Abraham Ibn Ezra

• 1.2.1 Abraham ibn Ezra in Provence
• 1.2.2 Ezra Abraham in the North of France
• 1.2.3 Journey's end

• 2.1.1 Sefer HaYashar
• 2.1.2 Other comments
• 2.1.3 Influence

Family member Ibn Ezra , who enjoys a great reputation in Spain , Abraham ibn Ezra is, according to Moses ibn Ezra and had settled then in Cordoba. Abraham ibn Ezra mentions sometimes one, sometimes another, as his birthplace.

The life of Abraham ibn Ezra is divided into two periods: the first, Abraham ibn Ezra is building a reputation as a poet and thinker, in his native Spain. He regularly attends the most prestigious scholars of his time, including Joseph ibn Tzaddik , Judah Halevi , Abraham ibn Ezra with whom have traveled to the communities of North Africa , and Moses ibn Ezra. The latter praised the religious philosopher (mutakallim) and eloquent man

According to numerous sources, Abraham has spent most of that period to care for poetry, but he also pursues other scientific knowledge, as indicated by his literary output in the second period. His biblical commentary, for example, includes many of his philosophical discussions with Judah Halevi one hand, and its discussions with representatives of Karaism , a Jewish movement scripturalist, an opponent of Rabbinic Judaism traditional, which relates Ibn Ezra.

Ibn Ezra says nothing specific about his family. However, we can deduce from the gloss in his long commentary on Exodus 2:2 he had five children, only Isaac is mentioned, the others probably died in infancy. Isaac ibn Ezra, who was perhaps the step-son of Judah Halevi, is aboard the vessel that carries it in Egypt. It then separates from him and headed towards Baghdad , where he composed 1143 poems in praise of his master Abu al-Barakat Hibat Allah. Shortly after, he follows in his conversion to Islam , to the dismay of his father. It is probably in the hope of return to Judaism Abraham ibn Ezra makes his first trip to East ( Egypt , Land of Israel and Iraq ) , although the Almohad conquest has also been able to play a role . During this trip, he bought the land from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo (also called al-Geniza synagogue, as his geniza is the largest and most studied in the world) to 20,000 dinars

Second period

In the second part of his life, Ibn Ezra is a solitary, unattached, on a pilgrimage to the winds, residing at each stage for several years.

Abraham ibn Ezra considers himself an exile, it is often recalling Abraham ibn Ezra Spanish (haSefaradi). He talks about his love for his lost homeland, including an elegy on the persecution of the Almohad , starting in 1142 , where he lists the communities of Spain and North Africa destroyed. Moreover, he writes in his commentary on Leviticus, about the prescription of four species , which must take a branch or fruit during the Feast of Tabernacles , that "he who is exiled from Arab countries to land of Edom (the Christian Europe) will include, if the eyes, the deeper meaning of this commandment. "
In one of his most famous poems, Hesser Nedod Oni, he describes himself as an outsider, writing books and revealing the secrets of knowledge. In fact, it is the only known example of wandering scholar to have developed a rich literary activity and important in conditions as unfavorable.

It began in 1140 as his travels, Ibn Ezra has written several books in Rome this year to propagate science among the Judeo-Spanish Italian Jews, who do not understand Arabic. It will do the same in Lucca , Mantua , Verona , before traveling to Provence and then to the north of France , in 1158 , England, Ibn Ezra who stayed in London and Oxford.

Abraham ibn Ezra in Provence

Ibn Ezra travels to Provence before 1155, stopping in the town of Beziers , where he wrote a book on the Divine Names, dedicated to his bosses, and Abraham ben Isaac ben Judah ayyim. Yedaya Bedersi , a native of the city, talking about his stay with enthusiasm, more than 150 years after the fact . Judah ibn Tibbon of Lunel , a contemporary of Ibn Ezra, also attests to the historical importance that took the Jews of Provence's stay in Ibn Ezra Southern France .
Ibn Ezra is at Narbonne in 1139 or shortly before, and then proceeded to the north of France.

Abraham Ezra in the North of France

Ibn Ezra is living several years in the North of France, by first step at Dreux , in the confines of the royal domain and Normandy (an error of copying the Hebrew name of this city, became Dros redos, and corrected or Rodos Rhodes, will cause a mistaken belief that he went to Rhodes or Rodez ). At Dreux, Ibn Ezra complete several exegetical works and, after recovering from an illness, embarks on a new commentary on the Pentateuch. It was also in northern France, possibly Rouen , Ibn Ezra makes contact with another major figure of his time, Tosafists Rabbeinu Tam , and wrote a poem praising the brother of one above, the Rashbam. However, he strongly criticized it in the letter on the Sabbath, written in 1158 in London for a disciple.

Journey's end

In 1160, Abraham ibn Ezra is back in Provence, and a treaty resulted in Narbonne astronomically from Arabic. If the dates given in the poem, concluding his commentary on the Pentateuch are correct, Ibn Ezra died in Rome, where he also started his latest grammatical treatise, Safa Berura, remained unfinished. The introduction to this book, dedicated to his disciple Solomon, have any effect to a will: it expresses the hope that this book is a legacy for Abraham's son Meir, and it preserves its memory from generation to generation. "

Abraham Zacuto advance, without evidence, that Ibn Ezra died at Calahorra , on the border of Navarra and Aragon, January 23, 1167.

His works

Exegesis

The Book of Exodus with the commentary of Abraham ibn Ezra Meir HaSefaradi bar, with introductory poem of the author, Naples 1488

Sefer HaYashar

The main work of Abraham ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch , entitled Sefer HaYashar. It is primarily this book he owes his reputation, and he, like Rashi , spawned a vast literature of super-commentaries. There are many copies, manuscripts and printed (the first edition was made in Naples, 1488). He realized a long commentary on Exodus, who was also in his commentary on the Pentateuch, in 1153. It is this long comment that is most often printed. An ancient manuscript, preserved in the library of Cambridge, features a combination of these two reviews . A Rabbinic Bible modern, entitled Torat Hayyim, offers two separate reviews.
Michael Friedlnder published in 1877 a similar commentary on the Book of Genesis, that Ibn Ezra did not have time to complete.

As he explains in the introduction to his commentary, Ibn Ezra considers the interpretations of Geonim (that is, mainly Saadia Gaon and Samuel ben Hophni ), the Karaites and Christians as false or inadequate. As the midrash , rabbinic exegesis traditional, he believes that, despite the soundness of his teachings, he does not really clarify the meaning of the text . The interpretation it offers the following simple meaning (peshat) of the biblical text, based on the parsing of authors such as Judeo-Andalusian Hayyuj Judah , Jonah ibn Janah , Moses ibn Gikatilla and others have done a specialty.
Written in Hebrew perfectly mastered the grammatical level, and in a spiritual tone, which can easily become poetic, laconic and yet rich in "secret" remains unexplained, the comment also reflects the originality and versatility of Ibn Ezra. It is resolutely rationalist, science-based astronomical and astrological and give particular cause the creation ex nihilo . It is full of notes on various topics, including grammar, mathematics, some philosophical, etc.. It also includes many controversies, mainly directed against the Karaite interpretations of the Bible . These attacks are so characteristic of the work of Ibn Ezra in places where it seems instead to rely on Karaite exegesis, particularly those of Yefet bin Ali , the conventional supercommentateurs questioned the allocation of these About the author, assuming they were the work of a disciple astray, even a Karaite .

Other comments

Editions of classical rabbinic Bibles also include the comments of Ibn Ezra on the Book of Isaiah, Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, the Song of Songs, Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations of and Daniel.

By cons, comments on Proverbs, Ezra and Nehemiah, which are attributed have actually been written by Moses Kimhi , a Provencal commentator who later shows his influence and the commentary on the Book of Proverbs which was assigned by Driver in 1881 and Horowitz in 1884 is no more of him. He is also known comments on the Song of Songs, Esther (of which there are two versions ) and Daniel. It appears from his notes, Ibn Ezra has also written comments on the earlier prophets, but they can only be reconstructed from his own notes .

