TOLEDO, once celebrated for the manufacture of swords, which made its name familiar far and wide in every battle-field, was no less famed for the production of quite a different kind of polished and sharp-edged weapons, which it once sent forth from its schools and universities, and which did good service in the arena of science and literature. Toledo, like a great many other cities in Spain which contributed to the progress of science in the Middle Ages, owed the origin and prosperity of its learned institutions chiefly to the Moorish invasion of the Peninsula in 711. The rulers of the half-civilised Arabs, however warlike, were nevertheless not averse from luxury and refinement; under their sway trade and industry prospered, and science and literature awoke to a new life. Spain is said to have possessed in that period not less than seventeen universities and seventy great libraries. Mathematics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, philosophy, and philology, were the subjects most in favour among the Arabs; the Jews, with their inherent cosmopolitan principles and adaptive faculties, embraced these studies with all vigour and zeal, and, as regards Europe, were to some extent the importers and interpreters of Arabian learning. One of them, neither the last nor the least, was Rabbi Abraham, the son of Meir Ibn Ezra,1Ibn Ezra is the family name of our author, as he informs us himself in the introductory lines to his Commentary on Ecclesiastes. , בן מאיר נקרא, מכונה בן עזרא “called the son of Meir, surnamed Ibn Ezra.” בנו עזרא בן עזרא (Introd. to Comment. on Job; Comp. בנו בעור Num. xxiv. 3) are the Hebrew forms of the Arabic إِبْن (Ibnu, or Ibn), which is generally retained by Hebrew authors, either written in full, אבן, or abbreviated, ן׳. Some read it with a Hirek under א, and a Dagesh in ב (Iben, or Ibn) ; others, without the Dagesh, and with Segol or Pathah under א (Aben or Eben). See Elias Levita, Tishbi, sub voce אבן, and Geiger, Moses ben Maimon, Note 9. The latter deduces from the following line, לְאַבְרָהָם בְּנוֹ מֵאִיר סְפָרָדִי אבֶן עֶזְרָא, “of Abraham, the son of Meir, of Spain, Ibn Ezra,” (Yesod Mora, Introd.), that our author pronounced his name, Aben Ezra, with Chateph-Pathah (–ֲ) because the metre requires a Sheva under א but the proof is not conclusive; for, in the first place, Chateph-Segol would certainly have had the preference, on account of the succeeding Segol; secondly, the Arabic (אבן), or a new Hebrew form, (אֱבֶן or אֲבֶן), instead of the Biblical בֶּן and בְּנוֹ, in a Hebrew poem, cannot be the original word, coming from the same author who wrote the Introduction to Safa Berurah and the Commentary on Ecclesiastes v. 1. Either the whole poem is spurious, or אבן is a corruption of בּנו. In the latter form, the same line is found in the Introduction to the Comment. on Job. the Wise 2החכם, “the Wise,” is the title generally given as a mark of distinction in science, while גאון indicates distinction in Talmudical knowledge.,(החכם) of whom Zunz says, “hewas equally celebrated aspoet, grammarian, commentator, and theologian. He was an excellent mathematician and astronomer; he possessed very little money, but very much wit; he had an innate aversion to all superficiality.” He was born in Toledo about the end of the eleventh century; the date of his birth can only be given approximately (1092 or 1093).3See Note 54. According to Graetz (“Geschichte der Juden,” vi. p. 198,) I. E. was born in 1088. Toledo very probably no longer enjoyed its former prosperity. It had been taken from the Moors, who repeatedly made vain efforts to re-conquer it, and it had more than once to suffer the hardships and miseries of a siege. Such a state of affairs naturally brought poverty and ruin on many families, and Ibn Ezra was certainly not the man to make his fortune under such circumstances; but at all events he passed through the school of hardships, and learned “in his youth to bear the yoke” of misfortune and failure, which pressed hard upon him through his whole life. The opportunity, however, which Providence, at the same time, had given him in the schools of Toledo, and the society of its learned men, for the acquisition of knowledge and the cultivation of the intellect, was not neglected by him. He studied, and studied very hard, as we may gather from the vast amount of learning displayed in his writings. He is said to have been “a genius, who possessed all the learning of his time.”
Some have named the astronomer and philosopher “R. Abraham ben Hiya,4The source of this statement is indicated by Steinschneider, in his Essay on Abraham bar Chijja, Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik, xiii. p. 11, note 20. As to the life and works of A. b. Ch., Comp. Abraham bar Chyiah, etc., ed. Herschel Philipowski, London, 1851. as his teacher in mathematics and astronomy, and the Karaite R. Yefeth,5Bikkure Haïttim, 5587, p. 50; S. Pinsker Lickute Kadmoniyot, pp. 187, seqq. as his teacher in Hebrew grammar and literature. Whether this statement be literally correct or not, he certainly studied their works, and quoted them in his theological writings.
