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Bible Encyclopedias
Ben La'anah
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
Author of an apocryphal book. The name occurs only once in Yer. (Sanh. 10:28a ), where it is said that among the apocryphal books ("sefarim ha-ḥiẓonim") mentioned in the Mishnah (Sanh. 10:1) as forbidden to be read, the works of Ben Sira and of Ben-La'anah are included. "Ben Tagla," in Eccl. R. 12:12 , is probably only a variant of Ben-La'anah, since this Midrashic passage is taken from the Jerusalem Talmud. An author at the beginning of the sixteenth century writes the name "Ben Ya'anah" (), remarking that he has the latter's apocryphal works before him, and finds them full of riddles [fables] and stupidities (David ben Judah, Messer Leon's manuscript commentary on "Moreb," in Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." 7:65).
It may be inferred from the above-mentioned passage of the Talmud that Ben-La'anah's work was not reckoned among the profane books, but was, like the book of Ben Sira, included by some authorities in the Scripture, and that for this reason the Mishnah protested against reading it, or, more correctly, against including it in the canon (compare
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Ben La'anah'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tje/​b/ben-laanah.html. 1901.