

The discovery is being viewed as an important development in the field of Jewish manuscript research and the study of the writings of the early medieval rabbinic scholars known as the Rishonim.