He employed his leisure hours in composing liturgical and secular poems, which seem to have been received very favourably; for he speaks in his advanced age with self-satisfaction and pride of these bygone times, saying :—6In the satire commencing נדוד הסיר אוני (Kerem Chemed. iv. p. 138).
לפנים בנעורים
הכינותי שירים
בצואר העברים
נתתים כענקים
“In former days, when I was young,
I poured forth my soul in song;
For fain would I, with poesy's jewels,
Adorn my own, my Hebrew nation.”
Learned men, from far and near, sought his instruction, and were desirous of ascertaining his opinion upon the most varied subjects. Thus R. Joseph, of Narbonne, requested him to explain three problems touching the Jewish calendar; one of the questions was the following: Why is there in the year 1139 an interval of nearly four weeks between the Jewish and the Christian Passover ?7According to the Jewish law, Passover is to be celebrated in the spring (בחדש האביב. Ex. xiii. 4, Deut. xvi. 1), after the full moon (15th of Nisan). The same festival is kept by the Christians on the Sunday after the first full moon in the spring (after the 21st March). The difference between the lunar year of the Hebrew calendar, and the solar year is balanced by seven additional months in nineteen years, at intervals of two or three years; so that the difference, at the utmost, would be about three weeks. If the Christian Easter fell four weeks later than the Jewish Passover, that is, after the full moon of Iyar, then Passover could not be in the spring, as the law requires. In the year named, it happened, however, to be so, and Ibn Ezra was asked for an explanation, which he accordingly gave, namely, that the year of the Christian calendar consisted of 365¼ days, while the Jewish calendar computed it more accurately 365 days, In the year 1138, the difference between the 21st of March and the beginning of the spring (תקופת ניסן), according to the Jewish calendar amounted to about seven days ; according to the Jewish computation, the full moon of Nisan was in the spring, while the Christians had to wait for the full moon of Iyar. We hear of his friendly intercourse with the poet R. Moses ben Ezra, (whom some authorities8Gavison, in Omer Hashikcha. See Dukes, Moses Ben Ezra, p. 6, note. describe as a relative of our Ibn Ezra,) from a poetical enigma, in which he described a dinner, with its varied pleasures, which they once had enjoyed together.9Ginse Oxford, xiv. note 1. To R. Jehudah Hallevi he was no stranger.10According to Jochasin, I. E. was the cousin of R. Jehudah Hallevi, their mothers being sisters. In the commentaries of Ibn Ezra many traces of the literary conversations of these two friends are met with; he always evinces some pleasure in reproducing the opinions and words of R. Jehudah Hallevi,11Comp. Ex. xx. 1; Dan. ix. 1. but does not tell us whether this feeling is owing to their affinity of mind or kinship. When authentic reports are missing, tradition and imagination step in, and supply the means to fill the gap. Thus we are informed of the fact, that Ibn Ezra was the son-in-law of R. Jehudah Hallevi, and in what manner Providence brought about that happy alliance. The story runs thus : Ibn Ezra, anxious to increase his knowledge by travelling, happened to come to the place in which R. Jehudah Hallevi lived, at a time when the latter had bound himself by a curious vow with regard to the future happiness of his only daughter.12R. Jehudah mentions his only daughter in a poem which he composed on his journey to Jerusalem. (Ginse Oxford, p. 45, and Divan of R. Jehudah Hallevi, ed. S. D. Luzzato, Lyck, 1864, No. 9.)
For the love of God would I forsake even her that sprang from my loins,
The beloved of my soul, though I have none but her
And I could forget even her son, whom I love like myself,
Though nought I have on earth except his memory dear.
