A Commentary on the Book of Daniel: By Jephet Ibn Ali the Karaite

This translation of an Arabic commentary by Jephet ibn Ali (fl. late tenth century) was first published in 1889. Based on ten manuscripts, the text was carefully edited and rendered into English by David Samuel Margoliouth (1858-1940), Laudian Professor of Arabic at Oxford. Jephet was a leading Karaite scholar who wrote a number of biblical commentaries in his native Arabic. This was one of his mature works and perhaps the best example of his critical and exegetical powers. Based on the historical allusions in the commentary, Margoliouth estimated that it was composed between 990 and 1010. The work includes the Arabic text, with critical apparatus and a useful glossary of key words. Fiercely polemical against Islam, Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, the commentary has greatly contributed to our understanding of tenth-century religious controversies. It remains an important work of Karaite literature.