Saadia Gaon

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Saadia Gaon ben Joseph (born in 882 in the upper Egypt ;. D 942 in Sura / Babylonia ), Arabic Sa'id bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmī, was a prominent Gaon , Rabbi , Jewish philosopher and exegete.

The name "Saʿadia" is obviously the Hebrew equivalent of its Arabic name " Saʿīd ". In an acrostic poem to the Hebrew introduction to his first work, the 'Egron , he called himself “Saʿid ben Joseph”, but later he wrote his name “Saʿadia”.

Life

In Sefer ha-Galui , Saʿadia emphasizes his Jewish origins, he claims to belong to the noble family of Schela, son of Judah (see I. Chron. IV. 21) and was one of his ancestors Hanina ben Dosa , the famous ascetics of the first century. Saʿadia also expressed this by naming his son Dosa. Nothing more is known about this. About Joseph, Sa Benadia's father, there is a testimony from Aaron Ben Meïr that he was forced to leave Egypt and died in Jaffa , probably during Saʿadia's long stay in the Holy Land. The common nickname "al-Fayyūmī", which corresponds to the geographical name "Pitomi" in Hebrew, refers to Saʿadia's birthplace Fayyūm in Upper Egypt.

Little is known of Saʿadia's youth and upbringing. At the age of 20 he finished his first major work, the Hebrew dictionary, which he called Agron . At the age of 23 he wrote a polemic against the Karaites , the followers of Anan ben David , and thus began his confrontation with the heretical splinter groups, which he criticized from the position of traditional Judaism. In the same year Saadia left Egypt and settled permanently in Palestine down. In Aleppo he learned of Ben Meïr's reform of the Jewish calendar , which threatened the unity of Judaism. Saʿadia issued a warning against him, and in Babylon he put his knowledge and pen at the service of the exilarch David ben Zakkai and the scholars of the academy, adding his own letters to those who sent them to the diaspora congregations (922) . In Babylonia he wrote his "Sefer ha-Mo'adim" or "Book of Feasts", in which he rejected Ben Meïr's claims about the calendar and thus helped to avert the danger of a schism from Judaism .

His encounter with Ben Meïr was an important factor in the call to Surah he received in 928. He was appointed Gaon (rabbinical leader) by the exiled David ben Zakkai ; and for the old academy founded by Rav a new period of genius began. Many did not want to see a foreigner at the head of the academy, and even the powerful exilarch himself, whom the old Nissim Naharwani tried in vain to dissuade from the appointment, found after two years that Saʿadia's personality was very different from the submissive Geonim whom he had succeeded and who had always subordinated themselves to the exile.

In an inheritance dispute, Saʿadia refused to sign a judgment from the exilarch, which he believed to be unjust, despite the fact that the Gaon of Pumbedita had signed it. When the son of the exilarch Saʿadia threatened with violence and was then treated roughly by his servant, open war broke out between the exilarch and the gaon. Both excommunicated each other and declared their opponent to be deposed; David ben Zakkai appointed Joseph ben Jakob Gaon of Surah, while Saʿadia transferred the exilar chat to David's brother Hasan (Josiah; 930). Hasan was forced to flee and died in exile in Khorasan ; but the controversy which divided Babylonian Judaism continued. Saʿadia was opposed by the exilarch and his closest follower, the young but learned Aaron ibn Sargado, in Hebrew pamphlets, fragments of which show a hatred on the part of the exilarch and his followers, which did not shrink from abuse. Saʿadia did not hesitate to answer accordingly.

The Sefer ha-Galui

Saʿadia wrote a work in both Hebrew and Arabic that is known today only through a few fragments, entitled Sefer ha-Galui (Hebrew, according to a popular hypothesis to be understood as “The Open Book”, Arabic title Kitab al-Ṭarid , understandable among other things as "The book that refutes"), in which he proudly shows his merits v. a. portrays in the fight against heresy .