Oh my child my delight! How could Judah forget
Or from remembrance banish his Judah? When the wife of R. Jehudah, in her anxiety to see her daughter married, had for weeks urged this subject upon her husband day by day; he, driven beyond the bounds of patience, angrily made a vow to marry his daughter to the first young man he met that day in the street. It was on the same day that he met Ibn Ezra. Faithful to his vow, R. Jehudah invited the stranger, whom he did not know, to his house, with the intention of making him his son-in-law. His wife, rather disappointed at seeing the tattered garments of the seemingly low-born and ignorant stranger, opposed the marriage. But R. Jehudah insisted upon the fulfilment of his vow, and began to instruct the stranger, who pretended to be quite ignorant. The pupil made wonderful progress, and the satisfaction of the master gradually reconciled the wife to his hopes and plans. Ibn Ezra was no longer looked upon in the light of a stranger, but as one of the family. One day R. Jehudah tarrying too long in his study, delayed the mid-day meal; his wife, anxious to know the reason of the delay, searched his study, and found a poem, which was nearly finished. It was the hymn for the Sabbath before Purim, beginning with the words, אדון חסדך בל יחדל (“O Lord, let Thy kindness not cease”), each verse commencing with the successive letter of the alphabet; the one, however, beginning with ד was not yet written, and this verse, as the author confessed, had caused the delay. Ibn Ezra looked at the manuscript, made a few suggestions here and there, and without much hesitation wrote down the verse that was wanted.13רצה האחד לשמור כפלים · משמרתו ומשמרת חברו שתי ידים · והשני סם בספל המים · שם שם לו: The prayer-book of the Karaites has the following line :—ויי הקדים רפואה טרם יבוא מכה · ותחשב לו ׃ רץ מרדכי לדבר לאסתר המלכה · לאמר למלך הנה עבדי׳ מכינים לו חכה · : (Landshuth, Amude Haabodah, I., p. 76.) The writer was at once recognised by his style, and R. Jehudah exclaimed: “Ibn Ezra, thou art truly a son of help” 14This is a pun on the name of Ibn Ezra, the meaning of which is, “son of help,” or “helper.”.(בן עזר) The disguise was broken off, and the marriage took place. R. Jehudah is said to have then described this happy event in the words of Scripture, “I made Abraham rich” אני העשרתי את אברם (Gen. xiv. 23). If, besides the wife he gave him, other treasures are here alluded to, they could not have been in his possession for a long time, as he was in needy circumstances throughout his life.
In spite of his profound acquirements and widely spread fame, he could not succeed in obtaining an office to secure a comfortable home for himself and his family. In consequence of his uninterrupted studies, he lived so entirely in an ideal world, that he perhaps lost sight of the claims of practical life. Whatever he undertook proved a failure, so that he at last exclaimed:—
אגיע להצליח ולא אוכל כי עותוני כוכבי שמי
לו אהיה סוחר בתכריכין לא יגועון אישים בכל ימי
גלגל ומזלות במעמדם עוו במהלכם למולדתי
לו יהיו נרות סחורתי לא יאסף שמש עדי מותי
“I cannot become rich, the fates are against me;
Were I a dealer in shrouds, no man would ever die.
Ill-starred was my birth, unpropitious the planets;
Were I a seller of candles, the sun would never set.”15Orient. 1843, Literaturbl. Note 1. Another form of it, in Geiger’s Jüdische Dichtungen, Leipzig, 1856, p. 21.
He repeatedly refers, in various epigrams, to his want of luck; yet he never allowed himself to be entirely overcome by the grievous pressure of poverty. He knew full well that the treasures which he had received from his parents, and which he was so successfully increasing were of sufficient value to compensate for the want of material wealth. He declares several times in his writings, that the true happiness of the pious is not increased by useless and unstable possessions. “Blind-hearted men,” he says in his Commentary on Genesis (xxv. 34), “think that the possession of riches is a sign of excellency for the righteous, but the example of Elijah proves the contrary.” Hence we do not discover in his works any signs of a downcast spirit, or of weariness of life; but we find him on the contrary always vigorous, lively, full of wit and humour, full of love for his people and for his national literature, full of trust and confidence in the Almighty, fired by an ardent desire continually to improve himself and others. How little desirous he was to meet his end, he showed in the following epigram, refusing the invitation which by a poetical conceit he imagines that his departed friend, R. Jehudah Hallevi, had given him to join him in his heavenly abode :—
R. Jehudah:—
ערבה שנתי ואהבתך דודי העירתני ראות צלמך
כתות זבול בחרו בשירך הן הם שלחוני קרוא בשמך
בא נא ונשירה ועל עפר נשכב ומה לך לחיות גלמך
“Though sweet my slumber, my strong love for thee
Bids me arise and seek thy presence, friend!
The heavenly angels yearn to hear thy song,
And ask thee now to join their holy ranks.
Come, let our spirits chant in unison,
While in the dust our wearied bodies rest.”
Ibn Ezra replies :—
אחי יהודה שוב שכב כי אל מאן לתתי להלוך עמך
עד אעשה בנים ומטעמים אוכל ולא אטעם במן טעמך
נעצב אני עלי מותך אך זאת עצב אשר לא אקחה ממך
“Return, my brother Judah, to thy rest,
For God permits me not to follow thee.
