Rabbi Avraham ben David, the Raavad, was born in Narbonne around 1125 (estimates range from 1114 to 1125). His father was Rabbi David. He studied under Rabbi Meshullam ben Yaakov of Lunel, from whom he gained most of his Talmudic learning, as well as under Rabbi Moshe ben Yosef and his father-in-law, Rabbi Avraham ben Yitzchak of Narbonne, the Av Beit Din.

He lived first in Nîmes and then settled in Posquières in Provence, where he served as rabbi and founded a yeshiva. Being very wealthy, he built and maintained the school building himself and supported poor students. His wealth led the lord of Posquières to throw him into prison in order to obtain part of it; Count Roger II Trencavel intervened and banished the lord to Carcassonne.

His best-known work is his critical glosses (hasagot) on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. He objected in particular that the code did not state the sources and authorities behind its rulings, which in his view made it unreliable for deciding practical law. He often expressed himself in very sharp terms.

He is also regarded as one of the fathers of Kabbalah, and later kabbalists, among them Rabbi Chaim Vital, counted him among those who received the revelation of Eliyahu. His son, Rabbi Yitzchak the Blind (Saggi Nahor), who was educated in his yeshiva, became a major figure of Kabbalah. His other students included Rabbi Asher ben Shaul of Lunel and Rabbi Yonatan HaKohen of Lunel.

Works: the Hasagot on the Mishneh Torah, Baalei HaNefesh on the laws of family purity, commentaries on the Mishnah and Talmud, a commentary on Torat Kohanim, responsa, and critical glosses on other authors.

He died on 26 Kislev 4959 (27 November 1198) in Posquières and was buried in the town's old Jewish cemetery, in what is today Vauvert.