the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Jacob ben Nissim Ibn Shahin
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or Philosopher; lived at Kairwan in the tenth century; younger contemporary of Saadia. At Jacob's request Sherira Gaon wrote a treatise entitled "Iggeret," on the redaction of the Mishnah. Jacob is credited with the authorship of an Arabic commentary on the "Sefer Yeẓirah" (translated into Hebrew by Moses ben Joseph). He asserts in the introduction that Saadia, while living in Egypt, used to address very insignificant questions to Isaac ben Solomon of Kairwan, and that, on receiving Saadia's commentary, he found that the text had not been understood by the commentator. Jacob therefore decided to write another commentary. In the same introduction Jacob speaks of Galen, repeating the story that that celebrated physician was a Jew named "Gamaliel." The Hebrew translation of Jacob's commentary is still extant in manuscript (Munich MSS., No. 92, 20; De Rossi MSS., No. 769); excerpts from it have been given by Landauer and Dukes.
- Landauer, in Orient, 7:121;
- Fürst, ib. 6:562;
- Dukes, Ḳonṭres ha-Masoret;
- Munk, Notice sur Aboulwalid, p. 47;
- Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1243;
- idem, Hebr. Uebers. p. 396;
- idem, Die Arabische Literatur der Juden, § 58.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Jacob ben Nissim Ibn Shahin'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/j/jacob-ben-nissim-ibn-shahin.html. 1901.
