The beginning of wisdom by avraham ibn ezra, abraham ben. Abraham ibn ezra 10891167 was heavily influenced by rasag, he did not accept the latters opinion with respect to moses role in writing the torah. Hebron hills on the 4th of july 07052009 by joseph dana. A parallel hebrewenglish critical edition of the book of nativities and the book of revolution. Abraham ibn ezra, the peripatetic spanishjewish scholar and poet, produced two commentaries to several biblical books, among them the book of esther. Israel, south west bank, taayush, tuba, tuwani, west bank. Links to other web sites with information on abraham ibn ezra. One of these poems was composed three years after isaacs abandonment of judaism, as appears from the second strophe. The messiah, in ibn ezra s view, would emerge out of the war with this fourth kingdom. Abraham ibn ezra, therefore, could not have heard of the sad event until a long time afterward. His chief claim to fame, however, was for his commentary on the bible.
Alchabitius says that aside the hyleg and the alcocodem, the almuten meaning victorious, winner over the vital positions can give testimony of life span. Ibn ezra, moses ben jacobibn ezra, moses ben jacob also known as abu harun. Entry for ibn ezra, joseph ben isaac the 1901 jewish encyclopedia one of 8 bible encyclopedias freely available, this encyclopedia is a descriptive record. It shows that for gersonides, abraham ibn ezra was a central source and point of reference on which he relied wherever he drew on astrology. Sela, shlomo, abraham ibn ezra and the rise of medieval hebrew science, brill, 2003.
Full text of essays on the writings of abraham ibn ezra. Abraham ibn ezra 10891167, spanish rabbi, man of letters and writer. He lived in the muslim portion of spain, and received a traditional spanish jewish education, studying torah as well as philosophy. The dates assigned to ibn ezras works range from certain to very probable to probable to unknown. Unlike the three preceding beasts, this fourth is to be consumed by fire and utterly destroyed. Deuteronomy volume 5 of the commentary of abraham ibn ezra on the. Abraham ibn ezra was born in tudela, one of the oldest and most important jewish communities in the presentday spanish province of navarre. This volume also incorporates the first critical edition, translated and annotated, of m sh all h s book on eclipses, a work dealing with mundane astrology whose hebrew translation was ascribed to ibn ezra, as well as a study of three brief texts in which ibn ezra conveyed his own opinion about mundane astrology.
The other two are the beginning of wisdom reshit hokhma, 1998, and the book of reasons sefer hateamim, 1994. Entry for ibn ezra, joseph ben isaac the 1901 jewish encyclopedia one of 8 bible encyclopedias freely available, this encyclopedia is a descriptive record of the history, religion and customs of the jewish people. Rabbi abraham ibn ezra, poet, philosopher, and mathematician, was one of the outstanding personalities produced by medieval jewry. His style is polished and witty as befits a poet, very concise and at times intentionally ambiguous. Genealogy for yehuda ben yosef ibn ezra ibn shaprut c. Apparently, according to alfonso, ibn ezra identified the ten hornskingdoms as various doctrinal ismsgroups within ishmaels empire.
Born in 1089, ibn ezra was a friend of judah halevi. Sefaria has a full 30 different texts written by ibn ezra counting each book of tanach, second version of ibn ezra on esther, yesod mora, and the sabbath epistle some of them in multiple languages. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. This paper investigates gersonides use of the astrology prevalent in his day, namely, horoscopic astrology. At one time, however, ezra and nehemiah followed 1 and 2 chronicles and were generally considered to be the work of one and the same author known as the chronicler. The commentary of abraham ibn ezra on the pentateuch. Deuteronomy volume 5 of the commentary of abraham ibn ezra on the pentateuch, jay f. A companion, published by oxford university press abraham ibn ezrapoet, philosopher, grammarian, and biblical exeget 10891164 was born in tudela, spain, where he lived until he left in 1140 to wander to other lands. He has played an important role in the fields of biblical exegesis, poetry, grammar, astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and natural sciences.
Apr 23, 2008 the book of nativities and revolutions ibn ezra, avraham ben meir, hand, robert s, epstein, meira b on. Moses ibn ezras poem kevarim min zeman kedemi behold ancient graves a spanish translation follows the englishengraved on a wall in the courtyard of the jewish museum in toledo, spain. Born in spain, the son of abraham ibn ezra, he was raised in andalusia, probably in cordoba, seville, and almeria, as a member of the cultivated young jewish elite. The engravings are historical prints depicting the battles and sieges to control south america, mainly the war. Essays on the writings of abraham ibn ezra internet archive. Project muse gersonides astrology and abraham ibn ezra. Ibn ezra was the name of a prominent jewish family from spain spanning many centuries. The last four books of the hebrew canon are ezra, nehemiah, and 1 and 2 chronicles, in that order. After three of his children died and one son converted to islam, ibn ezra became a wanderer. This book might the same one mentioned right below here. Genealogy profile for yehuda ben yosef ibn ezra ibn shaprut. A thorough knowledge of this art is evidenced in the zohar and sefer raziel, and astrology is referred to frequently in medieval liturgical poetry, including the works of poets such as kalir and ibn gabirol well known jewish astrologers of the ninth century were jacob ibn turik, whom ibn ezra says.
