Abraham ibn Ezra

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Abraham ben Meir ibn Esra (also Abraham Ben Ezra , Aben Esra , Avenesra , Ebenesra ; acronym Raba ; born around 1092 (between 1088 and 1097) in Tudela , Spain ; died January 23 or 28, 1167 ) was a Spanish scholar and Writer. Among other things, he dealt with grammar, astrology, philosophy and biblical interpretation. Ibn Esra is one of the forerunners of a scientific biblical exegesis .

Life

His life is divided into two clearly distinguishable periods. He lived in Spain until around 1139, from where he made numerous trips to Morocco , Algeria , Gabès in Tunisia and perhaps Egypt . In Spain he made friends with his Jewish co-religionist Yehuda ha-Levi , traveled with him to the cities of the country and accompanied him to North Africa.

After 1140 Ibn Esra led a restless wandering life until his death, wrote most of his works during this time and noted the place of their origin. In Rome he wrote a book on the structure of the Hebrew language ( Mosnei Leschon Ha-Kodesch ), which was printed in Venice in 1546 , and translated three books on Hebrew grammar from Arabic into Hebrew (published in 1849). In Rome, Ibn Esra seems to have had difficulties with representatives of the Jewish community and from here he moved on to Lucca , where his stay in 1145 is documented. Here he wrote commentaries on various books of the Bible and a defense writing for Saadia Gaon against his student Dunasch ben Labrat . From Lucca he moved on to Mantua and Verona , where he wrote mathematical and astronomical works. In 1147 he left Italy and moved to Provence , visited Narbonne and Béziers and went on to northern France ( Rouen and Dreux ). In France he wrote exegetical and astrological works. Here he made friends with Rabbenu Tam and exchanged a few poems with him; In the Tosafot a question from Ibn Esra to Rabbenu Tam is handed down. In 1158 he traveled to London and in 1161 returned to Narbonne. The place of his death is not known for certain. Older authors have it in England (so first Rabbi Moses von Taku , 13th century), in Calahorra in northern Spain (Josef ben Zadik, 1487, with other information that suggests confusion with Moses ibn Esra ), or in the Palestinian village of Kabul ( Abraham Zacuto around 1500), while research opinions have more recently been divided between England and Rome.

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The book of Exodus with the commentary Abraham ibn Esras, Naples 1488

Ibn Ezra left behind an extensive and varied literary work, most of which arose in the second period of life.

The most important and influential part is made up of his biblical exegetical writings, which were included in the rabbinical editions of the Bible as standard commentaries and are characterized by a special emphasis on the literal sense, but also offer more extensive mystical, numerical and philosophical explanations in excursions. Ibn Esra wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch ( a shorter and a longer version each for a part of Genesis and Exodus ), Isaiah , the twelve "little" prophets, the Psalms, Job , the five Megillot (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Preacher and Esther) and Daniel, as well as comments lost today on the older historical books (Kings and Samuel). He may also have written commentaries on Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Proverbs of Solomon, but the comments of this kind that have been handed down under his name are no longer ascribed to him today. His commentaries on the Bible and related treaties such as the "record of the name" God ( Sefer ha-shem ) are next to the on Avicenna's Hayy ibn Yaqzan ATTACHING in rhymed prose written allegorical and mystical treatise "Living, son of guards" ( Haj ben Meqis or: Chaj ben Meqiz ; see also The Philosopher as Autodidact ), the content of which can also be found in Dante's Divine Comedy , also the most important sources for knowledge of his Neoplatonic philosophy, since he did not write philosophical writings in the narrower sense.

Among his grammatical works, which continue the tradition of the Jewish-Arabic grammars of the Hebrew language developed in Spain, especially Judah ben David Hayyudj, and which made the principle of three-consonant roots known in Western Europe, it was above all his "Libra" ( Moznajim , 1140, or: Mosnajim ) and the "Book of Purity" ( Sefar sahut , 1145, also: Sefer tzachut ), an overall representation of the Hebrew language with attached metrics, meaning for the following tradition and later Christian Hebraistics.

