Rabbi Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra (also known as Ibn Ezra, or Abenezra) (1092 or 1093-1167), was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages. Ibn-Ezra excelled in philosophy, astronomy/astrology, medicine, poetry, linguistics, and exegesis; he was called The Wise, The Great and The Admirable Doctor. Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages... Events May 9 - Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated. ... // Events Donald III of Scotland comes to the throne of Scotland. ... Events Taira no Kiyomori becomes the first samurai to be appointed Daijo Daijin, chief minister of the government of Japan Peter of Blois becomes the tutor of William II of Sicily Absalon, archbishop of Denmark, leads the first Danish synod at Lund Absalon fortifies Copenhagen William Marshal, the greatest knight... This article describes some ethnic, historic, and cultural aspects of the Jewish identity; for a consideration of the Jewish religion, refer to the article Judaism. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt. ... Radio telescopes are among many different tools used by astronomers Astronomy (Greek: αστρονομία = άστρον + νόμος, astronomia = astron + nomos, literally, law of the stars) is the science of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere (such as auroras and cosmic background radiation). ... Astrology refers to any of several systems, traditions or beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs and terrestrial events. ... This article is about the field of medical practice and health care. ... Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. ... This article discusses textual hermeneutics. ...

He was born at Tudela, (current day province of Navarra) when the town was under Muslim rule. He left his native land of Spain before 1140 on account of the vexations inflicted on the Jews. He led a life of restless wandering, which took him to North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Italy (Rome, Rodez, Lucca, Mantua, Verona), Southern France (Narbonne, Béziers), Northern France (Dreux), England (London), and back again to the South of France, until his death on January 23 or 28th, 1167, the exact location unknown. Tudela is a town and municipality in Spain, in the northern province of Navarra. ... Navarra is the Spanish name for Navarre (Basque: Nafarroa), an ancient kingdom in the Pyrenees, and now a province and an autonomous community in Spain. ... Events Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) coordinates: 41°54′N 12°29′E Time Zone: UTC+1 Administration Subdivisions 19 municipi Province Rome Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni ( The Union ) Characteristics Area 1,285 km² Population 2,547,677 (2005 estimate) Density 1983... Rodez is a city in southern France in département of Aveyron. ... Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near (but not on) the Ligurian Sea. ... Mantua (in Italian Mantova, in the local dialect of Emiliano-Romagnolo language Mantua) is an important city in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province with the same name. ... Map of Italy showing Verona in the north Verona (population est. ... This region consists of the southern part of France. ... Cathedral in Narbonne. ... Béziers (Besièrs in Occitan, and Besiers in Catalan) is a town in Languedoc, in the southwest of France. ... Dreux is a town and commune in northwest France, in the Eure-et-Loir département. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi   - Water (%) Population... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...

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 which he had brought with him from Spain. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (515x720, 86 KB) [1] File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Abraham ibn Ezra ... Hebrew (עִבְרִית or עברית, ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ...

His grammatical writings, among which Moznayim ("Scales", 1140) and Zahot ("Correctness", 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. Hebrew (עִבְרִית or עברית, ‘Ivrit) is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jewish communities around the world. ... Judah ben David Hayyuj (Arabic: ﺝﻮﻴﺣ ﺩﻭﺍﺩ ﻦﺑﺇ ﺎﻴﺤﻳ ﺎﻳﺮﻛﺯ ﻮﺑﺍ Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Dawud) was a Spanish-Jewish grammarian; born in Fez, Morocco, about 950. ...

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 Paralipomenon 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 which were written upon it. In the editions of this commentary (ed. princ. 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, Ezra and Nehemiah which bear 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. The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos, the book) (sometimes The Holy Bible, Scripture, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing (and overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... The Book of Chronicles is a book in the Hebrew Bible (also see Old Testament). ... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos, the book) (sometimes The Holy Bible, Scripture, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their differing (and overlapping) canons of sacred texts. ... Look up Pentateuch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... // Events February 3 - Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, at the tip of Africa becoming the first known European to travel this far south. ... Exodus is the second book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and also the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), and the Christian Old Testament. ... Exodus is the second book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and also the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), and the Christian Old Testament. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum This article discusses usage of the term Hebrew Bible. For the article on the Hebrew Bible itself, see Tanakh. ... Look up Pentateuch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Moses Kimhi (died c. ... Exodus is the second book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and also the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), and the Christian Old Testament. ...

