Commentators:R. Avraham ibn Ezra/0

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Ibn Ezra – Intellectual Profile

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Ibn Ezra
Name
R. Avraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra
ר' אברהם בן מאיר אבן עזרא, ראב"ע
Dates1092 – 1167
LocationAndalusia / Italy / Provence / France / England
WorksCommentaries on Torah and part of Nakh, math, science, and grammar works.
Exegetical Characteristics
Influenced byR. Saadia Gaon, R. Yonah ibn Janach, R. Yehudah Hayuj
Impacted onMost Jewish Bible commentators. His though great impact on Chasidei Ashkenzaz

Background

Life

  • Name – Avraham ben Meir ibn Ezra1
  • Dates – 1088/89-1164 or 1092-11672
  • Location –  Andalusia, Italy, France, Provence, England. Ibn Ezra's life can be divided into two main periods, until about 1140 in which he was centered in Andalusia, and from then until his death which he spent wandering through Christian lands.3 In the first period his primary literary output was in the field of poetry. His Tanakh commentaries, grammatical and other works were written in the later period.4 As such, it was first at about the age of fifty that Ibn Ezra began to write the scholarly works for which he is so well known.
  • Education – Ibn Ezra was a polymath, engaging in many disciplines including Bible, Talmud,5 Midrash, grammar and philology, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, astrology,6 and poetry.
  • Occupation – Poet,7 teacher,8 and Bible commentator
  • Family – Not much is known of Ibn Ezra's family. It is possible that he sired five children,9 but only one is known by name,  Yitzchak, who was a poet of note.10 It is possible that he predeceased his father.11 
  • Teachers – 
  • Contemporaries – R. Yehuda HaLevi,12 Rabbi Moshe ibn Ezra,13 Rabbi Joseph ibn Tzadik,14 Rashbam, R. Tam.15
  • Students – 
  • Time period – Ibn Ezra lived during the Almohad's invasion of Moslem Spain and their forced conversions of Jews to Islam on pain of death. This likely contributed to Ibn Ezra's leaving of Spain and his subsequent wanderings.16 He wrote an elegy, "אֲהָהּ יָרַד עֲלֵי סְפָרַד", lamenting the destruction of the Jewish communities in Spain in the aftermath of the invasion.17  In addition, the first (1095) and second crusades.(1150) took place during his lifetime.

Works

Ibn Ezra was a prolific writer, leaving behind many works in a variety of fields from poetry to astronomy:18

  • Biblical commentaries
    • Ibn Ezra wrote a commentary on all five books of the Torah,19 Yeshayahu,20 Trei Asar, Tehillim,21 Iyyov, the five Megillot,22 and Daniel. He is somewhat unique among commentators in having written two distinct commentaries for each of several books,23 including Bereshit,24 Shemot,25 Trei Asar, Tehillim, Esther, Shir HaShirim and Daniel.26  Two fragments of a third commentary to Bereshit, recorded by a patron and disciple, have also survived.27
    • It is likely that Ibn Ezra wrote on the other books as well, as he himself periodically refers his reader to such explanations,28 but these works have not survived.29  The commentaries on Mishlei and Ezra-Nechemyah attributed to him were likely authored by Moshe Kimchi.30 
  • Grammar – Ibn Ezra wrote several grammatical works including: 31ספר מאזנים, ספר צחות32, שפת יתר,33 שפה ברורה34, and יסוד דקדוק35.  He also translated several works of R. Yehuda ibn Hayuj into Hebrew.
  • Astronomy and mathematics    Ibn Ezra wrote many astrological works including: Reshit Hokhmah,36 Safer Ha-Te’ammim,37 Keli Nechoshet,38 Ta’ame Luhot Al-Ku’arizmi, 39 Sefer Ha-Ibbur,  Response to Three Questions of Rabbi David Narboni, and Sefer Ha-Me’orot40
  • Rabbinics – No Talmudic novellae or Halakhic codes of Ibn Ezra are extant.  There is, though, one citation that might testify to his having written on the Talmud.  In his introduction to his commentary on Megillat Esther, R. Zecharyah b. Saruq writes, "ואנכי ראיתי חדושי הראב"ע מסכת קידושין והם בתכלית הדקות והאימות".
  • Philosophy / Jewish thought – Ibn Ezra's philosophical views can be found scattered throughout his Torah commentaries, but he also wrote several works which heavily focused on such issues. His work, יסוד מורא וסוד התורה, discusses the rationale behind Biblical commandments.41  His ערוגת המזימה פרדס החכמה deals with the existence of God, while ספר השם, as its name suggests, discusses the names of God. 

