Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jam or Samuel ben Jacob Jam'a (Hebrew: שמואל בן יעקב אבן ג'אמע) was

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 ...

of the North-African community of קאבס (

Gabès Gabès (, ; ), also spelled Cabès, Cabes, and Kabes, is the capital of the Gabès Governorate in Tunisia. Situated on the coast of the Gulf of Gabès, the city has a population of 167,863, making it the 6th largest city in Tunisia. Located 327 ...

?) who flourished in the 12th century. He was on intimate terms with

Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

, who dedicated to him his ''Ḥai ben Meḳiẓ'' and mentioned eulogiously three of his sons — Judah, Moses, and Jacob.

Works

Under the title ''Elef ha-Magen,'' or, perhaps, ''Agur'' (the Hebrew equivalent of his Arabic name, ''Jamʿ''), Samuel wrote a supplement to the ''Arukh'' of

Nathan ben Jehiel Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (, 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a dictionary for Rabbinic Judaism that was the first work to examine Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. He is therefore referred to as "the Arukh." B ...

, a dictionary and lexicography of Hebrew. Excerpts from this supplement, which is still extant in manuscript form, were published by

Salomon Buber Salomon (or Solomon) Buber (2 February 1827 – 28 December 1906) was a Jewish Galician scholar and editor of Hebrew works. He is especially remembered for his editions of Midrash and other medieval Jewish manuscripts, and for the pioneering res ...

in the ''Grätz Jubelschrift''. Samuel is believed to be identical to the author of the same name whose

hiddush In Rabbinic literature, ḥiddush (; plural ḥiddushim, ) refers to a novel interpretation or approach to previously-existing ideas or works. The term often describes a form of innovation that is made inside the system of ''Halakha'', as distin ...

tractate Sanhedrin ''Sanhedrin'' () is one of ten tractates of Seder Nezikin (a section of the Talmud that deals with damages, i.e. civil and criminal proceedings). It originally formed one tractate with Makkot, which also deals with criminal law. The Gemara of t ...

are mentioned by

Isaac ben Abba Mari Isaac ben Abba Mari ( – ) was a Provençal rabbi who hailed from Marseille. He is often simply referred to as "Ba'al ha-Ittur," after his ''Magnum opus'', ''Ittur Soferim''. Biography Isaac's father, a great rabbinical authority, who wrote comme ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in his ''Sefer ha-'Ittur.'' Two Arabic works contain the laws concerning the kosher slaughtering of animals,

A. Neubauer Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 – 6 April 1907) was a Hungarian-born at the Bodleian Library and reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University. Biography He was born in Bittse (Nagybiccse), Upper Hungary (now Bytča in Slovakia). The Kingd ...

, ''Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS.'' No. 793 ''Risālat al-Burhān fī Tadhkiyat al-Ḥaywān'' () and on ethics, ''Kitab al-Zahdah lil-Muta'ammilin fi Yaqaẓat al-Mutaghaffilin'', are also credited to him. According to

Leopold Dukes Leopold Dukes (; 17 January 1810, Pozsony – 3 August 1891, Vienna) was a Hungarian critic of Jewish literature. Biography Dukes spent about 20 years in England, and from his researches in the Bodleian Library and the British Museum (which con ...

and other scholars, Samuel was the author also of the grammatical work ''Reshit ha-Leqaḥ,'' which is found in manuscript in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

and Paris libraries, and which bears the name of Samuel ben Jacob. This, however, is denied by

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (; 30 March 1816 – 24 January 1907) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist, and an important figure in Jewish studies and Jewish history. He is credited as having invented the term ''antisemitism.'' Education Mo ...

, who believes this grammar to have been written by another Samuel ben Jacob from a later time.

References

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:

J.L. Rapoport Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport (; June 1, 1786 – October 15, 1867) was a Galician and Czech rabbi and Jewish scholar. Rapoport was known by an acronym "Shir", שי"ר occasionally שיל"ר, formed by the initial letters of his Hebrew n ...

, 'Erek Millin, Introduction; L. Dukes, in Ben Chananja, 1861, p. 11; idem, in Orient, Lit. xii. 350; idem, in Oẓar Neḥmad, ii. 199; S. Pinsker, Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, i. 151; A. Geiger, in Z. D. M. G. xii. 145; Reifman, in ''

Ha-Karmel ''HaKarmel'' () was a Hebrew periodical, edited and published by Samuel Joseph Fuenn in Vilna from 1860 to 1880. It was one of the important forces of the Haskalah movement in the Russian Empire. History ''HaKarmel'' was founded by Samuel Joseph ...

'', ii. 243; Halberstam, ib. iii. 215;

, in J. Q. R. iii. 619; Kohut, Aruch Completum, Introduction;

Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (; 30 March 1816 – 24 January 1907) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist, and an important figure in Jewish studies and Jewish history. He is credited as having invented the term ''antisemitism.'' Education Mo ...

, Hebr. Bibl. vi. 10, xiii. 3; idem, Die Arabische Literatur der Juden, § 105. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob ibn Jam, Samuel ben 12th-century people from Ifriqiya 12th-century rabbis Jews from Ifriqiya Sephardi rabbis 12th-century lexicographers