Was Rabbi Ibn Janach the Father of Biblical Hebrew Grammar? - Antony Hylton - Bog

In 2016 I took a course in Comparative Philology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem with Professor Aaron Maman. During that course, we got to meet Arabic-speaking Jewish rabbis from Medieval Spain who knew Hebrew better than Rashi. We met Rabbi Menachem Ibn Saruk the first scholar to produce a Biblical Hebrew dictionary in Hebrew. We also met Rabbi D. Hayyuj the first scholar to uncover the trilateral root of the Hebrew verb. We also met Rabbi Marwinas or Ibn Janakh honored as the Father of Biblical Hebrew Grammar. These Rabbis wrote in Arabic and it was always fascinating to hear Professor Maman's changing voice when he moved between Hebrew and Arabic. For me the idea of Biblical Hebrew Grammar not being established until almost a thousand years after the Lord Jesus was amazing. If there was no Bible Dictionary until the 900s and no Biblical Hebrew Grammar until the 950s the New Testament as a source of understanding Hebrew in the late Second Temple Period becomes paramount. Ibn Janakh like Rabbi Abraham Abulafia and Rabbi Avner of Burgos was a hero seeking truth. He was attacked by Talmudists but his insights stood the test of time. Is there a passive of Qal distinct from Niphal?