Torah Commentary

Characteristics

  • Verse by verse / Topical – Ibn Ezra's commentary is generally a local, verse by verse commentary, marked by brevity and an emphasis on grammar and linguistics. However, there are many exceptions where Ibn Ezra includes lengthy discussions of philosophical and other issues42 including long excursus on God's name,43 the Priestly Garments, Ten Commandments,44 the Golden Calf and Aharon's role in the sin,45 and Moses' request to see the face of God.46
  • Language – Ibn Ezra, somewhat unique among commentators of his era who came from Islamic lands, wrote his commentary in Hebrew rather than Arabic.47  Ibn Ezra's language is often cryptic and obscure,48 making it difficult to understand.49
  • Peshat and Derash – Ibn Ezra distinguishes between the authority he grants the interpretations of the Sages in legal and narrative material, finding their words binding with regards to the former but not the latter.50
    • Narrative material – According to Ibn Ezra, aggadic interpretations which are not in keeping with the literal meaning of the text do not have to be taken at face value.51
    • Legal material52
  • Grammar - Ibn Ezra's commentary is characterized by a heavy emphasis on grammar. He believed that knowledge of grammar is crucial to understanding the Biblical text, writing in the introduction to his Torah commentary: "ובעבותות הדקדוק נקשר".  See below ("methods") for discussion and examples of his grammatical insights.
  • Philosophy – See Ibn Ezra's comments to Gen. 18:21 and Ps. 1:6.
  • Numerology - See Ibn Ezra on Ex. 3:15.

Methods


  • Programmatic statements / Introductions – In his introduction to his Torah commentary, Ibn Ezra lays out his methodology in interpreting the Biblical text. He first discusses and rejects four distinct approaches to Biblical exegesis, and then presents his own.53 He dismisses: 1)Christian allegorical and typological interpretations as these do not match the simple, literal sense of the text54 2) Karaite explanations55 since they do not accept the Oral law  3) the extensive philosophical treatises of the Geonim as they have no place in a peshat Torah commentary whose goal is to interpret the verses,56 and 4) homiletical exegesis which draw heavily on Midrash, seeing these as superfluous, having already been expressed by the Sages.57 regarding his own methodology he writes, "לבאר כל כתוב כמשפטו, ודקדוקו ופשוטו"
  • Grammar
    • Scripture often uses abridged phrases and sentences.58 Sometimes it omits prepositions.59 It might employs an adjective but leaves out the noun which it qualifies.60  Elsewhere, it omits the subject or object in a verse because it is implied by the verb used.61
    • The vav is not always to be translated as "and". At times it is not to be translated. See I.E. on Gen. 1:2.
    • When a verb in the singular governs a noun, the verb refers to each one of the plural. See I.E. on Gen. 49:22; Ecc.10:1.
    • Scripture employs superfluous letters. See I.E. 1:5.
    • Scripture at times employs the imperfect with the meaning of a perfect,62 the perfect with the meaning of an imperfect,63or the perfect as a pluperfect.64
  • Reason
  • Linguistics / Philology
    • Use of cognate languages – Ibn Ezra noted that  Hebrew and Arabic are sister languages and he occasionally uses Arabic to explain Hebrew words.

Themes

  • Philosophy
    • God – God is incorporeal, God is the All. Purpose of man is to know God, obey His laws, and cling to God.
    • The Precepts:  According to Ibn Ezra’s calculations, there are only about sixty mitzvot in the Torah, though he believed that each one has infinite implications.65  Ibn Ezra distinguished among three types of mitzvot.
      • Rational laws. Ibn Ezra refers to these as pikkudim (deposits) because God deposited them in the mind, and they were known via human reasoning even before the Torah was given.66 These include civil laws and injunctions against incest, adultery and the like.67
      • Symbolic precepts. This category includes commandments that serve as reminders of the rational laws or of precepts that all Israelites, both men and women, are obligated to be conscious of at all times. The Sabbath, which recalls creation, is an example.68
      • Esoteric commandments.  This group includes commandments that possess a purpose that only a few can fathom.  An individual is obligated to observe  these commandments even if he does not understand their purpose or function.69 
  • Polemics against the Karaites
  • Astrology – Ibn Ezra often speaks of astrological phenomenon and the role of the stars in determining what will take place on earth.  For example, he notes that each nation has its own unique constellation that guides it, while Hashem alone guides Israel.70 He states that the arrangement of the stars reveals what is new and destined for each day, reflecting the mind of Hashem.71

Textual Issues

  • Manuscripts – 
  • Printings – 
  • Textual layers – See Ibn Ezra's Torah Commentary for discussion of Ibn Ezra's own additions to his First Commentary.

Sources

Significant Influences

  • Earlier Sources
    • R. Saadiah Gaon (892-942 C.E.)
    • R. Moshe, Ha-Kohen ibn Giqatilah(11th century)
    • R. Solomon ibn Gabirol.(1020-1070 C.E.)
    • Grammarians - R. Judah ibn Chayyug ( c. 950-1000), R. Jonah ibn Janach (c. 920-c 970); R Menahchem ben Saruk (c. 910- c. 970 C.E.); Dunash ben Labrat (920-990 C.E.)
  • Teachers – 
  • Foils – 

Occasional Usage

Possible Relationship.


Impact

Later exegetes72 


  • Rabbi Yehudah He-Chasid73
  • Rabbi David Kimchi (1160-1235)
  • Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (1195-1270)
  • Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (1288-1344).
  • Rabbi Don Yitzchak Abravanel (1437-1508).
  • Maimonides - The many parallels between the teachings of Ibn Ezra and those of Maimonides (1138–1204) have led some to suggest that the works of Ibn Ezra influenced Maimonides.74 Ibn Ezra also impacted on the Chasidei Ashkenaz.75 

Supercommentaries