Samuel ben Chofni

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Samuel ha-Kohen ben Chofni ( Samuel ben Hofni ; † 1013 ) was a Gaon to Surah , Bible commentator and Bible translator (into Arabic ). Almost nothing is known about the living conditions of Samuel ben Chofnis before his appointment as Gaon of Sura in 997. What is certain is that he was a descendant of scholars from the Pumbedita school . His grandfather Kohen Zedek ben Josef was Gaon of Pumbedita from 1926 to 936, and his father was there Av-Bet-Din of the counter- academy organized by Samuel ben Chofni's uncle Nechemia ben Kohen Zedek . Samuel ben Chofni had two brothers, Jizchak ben Chofni and Chajjim ben Chofni , who, like him, were probably supporters of their uncle's counter-academy. After Scherira ben Chananja rose to the Gaon of the Academy in Pumbedita in 968, Samuel ben Chofni took over the management of the counter academy, which was in a desperate financial situation due to its opposition role. During his gaonate from 998, Samuel ben Chofni succeeded in re-establishing the academy in Sura in Jewish society and reconciled with it two years before Scheira Gaon's death in 1006. Samuel ben Chofni wrote an extensive introduction to the Talmud ( Madkhal ila 'al-Talmud , 142 chapter, was the basis of a similar work by Samuel ha-Nagid ).

Literature (selection)

  • Aaron Greenbaum:  SAMUEL BEN HOPHNI. In: Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Volume 17, Detroit / New York a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-0-02-865945-9 , pp. 770-771 (English).
  • Jakob Naphtali Simchowitsch: Article SAMUEL ben CHOFNI , in: Jüdisches Lexikon , Berlin 1927, Vol. IV / 2
  • David Eric Sklare: Samuel ben Ḥofni Gaon and his cultural world . Texts and studies, Études sur le judaïsme médiéval 18, Brill, Leiden 1996, ISBN 9004103023 .
  • 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, page LXXXIX to XCII

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jacob Mann: The Last Geonim of Sura , in: The Jewish Quarterly Review 11/4 (1921), pp. 409-422; after others, the evaluation u. a. Manns and according to the consensus of research, sources incorrect in this regard, died in 1034.
  2. ↑ 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, page LXXXIX
personal data
SURNAME Samuel ben Chofni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Samuel ben Hofni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Gaon to Surah
DATE OF BIRTH 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 1013