|
Rabbi Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra (Hebrew: אברהם אבן עזרא or ראב"ע, Arabic ابن عزرا; also known as ''Abenezra'') (1089–1167) was born at Tudela, Navarre (now in Spain〔It has been a common error to publish that he was born in Toledo, Spain, however this is due to an incorrect reading of Hebrew written documents.〕) in 1089,〔''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', pages 1163–1164〕 and died c. 1167, apparently in Calahorra.〔''Jewish Encyclopedia'' ((online )); ''Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' gives the dates 1092/93 – 1167〕 He was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages. Ibn Ezra excelled in philosophy, astronomy/astrology, mathematics, poetry, linguistics, and exegesis; he was called ''The Wise'', ''The Great'' and ''The Admirable Doctor''. He was born at Tudela, (in the present-day province of Navarre) when the town was under the Muslim rule of the emirs of Zaragoza. Later he lived in Córdoba. In Granada, it is said, he met his future friend (and perhaps his father-in-law) Yehuda Halevi. He left Spain before 1140 to escape persecution of the Jews by the new fanatical regime of the Almohads. He led a life of restless wandering, which took him to North Africa, Egypt (in 1109, maybe in the company of Yehuda Halevi), the Land of Israel, Italy (Rome in 1140–1143, Lucca, Mantua, Verona), Southern France (Narbonne, Béziers), Northern France (Rouen), England (London, and Oxford in 1158), and back again to Narbonne in 1161, until his death on January 23 or 28, 1167, the exact location unknown: maybe at Calahorra at the border of Navarre and Aragon, or maybe in Rome or in the Holy Land. There is a legend that he died in England from a fever and a sickness that came upon him after an encounter with a pack of wild black dogs. This legend is attached to the belief that he denied the existence of demons.〔Joshua Trachtenberg, ''Jewish Magic and Superstition'' (www.sacred-texts.com ) chapter 3, pp. 26–27〕 The crater Abenezra on the Moon was named in his honor. == Works == At several of the above-named places, Ibn Ezra remained for some time and developed a rich literary activity. 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, were written in the second period of his life. With these works, which cover in the first instance the field of Hebrew philology and Biblical exegesis, he fulfilled the great mission of making accessible to the Jews of Christian Europe the treasures of knowledge enshrined in the works written in Arabic that he had brought with him from Spain. His grammatical writings, among which ''Moznayim'' ("Scales", 1140) and ''Zahot'' (Tzahot = "Dazzlings",〔BDB Lexicon, page 850〕 1141) are the most valuable, were the first expositions of Hebrew grammar in the Hebrew language, in which the system of Judah Hayyuj and his school prevailed. He also translated into Hebrew the two writings of Hayyuj in which the foundations of the system were laid down. Of greater original value than the grammatical works of Ibn Ezra are his commentaries on most of the books of the Bible, of which, however, the Books of Chronicles have been lost. His reputation as an intelligent and acute expounder of the Bible was founded on his commentary on the Pentateuch, of which the great popularity is evidenced by the numerous commentaries that were written upon it. In the editions of this commentary (''editio princeps'' Naples 1488. ''See image at right''), the commentary on the Book of Exodus is replaced by a second, more complete commentary of Ibn Ezra, while the first and shorter commentary on Exodus was not printed until 1840. The great editions of the Hebrew Bible with rabbinical commentaries contained also commentaries of Ibn Ezra's on the following books of the Bible: Isaiah, Minor Prophets, Psalms, Job, Pentateuch, Daniel; the commentaries on Proverbs and Ezra and Nehemiah bearing his name are really those of Moses Kimhi. Ibn Ezra wrote a second commentary on Genesis as he had done on Exodus, but this was never finished. There are second commentaries also by him on the Song of Songs, Esther and Daniel. Ibn Ezra also wrote a commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes. Uncharacteristically of either Ibn Ezra's other commentaries on biblical works, or of Jewish exegesis of the time, the commentary on Ecclesiastes begins with an autobiographical poem (written in the third person) relating his life experience to the material in Ecclesiastes. Although the poem states that he fled "from () home in Spain/Going down to Rome with heavy spirit", this does not resolve the question of what intermediate journeys Ibn Ezra may have made before settling in Rome, possibly in the company of R' Yehudah HaLevi.〔Jewishencyclopedia.com, entry for Ibn Ezra, Abraham Ben Meir http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7985-ibn-ezra-abraham-ben-meir-aben-ezra〕 The importance of the exegesis of Ibn Ezra consists in the fact that it aims at arriving at the simple sense of the text, the ''Peshat,'' on grammatical principles. It is in this that, although he takes a great part of his exegetical material from his predecessors, the originality of his mind is everywhere apparent, an originality that displays itself also in the witty and lively language of his commentaries. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Abraham ibn Ezra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|