Jonah ibn Janah

Jonah ibn Janah, also known as Abu al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāh, (c. 990 – c. 1050), was a Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer of the Middle Ages.

He was born in Córdoba, Spain, and studied in Lucena after leaving his native city in 1012. After wandering the Iberian Peninsula, he finally settled in Saragossa.

He was trained as a physician and is mentioned elsewhere as the author of a medical text, but seems to have found his true calling in the investigation of the Hebrew language and in rabbinical literature scriptural exegesis. Although he wrote no actual commentary on the Hebrew Bible, his philological works exercised the greatest influence on Judaic exegesis and form the basis of many modern interpretations. His work is considered to have laid the foundations for scholarly Biblical exegesis Harv Glatzer 1964.

Jona's first work, al-Mustalha ("Complement"), is a critique and expansion of the work of Judah ben David Hayyuj, the founder of systematic Hebrew grammar studies. He is best known for the Kitab al-Anqih ("Book of Exact Investigation"), which is divided into two parts: the Kitab al-luma ("Book of the Many Coloured Flower Beds") and the Kitab al-'usul ("Book of the Roots"). The first focuses on the grammar of Hebrew, the second its lexicon. Rabbi Jonah's last work, his Kitab al-Tashwir ("Book of Refutation"), is largely lost.

He was a contemporary of Solomon ibn Gabirol and Bahya ibn Paquda

As with most Spanish Jews of the time, his works were written in Arabic.

He died at Zaragoza around 1050.

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