Nathan ben Abraham I
Nathan ben Abraham, known also by the epithet President of the Academy in the Land of Israel, was an 11th-century rabbi and exegete of the Mishnah who lived in Ramla, in the Jund Filastin district of the Fatimid Caliphate. He was the author of the first known commentary covering the entire Mishnah.
Biography
A critical analysis of the time-frame in which the author of the Judeo-Arabic Mishnah commentary lived places him in the early 11th century. Assaf suggests that he was Rabbi Nathan the second, the son of Rabbi Abraham who was called the Pious, a contemporary of Rabbi Abiathar, who served in the geonate of the Land of Israel in 1095 CE. This view has been rejected by more recent scholars, such as Gil, Friedman, Danzig, Amar and Fox, who put him two generations earlier. In around 1011, Nathan travelled to Qayrawan, to attend to his family inheritance, and while there he studied under the illustrious Rabbi Hushiel ben Elhanan, one of the greatest Jewish scholars of the time. During this time he would travel to Fustat, in Egypt, where he had certain business engagements, and where it was that he'd meet his future wife, the daughter of Mevorakh ben Eli, a wealthy citizen of Fustat. Nearing the age of forty, he returned to his native Palestine and, after settling in Ramleh where he vied with a certain gaon Solomon ben Judah of Jerusalem between the years 1038 and 1051 over the position of gaon, he was eventually appointed the Av Beit Din in Palestine, a position only second to that of the gaon, and which post he held until his death. During his years of public service, Rabbi Nathan had garnered the support and backing of Diaspora communities, although Solomon ben Judah had secured the backing of the local community, as well as the Fatimid governor of Ramleh. In Palestine, he compiled a commentary on the Mishnah, which commentary enjoyed widespread circulation in the Jewish world in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.Commentary
Rabbi Nathan's work is one of the first known commentaries of the Mishnah, ranking with that of Rabbi Hai Gaon's commentary on Seder Taharot in the Mishnah. Scholars have ascribed this commentary a unique significance, saying that by virtue of its composition in the Land of Israel, its interpretations are believed to embody an unbroken Palestinian-Jewish tradition on the meanings of difficult words. The treatise also sheds light on the diachrony of Hebrew words.The entire work was rendered into a Hebrew translation by Rabbi Yosef Qafih, with an abridged first edition being published between the years 1955 and 1958, and the second edition in 1965. Even so, the work has not seen widespread circulation.
Anonymous copyist
Nathan's original Judeo-Arabic commentary of the Mishnah served as the basis for a later recension made by a 12th-century anonymous author and copyist, believed to be of Yemenite Jewish provenance. It is doubtful that his work would have survived, had it not been for the faithful copyist, whose innovation was to interweave in the existing text the divergent views held by several geonim and the explanations given by them for words and passages in the Mishnah. The author's introduction reads: "I found the commentaries of Rabbi Nathan, the President of the Academy, for explicating the different language usages in the Mishnah, and I have seen fit to add thereto others besides, drawn from the commentaries of Israel's sages."The anonymous copyist is said to have lived between 1105 – 1170 CE, making him a contemporary with Rabbi Isaac Alfasi and Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome, the author of Sefer Arukh. He is the first to introduce the work as being a commentary of the Mishnah, written by "Rabbeinu Nathan, Av ha-Yeshiva", whom he calls "the son of Abraham ha-Ḥasīd". This last epithet is believed to have been an error by the copyist, who mistook its true author, Nathan ben Abraham, with Nathan ben Abraham II, the grandson of the former. He then proceeds to bring down a long introduction wherein he spans the history of the written and oral Laws, writing in Judeo-Arabic and commencing with the words, qāl ğāmiʿuh, covering the Torah's reception at Sinai and how it was transmitted down throughout successive generations, naming some thirteen generations from the time of Israel's return from the Babylonian exile to the time of Rabbi Judah HaNasi who compiled the Mishnah in 189 CE. In all this, he never once mentions his own name, but chooses to remain anonymous. He also explains some of the terminology used in the Talmud, such as when a saying is meant to be understood as an external teaching outside of the Mishnah, and when it is to be understood as a teaching strictly derived from the Mishnah compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNasi. He then mentions the redaction of the Babylonian Talmud under Rav Ashi as occurring in the year 841 of Seleucid era, and names the great exegetes that followed this period, namely: the author of Halakhot Ḳetu'ot and Halakhot Pesuḳot, Rabbi Yehudai Gaon; the author of Halakhot Gedolot, Rabbi Shimon Kiara; the author of the Beramot ; Rabbi Hai Gaon; Rabbi Isaac ibn Ghiyyat of Lucena; Rabbi Nissim, the author of Sefer ha-Mafteaḥ, Rabbi Samuel ben Ḥofni, Rabbi Hananel, and Rabbi Isaac Alfasi. A certain book entitled Kitāb al-Ḥāwī is cited four times, composed by a certain R. David b. Saadiah.
