Menahem ben Saruq
Encyclopedia
Menahem ben Saruq was a Spanish
-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE. He was a skilled poet and polyglot
. He was born in Tortosa around 920 and died around 970. Menahem produced an early dictionary
of the Hebrew language
. For a time he was the assistant of the great Jewish statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut
, and was involved in both literary and diplomatic matters; his dispute with Dunash ben Labrat
, however, led to his downfall.
, and went, apparently at an early age, to Cordoba
, where he found a patron in Isaac ben Ezra ibn Shaprut, the father of the subsequent statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut. At Isaac's death Menahem eulogized
his protector's virtues in an inscription placed in the synagogue
which had been built by Isaac at Cordoba. He wrote also elegies on him, which were universally recited during the period of mourning. Menahem then returned to his native city, where he engaged in business.
Hasdai ibn Shaprut, however, recalled Menahem to Cordoba and encouraged him to complete his life-work, a dictionary of the Hebrew language. In other ways also his new patron availed himself of his protégé's literary talents. On his mother's death, Hasdai requested that Menahem compose a dirge
; and when Hasdai addressed his questions to the king of the Khazars
, Menahem was commissioned to write the letter, which has become an important historical document. Menahem even included both his patron's and his names in an acrostic
including the first letter of each line. Menahem, however, carried on his work amid great privations, as Hasdai did not prove a liberal patron.
, who had come to Spain from Fez, Morocco, and who wrote a criticism on the work, which he prefaced by a eulogistic dedication to Hasdai. Dunash roused Menahem's enemies, who began to complain to Hasdai of Menahem's alleged wrongs against them. The slanders of his personal enemies likewise seem to have aroused Hasdai's anger against Menahem to such a pitch that the latter, at the command of the powerful statesman, suffered bodily violence, being cast out of his house on the Sabbath day, shamed, and imprisoned. In a touching, and at some points audacious letter to Hasdai (a valuable source from which most of this information has been taken) Menahem, who probably died shortly afterward, complained of the wrong done him and sharply criticized Hasdai. He seems to have made some impression on his patron. Menahem himself had not replied to Dunash, but his pupils defended their teacher, and in response to Dunash's criticism wrote a detailed refutation which was marked by polemical acumen and exact grammatical knowledge. Judah ben David Hayyuj
, one of these three young scholars who so effectually defended their master, became the founder of scientific Hebrew grammar; another, Isaac ibn Gikatilla, was subsequently, as one of the most learned men of Lucena, the teacher of Jonah ibn Janah. Thus the most flourishing period of Hebrew philology, whose chief representatives were Hayyuj and ibn Janah, began with Menahem's work and teachings.
vocabulary composed in Hebrew in which the view then prevailing, that there were both uniliteral and biliteral roots
, was definitely systematized and worked out. This theory was set aside later by Menahem's own pupil, Hayyuj, who correctly assumed the triliteral character of Hebrew roots; but, because it was written in Hebrew, Menahem's dictionary remained for a long time the chief source of philological instruction for Jews who were unacquainted with Arabic, especially, therefore, for those in the Christian
countries of Europe
. Thus Rashi
in the second half of the eleventh century refers to Menahem as a philological authority; Rashi's grandson, Jacob b. Meïr Tam, composed a work for the special purpose of vindicating Menahem against the attacks of Dunash; and (about 1140) Menahem ben Solomon
composed in Italy
a dictionary which was based for the most part on the "Mahberet."
Regarding the grammatical importance of Menahem ben Saruq's work, it may be noted that, although he had no systematic knowledge of the forms of the language, and was unacquainted even with Saadia Gaon
's grammatical works, yet he recognized throughout his lexicon
that there are inviolable laws underlying the language, and that its forms and phenomena are subject to definite rules. This insight, which appears in the terminology he employs, bridges the apparent chasm between him and his pupil Hayyuj. As Menahem composed his work in Hebrew, he could not use the terminology of the Arabic grammarians; yet he tacitly adopted some of their terms, translating them into Hebrew, and explained some words, although without acknowledging it, on the analogy of kindred Arabic expressions. He avoids, however, any open comparison of the language of the Bible with that of the Quran, notwithstanding the precedent furnished him by Saadia and Judah ibn Kuraish
, authors whom he quotes in his dictionary. He doubtless refrained from such comparison because of the religious prejudice
which then prevented the Spanish Jews from engaging in such linguistic comparisons.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE. He was a skilled poet and polyglot
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
. He was born in Tortosa around 920 and died around 970. Menahem produced an early dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
of the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
. For a time he was the assistant of the great Jewish statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut
Hasdai ibn Shaprut
Hasdai ibn Shaprut born about 915 at Jaén; died about 975 at Córdoba in Spain, was a Jewish scholar, physician, diplomat, and patron of science....
, and was involved in both literary and diplomatic matters; his dispute with Dunash ben Labrat
Dunash ben Labrat
Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He was, according to Moses ibn Ezra, born in Fes. In his youth he travelled to Bagdad to study with Saadia Gaon.Dunash is called the founder of Spanish Hebrew poetry...
, however, led to his downfall.
Early career
Menahem was a native of TortosaTortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
, and went, apparently at an early age, to Cordoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, where he found a patron in Isaac ben Ezra ibn Shaprut, the father of the subsequent statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut. At Isaac's death Menahem eulogized
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
his protector's virtues in an inscription placed in the synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
which had been built by Isaac at Cordoba. He wrote also elegies on him, which were universally recited during the period of mourning. Menahem then returned to his native city, where he engaged in business.
