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Bible Encyclopedias
Benjamin of Canterbury
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or English rabbi; disciple of Rabbi Tam; died at the beginning of the thirteenth century. He is mentioned in the list of medieval rabbis drawn up by Solomon Luria (see Grätz, "Gesch. der Juden," 6:365). Only one halakic decision of his is known; it forbids the purchase of milk from a Gentile unless a Jew be present when it is drawn (Mordecai, 'Abodah Zarah, 2:826). But a certain number of notes by a Rabbi Benjamin on Joseph Ḳimḥi's "Sefer ha-Galuy" have been attributed by Matthews, the editor of Ḳimḥi's book, to Benjamin of Canterbury ("Jewish Quarterly Review," 2:327). Benjamin seems to have been a member of the English school of Masorites and grammarians, including Moses ben Isaac, Moses ben Yom-Ṭob, Berechiah ha-Naḳdan, and Samuel ha-Naḳdan, the last of whom he quotes. It is possible that he came from Cambridge rather than from Canterbury, the transliteration of the former (
) being sufficiently near to that of the latter (
). For while there is no Benjamin mentioned as living at Canterbury in the twelfth century, there is a rather distinguished "Magister Benjamin" of Cambridge mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of the fifth year of John (1204). Berechiah ha-Nakdan, in his commentary on Job, refers to "my Uncle Benjamin," who was probably the same individual.
- Jacobs, Jews of Angevin England, pp. 54, 281, 282;
- Eppenstein, in Monatsschrift, 178, 41:222.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Benjamin of Canterbury'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/b/benjamin-of-canterbury.html. 1901.
