Salmon ben Jeroham,() in Arabic Sulaym ibn Ruhaym, was a
Karaite exegete and controversialist who flourished at
Jerusalem 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 Benjamin Nahawandi or Benjamin ben Moses Nahawendi ( fa, بنیامین نهاوندی ''Nahāwandī''; he, בנימין אלנהאונדי) was a prominent Persian Jewish scholar of Karaite Judaism. He was claimed to be one of the greatest of th ...
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.
Response to Saadia
In a work entitled ''Milḥamot Adonai'', (not to be confused with books of the same title by
Gersonides and
Avraham son of Rambam) of which he produced also an
Arabic 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. Then he criticizes Saadia's views on the
Hebrew calendar, 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 and the
Talmud, 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,
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 1-10 (Alobaidi 1996) 42-72 (Marwick 1956)
*
Lamentations (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 (Wechsler, forthcoming 2024)
*
Ruth (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 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