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''Sefer Yetzirah'' (Hebrew, ''Sēpher Yəṣîrâh'', Book of Formation,'' or ''Book of Creation'', ספר יצירה) is the title of the earliest extant book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. "''Yetzirah''" is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word "''Briah''" is used for "Creation".〔In Hebrew, "''Yetzirah''" can mean either "creation" or "formation," but can also refer to the created or formed object itself. A work of art, for example, is called in Hebrew 'yetzira', as well as the action of creating it. Thus, the name "''Sefer Yetzirah''" could refer to the act of creating or forming the cosmos, or to the cosmos itself, or both. Since there is a specific Hebrew word for the creation of the cosmos ("''briah''") it is more likely that the meaning refers to formation, or formed-object, or both.〕 The book is traditionally ascribed to the patriarch Abraham, while modern scholars haven't reached consensus on the question of its origins. ==Origin== A cryptic story in the Babylonian Talmud states that "On the eve of every Shabbat, Judah HaNasi's pupils, Rab Hanina and Rab Hoshaiah, who devoted themselves especially to cosmogony, used to create a delicious calf by means of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'', and ate it on the Sabbath."〔Sanhedrin 65b, 67b〕 Mystics assert that the biblical patriarch Abraham used the same method to create the calf prepared for the three angels who foretold Sarah's pregnancy in the biblical account at . All the miraculous creations attributed to other rabbis of the Talmudic era are ascribed by rabbinic commentators to the use of the same book. ''Sefer Yetzirahs appendix (vi. 15) declares that Abraham was the recipient of the divine revelation of mystic lore; so that the rabbis of the classical rabbinic era (see Hai Gaon in the responsum cited in "''Kerem Ḥemed''," viii. 57), and philosophers as Saadia, Donnolo, and Judah HaLevi ("''Cuzari''," iv. 25) never doubted that Abraham was the author of the book.〔 Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography: *Editions and translations: * *''Editio princeps'': * * *Mantua, 1562; (HebrewBooks.org Sefer Detail: ספר יצירה -- מיוחס לאברהם אבינו ) * *other important editions: * * *Amsterdam, 1642; * * *Zolkiev, 1745; * * *Korzec, 1779; * * *Constantinople, 1791; * * *Grodno, 1806 (five commentaries); (Sefer Detail: ספר יצירה -- ספר יצירה. תקס"ו. הורדנה. ) * * *Warsaw, 1884 (nine commentaries); * * *Goldschmidt, (''Das Buch der Schöpfung . . . Kritisch Redigirter Text'' ), Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1894 (the edition, however, by no means represents a critical text). * *Translations: * * *Latin: * * * *Postell, ''Abraham Patriarchœ Liber Iezirah'', Paris, 1552; * * * *Pistor, ''Liber Iezirah'', in ''Ars Cabalistica'', Basel, 1557; * * * *Rittangel in the Amsterdam edition of 1642; * * *German: * * * *Johann F. von Meyer, ''Das Buch Yezira'', Leipsic, 1830; * * *English: * * * *I. Kalisch, ''A Sketch of the Talmud'', New York, 1877; * * * *W. W. Westcott, (''Sepher Yezirah'' ), London, 1893; * * *French: * * * *Karppe, ''Etude sur les Origines . . . du Zohar'', pp. 139-158, Paris, 1901. *Literature: * *Castelli, ''Il Commento di Sabbatai Donnolo'', Florence, 1880; * *Epstein, ''Studien zum Jezira-Buche'', in ''Monatsschrift'', xxxvii.; * *idem, ''Pseudo-Saadia'', ib.; * *idem, ''Recherches sur le Sefer Yeçira'', in ''R. E. J.'' xxviii.-xxix. (both articles also published separately); * *idem, in ''Monatsschrift'', xxxix. 46-48, 134-136; * *Grätz, ''Gnosticismus und Judenthum'', pp. 102-132, Breslau, 1846; * *Franck, ''La Kabbale'', pp. 53-66, 102-118, Paris, 1843 (German translation by Jellinek, pp. 57-65, Leipsic, 1844); * *Hamburger, ''R. B. T.'' Supplement, iii. 98-102; * *Jellinek, ''Beiträge'', i. 3-16; * *Rosenthal, in ''Keneset Yisrael'', ii. 29-68; * *Steinschneider, in Berliner's ''Magazin'', xix. 79-85; * *idem, ''Cat. Bodl. cols.'' 552-554; * *Zedner, ''Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus.'' p. 13; * *Fürst, ''Bibl. Jud.'' i. 27-28; * *Bacher, ''Die Anfänge der Hebräischen Grammatik'', pp. 20-23, Leipsic, 1895. 〕 In ''Pardes Rimonim'', Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (Ramak) mentions a minority opinion that Rabbi Akiva authored it, and takes it to mean Abraham wrote it and Akiva redacted it to its current form.〔 Jewish Lore attributes it to Adam, and that "()rom Adam it passed over to Noah, and then to Abraham, the friend of God." According to modern historians, the origin of the text is unknown, and hotly debated. Some scholars believe it might have an early Medieval origin, while others emphasize earlier traditions appearing in the book.〔Kaplan, A. (1997) ''Sefer Yetzirah; The Book of Creation In Theory and Practice'', San Francisco, Weiser Books. p. 219〕 The division of the letters into the three classes of vowels, mutes, and sonants also appears in Hellenic texts.〔 The historical origin of the ''Sefer Yetzirah'' was placed by Reitzenstein (''Poimandres'', p. 291) in the 2nd century BCE.〔 According to Christopher P. Benton, the Hebrew grammatical form places its origin closer to the period of the Mishna,〔 around the 2nd century CE. In a manuscript in the British Museum (see Margoliouth, "''Catalogue of the Hebrew and Samaritan Manuscripts of the British Museum''," part II., p. 190) , the ''Sefer Yetzirah'' is called the ''Hilkot Yetzirah'' and declared to be esoteric lore not accessible to anyone but the really pious (compare ib. p. 255, where it is mentioned as being used by Naḥmanides for Kabbalistic purposes).〔 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「Sefer Yetzirah」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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