Rav Zemah ben Paltoi, also spelt Tzemach ben Poltoi, Zemaḥ Gaon, (
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 ...
: צמח גאון בר מר רב פולטוי) (died 890 CE), was the Gaon of Pumbeditha from 872 up until his death in 890.
Biography
Zemah's father,
Paltoi ben Abaye
Rav Paltoi Yishia ben Rav Abaye Gaon HaKohen (Hebrew: רב פלטוי ישעיה בר אביי גאון הכהן: – 858 ) was the Gaon of Pumbedita from 841 up until his death in 858. His time as Gaon would be defined by an idealistic and innov ...
, was the Pumbedita Gaon from 841-858, an office which Zemah served himself, after the death of the previous Gaon, Abba ben Ammi. Zemah is most noted for his compilation of the first Talmudic dictionary, the ''Arukh'', a work listing some 300 Aramaic terms, as well as a list of names and places recorded in the
Babylonian 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 center ...
. His work became the model on which two later works were based: one compiled under the same name in 1101 CE, by R.
Nathan ben Jehiel
Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; ''Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi'' according to Sephardic pronunciation) ( 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmud ...
of
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
...
, and another, a
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, encom ...
lexicon, 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 ...
nearly one-hundred years earlier, and which work elucidates difficult words in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" ''
Abraham Zacuto
Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal.
...
in his ''Sefer Yuchasin''. Some of Zemah ben Paltoi's extant responsa concern a man who died in
Kairouan
Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by th ...
and whose heirs were living in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, and another concerning a woman whose ''
Ketubbah
A ketubah (; he, כְּתוּבָּה) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, ...
'' (marriage contract) had been lost. Zemah ben Paltoi was an ancestor of Rabbi
Hai Gaon
Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...
, from Hai Gaon's maternal line. He was also the great-grandfather of
Sherira Gaon
Sherira bar Hanina (Hebrew: שרירא בר חנינא) more commonly known as Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: שרירא גאון; c. 906-c. 1006) was the gaon of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the ...