Pethach Debaray

Pethach Debaray (פֶּתִח דּבָרִי) is the title of an excellent Hebrew grammar written in rabbinic char-, acters by an anonymous Spanish author, the first edition of which appeared at Naples in 1492, and not, as is generally believed, at Pesaro in 1507. Another edition, with additions, appeared at Constantinople in 1515, and the same, with corrections by Elias Levita (q.v.), at Venice in 1545. Of the first edition of this valuable grammar only two copies, one at the Vatican Library, and one at Parma, are extant. The Pethach Debaray has been edited with Ibn-Ezra's Moynaim (Venice, 1546), and together with Haja ben-Sherira's work on dreams, פתרון חלומות (Constantinople, 1515, and often); and, lastly, with Moses Kimchi's (q.v.) grammatical work, The Journey on the Paths of Knowledge, מהל ִשבילי הדעת. See De Rossi, Dizionario storico degli autori Ebrei, page 262 (Germ. transl. by Hamburger); Wolf. Bibl. Hebr. 2:1412 sq.: Steinschneider, Bibliographisches Handbuch, page 8, No. 75 sq. (Berlin, 1859). (B.P.)