His astrological, astronomical and mathematical writings also had a great influence. The seven tract corpus of his astrological writings was later dictated by a Jew named Hagin in old French translation to a Picardy scribe, Obert de Mondidier, and then translated into Latin by Henri Bates de Malines (completed in 1292). Independently of this first Latin version, the old French translation was again translated into Latin by Pietro d'Abano in the following year and again by Arnoul de Quinquempoix at the beginning of the 14th century, so that a total of three Latin versions were distributed. In addition, there were partial translations of Catalan and Middle English, probably based on the original Hebrew version. His astronomical Tabulae pisanae and Fundamenta tabularum , of which the latter were among the most important sources of algebraic and trigonometric knowledge in the Latin Renaissance , have been handed down only in Latin, probably also written in Latin by Ibn Esra . There are also writings on the astrolabe , calendars and historical chronology as well as arithmetic and number theory.

Ibn Esra also wrote numerous both religious and secular poems, some of which were included in the synagogue liturgy, and in the latter introduced the figure of the wandering singer into Hebrew poetry. A poem about the game of chess, which is considered the oldest literary evidence of this game in Western Europe, is not without controversy in its attribution.

Others

The moon crater Abenezra has been named after Ibn Esra since 1935 .

expenditure

  • Bible commentaries
  • Pentateuch
  • Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch, translated and annotated. Edited by H. Norman Strickman, Menorah Publishers, New York 1988-2004, 6 vols., ISBN 0-932232-07-8 , ISBN 0-932232-08-6 , ISBN 0-932232-11-6 , ISBN 0- 932232-09-4 , ISBN 0-932232-10-8 , ISBN 0-932232-07-8 .
  • Abraham Ibn Ezra's long commentary on the Book of Exodus. Introduced, translated and commented by Dirk U. Rottzoll, de Gruyter, Tübingen u. a. 2000 (= Studia Iudaica, 17), 2 volumes, ISBN 3-11-016475-2
  • Abraham Ibn-Esra's Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 1. Introduction, Edition and Super Commentary by Leo Prijs, Steiner, Wiesbaden 1974 (= Directory of Oriental Manuscripts in Germany, Supplement 17)
  • Abraham Ibn Ezra's Commentary on Prehistory. With an appendix: Rashbam's Commentary on the First Chapter of Prehistory. Translated and explained by Dirk U. Rottzoll, de Gruyter, Tübingen u. a. 1996 (= Studia Iudaica, 15), ISBN 3-11-015068-9
  • Pêrûšê hat-Tôrā le-rabbenû Avrāhām Ibn ʿEzrâ , from Ašer Weiser, Mossad Harav Kook, Jerusalem 1977
  • Pērūš R 'Abraham Ibn-Ezra ʿal hat-Tōrāh: Ketab-jād Wāṭiqān Vat. Ebr. 38 , from Etan Levine, Makor, Jerusalem 1874
  • Prophets
  • The commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah: edited from manuscripts and translated, with notes, introduction and indexes , by Michael Friedländer, Society of Hebrew Literature, London 1874, 3 vol .; Nachdr. Feldheim, New York 1964
  • Abraham Ibn Ezra's Commentary to the Minor prophets: Vatican manuscript Vat.Ebr. 75 , facsimile edition with introduction and index by Etan Levine, Makor, Jerusalem 1976
  • Šenê pêrûšê R. Avrāhām Ibn-ʿEzrâ li-Trê-ʿāśār: mahadûrā maddāʿı̂t mevôʾeret , by Uriel Simon, vol. 1 (Osee, Joel, Amos), Universiṭat Bar-Ilan, Ramat-Gan 1989
  • The commentary of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra on Hosea, edited from 6 manuscripts and translated with an introduction and notes , by Abe Lipshitz, Sepher Hermon Press, New York 1988, ISBN 0-87203-127-6
  • The commentaries of Rashi, Ibn Esra, Radaq on Joel: text, translation and explanation. An introduction to rabbinical biblical exegesis , by Gottfried Widmer , Volksdruckerei, Basel 1945
