Menahem ben Saruq

Menahem ben Jacob ibn Saruq (also Menahem b Saruk etc.;. * 920 in Tortosa; † ca 970) was a Spanish- Jewish philologist and poet.

He lived in Córdoba. His Hebrew dictionary Mach Beret was seven of his opponent Dunash Labrat and its students criticized due to lack of scientific rigor, but this book has the merit of being the first reasonably complete dictionary of the Hebrew language, which also the word stems sorted by language roots. It was used diligently for centuries.

The disputes surrounding this dictionary were the occasion of the discovery of the three-letter radicals.

Literature (selection )

• Hersch Filipowski: Mach Beret. London and Edinburgh 1854.
• Wilhelm Bacher: Hebrew linguistics. Trier in 1892.
• Max Mayer: Article Menachem ben Saruḳ, in: Jewish Encyclopedia. Berlin 1927, Vol IV / 1
• A. Sáenz - Badillos; J. Targarona Borrás: Diccionario de autores judios ( Sefarad. Siglos X - XV). Estudios de Cultura Hebrea 10 Cordoba 1988, pp. 63-64.

• Linguist
• Person of Judaism (Spain )
• Born 920
• Died 970
• Man