Book of the Collection of Words: Introduction

This influential Judeo-Arabic dictionary of the words found in the Hebrew Bible, called the Book of the Collection of Words (Kitāb jāmi‘ al-alfāẓ), composed in Jerusalem, was perhaps the most important Karaite biblical lexicon. It was meant to aid Karaite students and biblical commentators, and it remained influential in the next generations of Karaite authors. In it, David al-Fāsī compares biblical Hebrew roots with corresponding roots in Arabic, Aramaic, mishnaic Hebrew, and sometimes even Persian. He was especially alert to Arabic cognates, even when the connections were less than entirely convincing. Al-Fāsī also accepted the older idea that Hebrew roots could have only two root letters.