A happy lot may still be mine on earth;
For Heaven’s manna I’m not yet prepared,
And though my grief be bitter for thy death,
I cannot go where thou would’st beckon me.”16Ginse Oxford, pp. 20, 21.
After many disappointments and many failures, he at last resolved to leave his birthplace and his native country, in order to see whether a brighter and more genial sun would shine on him in a foreign land.
He was accompanied on his travels by his son Isaac, of whom Harizi in his Tahkemoni says :—
ויצחק בנו גם הוא ממקור השיר שאב ועל שירי הבן מזיו האב
“And also Isaac his son drew from the well-spring of poesy, And in his songs, shine reflected the genius of his father.”aa Tahkemoni, III., p. 70, ed. Stern, Wien, 1854.
In Damascus they seem to have parted; the son settled there, while the father continued his travels. Of his wife we hear nothing; she had probably died before he left his home, and to this bereavement he perhaps alludes in the introductory lines to the eighteenth chapter of Exodus, when he says :—
נאום אברהם אסיר תקוה אשר פתח עיני יתרו
עדי הלך חצי לבו וענה הנדוד יתרו
“Thus says Abraham, trusting in Him
Who opened the eyes of his mind,
When his heart’s blood half had been taken away,
And his spirit by wand’ring was bent.”
Of his great works none had yet appeared. While we highly admire the industry and perseverance, the productiveness and versatility he exhibited in later years, we cannot forbear from commending the great scholar for that combined modesty and wisdom which induced him to spend the first half of his life in preparing himself for his future career, by collecting and storing up materials, in cultivating carefully the garden of his mind, so that it might at a later period produce the choicest and most precious fruits.
When he left his country, his steps were probably directed towards that small piece of land which especially at that time—the period of the Crusades—attracted the eyes and the attention of the whole world; to the Holy Land, to that country, which had drawn thither the great poet R. Jehudah Hallevi, the author of the celebrated elegy ציון הלא תשאלי וגו׳ “Zion, wilt thou not ask, etc.” But Ibn Ezra by no means restricted his travels to Palestine. Dr. Zunz, in his Essay on the Geographical Literature of the Jews17Translated from the German into English in the Travels of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, ed. A. Asher, vol. ii. p. 250. says concerning his travels: “He visited Rome as early as 1140, and died in that city in 1168. In the intervening time he had been in several other Italian towns, and also in Provence, France, England, Africa, Rhodes, perhaps in Palestine, and according to some authors even in India. This great traveller, who was well versed in literature, an excellent observer of what passed under his eyes and a profound astronomer, has left us in his theological works, and very probably also in the astronomical Reshith Chohkma, important remarks on Egypt, Gadames, Arabia, Palestine, Persia and India; the tables which he computed in Narbonne and in Lucca, also contain statements of the situation of cities, etc. The commentary on Daniel is particularly rich in geographical information.”
The places which Ibn Ezra visited in his travels, are occasionally mentioned by him in his works; but the information given in those remarks, however copious and interesting, is of too fragmentary a character to enable us to form a correct idea of his travels, and of the impressions he took with him from each country. We are left in darkness even concerning his route ; we do not know whether it was similar to that chosen about twenty years after by Benjamin of Tudela, namely from Saragossa by way of Catalonia, the South of France, Italy, Greece, the Archipelago, Rhodes, Cyprus and Cilicia to Syria, Palestine, the countries of the Khalif and Persia, and thence by the Indo-Arabian Ocean, the towns of the coast of Yemen, Egypt and Sicily, to Castile,18Ibid. p. 251. or in the opposite direction, from Spain by way of Egypt and Arabia to India and Persia, thence through Syria, Palestine, Rhodes, Greece, Italy, France to England, and then again by way of France either to Spain or Italy.
From a remark of his pupil, R. Solomo Parchon,19,וכשבאו ר׳ יהודה הלוי ור׳ אברהם בן עזרא ש״ץ לאפריקין “And when R. Jehudah Hallevi and R. Abraham Ibn Ezra (may his Rock protect him) came to Africa.” Parchon, Aruch. ed., Introduction, p. 4. it would seem that he came to Africa together with R. Jehudah Hallevi, when the latter was on his way to the Holy Land. An anecdote represents him as visiting Egypt at the time when the great philosopher Maimonides was living there. Ibn Ezra desirous of making the acquaintance of Moses ben Maimon, made several attempts to see him, but in vain; his disappointment found vent in an epigram which has probably suggested the story :—
אשכים לבית השר אומרים כבר רכב
אבוא לעת ערב אומרים כבר שכב
או יעלה מרכב או יעלה משכב
אויה לאיש עני נולד בלי כוכב ׃
“I call on the prince in the morning, I am told he has ridden away;
I call again in the evening, I hear he has retired to rest.