Three of the author's more extensive commentaries exist for the tractates Berakhot, Shevu'ot and Avot. Since the anonymous copyist makes use of other sources in the original work bequeathed by Rabbi Nathan, it is not uncommon for him to give one explanation for a word in one tractate, but in a different tractate give a different explanation for the same word. The anonymous copyist deviated from the set order of the Mishnah, bringing down the order as follows: Berakhot, 'Eruvin, Pesahim, Sheqalim, Kippurim, Sukkah, Betzah, Rosh Ha-Shannah, Ta'anith, Megillah, Hagiggah, Mo'ed Qatan, etc.
An early reference to Nathan ben Abraham's Mishnah commentary is brought down by Rabbi Moses ben Nahman, who cites the commentary in his own Talmudic commentary, saying: "Likewise, I found written in the glosses of old copies of the Mishnah composed in the Land of Israel where they explained the meaning of sippūq as having the connotation of adā, in the Arabic tongue, , he that grafts a tree upon a tree." The reference here is to Nathan's commentary in Tractate Orlah.
Methods of exegesis
Rabbi Nathan's method of elucidation is mostly similar to that of Maimonides' Mishnah commentary - the two often complementing each other, but differing in several key areas. A comparative study gives readers a glimpse into words that carried different connotations in that period, with occasional words whose identification can have a significant halachic bearing, depending on how they are explained. There are above one-hundred entries of plants mentioned in the Mishnah that have been identified by Rabbi Nathan. In some entries, two different explanations are given for one word, the one perhaps under the authority of another rabbinic sage.| Mishnah | Hebrew Word | Nathan ben Abraham | Maimonides | Sefer Arukh | Hai Gaon |
| Kila'im 1:4 | אגסים | אלאנג'אץ Pear | אלאג'אץ “al-ağāṣ are commonly known among us under the name al-barqūq” Plum | פיר"א Pear | קומותרי Pear |
| Uktzin 2:2 | אזוב | אלצעתר Marjoram | אלצעתר Marjoram | אברתא בר המג | --- |
| Kila'im 5:8 | אירוס | אלחלק Cissus spp. | אלסיסנבר Mentha spp. | סוסימבר"ו | “a tree whose name in the Gallian tongue is erusa” |
| Nedarim 6:8 | אספרגוס | מי סלק | “the water in which any vegetable has been boiled, especially Kale ” | “taken from the kinds of karūb which were steeped in wine and called by them asparagos” | “taken from the kinds of karūb which were steeped in wine and called by them asparagos” |
| Shabbat 21:3 | אפונין | אלחמץ Chickpeas | אלחֻמֻץ Chickpeas | ציצירי Chickpeas | --- |
| Yoma 3:9 | אשכרוע | אלבקס Boxwood | אלבקס שמשאר Boxwood | פיקסונין Boxwood | פיקסי Boxwood |
| Niddah 9:6 | בורית | אשנאן Saltwort | אלגאסול al-ghāsūl | “its essence is from a plant” | זאתא |
| Shevi'it 5:1 | בנות שוח | אלמוז Banana אלג'מיז Sycamore figs | "a kind of sycamore fig" | "white figs" | --- |
| Demai 1:1 | בנות שקמה | אלגמיז Sycamore fig | אלג'מיז Sycamore fig | צילצי celce | --- |
| Demai 1:1 | גופנין | “grapes that are unfit for being made into raisins” | “a species of vegetables similar to dill, but there are those who say Assyrian plum” | “lambrusco; what appears at the end of the harvest” | --- |
| Kila'im 1:2 | דלעת מצרית | בטיך' אלחבשי Cultivar of Cucumis melo | אלדלאע אלמצרי Egyptian gourd | קיקיון Castorbean plant | --- |
| Kila'im 1:4 | חֻזרַד | אלענברוד Pear | אלעיזראן Medlar | חזרר “a kind of apple” | --- |
