Abraham Ibn Ezra

The present volume offers the first critical edition of the Hebrew text of the two versions of Ibn Ezra s Book of the World, accompanied by an English translation and a commentary. These twin treatises represent the first Hebrew work, unique in medieval Jewish science, to discuss the theories and techniques of historical and meteorological astrology that had accumulated from Antiquity to Ibn Ezra s time, on the basis of Greek, Hindu, Persian, and Arabic sources. This volume also incorporates the first critical edition, translated and annotated, of M sh Þall 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.

With this volume, readers of English have a key to unlock a vast treasury of knowledge previously closed to them.

Ibn Ezra addresses the importance of the knowledge of grammar, stating that one cannot fully understand the text of the Torah without it. He also discusses the study of the Bible and the Talmud, arguing that one cannot properly comprehend the Talmud if one does not know the sciences, for there are many passages in the Pentateuch and the Talmud that are either incomprehensible or given to misinterpretation by one who has no prior knowledge of the sciences.

The six essays in this book explore ibn Ezra's multifaceted work and intellectual legacy. They illuminate his exegetical methodology; the role of astrology in his work; his philological insights into the Hebrew language; the possibility of his influence on the great Jewish philosopher and jurist Maimonides; and modern Jewish perspectives on him.

From the Middle Ages until the present, the development of astrology among Jews was associated mainly with the name of Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1167). His scientific corpus deals with mathematics, astronomy, scientific instruments and tools, and the Jewish calendar; but especially with astrology. This volume is the first product of a larger enterprise-a scientific edition of all twelve Ibn Ezra's astrological treatises-and offers a critical Hebrew text of the two versions of Ibn Ezra's "Sefer ha-Te'amim," the Book of Reasons, accompanied by an annotated translation and commentary. The two treatises presented here were designed by Ibn Ezra to offer "reasons," "explanations," or "meanings" of the raw astrological concepts formulated in the introduction to astrology that Ibn Ezra entitled "Reshit Hokhmah" (Beginning of Wisdom).

The main focus of this book is the study of Abraham Ibn Ezra’s (1089-1167) scientific thought within the historical and cultural context of his times. His scientific contribution may be understood as the very embodiment of ‘the rise of medieval Hebrew science’, a process in which Jewish scholars gradually adopted the holy tongue as a vehicle to express secular and scientific ideas. The first part provides a comprehensive picture of Ibn Ezra’s scientific corpus. The second part studies his linguistic strategy. The third and fourth parts study Ibn Ezra’s introductions to his scientific treatises and the fifth part is devoted to studying four ‘encounters’ with Claudius Ptolemy, the main scientific character featuring in Ibn Ezra’s literary work.

Originally written in Hebrew by Ibn Ezra, "The Beginning of Wisdom" is one of the most important of the basic medieval texts of astrology. 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.