Salmon ben Jeroham,() in Arabic Sulaym ibn Ruhaym, was a
Karaite exegete and controversialist who flourished at
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
between 940 and 960. He was considered one of the greatest authorities among the Karaites, by whom he is called "the Wise" ("HaHakham"), and who mention him after
Benjamin Nahawendi in their prayers for their dead great teachers (''Karaite Siddur'', i. 137b). His principal work, one of several treatises entitled
Milhamoth Adonai, was an attack on
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''; ...
.
Response to Saadia
In a work entitled ''Milḥamot Adonai'', (not to be confused with books of the same title by
Gersonides
Levi ben Gershon (1288 – 20 April 1344), better known by his Graecized name as Gersonides, or by his Latinized name Magister Leo Hebraeus, or in Hebrew by the abbreviation of first letters as ''RaLBaG'', was a medieval French Jewish philosoph ...
and
Avraham son of Rambam Abraham Maimonides (אברהם בן רמב"ם; also known as Rabbeinu Avraham ben ha-Rambam, and Avraham Maimuni) (1186 – December 7, 1237) was the son of Maimonides who succeeded his father as Nagid of the Egyptian Jewish community.
Biograp ...
) of which he produced also an
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 ...
version that is no longer in existence, Salmon attempts to counter the Classic Judaism (Rabbinites), especially
Saadia
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''; ...
. It is written in verse and is divided into 19 chapters, each of which contains 22 four-lined strophes. After having endeavored in the first two chapters to demonstrate the groundlessness of the oral tradition, he attempts to refute the seven arguments advanced in its behalf by Saadia in the introduction to his 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 ...
. Then he criticizes Saadia's views on the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
, the laws concerning incest, the celebration of the second days of the feasts, etc., and accuses him of terms of having, in his polemics against the Karaites, used arguments which are in direct opposition to the teachings of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
and the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, and which consequently he must have known to be false. Most of the book is ''
ad hominem
''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious.
Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other ...
'' attacks against Saadia. The ''Milḥamot Adonai'' is extant in manuscript in various European libraries; parts of it have been published by
Pinsker Pinsker is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Leon Pinsker (1821–1891), Russian physician and Zionist activist
* Mark Semenovich Pinsker (1925–2003), Russian mathematician
* Scott Pinsker, filmmaker, talk show host, and autho ...
,
Geiger, and
Kirchheim.
His polemical works
Bible Commentaries
Commentaries on Psalms, Lamentations, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and Esther are extant in manuscript. He is known to have composed lost commentaries to Job, Daniel, Ruth, Proverbs, and probably Isaiah and the Pentateuch. Published editions include:
*
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
1-10 (Alobaidi 1996) 42-72 (Marwick 1956)
*
Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ...
(Feuerstein 1898; Abdul-Karim 1976, dissertation)
*
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 ...
(Fraenkel 1903; Vajda 1971; Riese 1973, dissertation)
*
Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
(Wechsler, forthcoming 2024)
*
Ruth
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
(lost; Markon 1927 includes the commentary of
Yefet ben Ali
Yefet ben Ali ( he, יפת בן עלי הלוי)Japheth ben Ali, Japheth ha-Levi. was perhaps the foremost Karaite commentator on the Bible, during the "Golden Age of Karaism". He lived during the 10th century, a native of Basra ( in present-day ...
, misattributed)
References
External links
Jewish Encyclopedia article on Solomon ben Jeroham by
Kaufmann Kohler
Kaufmann Kohler (May 10, 1843 – January 28, 1926) was a German-born Jewish American biblical scholar and critic, theologian, Reform rabbi, and contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906).
Life and work
Kaufm ...
and
Isaac Broydé
Isaac David Broydé (23 February 1867, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire – 15 April 1922, New York City) was an Orientalist and librarian.
Life
He was born in Porozowo, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Belarus ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon Ben Jeroham
Karaite rabbis
10th-century rabbis in Jerusalem
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown