DUNASH = ADONIM BEN LABRAT Or LIRRAT (U:rith) HA-LEVI, who is called by the Germano French writers (e. g. Rashi, Cara, etc.) Dunash, and by the Italian school (e. g., Ibn Ezra, Kimchi, etc.), is denominated A'. Aa'oni in, was one of the earliest Jewish philologists, whose writings greatly influenced the development of Hebrew lexico graphy and biblical exegesis. lie was born in Bagdad about 920 A.D., lived at Fez, and died about 9So. This profound Hebraist and charm ing poet was the first who introduced the Arabic metre into the modern Hebrew poetry in Spain and among the Rabbinists, and was so highly esteemed for his great knowledge that he was appointed teacher of a large number of young men when only thirty years of age. Being independent in circumstances, he prosecuted his lingual and biblical researches, and published the results with out fearing or caring how they would be regarded by his co-religionists. Dunash's important contri butions to lexicography and exegesis are contained in his polemical works which he wrote both against Saadia Gaon [SAADIA] and Menachem ben Saruk. [MENACHEM.] Though he was a friend, and had most probably also been a pupil of Saadia, Dunash wrote elaborate and severe strictures on his grammatical and exegetical works which the unsparing critic put forth in a volume entitled "InIn 11121V/1 the book of animadversions. This book has become a prey to time, but the celebrated Ibn Ezra, who espoused the cause and became the champion of Saadia, has preserved parts of it in his work called TIDY, which, in their present form, consist of one hundred and sixty-one num bers or articles, and contain strictures on Saadia's grammatical as well as exegetical productions. Dunash's criticisms are full of valuable matter, and shew that he understood more thoroughly the science of grammar, and had a better idea of the formation of the verb than Saadia.
Dunash's second work is also of a polemical nature and consists of a minute examination of Menachem ben Saruk's Hebrew Lexicon. It con.
sists of one hundred and sixty articles, in which he criticises Menachem's lexicon in alphabetical order, and every article concludes with some terse remark or saying in rhyme. These articles extend
over nearly the whole field of grammar and Bibli cal exegesis, and contain very important contribu tions to Hebrew lexicography and to the exposition of the O. T. Dunash, 1. Properly distinguishes between adverbs (ovum and verbs, and says that the former are unalterable, and no verbs can he formed from them. (Comp. art. min, 71Z V1111). 2. He gives grammatical rules how to distinguish the servile letters of verbs from nouns of a similar form (comp. art. 71)n1). 3. He points out the proper construction of some verbs (comp. art. my)). 4. He shews how the Chaldee and Arabic may be advantageously used in the explana tion of Hebrew words (comp. art. rnin). 5. In more than four and twenty different verses his explanations depart from the present Masoretic text, and it must be confessed that his explanations yield a better sense (comp. 11111C 11 50, 6 ; 59 ; Sr : Ibn Ezra's 1n4 107-117; 120, 122). The influence which Dunash exercised over grammarians and expositors of the Bible may be seen from the fact that he is constantly quoted by the principal lexicographers and commentators of both the Germano-French (comp. Rashi Exod. xxviii. 28 ; Num. xi. S ; Is. xxvii. II ; Eccl. xii. I I, etc.; Joseph Cam on Hos. ii. 9; viii. 6; xiii. 7, etc.) and Spanish schools (comp. Ibn Ezra on Ps. ix. 1 ; xlii. 5, etc. ; Kimchi, Lex: under iNv, "ND, 16V). That which has survived of Dunash's work against Saadia is contained in fin Ezra's nn? published with a critical commentary and in troduction by Lippman, and preface by Jost. Frankfort-on-M., 1843. His work against Mena chem ben Saruk entitled i71117 Mrf has been published, with notes by H. Filipowski, the editor, as well as remarks by Leopold Dukes and R. Kircheim, by the Hebrew Antiquarian So ciety, London and Edinburgh, 1855. Comp. Dukes, Literarische Mittheilungen neber die aeltes ten hebraischen Exegeten Granzznatiker and Lexico grapher, Stuttgart, 1844, P. 149, etc. ; Steinschnei der, Catalogers Librorunz Hebrcrorum in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, col. 897, etc. ; Pinker, Lickute ICad moniot, p. 66, and notes, p. 157, etc. ; Graetz, Geschichte der yua'en, v. 377, etc.—C. D. G.