  • Hagiograph
  • El comentario de Abraham Ibn Ezra al Libro de Job: edición crítica, traducción y estudio introductorio by Mariano Gómez Aranda. Madrid 2004 (= Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Filología, Seria A, 6), ISBN 84-00-08219-2
  • The Parma Psalter: a Thirteenth-century illuminated Hebrew book of Psalms with a commentary by Abraham Ibn Ezra , facsimile edition and engl. Commentary, by Malachi Beit-Arié, Thérèse Metzger and Emanuel Silver. Facsimile Editions, London 1996, 2 vols., ISBN 0-948223-09-X , ISBN 0-948223-10-3
  • The lamentations of Jeremiah according to rabbinical interpretation, with foreword and explanation by Josef M. Schönfelder. Stahl, Munich 1887
  • Dos comentarios de Abraham Ezra al libro de Ester: edición crítica, traducción y estudio introductorio by Mariano Gómez Aranda. Madrid 2007 (= Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Filología, Seria A, 9), ISBN 978-84-00-08563-6
  • Abraham Ibn Ezra's Commentaries on the books of Kohelet, Esther and Ruth. Introduced and commented by Dirk U. Rottzoll. de Gruyter, Tübingen u. a. 1999 (= Studia Iudaica, 12), ISBN 3-11-016452-3
  • Abraham Ibn Ezra's commentary on the canticles, after the first recension: edited from two mss, with a translation by HJ Matthews. Truebner, London 1874
  • Latin translation of the Commentary on the Song of Songs by Gilbert Genebrard. In: ders., Canticum canticorum Salomonis versibus et commentariis illustratum , Paris: apud Aegidium Corbinum, 1585 ()
  • El comentario de Abraham Ibn Ezra al Libro del Eclesiastés: introducción, traducción y edición crítica by Mariano Gómez Aranda. Instituto de Filología del CSIC, Madrid 1994 (= Textos y estudios “Cardenal Cisneros”, 56), ISBN 84-00-07402-5
  • Biblical exegesis tables and mystical treatises
  • Yesod mora ṿe-sod Torah , ed. by Yosef Kohen. Universiṭät Bar-Ilan, Ramat-Gan 2007, ISBN 978-965-226-348-3
  • The secret of the Torah: a translation of Abraham ibn Ezra's Sefer Yesod Mora Ve-Sod Ha-Torah by H. Norman Strickman. Aronson, Northvale (NJ) 1995, ISBN 1-56821-296-8
  • Yesod Morah. Basis of Worship, or Studies on the Mosaic Law and the Basic Principles of the Israelite Religion by R. Abraham ibn Esra. In a paraphrase German translation by Michael Creizenach. Joseph Baer, ​​Leipzig 1840
  • Ḥaj Ben-Mēqīṣ , ed. with a Hebrew translation of the underlying writing of Avicenna ( Risālat Ḥaij Ibn-Jaqẓān ) by Israel Levin, Mekōn Kaṣ le-Ḥēqer has-Sifrūt hā-ʿIbrīt, Ūnīb. Tel Aviv 1983,
    • Translation (of Chaj ben Mekitz ) in: Hermann Greive: Studies on Jewish Neo-Platonism. The philosophy of religion of Abraham ibn Ezra. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1973 (= Studia Judaica. Research on the Science of Judaism. Volume 7), ISBN 3-11-004116-2 , pp. 149–175.
  • Sēfer Śefat yeter , ed. by Mordekai Loeb Bisliches, Anton Edler von Schmid. Pressburg 1838
  • Sepher Haschem or The Book of the Four-Letter Name of God by Abraham Aben Esra, edited and provided with a commentary and introduction by Gabriel Hirsch Lippman . Fuerth 1834
  • Astrology, medicine, magic
  • Sefer ha-ṭeʻamim / The book of reasons: a parallel Hebrew-English critical edition of the two versions of the text by Shlomo Sela. Brill, Leiden 2007 (= Etudes sur le judaïsme médiéval, 35), ISBN 978-90-04-15764-4
  • Le livre des fondements astrologiques, précédé de Le commencement de la sapience des signes , translated by Jacques Halbronn. Retz, Paris 1977
  • The beginning of wisdom: an astrological treatise by Abraham Ibn Ezra : Hebrew text ( Sēfer Rē'šīt ḥokmā ) ed. by Francisco Cantera, engl. Translation by Raphael Levy from 1939, including the Old French translation ( Le commencement de sapience , 1273) by Hagin le Juif in the transcript of Obert de Mondidier. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1939 (= Johns Hopkins studies in romance literatures and languages, special volume 14)