Whether he be out on horseback or rest on his couch,
Disappointment is my lot, ill-starred that I am.”20Orient. 1843, Literaturbl. p. 658.
In Africa he seems to have copied the critical remarks of R. Adonim against Saadiah; he afterwards composed in Lucca a reply in defence of the Gaon, and called it Sefath Yether.21These words denote “haughty language,” or “language of distinction.” If taken in the former sense, Ibn Ezra alluded to the language which R. Adonim used in his attacks on R. Saadiah ; if in the latter sense, he referred to the holy language, implying that the book contains remarks on the Hebrew language. Comp. Sephath Yether, etc., ed. by Dr. G. H. Lippman, Frankfort a. M., 1843, Introd. p. 20. The literati in Africa are blamed by Ibn Ezra for their carelessness concerning the revision of the copies made from their works, because the mistakes made by the first transcriber usually become the seed of errors and corruptions which multiply with every fresh copy. But all the carefulness and conscientiousness of Ibn Ezra did not save his works from that fate; their text is exceedingly mutilated and corrupt. But little is said in his commentaries on the Bible of his observations and investigations in Africa. He gives some interesting information about the Nile,22Comp. Commentary on Gen. ii. 11 ; Ex. vii. 15. the position of Raamses,23Comp. Com. on Ex. xii. 31. the Red Sea, etc.24Comp. Com. on Ex. xiii. 18 ; xiv. 27, 29. In Arabia he tasted the so-called manna, and convinced himself by experiments that it was quite different from that heavenly manna which God gave the Israelites during their wanderings through the Arabian desert.25Comp. Com. on Ex. xvi. 13. While staying in Tiberias in Palestine, he devoted himself to the study of old manuscripts of the Bible, and had conferences with the elders of the congregation on that subject.26Comp. Com. on Ex. xxv. 32. Tiberias was certainly not the only town in Palestine which he visited, but it is doubtful whether he ventured upon entering the Holy City, which at the time when a Christian sovereign ruled in it, would not offer to the Jewish pilgrim any protection or safety. There are some critics, both of the old and modern school, who are of opinion that Ibn Ezra never was in Jerusalem, because his remarks touching its topography are based on imagination rather than on personal investigation, and appear to be in direct opposition to the results of modern scientific researches. He declares27Comp. Com. on Ps. xlviii. 3 ; Is. xiv. 13. that Zion is in the north of Jerusalem, while it is generally supposed that it occupies the south of the city. It is true that Zion, the mount which David took and chose for his residence, is in the south; but that Mount soon became the principal and most important part of the city, while its name was transferred to the Temple-mount, to the north (or the north-east) of the former place and therefore in the north of Jerusalem. A visit paid to that place would hardly have altered the opinion of Ibn Ezra.
It seems that he extended his travels to Persia and India. Abudirham, in his commentary on the Haggadah, tells us that Ibn Ezra came to India as a captive, and that the fare which he and his fellow sufferers received while in prison, consisted chiefly of unleavened bread; and he concludes from this fact, that this kind of food being considered more economical, was for that reason given to the Israelites by Pharaoh, and that this is meant by the words of the Haggadah: “Such is the bread of affliction, which our forefathers ate in Egypt.” Ibn Ezra seems, however, to have liked the frugal Indian meals, at which no meat was served; they were vegetarians;28Comp. Com. on Ex. viii. 22. their rice-bread is highly spoken of by our traveller.29Comp. Com. on Dan. i.
Even from the scanty remarks which we find in his commentaries, we may conclude how attentively he observed everything in the countries through which he travelled. He studied everywhere the character and customs of the people, their dress, and food. He found, e.g., that the Arab tribes were scrupulously exact in their weights and measures;30Comp. Com. on Ex. xxx. 23. that the Hindoos touch the thigh of a person to indicate their submission.31Comp. Com. on Gen. xxiv. 2. He noticed that the bonnets which the ladies wore in Italy, and the male headgear in Spain, Arabia, Egypt, Babylon, and Bagdad, resembled the mitre worn by the high priest.32Comp. Com. on Ex. xxviii. 36. He observed that the food given to Daniel and his companions, instead of the royal dainties, probably consisted of rice and beans, both of which were nourishing and healthy, provided the latter were not French beans, which were of an inferior quality, and injurious to the health.33Comp. Com. on Dan. i. His remarks on the Nile,34See note 22. on the Mediterranean,35See note 24. the difference of time between London or other places and Jerusalem,36Comp. Com. on Num. xiii. 17 ; Ex. xii. 2; Gen. xxxiii. 10. Yesod. Mora, c. 1. and similar interesting observations, show that he made himself well acquainted with the physical, mathematical, and political geography of the various countries through which he passed. It need hardly be said, that the condition of the Jews, the opinion and knowledge which other people had of his brethren, were matters of great interest to Ibn Ezra. A few remarks on that point tell us how strange and sorrowful the results of his researches are, and how much he himself must have suffered as a Jewish traveller.37Comp. Com. on Is. liii.