Influence

The commentary of Abraham ibn Ezra is considered a classic, and has ceased to be further studied by scholars until today . His positions sometimes going against the rabbinic tradition has often been criticized, particularly by writers more "orthodox" as Nahmanides or Isaac Abravanel , and by its own supercommentateurs, some even say that these views were too disagree with those expressed by Ibn Ezra in his introduction or in other writings to be his .

Spinoza became known as having one of his models in his Theological-Political Treatise , Ibn Ezra is considered the forerunner of the biblical textual criticism. Without issuing positive statements, it seems to have understood, based on strictly textual, that the Torah has been written by Moses alone, and chapters 40 to 66 of the Book of Isaiah were written by a " Second Isaiah, "Babylonian exile anonymous .

However, the passages quoted by Spinoza can be interpreted in a less radical, and Ibn Ezra expresses himself on several occasions its willingness to defend the biblical text against anything that might harm it. He protested in his letter on the Sabbath (a responsum written in 1158 for a disciple), against the interpretation of Rashbam on the verses on the seventh day of Creation, and dedicated to pile all the books in which this interpretation appears, because it seemed to undermine the foundations of the rites or tradition.

Hebrew Grammar

Abraham ibn Ezra was with Joseph Kimhi one hand, and Judah ibn Tibbon on the other hand, the ferryman of the main grammatical science Judeo-Andalusian in Christian Europe.

Based largely on the work of Hayyuj and Ibn Jannah, he taught during his peregrinations of many treaties in Hebrew, covering grammatical theories from Saadia Gaon to Ibn Jannah, and translated the works of Hebrew Hayyuj :

Sefer Moznayim

Written in Rome in 1140, it is an introduction to the Hebrew language, explaining terms used in sixty Hebrew grammar, including the Karaite Judah Hadassi said the equipment in 1148 in his Eshkol HaKofer without mentioning Ibn Ezra. The book also contains a review of the grammarians who preceded Ibn Ezra. The book was first printed in 1546. A critical edition was produced in 2002 .

Translations books Hayyuj

Abraham ibn Ezra has made a translation of two major works of Judah Hayyuj and a third on punctuation by the same author, under the title Sefer Otiyyot hano'a, and Sefer Sefer Po'alei haKefel haNikkoud. The three translations were published simultaneously by Leopold Dukes in Frankfurt in 1844, John W. Nutt Sefer HaNikkoud reprinted with the original Arabic Hayyuj, and with the Sefer Otiyyot HaNo'a vehaMeshekh and Sefer ha-Po'olei Kefel of Moshe ibn Gikatilla in 1870.

Sefat Yeter

Two books are known under the name:

• a book written in defense of Saadia Gaon 's arguments against a critic Abraham ibn Ezra identifies Dunash ben Labrat , which he discovered the manuscript in Egypt. The book was wrongly published under the title Sefat Yeter (ed. Bisliches 1838, ed. Lippmann, Frankfurt, 1843), although this is another work of Ibn Ezra. After discovery of a fragment of the Cairo Geniza , a critical edition was produced in 1988 .
• the real Sefat Yeter handbook for beginners, made in Lucca between 1140 and 1145. Wilhelm Bacher was confused with Sefer Hayesod (or diqdouq Yesod) and found that he was lost, but Wilensky showed that this was the Sefat Yeter. The introduction was published and a critical edition has been conducted in 1984 .

Sefer Tzahot

Sefer Tzahot, written in Mantua in 1145, is considered the major work and most comprehensive of Ibn Ezra in the field of grammar. Powered by Lippmann in Fuerth in 1827, a critical edition was produced in 1977 .

It details the achievements of its predecessors, it presents a less theoretical and more systematic. Its main innovation is to approach the poetic meter in the first chapter when it discusses the vowels, the sheva and paradigms nominal. Ibn Ezra also discusses in depth the methods of conjugation of verbs and biliterals quadriliteral and verbs consist of two words or forms.