The seven years Saʿadia spent in Baghdad , far from the Gaonat, did not interrupt his literary activity. His main philosophical work was completed in 933. Four years later, the two enemies were reconciled by Ibn Sargado's father-in-law, Bishop ben Aaron; Saʿadia was reinstated, but only held it for five years. David ben Zakkai died before him (around 940), followed a few months later by his son Judah, while David's young grandson was cared for by Saadia. According to a statement by Abraham ibn Daud, which can no doubt be traced back to Saʿadia's son Dosa, Saʿadia died in 942 at the age of 60 of "black bile" ( melancholy ) after repeated illnesses had undermined his health.

Works

Tafsīr

Under the title Tafsīr ( Exegesis ) Sa Bibeladia Gaon wrote the most influential Arabic translation of the Bible , which included a large part of the Tanakh . The Tafsīr spread shortly after its publication among Jews, Samaritans and Christians and was used by its author in disputes with the Karaites . Karaites and rabbinic Judaism were also an occasion for Saʿadia Gaon, similar to Abraham ibn Daud , to mention the Khazars positively, as they did not follow the Karaites but rabbinic Judaism.

Saʿadia Gaon's Tafsīr is written in Judeo-Arabic in Hebrew letters . At a later date, his translation was adapted by Samaritans and Christians and handed down in Arabic letters.

Hebrew linguistics

  • 'Egron
  • Kutub al-Lughah
  • Tafsir al-Sab'ina Lafẓah, a list of seventy (actually ninety) Hebrew (and Aramaic) words that appear only once or very rarely in the Bible and that can be explained from traditional literature, especially by the Neo- Hebrews of the Mishnah . This little book has seen numerous new editions.

Halachic scriptures

  • Short monographs in which problems of Jewish law are systematically examined. Little more is known of Saʿadia's Arabic treatises than the titles and abstracts, only longer fragments of Kitab al-Mawarith have survived.
  • A commentary on the 13 rules of Rabbi Ishmael , received only in Hebrew translation. An Arabic methodology of the Talmud is also mentioned by Azulai as Saʿadia's work, entitled Kelale ha-Talmud .
  • Responses . With a few exceptions, it has only survived in Hebrew and is probably written in this language.

The siddur

Saʿadias Siddur was the first known attempt to transcribe the weekly ritual of Jewish prayers for days of the week, Sabbaths and feasts .

Of the synagogal poetry, the Asharot ("warnings") about the 613 commandments , where the author's name as "Sa'id b. Joseph ”followed by the phrase“ Alluf ”, hence the poems were written before he became a Gaon.

Philosophy of religion

  • Emunoth ve-Deoth ("Book of Articles of Faith and Dogmas") - the earliest systematic elaboration and philosophical foundation of the doctrines of faith in Judaism. The book was published in 933 under the original Arabic title Kitab al-Amanat wal-l'tikadat ("The Book of Articles of Faith and Dogmatic Teachings") and wastranslated into Hebrewby Yehuda ibn Tibbon in the 12th century.
  • Tafsir Kitab al-Mabadi - annotated Arabic translation of Sefer Jezirah , still written in Egypt (or Palestine)

Polemical writings

  • three books against Karaite authors, known as Kitab al-Rudd ("Book of Rejections"). These three works are only known from brief quotations in other books, and as one of these quotations shows, the third work must have been written after 933.
  • Kitab al-Tamyiz , (in Hebrew "Sefer ha-Hakkarah"), "Book of Destiny", written in 926, Saʿadia's most polemical book. It was quoted back in the 12th century, and some passages from it are contained in a Bible commentary by Japheth ha-Levi.
  • possibly there was a polemic Saʿadia against Ben Zuṭa, but this controversy is only known through a marginal note by the Gaon
  • a polemic against the rationalist Bible critic Ḥiwi al-Balkhi, whose views were also rejected by the Karaites themselves
  • Kitab al-Shara'i ("Book on the Commandments of Religion")
  • Kitab al-ʾIbbur ("Book on the Calendar"), apparently also contained polemics against the Karaites
  • Sefer ha-Mo'adim ("Book of Feasts"), the Hebrew polemic against Ben Meïr (see above)
  • Sefer ha-Galui, also in Hebrew and in the same biblical style as the Sefer ha-Mo'adim, an apologetic work against David ben Zakkai and his followers.

meaning

Saʿadia Gaon was a pioneer in the areas he worked. The focus of his work was the Bible; and its importance rests primarily on the establishment of a new school of biblical exegesis, characterized by a rational study of the contents and scientific study of the language of the sacred texts.

