One of the most acclaimed Karaite exegetes of the so-called Golden Age of Karaism (mid-tenth to early eleventh century) was Yefet ben ʻEli (Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan b. ‘Alī al-Lāwī al-Baṣrī). He was also one of the most prominent and prolific Bible commentators who ever lived. His Arabic relational suffix (nisba) suggests that he, or his family, originally came from Basra in Iraq, but from the middle of the tenth until his death in the early eleventh century he resided in Jerusalem, where he was active in the famous Karaite “academy of [biblical] studies” (dār li-ʼl-‘ilm), opened there by Yūsuf ibn Nūḥ.
Yefet's work is a singular example in the history of Jewish Bible exegesis of a running translation and commentary of all twenty-four books of Scripture. His interpretations are often highly innovative and original. Little wonder, then, that they so impacted later generations of Bible commentators, Karaite and Rabbanite alike, most famously Abraham ibn Ezra.
Still, over time Yefet and his significant contribution to the history of scriptural exegesis gradually sank into oblivion. He was prone to generalizing and impressionable views and those who did venture to study his works denied him originality and labeled him a “mere compiler.” Only in the latter part of the twentieth century did scholars begin to show specific interest in his unparalleled exegetical achievements, and reappraise his texts on the basis of in-depth, comparative analysis.
Ilana Sasson's The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet ben ‘Eli on the Book of Proverbs is part of this trend. By shedding further light on this exceptional exegete and his amazingly diverse, rich, and comprehensive commentaries, this book enhances our understanding and appreciation of the originality of his interpretations.
Based on Sasson's doctoral dissertation (“Methods and Approach in Yefet ben ʻElī al-Baṣrīʼs Translation and Commentary on the Book of Proverbs” [Jewish Theological Seminary, 2010]), and subsequently significantly adapted, this volume consists of two parts, the second of which is entirely new and includes a critical edition of Yefet's translation and commentary on the whole book of Proverbs (183–528). Reconstructing the oldest existing and most reliable version of the Judeo-Arabic text from numerous manuscripts and making it available to a wider scholarly public through a meticulous and rigorous, noneclectic edition is a great scholarly achievement, a major contribution to the study of Bible exegesis, and to the history of development and reception of medieval Karaite exegesis in particular. The only weakness of the book is that it does not include an English translation of the edited text; this is, however, being currently prepared and expected to be published as a second volume within the same series.Footnote 1
Although at first glance the content of the first part of the book may seem similar to the dissertation, it was significantly reworked and expanded, the arguments were developed, and the state of the art updated. It includes an introduction, which consists of six chapters, the first five of which are analytical and offer an informative and interesting study of diverse aspects of Yefet's hermeneutics.
The first chapter surveys the exegete's life and works, as well as previous (fragmentary) scholarly editions of his commentary on Proverbs. It also discusses the relationship between his commentary on this book and those of Saʿadiah Gaon, Jacob b. Reuben, and Abraham ibn Ezra. The section presents Yefet's work as an invaluable, so far underestimated link in the history of Jewish interpretation of Proverbs (3–22).
The second chapter focuses on Yefet's unique style of Bible commentary, in comparison with the Arabic model of his time, with particular stress on the literary convention of prefacing works with introductions (muaqaddima), the rhetorical form of disputation (jadal), and addresses to the readers. It also surveys his use of Hebrew—both singular terms and citations of longer biblical passages (23–39).
The third, most extensive chapter presents a thorough study of Yefet's exegetical techniques (such as juxtaposition or logical inference). It scrutinizes how he deals with problematic passages in Scripture (such as apparent contradictions or superfluities), and demonstrates his unusual literary consciousness as seen in his use of stylistic-rhetoric devices to analyze the biblical text (such as specification, metaphor, or ellipsis). Lastly, it investigates his occasional use of textual expansions and homiletics, which sheds further light on the exegete's alleged commitment to literalism and scripturalism, increasingly undermined in recent scholarship (40–82).
The fourth chapter discusses his theological concepts, which were largely shaped by Islamic rationalistic religious thought (kalām), especially that of the Muʿtazilite school. It explores Yefet's approach to the issue of divine attributes, his attitude towards the question of rational and revealed commandments, and his reception of the Islamic concept of the five principles (83–107).
The fifth chapter treats polemical elements discernible in Yefet's commentary on Proverbs and assesses his attitudes not only towards other monotheistic religions and their representatives, but also towards adherents of heterodox sects (such as Dahriyya), as well as to secular sciences, philosophy, forbidden practices, and cosmology (108–26).
The last, sixth chapter of the analytical part of the book introduces the critical edition and provides a detailed description of all manuscripts used for this purpose, housed in various libraries in Europe, Russia, and the United States (127–40). This part of the book ends with a bibliography and detailed indexes (141–82).
Since the early twentieth century, scholars have increasingly recognized the importance of Karaite studies for understanding the development of Judaism as a whole. This growing awareness has received a significant boost with the appearance of Brill's Karaite Texts and Studies series (edited by Meira Polliack and Michael Wechsler). Sasson's work appears as this series’ eight volume, constituting an important contribution. Thorough scholarly research on Karaite texts such as the one presented in this superb volume, analyzed in a broader historical, sociological, and literary context, will undoubtedly generate a reappraisal of Jewish culture overall. Accordingly, the book should be of interest not only to researchers of Karaism, but also to all those interested in Jewish textual traditions and Bible exegesis (in terms of both translation and interpretation), especially produced in the Middle Ages in the Islamic realm, as well as Judeo-Arabic literature and language.
Sasson's research, which increases the availability of Yefet's works and offers in-depth analysis of both form and content of his Bible commentaries, contextualized within the Jewish and Muslim hermeneutics of the time, will help reassess the scope and dynamics of cultural exchanges between the major monotheistic religions in the Middle Ages and beyond. As a result of such comparative research, we can also hope that one day Yefet will deservedly become the object of a separate discipline of study, as other great thinkers, exegetes, and Bible scholars have (e.g., Saʿadiah Gaon and Maimonides). Meanwhile, we are awaiting in anticipation the second volume of the book, including a highly needed English translation of the text of his commentary on Proverbs edited in the first volume.