A curious anecdote is related in connexion with his travels. It is said, that once when he was on board a vessel with some of his pupils, a raging storm compelled the captain to throw every ninth man of the passengers overboard ; by means of an algebraical formula, which his mathematical knowledge had discovered, he placed himself and his party in such a position that the fatal number never reached one of them; but neither the plan of the captain, nor the counter-plot of Ibn Ezra is sufficiently known.38See R. Mose b. Chabib. Darche Noam.; De Rossi Dizzionario, sub voce Aben Ezra.
His stay in Italy, France, and England, has been enduringly commemorated by his literary productions. In Rome he seems to have unsealed the spring of his knowledge;39If he composed any works before he came to Rome, they have remained unknown. The book Moznaïm, quoted in most of the writings of Ibn Ezra seems, at all events, to have been one of his earliest productions. and when once the stream had found its way out of the invisible source, it continued to run incessantly, and poured forth its blessings in abundance. He commenced his literary career by translating a grammatical work of Rabbi Jehudah Hayyug from Arabic into Hebrew. This book paved the way for his independent treatises on Hebrew grammar, which he composed in Rome, Lucca, and Mantua; namely, Moznaïm (balance), Zahoth (elegance of style), Safa Berurah (pure language), and Sefar Hayyesod (the book on the elements of the language).
In Rome he also commenced to write a commentary upon the Scriptures; he began with two books, which on account of their contents seem to have most engaged his philosophical mind—Ecclesiastes and Job. He worthily used the ample opportunities given in these works for the display of his talents, experience, and knowledge. His style and mode of witticism, his principles and arguments, must have been entirely new to his brethren in Italy, where the study of Talmud and Midrash, and the style of Kalir’s poetry seems to have obtained the victory over the exegetical, grammatical, philosophical, and poetical works of the Spanish school. We are not informed how far he succeeded in enlisting among the Italian Jewish communities the attention and respect due to these branches of learning; but this is certain, that he found friends and admirers, who eagerly listened to his instruction, and gladly provided for his livelihood. His books were bought, and he was continually encouraged to write new works.
While in his introduction to Ecclesiastes, he prays to God,
להגיה חשכו, להצליח דרכו, אשר נשאר עד כה, כאלה נבלת
“to enlighten his darkness, to prosper his way, which till then had been strown with withering leaves,” he was able to declare, when about to write the commentary on the book of Lamentations:
הוצאתני מארץ ספרד חמת המציקים
וספרי אלו בגלותי היו בידי מחזיקים
“the wrath of oppressors hath driven me from Spain, and on my wanderings these books have sustained my soul.” As a mark of distinction, and as a token of gratitude, he usually dedicated his work to his principal patron, or a studious pupil, in a few introductory rhymes. Many of these dedicatory epigrams are still extant.40He wrote the Sefer Haschem for Abraham, the son of Hayim, and Isaac, the son of Jehudah; the Sefath Yether for his pupil Hayim; Yesod Mora he composed for some liberal and noble man in London of the name of Salomon. In the Introduction to the Commentary on Job, the name of the patron to whom the work was dedicated seems to have been omitted.
Besides Rome, he visited other towns in Italy, such as Salerno,41Then celebrated for the medical school established there, which attracted a great many learned and studious people. The question as to the first place visited by Ibn Ezra will be discussed in the third part of this Introduction, in treating of the works of Ibn Ezra. Lucca, and Mantua. In the first named place he seems to have been very much disappointed. He complains of the ignorance of its inhabitants, and of their indifference to science and literature; and traces it to the deficiency and incapacity of the spiritual chief of the congregation, R. Isaac ben Malki Zedek, whose talents Ibn Ezra describes in the following satire :—
“To his ignorant flock he exclaims,
Full well am I versed in Talmudical lore ;42The Mishnah is divided into six parts:—1. זרעים (lit. “seeds”), containing the laws concerning the daily prayer and benedictions, and laws in connection with agriculture. 2. מועל (“season”): on the Sabbath and festivals. 3. נשים (“women”): on matrimonial laws. 4. נזיקין (“damages”): on civil and criminal law. 5. קדשים (“holy things”): on sacrifices. 6. טהרות (“pure things”); on the distinction between “pure” and “impure.”
