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Early Hebrew Lexicography
a bibliography of early sources
by Mark Filipas
To help determine any influence the Hebrew lexicon may have had upon the Marseilles pattern, we must examine lexicography contemporaneous to that pattern. The following lists identify some of the relevant Hebrew sources spanning the 10th through 17th centuries.
Bibliographies identify some of the sources by which such works can be identified. The list of Lexicons and dictionaries identifies the relevant sources themselves. When known, each work�s location/date of origin appears in parenthesis. It should also be noted that the majority of lexical works below represent not one but multiple instances of that work, since these manuscripts were copied for circulation.
Bibliographies:
Amram, David
The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy (London, 1962), a history and catalog of the first two centuries of Hebrew printing in Italy. Unlike the other sources listed here, Amram�s work excludes the subject of manuscripts pre-dating the printing press.
Azulai, Hayyim
Joseph David
Shem ha-Gedolim (Livorno, 1774-86), considered a bibliographical masterpiece.
Bartolocci, Giulio
Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica (Rome, 1675-93), a four-volume work considered a landmark of the Hebrew bibliography. Written in Latin, it has not currently been translated into English.
Bass, Shebbetai
Siftei Yeshenim (1680), one of the pioneering works of the Hebrew bibliography.
Buxtorf, Johannes
Bibliotheca Latina Hebraica (Rome, 1694), a catalog describing the hundreds of Hebrew works in his personal collection.
Chadwyck-Healey
Collective catalog of Hebrew manuscripts (France, 1989), a catalog of manuscripts, archived on 853 microfiches.
Deinard, Ephraim
Or Mayer (New York, 1896), a catalog of antique and rare Hebraica, many of which are now housed at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
De Rossi, Bernardo Giovanni
Dizionario Storico degli Autoi Ebrei d Delle Loro Opere (Historical Dictionary of Hebrew Authors, Parma, 1802), translated into English by Marvin J. Heller. This work contains biographical sketches of just under 700 authors.
Mss. Codices hebraici biblioth. (Parma, 1803), de Rossi�s three-volume catalog, describing 1377 of the Hebrew manuscripts in his personal collection.
Annales hebraeo-typograpici sec. XV (Parma 1795), considered de Rossi�s most significant work on Hebrew bibliography. De Rossi also compiled additional bibliographies focusing specifically on Hebrew printing, Hebrew incunabula, anti-Christian polemics, among other topics.
Emmett Publishing
Montefiore's collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the library of Jews' College (London, 1994), a collection of manuscripts archived on 1202 microfiches.
Wolf, Johann Christoff
Notitia Karaeorum (Hamburg 1714), a history of Hebrew lexicons.
Bibliotheca Hebraea (Hamburg 1715-33), a four-volume bibliography incorporating previous research, sources at the Oppenheim collection, and works from his own extensive library. Written in Latin, there is currently no English translation.
Yale University
Kaballah collection of the Jewish Theological Seminary, manuscripts, and books from 1200-1925, archived on 65 reels of microform media. (Microform Reading Room, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale.)
Lexicons and Dictionaries:
Almoli, Solomon
Hebrew Dictionary (the Levant, early 1500s) did not extend beyond the letter nun.
Badirasi, Abraham
Chotam Tochnit (the 1200s), a lexicon of Hebrew synonyms.
Also of note is Badirasi�s Prayer for Day of Atonement (the 1200s), every word of which contains the Hebrew letter lamed.
Caspe, Joseph Ibn
Sharsherot Kesef (France, mid-1300s), a Hebrew dictionary, manuscript copies of which exist at the Angelica at Rome, the Oratoire, the Escurial, and the Oppenheimer.
Chayug, Yehuda
Dictionary of the Sacred Tongue (11th-century), a popular Hebrew lexicon. Chayug was a renowned grammarian; Ibn Ezra called him �the Prince of Grammarians� and Kimchi says that �he enlightened all his successors.� Manuscript copies are housed in various European collections.
De Lara, David ben
Isaac Cohen
Keter Kehunnah (Corona Sacerdotii, Lexicon Thalmudico Rabbinicum, Hamburg, 1600s).
De Lara was a lexicographer, translator, and expert on classical literature. His Keter Kehunnah, on which he worked for 40 years, is a Talmudic dictionary of words that do not appear in the earlier Arukh of Nathan Yechiel. The work extends only to the letter yod.
