Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah

Jacob ben Hayyim ben Isaac ibn Adonijah or Jacob ben Chayyim, was a scholar of the Masoretic textual notes on the Hebrew Bible, and printer. Born in Tunis, he left his native country to escape the persecutions that broke out there at the beginning of the sixteenth century. After residing at Rome and Florence he settled at Venice, where he was engaged as corrector of the Hebrew press of Daniel Bomberg. Late in life he embraced Christianity. Jacob's name is known chiefly in connection with his edition of the Rabbinical Bible (1524–25), which he supplied with Masoretic notes and an introduction which discusses the Masorah, qere and ketib, and the discrepancies between the Talmudists and the Masorah. The value of his activity as a Masorite was recognized even by Elijah Levita, who, however, often finds fault with his selections.