| Kila'im 1:2 | sing. חזרת pl. חזרים | אלכ'ס Lettuce | אלכ'ס Lettuce | לטוק"א Lettuce | כ'ס Lettuce |
| Shevi'it 7:2 | חלביצין | אלראזק | unidentified | "egg-shaped seeds that issue from the fennel " | --- |
| Shevi'it 9:1 | חלגלוגות | זהראת אלנבאת Herbal flowers | “a kind of purslane whose leaves are large and whose stalk is long, being al-baqla al-ḥamqa” | Arabic: אלפרפחין Purslane | Arabic: בזר רגלה “the seed of purslane” Purslane |
| Uktzin 3:5 | חמס | ריחאן Sweet Basil | אלדארציני Cinnamomum cassia | "Ginger; others say דארציני which is cinnamon" | דארציני Cinnamomum cassia |
| Kila'im 1:2 | חרדל | אלכ'רדל הא"י White mustard | אלכ'רדל White mustard Black mustard | חרדל | --- |
| Pesahim 2:6 | חרחבונה | אלחנדקוק Sweet clover others say אלקרצעונה | אלקרצעינא | חרחבינין | --- |
| Kila'im 2:8 | חריע | עצפר Safflower כ'רוע Castor bean | אלעצפר Safflower | מוריקא Safflower | מוריקא Safflower |
| Kila'im 1:1 | טופח | אלגֻלבאן Vetchling pea | אלקרטמאן Chickling vetch | --- | גולבאן “a kind of legume; in Arabic jūlebān” |
| Shevi'it 9:1 | ירבוזין | אלגרבוז Pigweed | אלירבוז Pigweed | אספריג"י Asparagus | --- |
| Menahot 10:7 | כוסמין | אלעלס Wild emmer אלכרסנה Vetch | אלקמח אלברי Wild wheat | --- | --- |
| Shevi'it 7:6 | כופר | אלכאפור Storax | אלחנא Henna | גרופל"י Clove | --- |
| Uktzin 1:6 | כליסין | אלתאלוק / אלכ'נס Sycamore figs | "a type of thin figs" | כלס | קומתורי Wild Syrian pears |
| Kila'im 1:3 | כרוב | אלכלם Kohlrabi | כרנב Kale | כרוב | --- |
| Niddah 2:6 | כרכום | אלזעפראן Saffron | אלזעפראן Saffron | כורכמא / מוריקא Saffron | זעפראן Saffron |
| Sheviit 5:2 | לוף | אלקלקאס Taro Cuckoo-pint | “a kind of onion” | קאולוקאס"ו Taro | “similar to colocasia, and of its kind; bearing broad leaves” |
| Sheviit 7:6 | לטום | שאה בלוט Chestnut אלבלוט Acorn | שאה בלוט Chestnut | גלנדא Acorn | --- |
| Kila'im 1:3 | לעונין | שרשי הסלק Beet roots “A kind of chard” | אלקטף Orache Atriplex hortensis; Sorrel | אטריצפ"י Orache | --- |
| Kila'im 1:5 | לפסן | כתאה Garden Rocket | אללפסאן Charlock mustard | מרוי"ו Horehound | --- |
| Kila'im 1:2 | מלפפון | אלכ'רבז Muskmelon “one of the kinds of watermelon whose smell is sweet” | אלכ'יאר Cucumber | מלפפון | --- |
| Kila'im 1:3 | נפוס | אלגזר Carrot | פג'ל שאמי “Syrian radish” Rape | רדיק"י Radish פשטינק"י Parsnip | "hemā in the language employed by the rabbis; these are elongated" |
| Shevi'it 7:1 | נץ החלב | נואר אלמחלב Blossom of the St. Lucie cherry | אלמקדונס Parsley | "white flowers; a weed from which exudes latex when cut" | חרשף Thistle ; artichoke |
| Avodah Zarah 1:5 | נקליבס | גוארשין millet | "one of the grasses" | --- | --- |
| Uktzin 2:2 | סיאה | אלסאיה | אלפוד'נג | צתרי, which is פוליו = pennyroyal; but others say סוסימברו | --- |
| Kila'im 1:1 | ספיר | אלמאש Mung bean אלאקטן | אלמאש Mung bean Hairy cowpea | פישונה “a black variety” | --- |
| Uktzin 3:4 | עדל | --- | אלשיטרג Pepperwort | “that which is similar to radish, but there are those who say Satureja ” | סיטרג דרקונת “a potherb, similar to radish; Dragon pepperwort” |
| Demai 1:1 | עוזרר | אלזערור Hawthorn אלתפאח / אלענזרוד | אלזערור Hawthorn | אלזערור סורבא Sorb-apples | זערור Hawthorn |
| Tamid 2:3 | עץ שמן | אלצנובר Pine tree | unidentified | “a genus of אלצנובר which are the Pine nut called Pino” | --- |
| Eruvin 2:6 | עקרבנין | “a bitter plant called ʿaqrabitha” | אלעקרבאן Hart's tongue | “herbs with which one fulfills his obligation at Passover, and which sprout around the date-palm tree, and Rabbi Hai Gaon explained as meaning `a very thick plant, having that which resembles needle points`” | |
