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58 ;

Abi^doi-

THE JEWISH EXCYCLOPEDIA

Abigdor Zuvidal

mentionwl as the mother of Ainnsn. but is called Ahi^ail the ilaU{:literof Nahasli. and lur livisbaiul is This versimi of her hiiscalliil lllini llic Isnielite. For the baiuls luiinc is ptolialilv miner the Irulh. rabbinical viiwseel!. li. IT. and Targ. H C'hron. ii. 17, after

Vibaimil,

ll'i.

The prudent and beautiful 2. Biblical Data: wife of Nal)al, a i)rosiieroiis but avaricious Calebile noble of the town of t'arniel in southern Judah (1 Sam. ..v. :!). Vhen Nabal refused to pay David compensiitioii for his proteetion. Abiirail on her own initiative mi-t llie outlaw ]irinie willi irifls and a conciliatory address, thcnliy winninj; his favor and delivering her husliaud from the threatened attaik on his life. Xabal died soon after, and Abigail became the wife of David, bringing to him her wealth and sharing with him his trying experiences as a vassiil of the king of Gath (1 Sam. ..vii. 3, ..x. 5). While he was king at Ilebion. she bore him a son. Chileab. or Daniel, who appears, however, to have died before reaching manhood (I Sam. ..v. 4'2: II Sam.

iii.

C.

3).

In Rabbinical Literature



F

K.

The Ilaggadah

re-

gards Aliigail as one of llic must reniarkal>le women She was one of the four great in Jewish history. beauties, the otiier three being Sarah. Kahab. and Estlier(.Meg.

'>ii)-

Her charm was

irresistible toall

David, who tirst beheld her while she was still the wife of Xabal. almost fell a victim to her charms and was only restifiined by Abigail's She was moral strength and dignity (Meg. I.e.). also a proi)lutess: in sjiying to David, " This shall be no grief unto thee " (f Sam. xxv. 31), Abigail foreshadowed that another woman (Bathshcba) would one day play a disiistrons role in his life. With all her superior i|ualities Abigail was not free from feminine coquetry; for when she begged David for mercj' toward her husband, she added the seemingly insignificant words: "then remendjer thine handmaid " (/.)- It is for this conduct, unbecoming in amarried woman, as the Ilaggadah observes, that, in the following verse, Abigail is written without the letter "yodh (thus, " Abagal"), to intimate; that Abigail had shown herself unworthy of the letter with which the name of God begins (Midr. Siim. xxiii. see >Ieg. 14((. 15i; Jlidr. Teh. to Ps. liii. compare also Sanh. ii. 4). L. G.

who gazed on

her.



ABIGDOR

A

prtcnomen, as well as a family appeared in the Middle Ages and which is still in use. In Russia it is pronounced " Vigder." It is supposed to be the Biblical mj '3X ("Father of Gedor": I Chron. iv. 18) though some scholars have connected it with the Latin "Victor."

name, which



lirst



The reason for the frequent use of the name is that, according to the pas.sage in Chronicles. "Abigdor" was one of the appellations of Jloses (see Lev. R. in the

begimnng

DOR:

of the

tir.st

Compare Avio-

chapter).

sec Xami-:s.

G.

ABIGDOR, ABRAHAM (called also Bonet A physician, ben MeshuUam ben Solomon)

philosopher, and translatnr: burn in Provence, probHe should not be confounded ably at Aries, in lliod.

with Maestro Abraham .bigdor. who in 13K(! was " the proprietor of a house at .Vrles (" Monatsschrift. Abraham Abigdor devoteil his 1880. pp. 410. 411). early life to the study of medicine and philosoiihy. At the age of seventeen (13fiT) he wrote "Sefer Segnllat Melakim " (Royal Treasure), a work on logic in rimed prose in the main a Hebrew imitation of the "Tendencies of the Philosophers," by Ghazali, but of independent value in the more purely logical por-

—

58

Afterward he went to Montpellier tions of the book. to study meilicine and to be instructed, as he himself writes, by Christian scholars. He tninslaled the folh)W iiig Latin works into Hebrew (1) I'mler tin- title. " .Mebo bi-.Melakah " (Introduction to the I'mctiseof Medicine), the treatise on iimli rid iiudicauf the chancellor or (lean of the faculty. Hernard Alherti. which

on book iv. of the "Canon of AvieenAccording to Steinschneider (" Hebr. I'ebers." 777) the original Latin has been printed imder the

treatise is ba.sed

na." p.

