BERECHIAH BEN NATRONAIKRESPIA HA-NAḲDAN:

By: Richard Gottheil, Joseph Jacobs

Fabulist, exegete, ethical writer, grammarian, and translator; probably identical with Benedictus le Puncteur, an English Jewmentioned as contributing at Oxford to a donum to Richard I., in 1194. Much discussion has taken place concerning the date and native country of this writer, Zunz ("G. S." iii. 237) placing him about 1260 in Provence, with which conclusion Renan-Neubauer ("Les Rabbins Français," p. 491) and Steinschneider ("Hebr. Bibl." xiii. 83) agreed. Joseph Jacobs, during certain investigations on the medieval history of the fable, arrived at the conclusion that Berechiah should be located in England toward the end of the twelfth century (Jacobs, "Fables of Æsop," i. 175), and this was confirmed by Neubauer's discovery that, in the preface to his fables, Berechiah refers to the "turning of the wheels of fate to the island of the sea [= England] for one to die and the other to live" ("Jewish Quart. Rev." ii. 522), clearly a reference to the English massacre of 1190. The earlier view of Berechiah's date was based on a misreading of a colophon of his son Elijah, which was shown to be dated Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1233 (Jacobs, "Athenæum," April 19, 1890). Steinschneider, however, is still doubtful as to the identification ("Hebr. Uebers." p. 961). The point is of some importance on account of Berechiah's connection with the history of medieval fable.

Berechiah is known chiefly as the author of a set of 107 (113) fables, called "Mishle Shu'alim" (Suk. 28a), probably in imitation of the Talmudic "Meshalot Shu'alim." Manuscripts exist at the Bodleian (Neubauer, "Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS." No. 1466, 7, originally belonging to Cotton, and 1421, 5, with six additional fables) and Munich (207 written before 1268). The first edition appeared in Mantua, in 1557; another with a Latin version by M. Hanel, Prague, 1661; other editions at Berlin, 1706; Lemberg, 1809; Grodno, 1818; Sklov, n.d.; Warsaw, 1874.

The fables themselves give in rimed prose most of the Beast Tales passing under the name of Æsop during the Middle Ages; but in addition to these, the collection also contains fables conveying the same plots and morals as those of Marie de France, whose date has been placed only approximately toward the end of the twelfth century. It has been suggested that these additional fables were derived by Berechiah from Marie, but this is impossible, as Berechiah's versions are closer to the original and in at least one case (No. 28) he did not make a mistake made by her. The following table exhibits the relationship between Berechiah's fables and those of Marie, as well as their connection with the "Romulus," the Latin prose translations of the medieval Æsop. From this it will be seen that Berechiah has only one-half of the additional fables given by Marie, and that he has as many (about 30) which are not found in her collection. Some of these are from Avian, others from Oriental, sources; and it has been suggested with some reason that both collections are derived from an Arabic series containing 154 fables, most of which could be traced to classical antiquity, and others from the East. The question can not be said to be settled; but neither Neubauer nor Steinschneider will admit that Berechiah knew Arabic ("Jew. Quart. Rev." xii. 607).

As an example of his fables, the following may be given as one of those which has a parallel in Marie de France (No. 73), and is derived from an Oriental source, probably the "Vaka Jataka" (Folk-lore Journal, iii. 359):

This is nearer the original source than the version of Marie, which gives a Christian turn to the whole story.

Berechiah was also the author of an ethical treatise entitled "Sefer Maẓref" (MSS. at Munich and Parma). The treatise is divided into thirteen chapters: i. Introduction, ii. Lust, iii. Affection, iv. Restraint of the Will, v. Justice, vi. Misfortune, vii. Poverty, viii. Honor, ix. Position, x. Rank, xi. Soul, xii. Hope, xiii. Immortality. In it he quotes R. Abraham ibn Daud (died about 1198) without the formula for the dead, so that it is quite probable that the book was composed before 1180. He does not quote Maimonides' "Moreh," finished in 1191, known in Provence shortly after that date and in north France about 1204. Prof. Gollancz has published an edition of the "Sefer Maẓref" (London, 1902).

In addition to these, Berechiah wrote a commentary on Job (MS. in the Cambridge University Library, 8; Schiller-Sczinessy, "Catalogue," pp. 40-42, 245). He was acquainted with most of the grammarians of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and his "Uncle Benjamin," whom he quotes, has been identified with Benjamin of Canterbury. The writer of the commentary on Job was also the author of a commentary on the whole Bible, passages from which are quoted in a Leyden manuscript.

Berechiah was certainly a translator, his version being extant of Adelard of Bath's "Quæstiones Naturales" (MSS. at Munich, Leyden, Oxford, and Florence), as well as of a "Lapidary" containing a description of 63 species of stones (MS. in Bodleian). Besides these works, Berechiah is also said by Zunz to have contributed to the Tosafot (Sanh. 20b), and, as his name implies, was probably an expert in Hebrew grammar, for which reason he is quoted by Moses ben Isaac of England, in his "Sefer ha-Shoham." As this work was probably written before 1215, these references confirm the date and place suggested above.

Berechiah was one of the most versatile writers of the Middle Ages, and if he can be claimed for England, it raises the literary position of that country, as regards Jewish literature, to a considerable height.

Formerly some confusion existed between Berechiah and another Krespia Naḳdan, the copyist of certain manuscripts and supposed translator of Saadia's "Emunot we-Deot" (see Krespia Naḳdan).