In an oft-quoted dictum the twelfth-century Spanish polymath Abraham ibn Ezra describes Saadya as “first and foremost among speakers everywhere.” This seemingly simple sentence praises Saadya on more than one level, playing as it does on the multivalence of the word “speakers” (medabberim). The context of Ibn Ezra's phrase (in his book on Hebrew grammar) suggests that this word refers here primarily to linguists; yet it can also mean “spokesmen” in a general way, and it is also a literal translation of the Arabic mutakallimun, that is, practitioners of dialectic theology. In all likelihood, Ibn Ezra intended all these meanings together. Indeed, Saadya's towering figure dominates the emergence of medieval Jewish scholarship in all fields: linguistics and poetics, philosophy and exegesis, polemics and law, and he is also generally considered to be the most prominent representative of Jewish kalam. An inquiry into Saadya's thought, his background, and his influence can thus serve as a convenient introduction to Jewish kalam.

Kalam (literally “speech”) is a generic name for Islamic dialectical theology. Common to all kalam schools is the formulation of a system based on the dual basis of rationality and Scripture, and on the assumption that the two complement, rather than contradict, each other. Also typical of all kalam schools is the specific discourse that uses dialectical techniques for the analysis of religious and philosophic problems. Whether it is presented as a strictly theological compendium or in a different kind of literary composition (exegetical, polemical, or a monograph on a specific theological question), a kalam work is often recognizable as such even before a thorough acquaintance with its content. Structure and style characterize kalam works no less than contents.