David ben Abraham al-Fasi (Hebrew: דוד בן אברהם אלפאסי) was a medieval Jewish, Moroccan lexicographer and grammarian from Fez, living in the second half of the 10th century (died before 1026 CE), who eventually settled in the Land of Israel where he is believed to have composed his magnum opus. He belonged to the sect of the Karaites, and displayed skills as a grammarian and commentator.
Al-Fasi was the author of Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ ("The Book of Collected Meanings"), one of the earliest known Judeo-ArabicDictionaries, a work which defines words in the Hebrew Bible.[1] It is the first dictionary of biblical Hebrew. He classifies the roots according to the number of their letters, as did the grammarians prior to Judah Hayyūj.
Scholars have pointed out that al-Fasi, in all the controversies between the Rabbinites (rabbanim) and the Karaites (maskilim), invariably sides with the latter, often criticizing the views of the former.[2] His method is concise, bringing down the definition of words as understood by his contemporaries, without mentioning them by name. The only authority that he mentions by name (twice) is Saadia Gaon, whom he calls al-Fayyumi. Although in many cases, al-Fasi's method of elucidation is similar to that of Saadia Gaon, in other areas of elucidation, he does not withhold his criticism from Saadia Gaon's method without naming him explicitly.[3] Early rabbinic sources, such as the targums (Aramaic translations) of Onqelos and of Jonathan bar Uzziel are alluded to by his use of such titles as al-Targum, al-Suriani and al-Mutarjim.[4]
InHebrew grammar, al-Fasi is known to have distinguished between the “šoršiyyot” (triliterals) and the “šimušiyyot” (theoretical roots; servile letters) but gave to them no Hebrew abbreviations.[5]
Al-Fasi's dictionary was later abridged by the philologist Levi ben Yefet, a native of Jerusalem, and his abridgment was, in turn, epitomized by ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān, also of Jerusalem.
^Solomon Skoss, The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible known as Kitab Jami al-Alfaz (Agron) of David ben Abraham Al-Fasi, the Karaite (New Haven: Yale UP 1936-1945), pp. XXXV-ff.
^The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, Known as Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ (Agron) of David ben Abraham al-Fasi (ed. Solomon L. Skoss), Yale University Press: New Haven 1936, vol. 1, (Introduction), p. [Roman numeral]
^The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, Known as `Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ` (Agron) of David ben Abraham al-Fasi (ed. Solomon L. Skoss), Yale University Press: New Haven 1936, vol. 1, (Introduction), p. [Roman numeral] xxxiii
^Luba Charlap, A Re-examination of Menaḥem ben Sarūq's Root Concept – Lexical Root vs. Theoretical Root, who cites the eleven “šoršiyyot” that are brought down by him in alphabetical order – גדז חטס עפץ קר, as also the eleven “šimušiyyot” – אב הו יכלם נשת, and which are referred to in the Kitāb Jāmi' al-Alfāẓ of David ben Abraham al-Fāsī, [Agron], published by S. L. Skoss, vol.I, Philadelphia 1945, the Introduction, p. 11
^The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, Known as `Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ` (Agron) of David ben Abraham al-Fasi (ed. Solomon L. Skoss), Yale University Press: New Haven 1936, vol. 1, (Introduction), p. [Roman numeral] xxxix–x
Markon, Isaac D. (1946). "Reviewed Work: The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible Known as Kitāb Jāmi' al-Alfāẓ (Agrōn) of David ben Abraham al-Fāsī the Karaite (Tenth Cent.) by Solomon L. Skoss". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 37 (2): 199–207. doi:10.2307/1452076. JSTOR1452076.
