Dunasch ben Labrat
Dunasch ben Labrat ( Hebrew דוּנָש בֵּן לָבְרָט) or with his Hebrew name Adonim ha-Levi (* 920 in Fès ; † 990 in Córdoba ) was a Jewish commentator, poet and grammarian in Spain .
Life
Dunasch was born in Fez in Morocco . In his youth he traveled to the Talmud schools of the Babylonian diaspora to study with Saadia Gaon . Sometimes the view is taken that he was his grandson. During his stay in Babylonia he wrote numerous poems and became famous, so that poems were even written in his honor. He taught grammar and poetry.
Chisdai ibn Schaprut , who resided in Cordoba, invited Dunash to Spain. Cordoba was the center of culture and especially poetry in Europe at the time, and Chisdai endeavored to gather the best minds of the time there. After a short stay in Fès In, Dunasch met Menachem ben Saruq , also an important grammarian, in Córdoba . However, both had numerous and serious differences in the area of grammar and because of Menachem's violent criticism of Dunasch's teacher Saadia. The differences turned into personal rivalry, which led to numerous polemical writings and even mutual slander before Chisdai. At the age of 30, ben Labrat already enjoyed the reputation of an excellent teacher.
Dunasch died in Cordoba in 990.
Dunasch as a poet
Dunash was the first to introduce the system of Arabic metrics into Hebrew poetry. Arabic poetry is based on the distinction between short and long vowels. Since the Hebrew language does not (any longer) differentiate between vowel lengths, but only different vowel qualities, Dunasch used schwa quiescens and the Chateph sounds instead of short vowels. For this he harvested v. a. Sharp criticism from Menachem ben Saruq's students. It was argued against him that he defaced the Hebrew language through Arabization and changed biblical forms in order to adapt them to the Arabic metric and rhyme.
As an example, note the acrostic dunash:
דְ רור יקרא לְבן עם בת \
וְ ינצרכם כְמו בבַת. \
נְ עים שמכם וְלא יָשבַת \
שְ בו נוחו ביום שבת \
The word בבת (line 2) is usually interpreted as a status constructus , but here the status absolutus בבה should appear, but Dunasch still uses the form בבת so that the word fits into the rhyme. Also, in order to adapt it to the Arabic meter, Dunasch uses the word נעים (line 3) in the status constructus with a schwa quiescens and not as an adjective with a long A.
According to modern scholars, the Arabic meter, as used by Dunash, does not fit the Hebrew language and is imposed on it. The poets of subsequent generations in Spain, above all Yehuda ha-Levi, were more flexible than Dunash in the use of metrics and even invented their own, unique meters, while Dunasch consistently followed the laws of Arabic quantitative metrics.
Dunasch as a grammarian
In the field of grammar, Dunasch published his T e schuvot Dunasch den Labrat , which vigorously opposed the "Machberet" of Menachem von Saruq. Dunasch initially attacked the latter on questions of religion and then criticized the fact that he opposed the rabbis. He dedicated his book to Chisdai ibn Schaprut.
Dunasch was the first grammarian to differentiate between intransitive and transitive verbs, and also the first to classify verbs into strong and weak stems using the root פע "ל. He reprimanded Menachem ben Saruq for comparing it with the Arabic language shied.
In addition, he wrote about 200 objections to Saadia Gaon . The edition of the work is titled T e schuvat Dunasch ben Labrat al Ras "ag (dt. Reply of the Dunasch ben Labrat to Rav Saadia Gaon). Menachem's disciples reacted to the" objections "of Dunasch and attacked the former because of his use of the Arabic language in meter and grammar, they disagreed with him on numerous religious and grammatical matters, and Abraham ibn Esra also wrote a book in defense of Saadia.
Rashi's grandson Rabbenu Tam made some decisions on contentious issues between the two schools. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi , the father of David Kimchi , supported Dunasch.
Many of the disputed questions have not yet been resolved.
Work editions
- Robert Schröter: Dunasch ben Labrat's criticism of individual passages from Saadia's Arabic translation of the OT and from his grammatical writings, published for the first time according to a codex by Prof. SD Luzatto and provided with critical comments. Breslau 1866. [Reprinted in Tel Aviv 1966/67]
- Angel Sáenz-Badillos (ed.): Tešubot de Dunaš Ben Labrat. Granada 1980. ISBN 84-338-0171-6
literature
- Angel Sáenz-Badillos; Judit Targarona Borrás: Dunaš ben Labraṭ ha-Levi. In: Diccionario de autores judios (Sefarad. Siglos X-XV). El Almendro, Córdoba 1988 (Estudios de Cultura Hebrea, Volume 10), pp. 44-45. ISBN 84-86077-69-9 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Abraham ibn Esras and Dirk U. Rottzoll: Abraham ibn Esras long commentary on the book Exodus , Volume I, Parascha Schemot bis Beschalach (EX 1-17), Walter de Gruyter, 1999, ISBN 3110164752 , pp. CXX and CXXI
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dunasch ben Labrat |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Adonim ha-Levi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish poet and scholar |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 920 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Fez |
| DATE OF DEATH | 990 |
| Place of death | Cordoba |