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 which displays itself also in the witty and lively language of his commentaries. Ibn Ezra belongs to the earliest pioneers of the higher biblical criticism of the Pentateuch. Biblical criticism seeks to analyze the Bible through asking certain questions of the text, such as: Who wrote it? When was it written? To whom was it written? Why was it written? What was the historical, geographical, and cultural setting of the text? How well preserved is the original text... In studying the Hebrew Bible, some historians and academics in the fields of linguistics and source criticism have proposed the theory known as the documentary hypothesis: that the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) represent a combination of documents from different sources rather than a single text authored by one...

His commentaries, and especially some of the longer excursuses, contain numerous contributions to the philosophy of religion. One work in particular which belongs to this province, Yesod Mora ("Foundation of Awe"), on the division and the reasons for the Biblical commandments, he wrote in 1158 for a London friend, Joseph ben Jacob. In his philosophical thought neo-platonic ideas prevail; and astrology also had a place in his view of the world. He also wrote various works on mathematical and astronomical subjects. Theology (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason) means reasoned discourse concerning religion, spirituality and God. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Astrology refers to any of several systems, traditions or beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent positions of celestial bodies and related information is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting and organizing knowledge about personality, human affairs and terrestrial events. ...

In his commentary, Ibn-Ezra adheres to the literal sense of the texts, avoiding Rabbinic allegories and Cabbalistic extravagances, though he remains faithful to the Jewish traditions. This does not prevent him from exercising an independent criticism, which, according to some writers, borders on rationalism. In contrast his other works, the most important of which include The Book of the Secrets of the Law, The Mystery of the Form of the Letters, The Enigma of the Quiescent Letters, The Book of the Name, The Book of the Balance of the Sacred Language and The Book of Purity of the Language, demonstrate a more Cabbalistic viewpoint. They were written during his life of travel, and they reflect the unsteadiness of his outward circumstances. A Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) is a religious Jewish scholar who is an expert in Jewish law. ... This article is about the overall Jewish mysticisms tradition. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...

Taking Aben-Ezra's work as a whole, it consists rather in popularizing Andalusian rabbinical ideas on Latin and Saxon soil than in producing original thought. Andalusian Referring to Andalusia A type of horse: see Andalusian horse This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

His Mission

The wandering life of an exile, such as Ibn Ezra led for nearly three decades, gave him the opportunity to carry out a mission which was to an eminent degree historical. He became a propagator among the Jews of Christian Europe, who were unacquainted with Arabic, of the science of Judaism, a science which had been founded long before with that language as its literary medium. He was fitted for this mission, as no one else, through the versatility of his learning and through his clear and charming Hebrew style. The great compass of his literary activity will be seen from the following résumé of his works:

Biblical Commentaries

His chief work is the commentary on the Torah, which, like that of Rashi, has called forth a host of super-commentaries, and which has done more than any other work to establish his reputation. It is extant both in numerous manuscripts and in printed editions. The commentary on Exodus published in the printed editions is a work by itself, which he finished in 1153 in southern France. Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. ... Rashi Rashi רשי, an acronym for Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Hebrew: רבי שלמה בן יצחק) or Shlomo Yitzchaki, (February 22, 1040 – July 17, 1105) is one of Judaisms classic meforshim (Bible and Talmud commentators), and wrote the first comprehensive commentaries on the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and Talmud. ...

The complete commentary on the Pentateuch, which, as has already been mentioned, was finished by Ibn Ezra shortly before his death, was called Sefer ha-Yashar ("Book of the Straight").

In the rabbinical editions of the Bible the following commentaries of Ibn Ezra on Biblical books are likewise printed: Isaiah; the Twelve Minor Prophets; Psalms; Job; the Megillot; Daniel. The commentaries on Proverbs and Ezra-Nehemiah which bear Ibn Ezra's name are by Moses Kimhi. Another commentary on Proverbs, published in 1881 by Driver and in 1884 by Horowitz, is also erroneously ascribed to Ibn Ezra. Additional commentaries by Ibn Ezra to the following books are extant: Song of Solomon; Esther; Daniel. He also probably wrote commentaries to a part of the remaining books, as may be concluded from his own references. Moses Kimhi (died c. ...