.

"Gentilisde Fulgineo." (i) The " .Medieationis Pand)ol:e " of Arnauld de Villelieuve (137H). (3) Cnder the title. "Sefer Mebo ha Xe'arim"(Introiliielion for the Young), the elementary treatise on fi-vers, by Gerard de Solo (1379). (4) ""Megillah," the tri'atise of Arnaidd de Villeneuve on " Digestive and Purgative Medicines" (13S1). (."))" Almanzuri." the abridged commentary of Gerard de Solo on the idnth book of title

Razi's " Ad Almansorem." The translation is greatly abbreviated. Iiiit remarks of his own, derived from (fi) personal experience, are added, "Tratato" or "Iliggayon," from the "Tra<tatus Summularum." a treatise on logic, by Picrii- d'EspagiK'. (7) E.planations of the miildle commentary of Averroes (Ibn Roslnl) on the lirst three parts of the "Organon": the "Isiigoge." the "Categories." and the "Interpretation." This is derived not only from Arabic but also from Latin sources. In 1391) Abigdor a.ssisted his son Solomon, then only fifteen years of age. in the translation of the Latin treatise. "De Judieiis Astronomia-." or "Capittda Astrologia" of Arnauld de Villeneuve into Ilebrew, under the title " Paniin ba-Mishpat." See

AmoDou, Solomon. BiiiLKiriRArnv: Lf-i Ecrivains Juifn Frani^aiii, pp. T1T-T21; Gross, (JallUt

Judaka.

pp. SS3, XS4.

S.

ABIGDOR COHEN:

IC.

distinrabbi, giiisheil for learning and wealth, who lived in Ferrara about the mitldle of the fifteenth eenlnry. Joseph Kolon. the most imiiorlanl Talmudist of Italy at that time, spojiks of him in terms of the It can not be saiil with certainty highest respect.

Italian

is the author of the Vatican manuscript "Sha'are ha-Musar" (Gates of Moral Law), as ]VIi-

that he

chael asserts.

The name of

the |>erson to

whom this

manuscript is asciibed was borne by a number of medieval ralibis. and it is more probable that Abigdor Cohen of Vienna is the author: for he was held in especial honor in Rome, as may be inferred from almost every page of the "Shibbole ha-Leket." BiBI.lo(ii.vi'nv: Michael, Or ha-Hamiiin. No. 12. L. G.

ABIGDOR BEN ELIJAH HA-KOHEN (called :d>o Abigdor Cohen Zedek) : The earliest of the great Talmudists of .ustria; flourished about He was the the middle of the thirteenth century.

pupil of R. Simlia of Speyer (who nourished about 1220), but be knew also R. Joel ha Levi of IJonii (who flourished about 1175). Abigdor lived in Vienna, and from there administered the religious affairs of the Jewish po|)ulation of Austria. Of his writings we possess only a comirientary on the Pentateuch and the five Mcgillot. which still exist in manuseri]U. From various sources we know that he also wrote Tosjifot to the treatise Ketubot. The luost pronii nent scholars of Germany often applied to him for advice on dillicnlt ritualistic problems, theoretical or practical, and attached great importance to his decisions. He had also distinguished pupils, among whom was the eminent Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg. BiiiLiocRArHT: MIcbael, Or ha-Hauuiiiu No. 10; Zunz, Z. O. pp.



42, 1S8.

L. G.