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Linguistics Scholar Jonas Greenfield Dies

How do you write the obituary of a friend who at the end of his life wouldn’t speak to you? Assign it to a staff member and avoid the issue? Or meet it head on?

Jonas C. Greenfield, a towering figure in Semitic linguistics, professor of ancient Semitic languages at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, editor of the prestigious Israel Exploration Journal, expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls and former member of the editorial advisory board of this magazine, died suddenly, in his sleep, on March 12 at the age of 68. The cause, apparently, was heart failure.

Jonas was a scholar’s scholar. If there was one thing he had no patience for, it was shoddy scholarship. He spoke with disdain of anything less than first-rate scholarship. Yet he was also full of laughter and wonderful stories. And the more arcane the point of the story, the heartier the laughter. He loved people—that’s why so many people felt he was their good friend—and good gossip.

Jonas looked like a prophet and often spoke like one. He had a piercing voice that carried undoubted authority. I often called him a closet autocrat.

I shall always treasure the memories of shabbat meals at the Jerusalem table of Jonas and his wonderful wife Bella, often in the company of renowned scholars from abroad. Bella knew just how to control Jonas, when to take him seriously and when not to.