Content deleted Content added
m Dating maintenance tags: {{Citation needed}} |
No edit summary |
||
| (43 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{
{{Redirect|Ben Asher}}
'''Aaron ben Moses ben Asher''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Hebrew|אהרון בן משה בן אשר}}; [[Tiberian Hebrew]]: ʾAhărôn ben Mōšeh benʾĀšēr; 10th century, died c.960) was a [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[sofer|scribe]] who lived in [[Tiberias]] in northern [[Israel]] and refined the [[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian system]] of writing vowel sounds in [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]], which is still in use today, and serves as the basis for grammatical analysis.▼
▲'''Aaron ben Moses ben Asher''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|
For over a thousand years ben Asher has been regarded by Jews of all streams as having produced the most accurate version of the [[Masoretic Text]]. Since his day, both handwritten manuscripts of the [[Tanakh]] and printed versions strove to follow his system and continue to do so. He lived and worked in the city of [[Tiberias]] on the western shore of the [[Sea of Galilee]].▼
== Biography ==
[[File:Aleppo-HighRes2-Neviim2-Judges.pdf|thumb|The Aleppo Codex]]▼
=== Questions about possible Karaite ancestry ===
[[Maimonides]] accepted the views of ben Asher only in regard to open and closed sections,{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}<!-- Are you saying that Maimonides did not rely upon Ben-Asher in his understanding of the Masoretic [[plene and defective scriptum]]? You'll need to show proof of this. Maimonides says explicitly that, when he wrote his Torah scroll, he relied on the Codex that was proofread by Ben-Asher, which seems to imply that he relied upon him in all things. --> but apparently admired his work generally and helped to establish and spread his authority. Referring to a Bible manuscript then in Egypt, Maimonides wrote: "All relied on it, since it was corrected by ben Asher and was worked on and analyzed by him for many years, and was proofread many times in accordance with the masorah, and I based myself on this manuscript in the Sefer Torah that I wrote".▼
Scholars have long debated as to whether Aaron ben Asher was a [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]]. While many modern scholars lean toward this being true,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bowker |first1=John |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of world religions |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-172722-1 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095458193 |chapter=Aaron ben Moses Ben Asher}}</ref><ref name="Hayyim2007">{{Cite EJ |last=Ben-Hayyim|first=Zeev |title=Ben-Asher, Aaron ben Moses|volume=3 |pages=319–321 |via=Gale Virtual Reference Library |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ben-asher-aaron-ben-moses}}</ref><ref name="Zer2009">{{Cite journal |last1=Zer |first1=Rafael Isaac (Singer) |title=Was the Masorete of the Aleppo Codex of Rabbanite or of Karaite Origin? |journal=Textus |date=19 August 2009 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=239–262 |doi=10.1163/2589255X-02401014 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/text/24/1/article-p239_14.xml |issn=2589-255X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friedmann |first1=Jonathan L. |title=Review of: G. Khan, A Short Introduction to the Tiberian Masoretic Bible and its Reading Tradition |journal=[[Journal of Hebrew Scriptures]] |date=2015 |volume=15 |doi=10.5508/jhs.2015.v15.r5 |url=http://www.jhsonline.org/reviews/reviews_new/review740.htm |quote=he makes subtle allusions to his view that the ben Asher family was not Karaite, contrary to popular belief |access-date=2021-02-22 |archive-date=2021-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425145405/http://www.jhsonline.org/reviews/reviews_new/review740.htm |url-status=dead |doi-access=free }}</ref> there is no clear consensus, and so the question remains open.<ref name="Tawil2010">{{Cite book |last1=Tawil |first1=Hayim |last2=Schneider |first2=Bernard |title=Crown of Aleppo: The Mystery of the Oldest Hebrew Bible Codex |date=2010 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |isbn=978-0-8276-0957-0 |pages=33–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rkjl28v4ZdAC&pg=PA35}}</ref>
The idea was first suggested in 1860 by [[Simhah Pinsker]], who argued that Masoretes in general should be ‘suspected’ of being Karaites since they seem to have devoted all of their time to the Bible and showed no interest in rabbinic Midrash or Talmud, which at times contradicts the Masoretic Text. Numerous other pieces of circumstantial evidence were presented to make a strong case, however not strong enough to tip the scales and end the debate.<ref name="Zer2009" /><ref name="Khan2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Role of the Karaites in the Transmission of the Hebrew Bible and Their Practice of Transcribing It into Arabic Script |journal=Intellectual History of the Islamicate World |date=30 July 2020 |volume=8 |issue=2–3 |pages=233–264 |doi=10.1163/2212943X-20201013 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ihiw/8/2-3/article-p233_4.xml |language=en |issn=2212-9421|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Some examples of evidence for this assertion include:
* Strong parallels to Karaite theology in the way both Aaron and his father Moshe write about all three parts of the Hebrew Bible being equally authoritative in terms of ''[[halakha]]'' (a classic Karaite position);
