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4 unusual facts about Menahem ben Saruq


Menahem ben Saruq

Menahem was a native of Tortosa, 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.

Menahem ben Saruq (also known as Menahem ben Jacob ibn Saruq, Hebrew: מנחם בן סרוק) was a Spanish-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE.

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 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."



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