| Shevi'it 9:1 | פיגם | אלשד'אב Rue | אלסד'אב Rue | רוט"א Rue | סדאב Rue |
| Kila'im 1:3 | פלוסלוס | כשד Lablab bean | אלתרמס אלברי Wild lupine | סלבטק"י Wild lupine | --- |
| Shevi'it 2:7 | פרגין | ד'רה Sorghum אלכ'שכ'אס Poppy seeds | אלכ'שכ'אש Poppy seeds | פפאוור"ו Poppy seeds | --- |
| Kila'im 1:4 | פרישין | אלספרג'ל Quince | אלספרג'ל Quince | צפרגל Quince | ספרגל Quince |
| Shabbat 2:1 | פתילת העידן | “that which resembles wool between the wood and bark of the willow, but others say it is the Sodom apple ” | “a woollen that appears in one of the herbal species” | עמרניתא דערבה | --- |
| Shabbat 2:1 | פתילת המדבר | --- | “herbal leaves that can be twined and lit” | --- | --- |
| Shevi'it 7:1 | קוצה | חור White poplar | “one of the kinds of dyestuff, some of the commentators having explained it as meaning safflower ” | רוייא | --- |
| Uktzin 2:2 | קורנית | סאחיה | “al-ḥāšā, very popular among the physicians, and which is a herb among the Lamiaceae” | אוריגנו, but others say סדוריא | --- |
| Shevi'it 7:6 | קטף | אלאסטיראק Oleoresin of the Styrax officinalis בלסאן Balsam | עוד אלבלסאן Balsam | בלסמ"ו Balsam | --- |
| Kila'im 5:8 | קינרס | אבאדנגאן Aubergine / egg plant | אלקנאריה Artichoke | --- | --- |
| Kila'im 5:8 | קנבס | אלקנב Hemp | אלקנאב Hemp | קנב"ו Hemp | --- |
| Kila'im 5:8 | קסוס | אללבלאר Bindweed אלעלפק | אללבלאר Bindweed | אידר"א Ivy | חולבאנא |
| Uktzin 1:2 | קפלוטות | אלכראת' אלשאמי Syrian leeks | אלכראת' אלשאמי Syrian leeks | Greek: קיפאל"י Head | --- |
| Kila'im 1:4 | קרוסטמלין | אלכמת'רי Pear אלברקוק Apricot | אלכמת'רי “Pears which are commonly known among us under the name al-’inğās” Pear | גרוסומיל"י pear; small apple | "little apples resembling galls" |
| Terumot 3:1 | sing. קשות pl. קישואין | אלקת'א Egyptian cucumber | אלקת'א Egyptian cucumber פקוס | Arabic: אלכיאר Cucumber | אלכ'יאר Cucumber |
| Demai 1:1 | רימין | אלנבק אלדום Christ's thorn jujube | סדר; אלנבק Jujube | פולצרק"י | --- |
| Shevi'it 7:2 | רכפה | הֻרד Turmeric אלבחם | אלבקם Weld | שגר מרים Root of the tree Shejar Maryam | --- |
| Menahot 10:7 | שבולת שועל | סנבלת אלת'עלב Fox's spike | סנבל אלת'עלב Wild barley | סיקל"א Rye Others say בינ"א | --- |
| Kila'im 5:8 | שושנת המלך | אכליל אלמלך Sweet clover | שקאיק אלנעמאן Anemone | שושנת המלך | --- |
| Menahot 10:7 | שיפון | אלסאפה Oats Ovate goatgrass | “a kind of wild barley” אלדוסר Avena or Aegilops | אספילת"א Spelt | --- |
| Kila'im 1:1 | שעועית | אלעתר Field pea | אללוביה Cowpea | פסילתא | --- |
| Kelim 14:5 | שעם | כיזראן Bamboo | ח'יזראן Bamboo | “wood bark, which is: שגמין” | similar to: כיזוראן Bamboo |
| Shevi'it 4:5 | שקמה See supra'' בנות שקמה | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Kila'im 2:5 | תלתן | אלחלבה Fenugreek | אלחלבה Fenugreek | Arabic: חולב"א Fenugreek | חולבה Fenugreek |
| Pesahim 2:6 | תמכה | אלשילם | סריס Endives or Wild chicory | קרד"ו others say מרו"ו | --- |
| Kila'im 1:3 | תרופתור | אלקרנביט Cauliflower | “a wild cabbage whose stalks are thin” | Arabic: קרנביט Cauliflower | --- |
Occasionally, Nathan ben Abraham relates to the practical usages of plants in the Land of Israel and in Greater Syria, writing, for example, that either St. John's wort or violets were placed in flagons of wine to impart their flavor, while rose florets were used to impart flavor to olive oil and to sesame seeds.
