Marzena ZAWANOWSKA University of Warsaw
REVIEW OF SCHOLARLY RESEARCH ON YEFET BEN ‘ELI AND HIS WORKS
RÉSUMÉ
L’un des interprètes karaïtes de l’Écriture les plus importants de la période classique fut Yefet ha-Levī Ben ‘Eli. Ses commentaires bibliques constituent le meilleur exemple de la maturité de l’exégèse karaïte médiévale, qui a atteint son apogée à l’école karaïte de Jérusalem, au tournant des Xe et XIe siècles. Cet article passe en revue de façon détaillée les travaux d’érudition sur cet exégète, y compris des édi- tions critiques et des traductions de ses compositions exégétiques, ainsi que des travaux universitaires inédits consacrés à lui et à son œuvre. L’article décrit de façon systématique et, autant que possible, dans l’ordre chronologique les principales réa- lisations de divers savants et le contenu de leurs ouvrages respectifs.
ABSTRACT
One of the most central Karaite interpreters of Scripture of the early classical period was Yefet ha-Levī Ben ‘Eli whose biblical commentaries are the finest example of the mature stage of Karaite exegesis, which reached its peak in the Jerusalem Karaite school at the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries. The article presents a detailed review of works of scholarship on this exegete, including critical editions and trans- lations of his exegetical compositions as well as unpublished Masters’ theses and Ph.D. dissertations devoted to him and his oeuvre. The outline describes, in a sys- tematic way, the main accomplishments of various scholars and the content of their works on an individual basis and, as far as possible, in chronological order.
1. Introduction
Since its advent in the ninth century CE, Karaism has been an inherent part of Jewish culture that exercised a productive influence on it as well. Yet, despite its importance for understanding Jewish intellectual tradition as a whole, the Karaite movement was often looked upon by Jewish traditional- ists as both a marginal and alien sect, whose achievements were not worthy
Revue des études juives, 173 (1-2), janvier-juin 2014, pp. 97-138. doi: 10.2143/REJ.173.1.3030667
997104.indb7104.indb 9797 112/08/142/08/14 08:4308:43 98 REVIEW OF SCHOLARLY RESEARCH ON YEFET BEN ‘ELI AND HIS WORKS
of special attention. This approach also affected, to a certain degree, scholars of Judaism. As a result, many of the Karaites’ major works remained for a long time unedited and unpublished, and consequently unknown to the wider scholarly public.1 Nevertheless, already in the early twentieth century there was strong interest among Judaists such as Jacob Mann, Leon Nemoy and others in the literary and historical achievements of the Karaites. These pioneering schol- ars laid the foundation for the field of Karaite studies at large and for its integration within Jewish, Islamic and Religious studies. Recent scholarship has been attempting to bring major Karaite texts into further light while analyzing them in a broader historical, sociological, and literary context. In turn, this has inevitably been bringing about a reappraisal of Jewish culture as a whole. In the following is a detailed review of works of scholarship on the most central Karaite exegete of the mid-tenth to the early-eleventh century Yefet Ben ʻEli and his oeuvre. The review does not refer to numerous general works about Karaism and its intellectual achievements, which have been surveyed elsewhere.2
1. This article was prepared for publication within the framework of the DFG-DIP grant project (2013-17) Biblia Arabica: The Bible in Arabic