Isbn 9004129731 siegel, eliezer, rabbi abraham ibn ezras commentary to the torah. Judah ben joseph ibn ezra 12th century, spanish chamberlain of the kings court. Ultimately, most scholars agree that his place of birth was tudela. Grounded in place, spanning the civil war to the present day, the stories in i was a revolutionary capture the roil of history through the eyes of an unforgettable cast of characters.
With such a table we can find the almuten figuris, the planet with most power ov er the chart. Full text of essays on the writings of abraham ibn ezra see other formats. The book exodus with the commentary of abraham ibn ezra,naples 1488 at several of the abovenamed places, ibn ezra remained for some time and developed a rich literary activity. Joseph ibn ezra 16th17th centuries, oriental rabbi and talmudist. And if you were capable of grasping the mystery that emanates from the word azazel, then you would know its secret and the secret of its name, for it has equivalents elsewhere in the bible. A most intriguing attempt to explain the text is provided by rabbi abraham ibn ezra. It serves as the backbone to an extensive textbook of astrology by ibn ezra, which also included the book of reasons, the book of nativities, and others. He lived in the muslim portion of spain, and received a traditional spanish jewish education, studying torah as well as. Sefer sefas yeser is a grammatical work that ibn ezra wrote as a defense of r saadiah gaon against r dunash ben labrat. Regarding the possible identity of isaac ibn ezra and an isaac b. Title this original title for ibn ezras commentary on the torah is rarely used. In his commentary to the passage, he addresses his readers as follows. Alternatively, there should be a new article that addresses ibn ezra and post mosaic authrship as this is a very important issue. Born in granada, he was a pupil of isaac ibn ghayyat in lucena, the city of poetry.
It was during his selfchosen exile that he wrote his brilliant works. The main focus of this book is the study of abraham ibn ezras 10891167 scientific thought within the historical and cultural context of his times. A parallel hebrewenglish critical edition of the two versions of the text etudes sur le judaisme medieval by abraham ben meir ibn ezra 3 editions first published in 2009. The two commentaries of abraham ibn ezra on the book. The book also illuminates obscurities, examines ibn ezras methodology and identifies his sources. He was born in granada about 1055 1060, and died after 18. He says also that some authors use it as a substitute for the hyleg and the alcocodem. Abraham ibn ezras commentary on the first book of psalms. The book of nativities sefer hamoladot is meira epsteins third publication in the series of english translations of avraham ibn ezras astrological works. At the time, the town was under the muslim rule of the emirs of zaragoza.
Rabbi abraham ben meir ibn ezra was born and educated in the golden age of muslim. It is taken to mean the book of the upright and is the title of a work that is cited in the bible. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. It seemed unbalanced that this article didnt list the several verses in ibn ezra s work that demonstrate postmosaic authorship but it does quote a rebuttal on one verse.
According to the most recent scholarship, he was born in either 1091 or 1092. Ibn ezra himself oncein an acrosticnames toledo as his native place monatsschrift, xlii. Abraham ibn ezra stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. His writing is often far from being comprehensible and thus requires a commentator of his own to interpret him to the contemporary reader. Abraham ibn ezra on nativities and continuous horoscopy. Tradition maintains that ibn ezra married judah halevis daughter after three of his children died and one son converted to islam, ibn ezra became a. Naftali ben menahem tells us about rabbi moshe taku who wrote a book about ibn ezra 50 years after his death ktav tamim, in regensburg, germany, in which he mentions a book by ibn ezra called the book of life sefer hahaim. The book of nativities and revolutions by rabbi avraham ibn ezra translated from the hebrew original by meira b. By the 12th century in spain, the genre of computus literature was occupied by several figures, the most important being abraham bar hiyya 106516 who wrote the first major such treatise, sefer haibbur 1123, abraham ibn ezra, a towering figure of scientific learning who wrote a treatise by the same name in 1146, and moses maimonides whose treatise on the ibbur was later incorporated. Title this original title for ibn ezra s commentary on the torah is rarely used.
The golden age of spain produced some magnificent jewish scholars. However, when he later moved to cordoba, he claimed it to be his place of birth. Tradition maintains that ibn ezra married judah halevis daughter. In his native land, he had already gained the reputation of a distinguished poet and thinker but apart from his poems, his works, which were all in the hebrew language. His explanations of scripture have been printed in all major editions of the hebrew bible, and influenced other luminaries, such as maimonides, rabbi david kimchi, nahmanides, ralbag, abrarvanel. Originally written in hebrew by ibn ezra, the beginning of wisdom is one of the most important of the basic medieval texts of astrology.
The book also illuminates obscurities, examines ibn ezra s methodology and identifies his sources. Ibn ezra, abraham ben meir, 10921167, bible publisher london published for the society of hebrew literature by trubner collection robarts. Ibn ezra, joseph ben isaac the 1901 jewish encyclopedia. Sefer hatzchok is printed in the back and is a compilation of two poems by ibn ezra and by r menastor ibn yechiya. The life of abraham ibn ezra can be divided into two periods. Dec 01, 2016 genealogy for yehuda ben yosef ibn ezra ibn shaprut c. The two commentaries of abraham ibn ezra on the book of.