Hasdai ibn Shaprut, however, recalled Menahem to Cordoba and encouraged him to complete his life-work, a dictionary of the Hebrew language. In other ways also his new patron availed himself of his protégé's literary talents. On his mother's death, Hasdai requested that Menahem compose a dirge
Dirge
A dirge is a somber song expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. A lament. The English word "dirge" is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam , the first words of the first antiphon in the Matins of the Office...
; and when Hasdai addressed his questions to the king of the Khazars
Khazar Correspondence
The Khazar Correspondence was an exchange of letters in the 950s or 960s between Hasdai ibn Shaprut, foreign secretary to the Caliph of Cordoba, and Joseph, Khagan of the Khazars. It is one of the few documents known to have been authored by a Khazar, and one of the very few primary sources on...
, Menahem was commissioned to write the letter, which has become an important historical document. Menahem even included both his patron's and his names in an acrostic
Acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. A famous...
including the first letter of each line. Menahem, however, carried on his work amid great privations, as Hasdai did not prove a liberal patron.
Dispute with Dunash
The dictionary had scarcely been completed when an opponent to its author arose in Dunash ben LabratDunash ben Labrat
Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He was, according to Moses ibn Ezra, born in Fes. In his youth he travelled to Bagdad to study with Saadia Gaon.Dunash is called the founder of Spanish Hebrew poetry...
, who had come to Spain from Fez, Morocco, and who wrote a criticism on the work, which he prefaced by a eulogistic dedication to Hasdai. Dunash roused Menahem's enemies, who began to complain to Hasdai of Menahem's alleged wrongs against them. The slanders of his personal enemies likewise seem to have aroused Hasdai's anger against Menahem to such a pitch that the latter, at the command of the powerful statesman, suffered bodily violence, being cast out of his house on the Sabbath day, shamed, and imprisoned. In a touching, and at some points audacious letter to Hasdai (a valuable source from which most of this information has been taken) Menahem, who probably died shortly afterward, complained of the wrong done him and sharply criticized Hasdai. He seems to have made some impression on his patron. Menahem himself had not replied to Dunash, but his pupils defended their teacher, and in response to Dunash's criticism wrote a detailed refutation which was marked by polemical acumen and exact grammatical knowledge. Judah ben David Hayyuj
Judah ben David Hayyuj
Judah ben David Hayyuj was a Jewish linguist. He is regarded as the father of scientific grammar of Hebrew language. He was born in Fez, Morocco, about 945...
, one of these three young scholars who so effectually defended their master, became the founder of scientific Hebrew grammar; another, Isaac ibn Gikatilla, was subsequently, as one of the most learned men of Lucena, the teacher of Jonah ibn Janah. Thus the most flourishing period of Hebrew philology, whose chief representatives were Hayyuj and ibn Janah, began with Menahem's work and teachings.
Characteristics of His Dictionary
The Mahberethttp://www.hebrewbooks.org/36818, as Menahem entitled his dictionary, was the first complete lexical treatment of the BiblicalBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
vocabulary composed in Hebrew in which the view then prevailing, that there were both uniliteral and biliteral roots
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
, was definitely systematized and worked out. This theory was set aside later by Menahem's own pupil, Hayyuj, who correctly assumed the triliteral character of Hebrew roots; but, because it was written in Hebrew, Menahem's dictionary remained for a long time the chief source of philological instruction for Jews who were unacquainted with Arabic, especially, therefore, for those in the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
countries of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Thus Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
in the second half of the eleventh century refers to Menahem as a philological authority; Rashi's grandson, Jacob b. Meïr Tam, composed a work for the special purpose of vindicating Menahem against the attacks of Dunash; and (about 1140) Menahem ben Solomon
Menahem ben Solomon
Menahem ben Solomon ben Isaac was a rabbi and author of the Sekel Ṭob and the Eben Boḥan.The presence of twenty-five Italian glosses in his works indicates that he lived in Italy...
composed in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
a dictionary which was based for the most part on the "Mahberet."
Regarding the grammatical importance of Menahem ben Saruq's work, it may be noted that, although he had no systematic knowledge of the forms of the language, and was unacquainted even with Saadia Gaon
Saadia Gaon
Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
's grammatical works, yet he recognized throughout his lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
that there are inviolable laws underlying the language, and that its forms and phenomena are subject to definite rules. This insight, which appears in the terminology he employs, bridges the apparent chasm between him and his pupil Hayyuj. As Menahem composed his work in Hebrew, he could not use the terminology of the Arabic grammarians; yet he tacitly adopted some of their terms, translating them into Hebrew, and explained some words, although without acknowledging it, on the analogy of kindred Arabic expressions. He avoids, however, any open comparison of the language of the Bible with that of the Quran, notwithstanding the precedent furnished him by Saadia and Judah ibn Kuraish
Judah ibn Kuraish
Judah ibn Kuraish , was a Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer. He was born at Tahort, in northern Africa in the 10th century. While his grammatical works advanced little beyond his predecessors, he was the first in studying comparative philology in the languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic...
, authors whom he quotes in his dictionary. He doubtless refrained from such comparison because of the religious prejudice
Dhimmi
A , is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. Linguistically, the word means "one whose responsibility has been taken". This has to be understood in the context of the definition of state in Islam...
which then prevented the Spanish Jews from engaging in such linguistic comparisons.