  • Mathematics, numerology
  • Abraham ibn Esra: Book of Unity. Translated from the Hebrew, along with parallel passages and explanations on mathematics, Ibn Esras by Ernst Müller. Welt-Verlag, Berlin 1921 ()
  • Sefer ha-Mispar. The book of numbers. A Hebrew arithmetic work by R. Abraham ibn Ezra (XII century). Edited for the first time, translated into German and explained by Moritz Silberberg. J. Kauffmann , Frankfurt a. M. 1895; previously as a dissertation Halle-Wittenberg 1891.
  • Language and grammar
  • Sefer Ṣaḥot de Abraham Ibn 'Ezra: edición crítica y versión castellana , by Carlos del Valle Rodriguez, Diss. Salamanca 1977
  • Sefer Ṣaḥot , by Gabriel Hirsch Lippmann, Schirndorfer, Fürth 1827
  • Safah Berurah de Ibn Ezra , by E. Ruiz González, Diss. Univ. Complutense, Madrid 1994
  • Sapha berura or The Purified Language, by Abraham Ebn-Esra. After a handwritten copy in the k. Hof- und Staatsbibliothek zu Munich critically edited and provided with a commentary and an introduction by Gabriel Hirsch Lippman, Zürndoffer, Fürth 1839, reprint Jerusalem 1967
  • Sepher Zachoth or the book on the elegance of the Hebrew language, edited with notes by Gabriel Hirsch Lippmann, Fulda 1827
  • The treatise on punctuation by the same author [d. i. Jehuda ibn Ḥayug], translated by Aven Ezra , ed. with engl. Translated by John W. Nutt in: Jehuda ibn Ḥayug, Two treatises on verbs containing feeble and double letters , Asher & Co., London / Berlin 1870, pp. 140-146
  • Poems and Liturgica
  • Twilight of a golden age: selected poems of Abraham Ibn Ezra, edited and translated with introduction and notes , by Leon J. Weinberger, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1997
  • Sîrê haq-qodeš šel ʾAvrāhām Ibn-ʿEzrâ: critical edition with introduction and commentary , by Israel Levin, Ahva Press, Jerusalem 1975–1980 (2nd edition 1997–2000), 2 vols.
  • Rhymes and poems by Abraham Ibn Esra , by David Rosin, published in: Annual report of the Jewish-theological seminar "Fraenckel'scher Foundation" , Breslau 1885/1887/1888/1891/1894
  • Newly opened feat of the game of chess ... Written in Hebrew by the famous rabbi and caballist Abraham Aben Esra, but now translated into German by Lvdi Magistro , Frankfurt a. M. / Leipzig 1753

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gotthard Strohmaier : Avicenna. Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-41946-1 , p. 137 (“fleeing from Spain around the year 1138”).
  2. ^ Gotthard Strohmaier : Avicenna. Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-41946-1 , p. 150.
  3. ↑ PDF of the work "Latin Translation of the Commentary on the Song of Songs by Gilbert Genebrard" on Google Books
  4. ↑ Shlomo Sela: Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Hebrew Science , Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, 2003, ISBN 9004129731 , p. 18
  5. ↑ Online edition of the book "Book of Unity"
  6. ↑ Shlomo Sela: Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Hebrew Science , Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, 2003, ISBN 9004129731 , p. 18

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Abraham ibn Ezra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abraham ben Meir ibn Esra (full name); Abraham Ben Ezra; Aben Esra; Avenesra; Ebenesra; Raba; Abraham Judaeus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish scholar and writer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1092
PLACE OF BIRTH Tudela , Spain
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1167 or January 28, 1167