NATHAN of Rome. – Jewish lexicographer, lived in Rome in the 11th century, d. 1106. He was a contemporary of the Talmudist Isaac of Fez (al-Fasi) and of the great commentator Rashi (q.v.).
Nathan’s work, the ‘Arūkh (“Prepared”), covers the entire Talmudic, Gaonic (q.V. G. Eònìm) and scribal literature. It was published in Pesaro in 1517; reprinted in facsimile in Berlin in 1927; republished by A. Kohut in Vienna in 1878 and following; and finally edited with Additamenta by S. Krauss in Vienna in 1937.
In his work Nathan draws for comparisons or explanations on various languages (Arabic, Persian, Greek, Latin, Italian, Provençal; the term “grammatica” in his usage does not mean “Latin” but Greek). Valuable are the quotations from passages of forgotten or lost works. The ‘Arūkh soon became, and remained, a foremost working tool. The first additamenta to the work are due to the physician Benjamin Mussafia (Amsterdam 1655). He composed these either together with his brothers or alone, in responsa on Talmudic matters.