Saʿadia's Arabic translation of the Bible was important in the history of civilization. Even a result of the Arabization of large parts of Judaism, this translation was for centuries an important factor in the penetration of the Jewish spirit into Arabic culture, so that in this respect it takes its place alongside the Greek Septuagint in antiquity and the German translation of the Pentateuch Moses Mendelssohn did. As an instrument of popular religious mediation, Saʿadia's translation also presented the scriptures to the uneducated in a rational form that sought the greatest possible clarity and consistency.

His system of hermeneutics was not limited to the exegesis of individual passages, but treated each book of the Bible as a whole and showed the internal relationships between the individual parts.

Saʿadia's comment contained, as he himself writes in the introduction to his Pentateuch translation, not only an exact interpretation of the text, but also a refutation of the objections that had been raised by heretics. In addition, the basics of the commandments of reason are explained and the commandments of Revelation are characterized; in the case of the former, the author refers to philosophical considerations, in the case of the latter to tradition.

The position attributed to Saʿadia in the oldest list of Hebrew grammarians (contained in the introduction to Ibn Ezras Moznayim) has not been challenged by the most recent historical research. Here too he was the first; His grammatical work, now lost, gave rise to further studies, which achieved their most brilliant and important results in Spain. Saʿadia partly developed the categories and rules of Hebrew grammar. His dictionary, though simple and practical, became the cornerstone of Hebrew lexicography; and the name Agron ("compilation"), which he chose for it, has long been used as a term for Hebrew dictionaries, especially among the Karaites. The categories of rhetoric adopted by the Arabs were also first applied to the style of the Bible by Saʿadia. He was also a founder of comparative philology, not only through his short book of seventy words (see above), but above all through his explanation of the Hebrew vocabulary through Arabic, especially in the case of the preferred translation of biblical words through Arabic terms with the same sound.

Philosophy of religion

With his book Emunoth ve-Deoth (Faith and Knowledge) Saʿadia became the founder of the Jewish religious philosophy . In contrast to Scherira Gaon , who documented and declined the unadulterated tradition, the authenticity or the continuity and the successive, unbroken sequence of the Torah or the Mishnah with the genealogy , Saʿadia Gaon documented the unadulterated tradition of the Torah or the Mishnah with the Logic. He put faith and knowledge on the same level as the old Jewish commandment to do, and the dogmatization of Judaism began. The central message of his doctrine of God was that God is neither body nor person.

mysticism

In his commentary on Sefer Jezira , Saʿadia wants to make the content of this mystical book understandable through philosophy and other knowledge, especially through a system of Hebrew phonology that he developed himself. In this comment he distanced himself from the theological considerations of the Kalam, which are so important in his main works; and in his presentation of the theory of creation he made a distinction between the Bible and the book on which he was commenting; he even ignored the creation doctrine of Sefer Jezirah when he treated this subject in the first section of the Emunoth ve-Deoth . From this it can be concluded that he did not regard the Sefer Jezirah - whose roots he traced back to the Patriarch Abraham - as a real source of knowledge, although he felt that the book was worthy of intensive study.

