Biblical grammarians were linguists whose understanding of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
at least partially related to the science of
Hebrew language
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 ...
.
Tannaitic
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the M ...
and Ammoraic
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...
rarely toiled in
grammatical
In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to form ...
problems; grammar was a borrowed science from the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
in the
medieval period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...
. Despite its foreign influence, however,
Hebrew grammar
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 ...
was a strongly
Jewish
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""The ...
product and developed independently. Scholars have continued to study grammar throughout the ages, until the present. Those mentioned in this article are a few of the most eminent grammarians.
Early influences
Masoretes
The
Masoretes
The Masoretes ( he, בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה, Baʿălēy Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries CE, based primarily in ...
, who solidified the
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
of the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
, vocalized and punctuated the biblical text. Most of the work of the Masoretes is generally anonymous, though we know several names of Masoretes. While their work essentially focused on establishing the correct text and not the principles of grammar, the Masoretes contributed to the future study of biblical language. Many future grammarians continued the efforts of the Masorah and gave it a “central place in their works.”
Medieval grammarians
Saadia Ga’on
Saadia Ga’on dealt with
inflections and roots in his grammatical work. These contributions laid essential foundations for future grammarians. He also wrote about exceptions. His contemporary,
Menahem ben Saruk, elaborated upon the study of roots, and was also the first grammarian to write in Hebrew. A pupil of Saadia’s,
Dunash ben Labrat
Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat (920/925 – after 985) ( he, ר׳ דוֹנָש הַלֵּוִי בֵּן לָבְּרָט; ar, دناش بن لبراط) was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in ...
, criticized both
Menahem
Menahem or Menachem (, from a Hebrew word meaning "the consoler" or "comforter"; akk, 𒈪𒉌𒄭𒅎𒈨 ''Meniḫîmme'' 'me-ni-ḫi-im-me'' Greek: ''Manaem'' in the Septuagint, ''Manaen'' in Aquila; la, Manahem; full name: he, מְנַח ...
and Saadia’s works but made many important contributions to understanding roots. Defenses of both sides by scholars such as Rabben Tam and ibn Ezra continued for centuries.
Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compr ...
's commentary attempted to explain the simple meaning of the biblical text. In many places in his commentary, Rashi explains a linguistic or grammatical rule, providing several examples of other places in which that rule applies. Many of his principles he derives from the work of Menahem and Dunash. Evidence shows that Rashi understood the difference between
biblical Hebrew and
rabbinic Hebrew
Mishnaic Hebrew is the Hebrew of Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (al ...
. Rashi also utilized
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligi ...
to explain the meaning of words that could not be otherwise explained.
Abraham ibn Ezra
In his introduction to 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 ...
,
Ibn Ezra writes that his commentary is “bound by the cords of grammar.” The way to appreciating the text is to understand the simple meaning, and he opposed explanations of the text that do not explain the original intent. Generally, he limited applying predecessors’ laws to understanding the text and avoided outlandish explanations of exceptions. A specific opposition ibn Ezra had was to the explanation of “plene versus defective spelling.” The Spanish commentator also wrote several grammatical works outside his biblical commentary.
Joseph Kimhi
Joseph Kimhi Joseph Qimḥi or Kimchi (1105–1170) ( he, יוסף קמחי) was a medieval Jewish rabbi and biblical commentator. He was the father of Moses and David Kimhi, and the teacher of Rabbi Menachem Ben Simeon and poet Joseph Zabara.
Grammarian, ...
of the 12th century composed Sefer Zikkaron, introducing a new understanding of vowels. His two sons, Moses and David, also were grammarians. The Kimhis were exegets who relied most on
peshat
''Peshat'' (also ''P'shat'', ) is one of the two classic methods of Jewish biblical exegesis, the other being Derash. While ''Peshat'' is commonly defined as referring to the surface or literal (direct) meaning of a text,Goldin, S. (2007). Unloc ...
and avoided homileteical interpretations, and especially for David,
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...
played a large role in that.
Modern grammarians
The ''maskilim''
The ''maskilim'' abandoned the use of rabbinic Hebrew and returned to biblical Hebrew. They felt serious grammar was of major import for modernization.
Naphtali Herz Wessely
Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely ( yi, נפתלי הירץ וויזעל, translit=Naftali Hirtz Vizel; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was an 18th-century German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist.
Family history
One of Wessely's ancestors, ...
and Judah Leib Ben Ze’ev were major perpetrators of this movement of Hebrew, which may have led to modern Hebrew. Study of Hebrew grammar had been neglected for nearly two centuries until the arrival of Moses Mendelssohn.
References
{{Reflist
Grammarians of Hebrew
Grammarians