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52 Arabic Literature of the Jews

Doctors " was compiled at the beginning of the century by Ibn al-Hiti (G. Margoliouth, "Jew. Quart. Rev.," ix. 429-443). As late as the seventeenth century David b. Moses Feiruz composed a treatise in imitation of Bahyah ibn Pakudah's " Guide to the Duties of the Heart." Even at the present day, Arabic is used, although not largely, by Karaites in Egypt: in that language they read the Passover Haggadah (ed. Presburg, 1868). 3. Saadia : The development of Arabic literature among Rabbinites is indirectly due to the Karaites. Saadia of Fayum (see Saadia Gaon) was the first to enter the lists against the latter with various polemical treatises, of which various fragments have lately come to light. His works not only extend over every branch of Jewish learning then in existence, but he even created a new one namely, religious philosophy. It was evidently his intention to prevent Rabbinite Jews from making use of Karaite writings of any kind. His translation and commentaries on nearly the whole Bible earned for him the ite

fifteenth



name

of "The Commentator"; and his version of the Pentateuch in particular obtained such popularity that it was looked upon in the light of a Targum, and is still so considered in Arabic-speaking countries. It is found in Yemen MSS. side by side with the Targum Onkelos. Under the title "Agron," he also produced a philological work, the onljexisting fragment of which has recently been published by Harkavy, together with the remains of his " Sefer ha-Galuy " (" Studien und Mittheilungen aus der Kaiserl. Bibl. zu St. Petersburg," v.). He also wrote a treatise on " Ninety [seventy] Unique or Rare Words in the Bible " (the original is lost, but the Hebrew version has been edited by A. Jellinek) and a large grammatical work. For liturgical purposes he provided a prayer-book, which he enriched with many compositions of his own, whilst the directions were written in Arabic. He also wrote a chronological treatise, and another on the law of inheritance (H. Derenbourg and Mayer Lambert, ix., "Traitedes Successions, "etc., Paris, 1897). (For Saadia's philosophical writings see below.) To the number of pseudonymous writings under his name, belong a Midrash on the Decalogue (ed. Eisenstadter, Vienna, 1868; Joseph Shabbethai Farkhi, 1849) which is, however, nothing but a paraphrase made for liturgical purposes and a description of man (Steinschneider, "Cat. Berlin," i. 48). Having thus briefly sketched the man4. Bible

—

—



ner in which Jewish-Arabic literature was brought into existence among Rabbinites, it will be best to outline its further development according to Next to Saadia, Gaon Samuel b. subject-matter.

Hofni of Bagdad (died 1034) wrote commentaries on various Biblical books, but only part of them survive (Samuel b. Hofni, " Trium Sectionum Posteriorum Libri Genesis Versio Arabica," 1886). The decline of Jewish learning in Irak was followed by its rise in Spain; and Arabic appears as the favor-

language for Jewish writings. H a f? al-Kuti, the Goth (1000-1050), composed a metrical paraphrase of the Psalms (A. Neubauer, " Revue Etudes juives," xxx. 65-69). Moses ha-Kohen Gikatilla of Cordova (1050-1080), stimulated by Abu al-Walid's grammatical and lexical writings, composed comite

52

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

mentaries on the Pentateuch, the Prophets, Psalms, Job, Canticles, and Daniel; but only fragments of them have been preserved, in the form of quotations in the works of later authors (S. Poznanski, " Ibn Jiqatilla Nebst den Fragmenten Seiner Schriften," Leipsic, 1895). To the same period probably belong two anonymous translations of

Isaac ben Judah ben Ghayat (1039) left a version of Ecclesiastes (ed. J. Loewy, Leyden, 1884).

Ruth.

A younger

contemporary but very

bitter

opponent

of Moses Gikatilla was Judah b. Balaam of Toledo His commentaries on the Bible have (1070-1090). likewise been but incompletely handed down (see Neubauer, "The Fifty-third Chapter of Isaiah," pp.

Bacher, Stade's

384-385;

" Zeitschrift, "

xiii.

129-

Fragments of an anonymous commentary on the Psalms, dating from the twelfth century, are 155).

preserved in the library of St. Petersburg. In 1142 the physician Hibat Allah (Nathanael) commented on Ecclesiastes. He subsequently embraced Islam. At the beginning of the thirteenth century Joseph b. Aknin, Maimonides' renowned pupil, is supposed to have written a commentary on Canticles and a treatise on Biblical measures (Munk, "Notice sur Joseph b. Jehoudah," in "Journal Asiatique," 1842, Steinschneider and Neubauer, in "Magazin," xiv. commentary of his on the Pentateuch is 1888). mentioned by Al-Mwakkit (MS. Brit. Mus. Add. Somewhat later Tan27294, p. 166).

A

hum of Jerusalem composed commen-

Com-

taries on the Pentateuch and on many other parts of the Bible ("Commentary on Joshua," ed. Th. Haarbrilcker, Berlin, 1862; Isaac b. Sam" Coram, on Judges," ed. Goldziher). uel ha-Sefardi (end of the fourteenth century), who commented on the Prophets, likewise lived in Palestine (Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl.," xix. 135, commentary on the second book of Samxx. 10). uel was written by Isaac b. Samuel (Margoliouth, "Jew. Quart. Rev.," x. 385-403). Part of this commentary is to be found in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In the fifteenth century there flourished in Yemen Abraham b. Solomon, who compiled notes on the Prophets (Poznanski, I.e. p. 68). commentary on Esther, regarded as a pseudonymous work of Maimonides, was edited (Leghorn, 1759)

mentaries.

A

A

by Abraham b. Daniel Lumbroso. It probably dates from the sixteenth century, and is written in the dialect of Maghreb. The last century has witnessed a new awakening of literary interest among the Jews of Asia and Africa; and the printingpresses of Leghorn, Cairo, Algiers, Oran, Jerusalem, are busy with translations, chiefly of those books of the Bible that are used in the liturgy, viz., Pentateuch, Haftarot, Psalms, the Five Scrolls, and Job ("Hebr. Bibl." xiii. 49). translation of the whole Bible by Eze-

Bombay, Poona, and Calcutta

A

Shem-Tob David was printed in Bombay in 1889, and one of the Apocrypha by Joseph David in

kiel

1895.

Following in the wake of exegesis there sprang

up a

literature of Midrashic

and homiletic explana-

British Museum possesses manuscripts (Or. 66-70) of discourses on the Pentateuch, which are attributed to David b. Abraham, tion of the Bible.

The

Maimonides' grandson.

The bulk

of the homiletic