Other

Abraham ibn Ezra also wrote Sefer HaShem and Yesod Mispar, both before 1155 in Beziers, and Safa Berura, remained unfinished, probably in southern France, at an unspecified date.

Sefer HaShem has been edited by Lippman in 1834. This is a book both grammatical and speculative, in the manner of Sefer Yetzira , dealing with names of God written with the letters' HYH () and YHWY (). These letters and numbers associated with them according to the Hebrew numeration , quality phonics, their grammatical functions and other traits, to their graphical representation, would give information on the deity .
The Yesod Mispar is a small monograph on the grammatical numbers, edited by Simhah Pinsker in 1863, in the latter part of the author of the book Systems of Hebrew punctuation used in the land of Israel and Babylonia.

Religious Philosophy

Although it is considered one of the most important thinkers of Judaism, Abraham ibn Ezra is probably closer to the discursive theology Saadia Gaon, who is his main source, that the real philosophical search for his successor, whom Moses Maimonides. His doctrine is therefore of Jewish Kalam , strongly influenced by Neoplatonism and astrology .

He thus considers that only the lower world was created (the upper world and the angels are co-eternal with God), God only knows the species, not individuals, and that his welfare is addressed also as species, through the mediation of the heavenly bodies, but individuals who have developed their soul and intellect can foresee the negative influences caused by the celestial spheres, and therefore avoid them.

Besides the philosophical outcropping in places in his poetry, and its asserted excursus in his commentary on the Bible when suitable, as Ecclesiastes 7:9, two works of Ibn Ezra may be regarded as specifically philosophical.

Yesod Mora

The Yesod Mora (Basis of reverence) is a book on the division and the meaning of biblical prescriptions. Written in 1158, it has been published for the first time in 1529.

The book opens with a review of the science practiced by the Jews of his time without making the distinction between traditional knowledge, namely Massor the Hebrew grammar , the Bible and Talmud , and secular, namely " science of the stars "(hokhmat hamazalot), the" science of measurement "(hokhmat hamiddot), the" science of mind "(hokhmat hanefesh)," Product of heaven "(toledet Hashamayim) and, finally, the" balance of all science "(hokhmatha mivta). Ibn Ezra seems to include a form of esoteric speculation (sod hamerkava, Shioura qoma), acceptable if it is properly addressed. All these sciences are necessary for the understanding of the problems faced by Jews.

It explains how to differentiate the chapters in which groups should be classified the commandments, order processing to a limited group of individuals (requirements is solely the responsibility priests , requirements relating to offerings , limited to males, etc.).. After removal of the commandments so particular, it addresses in the fifth chapter, commands absolute, valid everywhere and at all times knew that the reason before revelation. In this way, Ibn Ezra may conclude by saying that Judaism has at its heart the universal principles of reason.

Hayy bin Meqitz

Hayy ibn Meqitz is a story in rhymed prose, dedicated to Samuel ibn Jam '. It was published among the poems of Ibn Ezra by David Kahane in Warsaw in 1894. Written in the vein of Hayy ibn Yaqzan of Avicenna , which Ibn Tufayl and others have already produced their own versions, it is a philosophical allegory, where the narrator meets Hayy and is led by him to the fountain life and then through the eight kingdoms (the eight planets) before penetration into the angelic world. Hayy tells him he can not see the One, but if he continues in his footsteps, he managed to know him, even to see Him.

Although qu'entreml Bible verses that make it familiar to Jewish readers, Hayy bin Meqitz is the work the less specifically Jewish Ibn Ezra, which even some Christian overtones. It seems, however, imbued with strong Neoplatonic aesthetics.

Works on the science of the stars

"Science of the stars," which includes in Ibn Ezra as the astronomy that astrology , and mathematics and the study of the Hebrew calendar , plays a central role both in his designs in his works.

