An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

g Finally, in the introduction to his Agron, Saadia informs his readers that,
disturbed by the style of various contemporary religious poets, authors of
piyyûṭîm, and by the confusion of grammatical categories in their poems, he
designed his work to guide the Hebrew writers of his day in the correct use of the
language. 10
h Another pioneer in Hebrew linguistics is Menaḥem ibn Saruq (ca. 910-ca. 970),
who read Saadia’s commentaries. He wrote the Maḥberet, the first complete
Hebrew dictionary and the first linguistic work to be written in Hebrew. 11 It was
severely criticized in linguistic matters by Saadia’s pupil, Dunash ben Labraṭ (ca.
920–990), whose family came from Baghdad, although he himself was born in
Pez; he settled in Cordova. Dunash and Menaḥem mediated Saadia’s learning, and
other features of Babylonian Jewry, to Spain. 12 Leslie McFall cogently observes:
“Jewish scholarship in Spain owed not only its pronunciation (Sephardic) but its
beginnings to Babylonian Jewry.” 13
2.2 Medieval Jewish Studies (11th to 16th centuries)
2.2.1 Creative Period (1000–1150)
a The period from the end of the tenth century to the middle of the twelfth century
is designated by David Tene as “the creative period.” Yehuda Ḥayyuj (ca. 940-ca.
1010), a disciple of Menahem, scientifically and systematically expounded the
theory that all Hebrew words have a triradical root, a notion he adapted from the
Arab grammarians. Grammarians were now in the heuristic position to understand
phenomena such as the assimilated nun and the compensatory daghesh, as well as
various features of the weak verbs, those with one or more of the letters י ו ה א
as a radical. It was Ḥayyuj who adopted from the Arabic grammars the
burdensome לעפּ as the paradigmatic verb and introduced the designation of the
10
See Chomsky, Mikhlol, xix. The history of payṭanic verse can be conveniently
traced in T. Carmi’s Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (New York: Penguin, 1981); he
includes works (not all devotional) of Saadia Gaon, Menaḥem ibn Saruq, Dunash ben
Labraṭ, Samuel ha-Nagid, Moses ibn Ezra, and Abraham ibn Ezra. On Saadia as
grammarian and writer, see Y. Tobi, “Saadia’s Biblical Exegesis and His Poetic
Practice,” Hebrew Annual Review 8(1984) 241–57.
11
Tene, “Literature,” 1356.
12 Chomsky, Mikhlol, xiii.
13 McFall, Hebrew Verbal System, 4.