Hebrew Grammar

(1) "Moznayim" (1140), chiefly an explanation of the terms used in Hebrew grammar; as early as 1148 it was incorporated by Judah Hadassi in his "Eshkol ha-Kofer," with no mention of Ibn Ezra (see "Monatsschrift," xl. 74), first ed. in 1546.

(2) Translation of the work of Ḥayyuj into Hebrew (ed. Onken, 1844).

(3) "Sefer ha-Yesod," or "Yesod Diḳduḳ," still unedited (see Bacher, "Abraham ibn Ezra als Grammatiker," pp. 8-17).

(4) "ẓaḥot" (1145), on linguistic correctness, his best grammatical work, which also contains a brief outline of modern Hebrew meter; first ed. 1546.

(5) "Safah Berurah" (see above), first ed. 1830.

(6) A short outline of grammar at the beginning of the unfinished commentary on Genesis. The importance of Ibn Ezra's grammatical writings has already been treated in Grammar, Hebrew.

Smaller Works, Partly Grammatical, Partly Exegetical

(1) "Sefat Yeter," in defense of Saadia Gaon against Dunash ben Labraṭ, whose criticism of Saadia, Ibn Ezra had brought with him from Egypt; published by Bislichs 1838 and Lippmann 1843. Saadia Ben Joseph Gaon (892-942), the Hebrew name of Said al-Fayyumi, was a rabbi who was also a prominent Jewish exilarch, philosopher, and exegete. ...

(2) "Sefer ha-Shem," ed. Lippmann, 1834.

(3) "Yesod Mispar," a small monograph on numerals, ed. Pinsker, 1863, at the end of his book on the Babylonian-Hebrew system of punctuation.

(4) "Iggeret Shabbat," a responsum on the Sabbath, dated 1158, ed. Luzzatto, in "Kerem Ḥemed," iv. 158 et seq.

Religious Philosophy

"Yesod Mora Vesod Hatorah" (1158), on the division of and reasons for the Biblical commandments; 1st ed. 1529.

Mathematics, Astronomy, Astrology

1. "Sefer ha-Eḥad," on the peculiarities of the numbers 1-9.
2. "Sefer ha-Mispar" or "Yesod Mispar," arithmetic.
3. "Luhot," astronomical tables.
4. "Sefer ha-'Ibbur," on the calendar (ed. Halberstam, 1874).
5. "Keli ha-Neḥoshet," on the astrolabe (ed. Edelmann, 1845).
6. "Shalosh She'elot," answer to three chronological questions of David Narboni.
7. Translation of two works by the astrologer Mashallah: "She'elot" and "Ḳadrut" (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Uebers." pp. 600-603).
8. "Sefer Ha'te'amim" (The Book of Reasons), an overview of Arabic astrology (tr. 1994, M. Epstein)
9. "Reshith Hochma" (The Beginning of Wisdom), an introduction to astrology (tr. 1998, M. Epstein)

As Poet

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Song of Chess

There are a great many other poems by Ibn Ezra, some of them religious (the editor of the "Diwan" in an appended list mentions nearly 200 numbers) and some secular. Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... Wikisource – The Free Library – is a Wikimedia project to build a free, wiki library of source texts, along with translations into any language and other supporting materials. ...

Article references

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain. The Jewish Encyclopedia was an encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

• Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra : An article by Meira Epstein, detailing all of ibn Ezra's extant astrological works
• Skyscript: The Life and Work of Abraham Ibn Ezra
• Abraham Ibn Ezra
• Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra's Commentary to the Torah
• Wacks, David. "The Poet, the Rabbi, and the Song: Abraham ibn Ezra and the Song of Songs." Wine, Women, and Song: Hebrew and Arabic Literature in Medieval Iberia. Eds. Michelle M. Hamilton, Sarah J. Portnoy and David A. Wacks. Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monographs, 2004. 47-58.

See also

• Rabbi
• Rabbinic literature
• List of rabbis
• Jewish views of astrology