Saul ben Anan (

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 ...

: שאול בן ענן) was a

Karaite Karaite or Qaraite may refer to: * Karaite Judaism, a Jewish religious movement that rejects the Talmud ** Crimean Karaites, an ethnic group derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe *** Karaim language, Turkic ...

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 ...

leader of the eighth century CE. He was the son and successor of

Anan ben David Anan Ben David (c. 715 - c. 795) ( he, ענן בן דוד) is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement of Judaism. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, did not believe the Rabbinic Jewish oral law ...

. He is styled by the later Karaites '' nasi'' (prince) and '' Rosh ha-golah'' (

exilarch The exilarch was the leader of the Jewish community in Persian 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 ongoin ...

). Saul's activity was unimportant relative to his more famous father and descendants. He is mentioned by

Solomon ben Jeroham Salmon ben Jeroham,() in Arabic Sulaym ibn Ruhaym, was a Karaite exegete and controversialist who flourished at Jerusalem between 940 and 960. He was considered one of the greatest authorities among the Karaites, by whom he is called "the Wise" ("H ...

in his commentary on the

Decalogue The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

as having also written a commentary thereon. He is particularly quoted for his opinion with regard to the sixth commandment; namely, that

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and leg ...

includes connection with any woman not one's own wife or

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

, and is not confined, as in

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 ...

nical law, to connection with another man's wife. Saul was one of the followers of Gnai Baruch, who is supposed as head of Ezra's

bet din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, i ...

to have ordained the reading of the

Torah 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 s ...

on Shabbatim and holy days, beginning in the month of

Tishri Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...

and terminating with the end of the year. Saul died about 780 CE. He was the father of the Karaite ''nasi''

Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; el, Ἰωσαφάτ, Iosafát; la, Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his fathe ...

Resources

*http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=276&letter=S&search=Saul%20ben%20Anan

Jacobs, Joseph Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 – 30 January 1916) was an Australian folklorist, translator, literary critic, social scientist, historian and writer of English literature who became a notable collector and publisher of English folklore. Jacob ...

and

Max Seligsohn Max Seligsohn (April 13, 1865 – April 11, 1923 Manhattan) was an American Orientalist, born in Imperial Russia. Having received his rabbinical training at Slutsk, government ('' guberniya'') of Minsk, he went in 1888 to New York City, where he s ...

. "Saul."

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...

. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906; which contains the following bibliography: :*

Julius Fürst Julius Fürst (; 12 May 1805, Żerków, South Prussia – 9 February 1873, Leipzig), born Joseph Alsari, was a Jewish German orientalist and the son of noted maggid, teacher, and Hebrew grammarian Jacob Alsari. Fürst was a distinguished schol ...

, ''Gesch. des Karäert''. i. 61; :*

Simchah Pinsker Simhah Pinsker (March 17, 1801 – October 29, 1864) (Hebrew: שמחה פינסקר) was a Polish-Jewish scholar and archeologist born at Tarnopol, Galicia. He received his early Hebrew education in the cheider and from his father, Shebaḥ ha-L ...

, ''Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot'', p. 44 (Supplement), pp. 53, 106, 186.

References

* Karaite rabbis 780 deaths Karaite exilarchs Year of birth unknown 8th-century rabbis Jewish royalty {{judaism-bio-stub