First edition, octavo, 163, 5; 144; 60 pp. 60:115 mm., wide margins, age staining. A good copy bound in contemporary boards, rubbed.

First edition of this exceptional three part work (all here) on Hebrew synonyms and antonyms by R. Solomon Aaron Wertheimer. Beʼur Shemot ha-Nirdafim Sheba-Tanakh describes and elucidates four hundred biblical names and terms based on the works of early sages and manuscripts.

R. Solomon Aaron Wertheimer (1866–1935), rabbinical scholar and bibliophile. Wertheimer, born near Pressburg (Bratislava), Slovakia, grew up in Jerusalem. He became interested in the many rare books he found in Sephardi yeshivot and, despite penury, began to collect Hebrew books and manuscripts, particularly Oriental ones, including some unique specimens. Wertheimer was one of the first to publish some of the Cairo Genizah treasures. His Midrash collections, containing some hitherto unknown works, are Battei Midrashot (4 parts, 1893–97), Leket Midrashim (1903), and Oẓar Midrashim (2 parts, 1913–14). A revised and enlarged two-volume edition of these collections appeared during 1948–53, edited by his grandson A.J. Wertheimer. Wertheimer also published geonic and medieval responsa: Kohelet Shelomo (1899), Ginzei Yerushalayim (3 parts, 1892–97), Zikkaron la-Rishonim (1909), and Ge'on la-Ge'onim (1925). Among his original works are Darkah shel Torah (1891), on the methodology of halakhah and aggadah; She'elot Shelomo (2 parts, 1932–33), responsa; Be'ur Shemot Nirdafim sheba-Tanakh (1924; 1953²), a work on biblical synonyms. The revised edition of the last by his sons includes a biography and a bibliography of his published books and numerous manuscripts, among them commentaries on Bible and Mishnah, a siddur, a Passover Haggadah, and a supercommentary on Naḥmanides' Bible commentary. Wertheimer also contributed to learned periodicals and was active as a preacher.

Hebrew Description

.. ע"פ הוראת הכתובים ובאורי הקדמונים, נדפסים וכתבי-יד עתיקים, מאתי שלמה אהרן ווערטהיימער ... חלק א-ג. ‬

חלק א: באורים ... לארבע מאות שמות נרדפים. דפוס העברי, שנת צדק צדק ת’ר’ד’"ף’ [תרפ"ד]. יא, יט, קסג, ה עמ’.

חלק ב: באורים ... למאתים וארבעים שמות נרדפים. דפוס "סיני", תרפ"ו. [4], קמד עמ’.

חלק ג: באורים ... למאה ושמונים שמות נרדפים ... ונלוה לו בסופו בית האוצר השירה, הוא הערות ותיקונים לספר אוצר השירה והפיוט ג כרכים [מאת ישראל דאווידזאן]. דפוס ראהלד, תרצ"ב. [1], 2, קטז עמ’. ‬

Bibliography of the Hebrew Book 1470-1960 #000128920; BE alef 55; EJ