* The Masoretic Text does not follow the order set down in the [[Talmud]] ([[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] after [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]), which was accepted as authoritative by [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbanites]], but rejected by the Karaites (the Masoretic Text also differs from verses quoted in the Talmud);
▲{{See also|Tanakh|Karaite Judaism}}
* The Codex contains a prayer for the protection of a temple (presumably referring to the Karaite temple, as the Rabbanites did not have a temple at the time);
* Writings of the time refer to the Ben Ashers with honorifics more typically used by Karaites (such as ''melamed'' (teacher) and ''maskil'' ('enlightened one');
* Indications that the [[Codex Cairensis]], thought to have been written by his father, was sponsored by a Karaite (based on language used by the sponsor);
* The Codex was in the possession of the Karaites since the time of its inscribed dedication (even before they ransomed it from the [[Crusades|crusaders]]).<ref name="Tawil2010" />
A turning point came in the 1950s when Benjamin Klar discovered that an anti-Karaite polemical poem by [[Saadia Gaon|Sa‘adia Gaon]] criticized a Karaite masorete by the name of "ben Asher".<ref name="Zer2009" /><ref name="Tawil2010" /><ref name="Khan2020" />{{efn|Gatez seems to have already made these connections about 60 years earlier.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Graetz |first1=Heinrich |title=History of the Jews: From the revolt against the Zendik, 511 C.E., to the capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the Mahometans, 1291 C.E |date=1894 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |page=207 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H38pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207}}</ref><ref name="Harris1889">{{Cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Isidore |title=The Rise and Development of the Massorah (Concluded) |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=1889 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=247 |doi=10.2307/1450219 |jstor=1450219 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1450219.pdf}}</ref>}} This agrees with Sa‘adia's rejection of ben Asher in favor of the rival school of [[ben Naftali]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=MASORAH – JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10465-masorah#anchor12 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> as well as the fact that ben Asher became accepted as relations between the Karaites and Rabbanites improved. Aron Dotan has dealt with many of the arguments, including Klar's, and also argued that the approval of Maimonides is evidence against the claim.<ref name="Zer2009" /><ref name="Tawil2010" /><ref name="Khan2020" />{{efn|Although Dotan is credited with this argument, nearly 100 years earlier Isidore Harris too listed the arguments for and against, including the argument from Maimonides approval.<ref name="Harris1889" />}} However, according to Zer, few researchers have expressed their support for Dotan's position.<ref name="Zer2009" />
== Works ==
▲[[File:Aleppo-HighRes2-Neviim2-Judges.pdf|thumb|The [[Aleppo Codex]]]]
Ben Asher was the first systematic Hebrew grammarian. In an age where Hebrew grammatical principles were not considered worthy of independent study, he was the first to take this discipline seriously. His ''Sefer Dikdukei ha-Te'amim'' ('Grammatical Analysis of the Accents') was an original collection of grammatical rules and Masoretic information.
Ben Asher added ''mesorah'' ([[Niqqud|vowelization]] and [[Hebrew cantillation|cantillation notes]]) to the [[Aleppo Codex]], correcting its letter-text according to the [[Masoretic Text]].
==References==▼
The value of this work is that the grammatical rules presented by ben Asher reveal the linguistic background of vocalization for the first time.
==
▲For over a thousand years, ben Asher has been regarded by Jews of all
▲[[Maimonides]] accepted the views of ben Asher only in regard to [[Parashah#Spacing techniques|open and closed sections]],{{
[[Umberto Cassuto]] used the Aleppo Codex as the basis of his edition of the Hebrew Bible.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Wandering Bible: The Aleppo Codex|url=http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/page_1358|website=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem|access-date=15 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161103074838/http://www.english.imjnet.org.il/page_1358|archive-date=3 November 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Leningrad Codex]]
== Footnotes ==
{{Notelist|1}}
▲== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Aaron Dotan, "Was Aharon Ben Asher Indeed a Karaite?" (Hebrew), in [[Sidney Z. Leiman|S.Z. Leiman]], ''The Canon and Masorah of the Hebrew Bible: An Introductory Reader'' (New York: Ktav, 1974).
* Aaron Dotan, "Ben Asher's Creed" (Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1977).
* Rafael Zer, "Was the Masorete of the Keter a Rabbanite or Karaite?", ''[[Sefunot]]'' 23 (2003) Pages 573-587 (Hebrew)
== External links ==
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/benAsher.html Aaron ben Moses ben Asher]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170822215959/http://www.hum.huji.ac.il/upload/_FILE_1474292167.pdf Was the Masorete of the Aleppo Codex of Rabbanite or of Karaite Origin? Zer]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron ben Moses ben Asher}}
[[Category:Medieval Hebraists]]▼
[[Category:10th-century rabbis]]
[[Category:Jewish scribes (soferim)]]▼
[[Category:People from Tiberias]]▼
[[Category:Jewish grammarians]]▼
[[Category:Hebrew linguists]]▼
[[Category:Grammarians of Hebrew]]
▲[[Category:Jewish grammarians]]
▲[[Category:Jewish scribes (soferim)]]
▲[[Category:Medieval Hebraists]]
[[Category:Orthographers]]
▲[[Category:People from Tiberias]]
| |||