Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Another medieval Jew named "Peter"; Rabbenu Peter revisited.

Here's a follow-up to my post about a Tosafist who may or may not have been named Peter (link).

Here is a grave stone from Buda with a date that corresponds to 1278 (שנת לח לאלף שישי). The deceased is called ר' פסח בר' פטר, Rabbi Pesach ben Rabbi Peter:

5 comments:

  1. ...or Pater. Notice the lack of a yud.

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  2. I know. It's (apparently) the same name. See my earlier posts. Lack of yud isn't important, since we're not talking about "Peeter" as per it's English pronunciation anyway, but a short vowel.

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  3. The Hungarian pronunciation of Peter is Pay-ter, and I would guess that was the pronunciation in Buda during the 13th century. Pay-ter may or may not have been spelled with a yud, but my point was that a yud would have confirmed that his name was Peter or some variant thereof.

    I would not be surprised if the name was Peter, but it is just as likely that the name was Pater (which, as you mentioned in earlier posts, is a name that is not necessarily derived from Peter).

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