David ben Boaz (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: דוד בן בעז,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: Abu Sa'id Dawud ibn Bu'az) was a Karaite

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish scholar who flourished in the tenth century CE. He is reported to have been the fifth in the line of descent from

Anan ben David Anan Ben David (c. 715 - c. 795) ( he, ענן בן דוד) is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement of Judaism. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, did not believe the Rabbinic Jewish oral law ...

, the founder of

Karaism 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 au ...

(he was the son of

Boaz ben Jehoshaphat Boaz ben Jehoshaphat (Hebrew: בעז בן יהושפט) was the son of Jehoshaphat ben Saul and the great-grandson of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the mid ninth century. As the direct lineal heir of Anan, Boaz was '' nasi'' and resh galu ...

, the son of

Jehoshaphat ben Saul Jehoshaphat ben Saul (Hebrew: יהושפט בן שאול) was the son of Saul ben Anan and the grandson of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the early ninth century. Jehoshaphat was '' nasi'' and resh galuta of the nascent Karaite movement o ...

, the son of

Saul ben Anan Saul ben Anan (Hebrew: שאול בן ענן) was a Karaite Jewish leader of the eighth century CE. He was the son and successor of Anan ben David. He is styled by the later Karaites ''nasi'' (prince) and '' Rosh ha-golah'' (exilarch). Saul's activ ...

, the son of Anan ben David.) He was thus considered

resh galuta The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...

exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing ...

of the Karaite community within the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

, in opposition to the

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

nical claimant The Karaite chronicler al-Hiti mentions David under the year 383 of the

Hijrah The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date eq ...

(993 CE.), and gives the titles of the following three works written by him: a commentary on

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...

; a commentary on the

Pentateuch 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 sa ...

; a treatise on the fundamental principles of the

. Of these three only a fragment of the second, comprising Leviticus and the latter half of

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

, is still extant in manuscript in the St. Petersburg Library. In this commentary, says Harkavy, David frequently attacks

Saadia Gaon Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...

, whom he never calls by name, but by the appellation "hadha al-rajul" (this man). David was succeeded as resh galuta of the Karaites by his son Solomon ben David.

References

* **Pinsker, ''Liḳḳuṭe Kadmoniyyot'', p. 53; ** Harkavy, in Stade's ''Zeitschrift'', i. 157; **Al-Hiti, published by Margoliouth in ''Jew. Quart. Rev''. ix. 432. Karaite rabbis Philosophers of Judaism Karaite exilarchs 10th-century Abbasid rabbis Jewish royalty {{judaism-philo-bio-stub