Hebrew Bible, Book of Judges with Targum Yonatan and Masorah Magna and Parva, Yemen [Scribe:David ben Benayah: ca.1485]

18 folios (12 1/4 x 9 1/4 in.; 312 x 236 mm). Written in black ink on parchment, in Yemenite square Hebrew script with nikud and cantillation. Hebrew Biblical text with Tiberian sublinear vocalization; Aramaic Targum with Babylonian supralinear vocalization; Masoretic notes unvocalized; ruled in blind, 28 lines to a page; early foliation in ink, modern foliation in pencil. Soiled and stained; frass; several leaves strengthened at gutter. Modern blind-tooled panelled calf; gilt lettering.

Taj Keter Torah shel Mishpahat Habshush, introduction by Shlomo Morag, Tel Aviv:1985

The scribe of this manuscript, David Beirav Benayah, was a member of the renowned Yemenite scribal dynasty which began with his father, Benayah ben Sa'adyah ben Zechariah.

As patriarch of an entire family of Yemenite scribes which flourished beginning in the latter half of the fifteenth century, in and around the capital, San'a, Benayah trained his offspring in the scribal arts.  According to Yemenite tradition, the Benayah family is said to have copied some 400 volumes. Many of them are unilingual Pentateuchs (Tijan), which include the large and small masorah in the margins and Mahberet ha-Tijan, which deals with matters affecting the traditional reading of the scriptural text and with grammar. Sadly, of the total scribal output attributed to the Benayah family, only 36 books, less than ten percent, have survived. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the few surviving manuscripts written by members of the Benayah scribal dynasty, noted for their accuracy and their beauty, remain so highly prized. 

The present work comprises a large portion of the biblical book of Judges, beginning, in media res, in the middle of chapter 9, verse 48 until the end of the book. The identification of the scribe has been made by careful comparison to signed manuscripts of the same biblical sections as the present lot. (available upon request).

We are grateful to Shlomo Zucker for providing information which aided in the cataloging of this lot.