Modern Hebrew usages
In Modern Hebrew nomenclature, some of the plant identifications have changed since medieval times. For example, the Modern Hebrew word for cucumber is melafefon. The word kishū’īm is now applied to zucchini squash, a plant native to the New World. In modern colloquial Hebrew, the word ḥazeret is now used to denote horseradish. Karkūm, formerly used in Hebrew to denote only saffron, is now used also for turmeric. Lūf is now used in modern colloquial Hebrew to denote the broadleaf wild leek. Modern botanists in Israel now call Clover by the name tiltan, which word formerly meant "fenugreek". Modern Hebrew now calls cork by the name "sha'am," although in Rabbi Nathan's day it had the meaning of "bamboo." Afūnna is now used in Modern Hebrew as a generic word for all kinds of garden peas, when formerly it was used strictly for chickpeas. Cauliflower is now called krūvīt in Modern Hebrew, but which formerly was known as therūḇtor. In many cases, Arabic names are used to identify plants. Most Hebrew speakers will call the frothy relish made from fenugreek by its Arabic name, ḥilbah. So, too, the biblical hyssop, eizoḇ, is now popularly called by its Arabic name, zaatar. The Arabic word sabōn which is now used for soap is related to the Aramaic word ṣap̄ona = ܨܦܘܢܐ. In other cases, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda invented new words, such as ḥatzilīm, to take the place of Hebrew words long forgotten, but what Nathan ben Abraham understood as being called qīnras.Difficult words
Some referents of Hebrew words have become so entrenched in rabbinic disputes that it is now difficult to ascertain what their original meanings may have been, such as the adjective qamūr, in Mishnah Ohalot 3:7, op. cit. 5:1 and Eruvin 8:10. Rabbi Nathan explains the word as meaning "plastered,", but Maimonides explained the same word as meaning "dome-shaped." For one, the mouth of an earthenware oven which projected outside the house would be protected from the elements by virtue of its dome-like structure, while, for the other, because of its plastering. R. Hai Gaon explained it differently, saying that qamūr was an opening built at its base near to the ground so that the influx of air will cause the fire to burn well, in the case of the oven, or allow for a drainage pipe to air out.Modern discovery
The manuscript was retrieved in ca. 1927 by Rabbi Yihya al-Qafih, from the place used by the Jewish community in Sana'a to bury old and worn-out sacred literature, within the Jewish cemetery itself on the outskirts of the city. Three copies were made of the original manuscript, before it was sold to a certain Shelomo Halevi Busani, who, in turn, sold the manuscript to the Schechter Library in New York. Today, the original manuscript is housed at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, under JTS Rab.1492. One of the three remaining copies, copied in 1930 by Qafih's grandson, was acquired by the Hebrew University library, from which a comprehensive study was made of the text by Professor Simcha Assaf who published his findings in the periodical Kiryat Sefer, in 1933.The British Museum possesses a partial copy of Nathan ben Abraham's Judeo-Arabic commentary of the Mishnah.
Among the manuscripts and incunabula collected by David Solomon Sassoon is a two-page Judeo-Arabic copy of the Introduction taken from Rabbi Nathan's commentary, believed to have been singled-out because of its more profound nature. Rabbi Yosef Qafih has provided a Hebrew translation of the Introduction in the Mishnah published by El ha-Meqorot.