Emunot we-Deot

Sefer Emunot we-Deot ( Hebrew ספר האמונות והדעות, German Book of Beliefs and Beliefs ) (completed in 933) is a text written by Saadia Gaon and represents the first systematic presentation and philosophical foundation of Jewish beliefs. The book was originally written in Arabic as Kitāb al-Amānāt wal-iʿtiqādāt ( Arabic كتاب الأمانات والإعتقادات) written. It was first paraphrased in Hebrew by an anonymous author and later translated into Hebrew by Jehuda ibn Tibbon (1186).

chapter

The work consists of 10 chapters, which can be thematically delimited as follows:

• 1. The world was created by God.
• 2. There is only one God and he has no body.
• 3. Belief in revelation (including the divine origin of tradition).
• 4. Man is called to righteousness and is endowed with all the necessary qualities of spirit and soul to avoid sin.
• 5. Belief in reward and punishment.
• 6. The soul was created as a pure soul.
• 7-10. Belief in the resurrection; the expectation of a Messiah, retribution, and the Last Judgment.

Text editions and translations

• Early editions: Constantinople 1562, Amsterdam 1647 , Berlin 1789 (with notes by OL Bensseb).
• ed. Yeruham Fischl : Sefer ha-emunot ve-ha-deʿot. Schnauss, Leipzig 1859 ( digitized BSB Munich ), (Hebrew text after ibn Tibbon).
• ed. David Slucky: Sefer ha-emunot ve-ha-de'ot (= Sifre Ḥokhmat Yisra'el. 2). CW Vollrath, Leipzig 1864 ( digitized in the Google book search) (Hebrew text after ibn Tibbon).
• ed. Samuel Landauer : Kitâb al-Amânât wa'l-I'tiqâdât . Brill, Leiden 1880 (Arabic text in Arabic script).
• ed. Yosef Ḳafaḥ: Sēfer han-nivḥar be-ĕmûnôt û-vĕdēʿôt. Māqôr wĕ-targûm (= Mahădûrā. Vol. 5). Dĕfûs hā-Ĕmunîm, Jerusalem 1970 (Arabic text in Hebrew script with Hebrew translation).
• Alexander Altmann : The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs. In: Hans Lewy, Alexander Altmann, Isaak Heinemann (eds.): Three Jewish Philosophers. Atheneum, New York NY 1985, ISBN 0-689-70126-8 (English partial translation).
• Wilhelm Engelkemper : Saadja Gaon's religious-philosophical teaching on the Holy Scriptures. Translated and explained from the Kitâb al amánât wal i'tiqâdât. (= Contributions to the history of the philosophy of the Middle Ages. Texts and studies. Vol. 4, 4, ZDB -ID 502679-9 ). Aschendorff, Münster 1903 (digital copies: Frankfurt University Library , 1st in Google Book Search - USA , 2nd in Google Book Search - USA , 3rd in Google Book Search - USA ).
• Julius Fürst : The Jewish religious philosophers of the Middle Ages or translations of the Jewish religious philosophies written since the tenth century. Volume 1: Emunot we-Dëot or Doctrine of Faith and Philosophy. Wigand, Leipzig 1845 (reprint. Olms, Hildesheim et al. 1970), (digital copies: UB Frankfurt , BSB Munich ).
• Samuel Rosenblatt : The Book of Beliefs and Opinions (= Yale Judaica Series. Vol. 1, ISSN  0084-3369 ). Yale University Press, New Haven CT et al. 1948 (several reprints), (full English translation based on the Arabic and Hebrew text).

literature

• Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson (ed.), History of the Jewish People. From the beginning to the present . 6th edition of the complete work, CH Beck, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-406-72161-8 , pp. 544-550.
• Sarah Stroumsa: Saadya and Jewish kalam . In: Daniel H. Frank, Oliver Leaman (Eds.): The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Jewish Philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-65207-3 , pp. 71-90. ( Digitized at Academia.edu )
• Saadia B. Joseph. In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cf. for the characterization of this text already Philipp Bloch : The second translation of the Saadiahnischen book "Emunoth wedeoth" allegedly by Bekjah hanakdan (Munch. Cod. 42. Hebr.). In: Monthly for the history and science of Judaism . Vol. 19, Issue 9, 1870, pp. 401–414 ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , as well as Vol. 19, Issue 10, 1870, pp. 449–456 ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  

Web links

• e-text (hebr.)
• e-text (hebr.)