Aaron of Jerusalem, also known as Abū al-Faraj Hārūn ibn al-Faraj (
Judeo-Arabic
Judeo-Arabic dialects (, ; ; ) are ethnolects formerly spoken by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Under the ISO 639 international standard for language codes, Judeo-Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage under the code jrb, enco ...
), was a
Karaite Jewish
Karaite Judaism () or Karaism (, sometimes spelt Karaitism (; ''Yahadut Qara'it''); also spelt Qaraite Judaism, Qaraism or Qaraitism) is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme ...
scholar of the eleventh century who resided in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Grammarian
Little was known of Aaron until
Adolf Neubauer
Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 in Bittse, Hungary – 6 April 1907, London) was at the Bodleian Library and reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University.
Biography
He was born in Bittse (Nagybiccse), Upper Hungary (now Bytča in Slovaki ...
discovered, among the manuscript collection of
Abraham Firkovich
Abraham (Avraham) ben Samuel Firkovich (Hebrew אברהם בן שמואל - ''Avraham ben Shmuel''; Karayce: Аврагъам Фиркович - ''Avragham Firkovich'') (Sept. 27, 1786–June 7, 1874) was a famous Karaite writer and archaeologi ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, important fragments in Arabic of the ''Mushtamil'' "The Comprehensive", a Hebrew grammar consisting of eight books. Bacher, while studying these fragments, succeeded in rediscovering the unknown grammarian.
Samuel Abraham Poznański
Samuel Abraham Poznański or Shemuel Avraham Poznanski ( he, שמואל אברהם פוזננסקי, Lubraniec, 3 September 1864–1921) was a Polish-Jewish scholar, known for his studies of Karaism and the Hebrew calendar. Arabist, Hebrew bibli ...
published some valuable specimens of Aaron's work; and, following a suggestion of
Abraham Harkavy
Abraham (Albert) Harkavy (, russian: Авраа́м Я́ковлевич Гарка́ви, translit=Avraám Yákovlevich Garkávi; 17 October 1835 – 15 March 1919) was a Russian historian and orientalist.
Biography
Harkavy was born in 1835 ...
, he threw new light on the author and some other works of his: namely, the ''Kitab al-Kafi'', a commentary on the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, often quoted by Karaite writers, and a lexicographical work bearing the title ''Sharḥ al-Alfaẓ'', a part of which is extant in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
He was acknowledged by the
Rabbanites
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...
as one of the principal representatives of Karaitic learning and as a great authority on grammar and
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...
. He is quoted by
Abraham ibn Ezra in the preface to his ''Moznayim'' as "the sage of Jerusalem, not known to me by name, who wrote eight books on grammar, as precious as sapphire."
Moses ibn Ezra
Rabbi Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as Ha-Sallaḥ ("writer of penitential prayers") ( ar, أَبُو هَارُون مُوسَى بِن يَعْقُوب اِبْن عَزْرَا, ''Abu Harun Musa bin Ya'qub ibn 'Azra'', he, מֹשֶׁה ב ...
refers to him as "the sage of Jerusalem who wrote the ''Mushtamil'', and also quotes him as "Sheik Abu al-Faraj of Jerusalem, who is no adherent of our religious community."
Judah ibn Balaam likewise mentions "the grammarian of the Holy City"; and
Jonah ibn Janah
Jonah ibn Janah or ibn Janach, born Abu al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ ( ar, أبو الوليد مروان بن جناح, or Marwan ibn Ganaḥ Hebrew: ), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in Al-Andalus, or Islamic ...
in his ''Riqmah'' relates that
Jacob de Leon brought him from Jerusalem "the copy of a book by an author who lived there, but whose name he refrains from mentioning," because, as Bacher surmises, he was a Karaite.
Abu al-Faraj occasionally cites from the Hebrew-Arabic dictionary compiled by
David ben Abraham al-Fasi
David ben Abraham al-Fasi ( he, דוד בן אברהם אלפאסי) was a medieval Jewish, Moroccan lexicographer and grammarian from Fez, living in the second half of the 10th century (died before 1026 CE), who eventually settled in the Land o ...
.
References
* Fürst, Gesch. d. Karäert. i. 99, 100;
* Bacher, in Rev. Ét. Juives, xxx. 232-256;
* Poznanski, ibid., 1896, xxxiii. 24-39, 197-218;
* Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniot, pp. 109 et seq.
* Khan, Geoffrey, The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume II, Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, doi:10.11647/OBP.0194, 2020 https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0194.pdf
External links
Source
{{authority control
Karaite rabbis
11th-century rabbis in Jerusalem
Scientists from Jerusalem
Medieval Hebraists
Jewish grammarians
Linguists of Hebrew
Grammarians of Hebrew