literature

Primary texts

  • Amânât wal-i'tiqâdât
    • Early editions: Constantinople 1562, Amsterdam 1647, Berlin 1789 (with notes by OL Bensseb)
    • ed. Fischl: Sefer ha-emunot ve-ha-deʿot, Leipzig 1859. ( digitized BSB Munich ) (Hebrew text after ibn Tibbon)
    • ed. Slucky, Warsaw 1864 (Hebrew text after ibn Tibbon)
    • ed. Samuel Landauer : Kitâb al-Amânât wa'l-I'tiqâdât , Brill, Leiden 1880. (Arabic text in Arabic script)
    • ed. Y. Kafih, Jerusalem 1970. (Arabic text in Hebrew script with Hebrew translation)
    • Alexander Altmann : The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs , in: Yochanan Lewy , Alexander Altmann, Isaak Heinemann (Ed.): Three Jewish Philosophers. Atheneum, New York 1985. (English partial translation)
    • Wilhelm Engelkemper : Saadja Gaon's religious philosophy teaching on Holy Scripture. Translated from the Kitâb al-Amânât wa'l-I'tiqâdât, Münster 1903 (= Contributions to the History of Philosophy of the Middle Ages 4/4). (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 : Emunot we-De'ot or Beliefs and Philosophy by Sa'adja Fajjumi. Translated from Hebrew with partial use of Arabic. Leipzig 1845 (reprint Hildesheim 1970). (Digitized: archive.org , UB Frankfurt , BSB Munich )
    • Samuel Rosenblatt : Saʿadia Gaon: The Book of Beliefs and Opinions, Yale University Press, New Haven 1948 (reprinted 1976). (full English translation based on the Arabic and Hebrew text)
  • Bible commentaries
    • Les Œuvres complètes de Saadia b. Josef al Fayyoumi. Ed. J. and H. Derenbourg , Paris 1893 Only 5 of 13 volumes have appeared. ( Digital copies at archive.org )
    • The book of Daniel. Edited and translated by Joseph Alobaidi, Bern 2006.
  • Saadia's Polemic Against Hiwi al-Balkhî, ed. v. Israel Davidson, New York 1915. (Digital copies: 1st , 2nd at archive.org)
  • The Dawn of Hebrew Linguistics: The Book of Elegance of the Language of the Hebrews (ספר צחות הלשון), Vol. 2 (= Sources for the Study of Jewish Culture III), ed. by Aron Dotan. Jerusalem 1997.
  • Tafsīr Kitāb al-Mabādī
    • M. Lambert: Commentaire sur le Séfer yesira ou Livre de la création, Bouillon, Paris 1891 (ed. And transl.) ( Digitized UB Frankfurt )
    • R. Lévy: Saadio Gaon: Commentaire sur le Séfer Yetzira, Paris 2001 (shortened translation)
    • Y. Kafih: Perush Sefer Jezira, Jerusalem 1972 (Arabic text with Hebrew translation)

Secondary texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On translation problems cf. surveying cases already Henry Malter : Saadia Gaon: His Life and Works , Philadelphia 1921, 387-390.
  2. ↑ On the linguistic character cf. Jonathan Kearney: The Torah of Israel in the Tongue of Ishmael: Saadia Gaon and his Arabic Translation of the Pentateuch, in: Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association 33-34 (2010-2011), pp. 55-75, 66ff.
  3. ↑ See Ronny Vollandt: The Transmission of the Judaeo-Arabic Pentateuch Translation of Rav Saadiah Gaon in Arabic letters: A Case of Textual Diffusion, MA Thesis, Jerusalem 2007.
  4. ↑ In the older literature (e.g. in Malter 1921, 50, 138ff, etc.) the title as "ʾAgrōn" cf. however the introduction by Nehemya Allony: Ha-'Egron, Kitāb uṣūl al-ši'r al-'ibrānī, Jerusalem 1969, 16; Friedmann Eissler : Royal Psalms and Karaean Messia expectation, Mohr / Siebeck, Tübingen 2002, 16.
  5. ↑ Karl Erich Grözinger : Jewish thinking. Theology, philosophy, mysticism. Vol. I, From the God of Abraham to the God of Aristotle, Frankfurt a. M. 2004, pp. 362-400

Web links

See also

personal data
SURNAME Gaon, Saadia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gaon, Saadia ben Joseph; al-Fayyumi, Said
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Rabbi, Jewish philosopher and grammarian
DATE OF BIRTH 882
PLACE OF BIRTH Fayyum
DATE OF DEATH 942
Place of death Sura