attack upon Christianity. The third commandment (alphabets 130-143) and the fourth commandment (alphabets 144-248) covers laws concerning the Sabbath, and the holidays and to the laws connected with them, as those relating to sacrifices, which include all laws concerning the kohanim, slaughtering, tzitzit, etc. This part is the more important as it contains Hadassi's views on exegesis and grammar. To be able to discuss with the Rabbinites the kinds of work permitted or forbidden on the Sabbath, he was obliged to state his own exegetical rules, and to show that Karaites are not inferior to the Rabbinites as exegetes. After giving the thirteen rules ("middot") of R. Ishmael ben Elisha and the thirty-two of R. Eliezer ben Jose ha-Gelili, he gives his own, dividing them into two groups, one of sixty and one of eighty, and finding an allusion to them in the Song of Solomon vi. 8. The sixty "queens" denote the sixty grammatical rules, headed by five "kings" (the five vowels); the eighty "concubines" denote the eighty exegetical rules; and the "virgins without number" represent the numberless grammatical forms in the Hebrew language. Considering phonetics as necessary for the interpretation of the Law, Hadassi devotes to this study a long treatise, in the form of questions and answers. The fifth commandment (alphabets 249-264) covers laws regulating the relations between parents and children, of inheritance, mourning, etc. The sixth commandment (alphabets 265-274) and the seventh commandment (alphabets 275-336) covers laws concerning adultery, incest, cleanliness and uncleanliness, women in childbirth, and the fruit of the first three years. The eighth commandment (alphabets 337-353) covers laws on the different kinds of theft and fraud. The ninth commandment (alphabets 354-362) discusses all kinds of false witnesses, including false prophets. Finally, the tenth commandment (alphabets 363-379) deals with the laws implied in the prohibition against covetousness. Hadassi illustrates his explanations by examples interspersed with tales and legends. Model and sources Obviously his model was Nissim ben Noah's Bitan ha-Maskilim, or Peles Bi'ur ha-Mitzvot, written 370 years earlier. The sources upon which he drew included the Ma'aseh Bereshit of R. Ishmael ben Elisha; the Baraita of R. Samuel of Nehardea, for astronomy; the Josippon for history; David ben Merwan al-Mukkamas' work on the sects; Eldad ha-Dani, for legends; while for grammar he utilized especially the Karaite grammarians, though he also made use of the Rabbanites, quoting Judah Hayyuj and ibn Janah. One should also