David ben Boaz (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: דוד בן בעז,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: Abu Sa'id Dawud ibn Bu'az) was a Karaite

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish scholar who flourished in the tenth century CE. He is reported to have been the fifth in the line of descent from

Anan ben David Anan Ben David (, ) is widely considered to be a major founder of Karaite Judaism. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, did not believe the Rabbinic Jewish Oral Torah, such as the Mishnah, to be authoritative. History F ...

, the founder of

Karaism Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a non-Rabbinical Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and theology. Karaites believe that all of the divine commandmen ...

(he was the son of

Boaz ben Jehoshaphat Boaz ben Jehoshaphat (Hebrew: ''בעז בן יהושפט'') was the son of Jehoshaphat ben Josiah and the great-great-grandson of Anan ben David. He lived in Iraq during the mid ninth century. As the direct lineal heir of Anan, Boaz was ''nasi'' and ...

, the son of

Jehoshaphat ben Saul Jehoshaphat ben Josiah (Hebrew: יהושפט בן יאשיהו) was the son of Josiah ben Saul, the great-grandson of Anan ben David, a Nasi, and a Rosh Yeshivah, during the early ninth century. He lived in Israel where he was head of the Palesti ...

, the son of

Saul ben Anan Saul ben Anan (Hebrew language, Hebrew: שאול בן ענן) was a Karaite Judaism, Karaite Jewish leader of the eighth century CE. He was the son and successor of Anan ben David. He is styled by the later Karaites ''Nasi (Hebrew title), nasi'' ( ...

, the son of Anan ben David.) He was thus considered

resh galuta The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing polit ...

exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during the era of the Parthians, Sasanians and Abbasid Caliphate up until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, with intermittent gaps due to ongoing polit ...

of the Karaite community within the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

, in opposition to the

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

nical claimant The Karaite chronicler al-Hiti mentions David under the year 383 of the

Hijrah The Hijrah, () also Hegira (from Medieval Latin), was the journey the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers took from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the e ...

(993 CE.), and gives the titles of the following three works written by him: a commentary on

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

; a commentary on the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

; a treatise on the fundamental principles of the

. Of these three only a fragment of the second, comprising Leviticus and the latter half of

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

, is still extant in manuscript in the St. Petersburg Library. In this commentary, says Harkavy, David frequently attacks

Saadia Gaon Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, Geonim, gaon, Jews, Jewish philosopher, and exegesis, exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate. Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic ...

, whom he never calls by name, but by the appellation "hadha al-rajul" (this man). David was succeeded as resh galuta of the Karaites by his son Solomon ben David.

References

* **Pinsker, ''Liḳḳuṭe Kadmoniyyot'', p. 53; ** Harkavy, in Stade's ''Zeitschrift'', i. 157; **Al-Hiti, published by Margoliouth in ''Jew. Quart. Rev''. ix. 432. Karaite rabbis Philosophers of Judaism Medieval Jewish philosophers Karaite exilarchs 10th-century Abbasid rabbis Jewish royalty {{judaism-philo-bio-stub