Neat Sephardic semi-cursive script, in black and red ink (the titles, headwords, colophons of Torah portions and colophon of scribe are written in red ink).

Colophon at end of work:
"On Sunday, 25th Tishrei 1473… in Crotone, I wrote and completed this book of Torah novellae, I the knight of sciences Mr. Shmuel son of David ibn Shoham, and I wrote it for myself…".

The scribe of the manuscript –
R. Shmuel son of David ibn Shoham – added (in the margins and in the main text) glosses and additions with his own novellae, signing his name in various ways, such as: "So it appears to me… Shmuel son of David ibn Shoham" (p. 116); "I, Shmuel son of David ibn Shoham say…" (260); "Says Shmuel son of D[avid] i[bn] Sh[oham]" (80), and more.

The physician R. Shmuel ibn Shoham is known to us from another manuscript, Ms. Paris 1128, containing Hebrew translations of several medical works, translated and copied by R. Shmuel. His colophons appear at the end of three of these works, dated 1465-1466. At the end of one of them he signs: "Shmuel son of David ibn Shoham called Burla" (beryllus is the Latin translation of the shoham-stone); and at the end of another he adds details on himself and the location of copying: "I completed this book in Taranto, I Shmuel son of R. David ibn Shoham the physician called Burla of Corfu…", indicating that he was a physician, lived for some time in Taranto and was originally from Corfu.

Two additional manuscripts written for R. Shmuel ibn Shoham are Ms. St. Petersburg EVR II A 24, an anthology on medical topics written on his behalf in 1465, as noted in the colophon: "Completed here in Nardò on 10th Marcheshvan 1465, by Yeshuah Kohen son of David Kohen, written for Mr. Shmuel the physician son of David ibn Shoham called Burla"; as well as Ms. Paris 308, She'iltot, which was written for R. Shmuel in 1467 as noted in the colophon: "On Tuesday, 3rd Iyar [1467], I, Menachem… son of R. Yosef Vivanti wrote this book of She'iltot for R. Shmuel the physician son of R. ibn Shoham called Burla". The latter manuscript contains glosses and additions handwritten by R. Shmuel ibn Shoham (see further: Mirsky [ed.], She'iltot D'Rav Achai Gaon, Part I, Jerusalem 1960, preface, pp. 28-29 and note 8).

In the present manuscript, the writer added several illustrative drawings, on pp. 35 (tents of the foremothers), 267 (map of Eretz Israel) and 268 (examples of the grape cluster being transported by the spies).

On blank leaves at end of manuscript (pp. 312-318), inscriptions in various hands, not belonging to the work, including: a list of days and their respective planets, bibliomancy with a Chumash, selected initials and numerical values, a mnemonic for shofar blowing, the beginning of the Alphabet of Ben Sira.

At the top of the first page of the manuscript – signature: "Purchased by the servant, Chaim Mordechai Labaton" – R. Chaim Mordechai Labaton (1780-1869), a leading Torah scholar of Aleppo and Chief Rabbi of the city. Author of Nochach HaShulchan (see on him: LiKedoshim Asher BaAretz, p. 64). Next to the above signature – another deleted signature, next to which is written: "Sefer Moshav Zekenim".

At the end of the work, after the colophon, appears an ownership inscription: "I purchased this book of R. Eliyah son of R. Shabtai together with… and a commentary on Neviim Rishonim… I, Yosef de Modena". Next to this inscription is written in square script: "And it is called Moshav Zekenim", and another inscription (in cursive script): "This is what it was called by R. Ch[aim] Attiya" – R. Chaim son of Yeshayah Attiya (ca. 1751-1795), a leading Torah scholar of Aleppo. A halachic letter of his was printed by the Chida in his Chaim Shaal (II, 36), and some of his novellae were printed in other books (see: LiKedoshim Asher BaAretz, pp. 131-132).

The name of the work, Moshav Zekenim, was finalized in the edition published by R. Solomon Sassoon. As stated above, this name appears at the beginning and end of the present manuscript, but in a hand later than that of the scribe. The above inscription appears to state that R. Chaim Attiya of Aleppo coined this name, apparently following the name of a collection of the Tosafists' comments on the Torah printed in Livorno, 1783, called Daat Zekenim (named by the publisher R. Yaakov Nunez-Vaez). Another anthology of the Tosafists' comments on the Torah was printed in Livorno, 1840, by the name Hadar Zekenim.

The present work belongs to the broad genre of Tosafists' comments on the Torah, which includes many works. The Tosafists' teachings are mainly known from the anthologies of Tosafot on the Talmud and other halachic works. The Tosafists' novellae and comments on the Bible were preserved concurrently in various works written in the 13th-14th centuries in France and Germany. A variety of works belonging to this genre have been preserved in manuscripts and printed books, some of which have known titles, authors or editors, while others are anonymous. This genre includes: Daat Zekenim, Minchat Yehudah, Hadar Zekenim, Sefer HaGan, Chizkuni, Paneach Raza and commentaries on the Torah by R. Yehudah HeChasid, Rabbenu Efraim, the Rokeach, R. Yosef Bechor Shor, the Rosh, and others. Moshav Zekenim is another exemplar of this genre, as an important source for the novellae and comments of the Tosafists on the Torah. Recently, R. Yaakov Gelis' Tosafot HaShalem project has come to light, methodically gathering all the comments of the Tosafists on the Bible from the many printed and manuscript sources.

The present manuscript is a uniquely adapted work on the Torah, apparently authored in the early or mid-14th century. It cites many comments by R. Yehudah HeChasid, the Rokeach, Chizkuni, Rosh and others. The scribe of the present manuscript – R. Shmuel ibn Shoham – appears to have copied (and perhaps adapted) it from an existing work, rather than having authored it himself, for a number of reasons (see for instance: Yitzchak Lange, Sefer Moshav Zekenim, HaMaayan, XII, 3, Nisan 1972, pp. 75-76). However, he also added his own comments. Parallels to Moshav Zekenim appear in three manuscripts, authored in France or Germany ca. the 13th century, which all appear to derive from the same circles: comments and rulings on the Torah by the Tosafist R. Avigdor Katz, disciple of R. Simchah of Speyer (published recently); Kol Bo by R. Shemariah son of R. Simchah of Speyer, fragments of which were published by Prof. Simchah Immanuel; and the commentary to Sifrei in Ms. Mantua 36 (see: Simchah Immanuel, Shivrei Luchot, p. 172, note 89; and p. 259, note 172).

Notably, Moshav Zekenim does not contain the teachings of the Tosafists alone, but also cites many comments by Sephardi rabbis such as R. Avraham ibn Ezra, the Rambam, Ramban and others, and also contains anonymous comments. Nevertheless, the Tosafists are given the central stage in the work, and it is sometimes the only source to preserve their teachings.

The vast majority of the work is present, but it is lacking a few leaves at the beginning and in one place in the middle. It begins at Bereshit 2:3 (according to R. David Sassoon, one leaf is missing at the beginning of the manuscript, while according to Lange, ibid., four leaves are missing at the beginning); and apparently one more leaf is missing at the end of the Torah portion of Vayera and beginning of Chayei Sarah. On several leaves (at the end of the manuscript), the scribe left blank spaces, apparently due to damage in the original in those places, rendering them illegible.