[Difficult] Words of the Mishnah

Se‘adya Ga’on

Alfāẓ al-mishnah, m. Berakhot 1:1-6:6

First Half of the 10th Century

About This Entry

This commentary on the Mishnah is titled [Difficult] Words of the Mishnah (Alfāẓ al-mishnah) and is in the form of a Judeo-Arabic dictionary for obscure Hebrew words, following the order of their appearance in the Mishnah. Similar dictionaries survive in a number of Geniza fragments. Se‘adya’s decision to interpret the Mishnah independently reflects the influence of Palestinian rabbinic culture, as their Gemara differed from the Babylonian, and might be a by-product of his time in that center. In this translation, the Hebrew word appears first in italics, followed in brackets by the number of the mishnah in tractate Berakhot where it appears, and then Se’adya’s Judeo-Arabic equivalent.

  • ashmoret [m. Berakhot 1:1]: a space of time

  • karatan [1:2]: a mimosa tree

  • listin [1:3]: robbers

  • kiven libo [2:1]: he cleared his mind

  • perakim [2:1]: sections

  • le-mafre‘a [2:3]: reversed

  • nidbakh [2:4]: a row [of stones] in a building

  • istenis [2:6]: scrupulous in avoiding unclean things, and it can also be said: weak

  • shurah [3:2]: a row

  • mishrah [3:5]: maceration

  • paleṭah [3:6]: it slipped

  • keva‘ [4:1]: limit and regulation

  • te’era‘ [4:2]: it will happen

  • takalah [4:2]: a disorder

  • me‘eyn [4:3]: of the kind

  • asdah [4:6]: a ferryboat

  • parperet [6:5]: a dish

  • shelek [6:8] beetroot

  • ṭevel [7:1]: produce from which a small portion was not taken

  • afundato [9:5]: his white cotton skullcap or his vest

  • novelot [6:3]: falling fruit

  • gobay [6:3]: locusts

  • mugmar [6:6]: censer

Translated by Nadia Vidro.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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This commentary on the Mishnah is titled [Difficult] Words of the Mishnah (Alfāẓ al-mishnah) and is in the form of a Judeo-Arabic dictionary for obscure Hebrew words, following the order of their appearance in the Mishnah. Similar dictionaries survive in a number of Geniza fragments. Se‘adya’s decision to interpret the Mishnah independently reflects the influence of Palestinian rabbinic culture, as their Gemara differed from the Babylonian, and might be a by-product of his time in that center. In this translation, the Hebrew word appears first in italics, followed in brackets by the number of the mishnah in tractate Berakhot where it appears, and then Se’adya’s Judeo-Arabic equivalent.

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Early Medieval Law and Religious Observance

7th to 12th Century

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