Joseph ben David Ha-Yevani
JOSEPH BEN DAVID HA-YEVANI
JOSEPH BEN DAVID HA-YEVANI ("the Greek"; early 14th century), Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer who lived in Greece. He was the author of the unpublished work Menorat ha-Ma'or containing a short grammar and a lexicon which, in the solely preserved Bodleian manuscript (Neubauer Cat, 1 (1886), 525 no. 1485), goes only as far as the word חשב. Dukes published excerpts from the lexicon (see bibl.). The author quotes the works of Judah b. David *Ḥayyuj, Jonah *Ibn Janaḥ, *Rashi, Abraham *Ibn Ezra, David *Kimḥi, and *Naḥmanides. In his grammar he relies on Midrash ha-Ḥokhmah by Judah b. Solomon ha-Kohen ibn Matka of Toledo. Fuerst, Benjacob, and Rosanes confused Joseph b. David with Joseph b. Moses Kilti. Joseph b. David died before 1337.
bibliography:
Dukes, in: Literaturblatt des Orients, 10 (1849), 705–9, 727–32, 745–7; 11 (1850), 173–6, 183–5, 215–8; M. Steinschneider, Jewish Literature (1857), 140, 329; W. Bacher, Die hebraeische Sprachwissenschaft (1892), 94 (= J. Winter and A. Wuensche, Die juedische Literatur, 2 (1894), 216); H. Hirschfeld, Literary History of Hebrew Grammarians and Lexicographers (1926), 94; Rosanes, Togarmah, 1 (19302), 5, 2.
[Moshe Nahum Zobel]