Chiwi al-Balkhi

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Chiwi al-Balkhi (Hebrew חיוי אל-בלכי) was a - depending on research opinion - a Jewish or Gnostic- Christian exegete and Bible critic in Balkh ( Persia ), probably towards the end of the 9th century AD.

Works

He formulated (not completely in the original, only about half, handed down or reconstructable) 200 objections to the divine origin of the Bible formulated in rhyme form . His work has been described as the first known example of non-liturgical medieval Hebrew poetry. It is a Hebrew, rhymed fragment from the Cairo Geniza . The work is said to have been written in Arabic in Hebrew script, so it was also accessible to Islamic theologians. The work became widespread and provoked the wrath of both rabbis and Caraites . Balkhi's "questions" suggest e.g. B. Reinterpretations of "miracles" into phenomena based on natural phenomena. The content is due to various counter-writings, u. a. also from Abū ʿImrān al-Tiflīsī, Salmon b. Yeruḥim, Samuel ben Chofni , accessible. Saadja b. Josef Gaon even replied to him in his own polemic. Chiwi's nickname was changed into al-Kalbi ("Hiwi the dog") by Ibn Esra out of contempt .

Fragments of other works are also known.

Literature (selection)

  • Israel Davidson: Saadia's polemic against Hiwi al-Balkhi , New York 1915.
  • Henry Malter: Saadia Gaon , his life and works, Morris Loeb Series, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia 1921 (various reprints, including Hildesheim 1978), p. 384ff et passim.
  • Isaak Markon: Article CHIWI ALBACHI , in: Jüdisches Lexikon , Berlin 1927, Vol. 1.
  • Judah Rosenthal: Hiwi al-Balkhi . A Comparative Study, in: The Jewish Quarterly Review (New Series) 38 (1947-48), pp. 317-341,419-430; 39: 79-94 (1948-49).
  • Solomon Schechter : The oldest collection of bible difficulties, by a Jew . In: The Jewish Quarterly Review . 13, 1901, pp. 345-374.
  • David E. Sklare: Samuel ben Ḥofni Gaon and his cultural world . Texts and studies, Leiden, Brill 1996, sv
  • Sarah Stroumsa: Freethinkers of medieval Islam , Leiden, Brill 1999, sv
  • Dominique Urvoy: Les penseurs libres de l'islam classique , L'interrogation sur la religion dans l'Islam classique, Paris 1996, sv
  • Georges Vajda: À propos de l'attitude religieuse de Hivi al-Balkhi , in: Revue des études juives 99 (1934), pp. 81–91.
  • Josef van Ess : Theology and Society in the 2nd and 3rd Century Hijra , Vol. 4, de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, pp. 339.346-348.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ van Ess 1997, 347.
  2. ↑ Sklare 1996, 125.
  3. ↑ van Ess 1997, 347; different z. B. Stroumsa 1999, 220.
  4. ↑ Rosenthal 1947, 319.
  5. ↑ See Davidson 1915.
  6. ↑ Commentary on Ex 14.27 (further mentions on 16.13; 34.29; a "rationalistic" explanation of (supposed) divine miracles by Balkhi is reported in each case).
personal data
SURNAME Balkhi, Chiwi al-
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish Bible critic
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century
DATE OF DEATH 9th century or 10th century