Treaties of astrology ^,

The astrology occupies a central place in the work and thought of Abraham ibn Ezra, who measured in terms of that predestination and free will. It is also an astrological explanation he provides several biblical prescriptions, whose offerings .

He wrote several treatises on astrology, for most compounds in Bziers in 1146, covering all the areas (horoscope, medical astrology, astrological profile, etc..), And together form a veritable encyclopedia of astrology. They are based on Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy and others Hindus, Persians and Arabs.

The first and best known of these treaties is the Reshit Hochma, treated in ten chapters, which Ibn Ezra describes the foundation of the horoscope. Translated for the first time in French in 1273 by the Jew Hagin, under the title Beginning of Wisdom, he was English by Raphael Levy and Francisco Cantera, based on a manuscript and the first translation . A second French translation was done in 1977 .
This book is supplemented and deepened by the Sefer HaTeamim which there is a short version and long version. Both versions were published in 1941 and 1951 respectively. Other treaties were edited by Yehuda Leib Fleischer, between 1932 and 1939 and in 1971 by Meir Bakkal.

For Ibn Ezra, the world is divided into a spiritual stage, a stage and a heavenly floor sub-lunar. This is entirely governed by the stars, that man can, by its connection with the divine, the influence. If Ibn Ezra is quite cautious in his biblical commentaries to suggest that there is no star manager Israel in line with the Talmud, he argues in his writings that the astrological influence of the stars is universal .

Treaties Astronomy

The main astronomical treatise of Abraham ibn Ezra is Keli ha-nekhoshet, a treatise on the astrolabe in 36 chapters, edited by Edelmann, in 1845.

Ibn Ezra has also translated from Arabic explanations of Muhammad bin Almatani the astronomical tables of al-Khwarizmi , under the title of al-Khwarizmi Taamei Louhot, and a book of Mashallah on eclipses of the sun and moon.

Treaties mathematics

Mathematics is in the eyes of Ibn Ezra the fundamental basis of science of the stars. He spent two treaties, and the Sefer Sefer haekhad hamispar.

Sefer haekhad is a purely mathematical book into nine chapters on the specifics of the numbers 1 to 9, and their functions.
Sefer hamispar (Lucca 1146), is a book of seven chapters on arithmetic multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, ratios and square roots. It is one of the first books introducing the decimal system of al-Khwarizmi in the West.

Other

Sefer ha-'ibbour (ed. Halberstam, 1874) is a book on the intercalation of one month embolismic the Hebrew calendar. Abraham ibn Ezra also discusses the general laws of the calendar.

Shalosh she'elot responsum is written in Narbonne in 1139 in response to three issues of David Narboni on the timeline.

Influence

As demonstrated Shlomo Sela, the influence of Ibn Ezra on the matter was so important that it prompted questions addressed by the Jews of Provence a century later to Moses Maimonides, known for its positions on the subject , particularly the Sage depreciated.

The lunar crater Abenezra was named in his honor.

Poetry

Abraham ibn Ezra wrote poems religious and secular, ranging from drinking songs to love songs and riddles. In the spirit of his time, he founded his poem on the good knowledge of Hebrew philology, and castigates the style of old payytanim (liturgical poets), with the notable exception of Saadia Gaon .

Most of the poems of Ibn Ezra, including Hayy bin Meqitz were collected in his Diwan (260 pieces), edited by I. Egers from the only manuscript in existence. David Rosin has also produced a compilation and translation of other poems not included in the Diwan . They have also been edited with an introduction and notes by David Kahane in two volumes (Warsaw, 1894).

Judah al-Harizi said of the poems of Ibn Ezra that they "provide assistance in times of need, and the rain in time of drought. All his poetry is elevated and admirable in its content. For Leopold Zunz , he demonstrated the gap that exists between piyyout (liturgical poetry) and secular poetry.

Among his most famous pieces include the Shabbat Ki eshmera a zemira / I> (song of Shabbat), and an epigram to excuse his eternal poverty: "If I was trading candles, the sun does not sleep if I was selling shrouds, no one would die ^References