He uplifteth his voice, to reach to the clouds,
Yet in the easiest chapters he signally fails.
Even the veriest tyro can discover his errors.
He reads in Taharoth,43The sixth part of the Mishnah, treating of laws in abeyance since the destruction of the Temple, is generally neglected by Talmudists, and is therefore held to be in some measure terra incognita. and knows not his Bible;
Its very beginning, familiar to all, even to a child,
Is a hard task to him.”
The satire is not only directed against this R. Isaac, but also against his adherents, who allowed themselves to be so egregiously deceived. He probably found also in that congregation some noble hearted and intelligent men, who knew how to appreciate his talents, but there was no demand for his works; no one asked him to write a new book.
בכל מקום גרתי ספרים חברתי
וסודות בארתי וכראי מוצקים
ועתה נפלתי לעפר שפלתי ⋯⋯
ופה לא אפתח פי שדי דעתי צמקים
“Wherever I have stayed, I wrote many books,
And made clear what was hidden, like unto a mirror.
But now am I fallen, to the dust am I lowered;
And my mouth dare I not open here.
My spring of knowledge is sealed up.”
When R. Salomon Parchon,44Salom. b. Abr. Parchon, Aragonensis, Lexicon Hebraicum, ed. Stern, Presburg, 1844. “When I came to Salerno, and noticed that they were not in possession of any of the above-named works, I resolved to write a dictionary,” etc. P. xxii. a pupil of Ibn Ezra, came to that place, it was still very destitute of knowledge of Hebrew literature ; nevertheless a slight improvement seems, in the meantime, to have taken place, since he thought it useful to write a Hebrew grammar and a dictionary there. In Mantua and Lucca, Ibn Ezra was more successful. The latter place called by him (עיר מושבי) his residence, was the birthplace of many of his works. Besides some pamphlets on matters touching astronomy and mathematics, he wrote there his commentary on Isaiah. When suddenly stricken with illness at that place, he vowed in prayer to God, that if recovery from that illness should be vouchsafed to him he would at once undertake to write a commentary on the Pentateuch.45Ginse Oxford, p. xvi.: ונדרתי לאל נדר בחליי לבאר דת סיני בהר נתונה “In my sickness I vowed a vow to the Lord, that I would explain the Law which He revealed on Sinai.” He recovered, and the fulfilment of the vow was not delayed for a moment. Such was his facility in composition, such were his energy and perseverance, that though he was at that time sixty-four years old, he was able to complete the whole work in a very short time. The frequent repetition of phrases like אם יעזרני השם, “If God will assist me,” or “If God will grant me to come so far,”46Comp. Com. on Gen. xxii. 1; xxxviii. 8 ; Lev. xxvii. 34. remind us of his dangerous illness, and the debility that for some time remained after his convalescence. The commentary on the Pentateuch known to us, is perhaps not the same as that which was written in Lucca on that occasion, or at least it has not come to us in the same form; it was afterwards revised, rewritten, abridged in some parts, and extended in others. Parts of the various editions of this commentary which he issued are still in existence.47Another commentary exists on Genesis in MS., being much lengthier than the printed one. On Exodus, a shorter commentary has been discovered, and published by Reggio. ביאור על ספר שמות נקרא הקצר. Prague, 1840. Comp. Ginse Oxford, p. xv. (Hebr.) and xviii. (Engl.). When he came to England, whither his fame had preceded him, he was well received, and many scholars, thirsting for his instruction, assembled round him. His impatience did not suffer him to make a long stay. This short visit, however, became memorable by the production of two pamphlets, the one יסוד מורא, “The Foundation of the Fear of the Lord,” a treatise on the study of the Law, and the nature of the Divine commandments; the other, אגרת השבת, “A Letter of the Sabbath,” a treatise on the time when the sacred day really commences. The former he wrote for a certain Salomon, of London, whose liberality, truthfulness, and fear of the Lord he praises in the introduction, saying, חברתיו לנדיב שלמה שלמד לפני ספרים שחברתי לו ומרוב אהבתי אותו הוגעתי נפשי לכתוב לו ספר במצות כי ראיתיו כי הוא איש אמת וישר וירא את יי (I wrote it for the noble Salomon, who studied under me the books which I wrote for him, and in my love for him I took pains to compose for him a book on the divine commandments, for I found him to be a man of truth, upright, and God-fearing).48Yesod. Mora. c. 2. One of his pupils in England, Joseph of Maudeville, copied the minor prophets, and added such remarks as he had heard from the mouth of his master;49Comp. MS. Brit. Mus.