Ezra, Ibn
Moznayim (Rome, 1100s), a Hebrew grammar, of which several manuscripts and printed copies exist in various collections.
Sapha Berurah (Rome, 1167), a grammatical work.
Ganach, Jonah Ibn
Sepher ha-Shorashim (Spain, 11th-century), a dictionary of the Hebrew language, of which there were multiple manuscript copies.
Sepher ha-Rikma (Spain, 11th-century), a grammar of the Hebrew language.
Hanover, Nata
Nathan ben Moses
Safa Berurah (Italy, the 1600s), a dictionary of the Hebrew, German, Latin and Italian languages.
Hayyuj, David
Various lexicographical works (Cordoba, 10th century). Although they were written in Arabic, most of his writings dealt with Hebrew grammar. Hayyuj defined the Hebrew triliteral (three-letter) root system, providing the foundation of Hebrew grammatical studies.
Isaac Nathan
Meir Netib (1437�1445), Isaac�s translation into Hebrew of Arlotto�s Latin concordance.
Kimchi, Moses
Mahalak Shebile ha-Daat (France, 12th�13th centuries), a Hebrew grammar.
Kimchi, David
Sefer Michlol (France, 12th�13th centuries), a longer and more involved Hebrew grammar than that of his brother Moses.
Sefer ha-Shorashim, a renowned and much-circulated Hebrew dictionary. De Rossi calls it �the best and most complete of which the Jewish nation can boast, whence the ablest of our lexicographers have borrowed, and which has opened new sources for the explanation of words.�
Lara, David Cohen
Keter Kehunah (Hamburg, 1667), a Talmudical and Rabbinical dictionary that extends only to the letter yod.
Levita, Elijah
Sefer ha-Harkavah (Venice, the early 1500s), which examines the grammar of every foreign and irregular word in the Bible, is listed in alphabetical order.
Meturgaman (Venice, the early 1500s), a Chaldaic and Rabbinical dictionary.
Tishbi (Venice, the early 1500s), a lexicon that defines 712 Aramaic and foreign words used by the Rabbins, and which are unexplained by previous lexicographers.
Levita was a Hebrew philologist, grammarian, and lexicographer, renowned among Christian Hebraists of the sixteenth century.
Modena, Leon da
Gelut Yehudah (Venice, 1612), a Hebrew-Italian dictionary. Modena was the Chief Rabbi of Venice.
Oliveyra, Solomon
Hebrew-Portuguese Dictionary (Amsterdam, late 1600s).
Etz Chayim (Amsterdam, late 1600s), also called Treasury of the Holy Language, a work containing all the biblical word roots in Hebrew and Portuguese.
Parchon, Solomon
Machberet (mid-12th-century), a complete lexicon of the Hebrew language, compiled from the works of Chayug, Jonah ben Gannach, Solomon Gabirol, and the compiler�s own notes. Parchon, born in Calatayud, was a renowned grammarian and a student of Ibn Ezra�s.
Pigo, Moses
Zichron Todat Mosheh (the mid-1500s), an alphabetical index of the Talmud.
Pomis, David de'
Zemah David (Venice, 1587), a trilingual Hebrew, Latin, and Italian dictionary. This, de� Pomis� most famous work, was dedicated to Pope Sixtus V.
Saruk,
Menachem ben
Mahberet (10th century), also known as Leshon Limudim, was a Hebrew dictionary that included word roots. Saruk, a Jewish lexicographer and poet, was the first to compose a Hebrew-language dictionary; earlier biblical dictionaries were written in Arabic and translated into Hebrew. The Mahberet was an instant classic, and manuscript copies of it were soon distributed among European Jewish and Christian circles.
Urbino, Solomon
Ohel Moed (1480), a dictionary of Hebrew synonyms.
Yechieli, Nathan
Aruk (Rome, 11th-century), a monumental dictionary of Talmudic and Midrashic terms, serving as the basis for many later mystical speculations. It included etymologies as well as foreign words from the Aramaic, Latin, Greek, and Arabic languages.
Continue to Early Hebrew Mysticism
sources contemporaneous to the early Tarot
Bibliography:
� De Rossi, Bernardo Giovanni, Dizionario Storico degli Autoi Ebrei d delle Loro Opere, Parma, 1802.
� Roth, Cecil, The World History of the Jewish People, Israel, 1966.
� Amram, David, The Makers of Hebrew Books in Italy, London, 1962.