ואני יוסף בר׳ יעקב ממודויל העתקתיו ממכתב יד המהבר גם הוספתי קצת פירוש על לשונו כאשר הוא פירש לי בעת חבורו רק בעבור שהוא לש׳ פירושי סימנתי הטורים הנוספים בשתי נקודות בראש הטור ובבל מקום שימצאו השתי נקודות בין מלה למלה היא תוספת פירושי מפיו
“And I, Joseph, the son of Jacob of Maudeville, copied this from the author’s MS. I have also added to his words a few remarks which he made unto me when he was engaged in writing his book: but since they are given in my own words, I marked the additional lines by two points at the beginning and the end of my interpolations; and whenever the two points occur between two words, they relate to my notice of his additional commentaries.” This remark in the MS. of the Br. Mus. is not written by Joseph, the son of Jacob of Maudeville, since the two points, referred to, have been omitted by the later copyist. he also added some remarks to Ibn Ezra’s commentary on the Pentateuch, coming from the same source.50Com. on Ex. xii. 9. Before going to England, and after his return thence, he probably stayed in France. Bezières and Rhodez, two places in the south of France, are mentioned in his works. He received there ample marks of honour and respect from all quarters, especially from the Rabbinical authorities of France, who could appreciate the merits and enter into the spirit of his works.
To some complimentary lines of R. Jacob Tam, Ibn Ezra replies:
ומי הביא לצרפתי בבית שיר, ועבר זר מקום קדש ורמס, ולו שיר יעקב ימתק כמו מן, אני שמש, וחם השמש ונמס
“Who brought the Frenchman to the temple of song,
And allowed a stranger to tread sacred soil ?
And though the poem of Jacob were sweeter than manna,
I am the sun, whose heat makes it melt.”
R. Jacob Tam writes to him :
אבי עזרי ישיבוהו סעפיו אשד נתן ידידו בין אגפיו אני עבד לאברהם למקנה ואקורה ואשתחוה לאפיו
“My father, my help, who guidedst my steps;
I am Abraham’s slave; I bow down and serve thee.”
Ibn Ezra replies:
הנכון אל אביר עם אל ורועם
להשפיל ראש במכתב אל בזוי עם
וחלילה למלאך אלהים אשר יקד וישתחוה לבלעם ׃
“Is it right that the leader of the people of God should indite an epistle to me, the despised P
Forbid it that an angel of Heaven should bow himself prostrate before Balaam !”51Kerem Chemed. vii. 35.
Here, in France, he continued his literary career, as it would seem, under happy auspices, and wrote commentaries on several books of the Bible.
Ibn Ezra died seventy-five years old, in Kalahorra, on the frontier of Navarre, as some report,52Abraham Zakuta, in his Sefer Hajjochasin. or in Rome according to other authorities.53Comp. Zunz, Die Monatstage des Kalenderjahres, Berlin, 1872, p. 4. When he felt that death was approaching, he applied to himself the words of the Bible, ואברם בן חמש ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן. “And Abram (Ibn Ezra) was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran,” that is, from the troubles of this life (Gen. xii. 4).54The word חרן is used here in the sense of חרון, “anger,” or “trouble.” According to a statement found in several codices (Cod. Val. No. 39 and No. 249; comp. Sephat Yether, ed. Lipmann, p. 22), Ibn Ezra died on Monday, the 1st of Adar I. 4927 (January 23, 1167), 75 years old. Consequently he was born in 1092. The authenticity of this statement has been impugned, but without effect. The principal objection was taken from a poem which precedes the Sefer Zahoth of I. E., written 1146, and contains the line, ואברהם זקן בעוף נודד מקן, “And Abraham, being old, wandering about, as a bird driven from its nest.” It has been urged that Ibn Ezra could not have been called “old” in the year 1146, if, in 1167, he was 75 years old. But it must not be overlooked, first, that the term “old” has a relative meaning; and Ibn Ezra, although only 54 years old, but worn out by the cares and troubles of his constant exile, might well have applied that expression to himself; secondly, that the poem might have been written by another person, who called Ibn Ezra זקן, “old,” in the sense which that term often has in Hebrew writings, namely, “experienced” and “learned.” From these lines we learn, at the same time, that the name of the grandson of R. Jehudah was not Isaac, the name of Ibn Ezra’s son, and that the daughter of R. Jehudah was therefore not the wife of Ibn Ezra.