The Book of Asceticism (Commentary on Ecclesiastes)
Isaac Ibn Ghiyath (attrib.)
Mid- to Late 11th Century
The Book of Asceticism (Kitāb al-zuhd) offers a detailed commentary on Ecclesiastes with a full Judeo-Arabic translation. In these excerpts, the author first discusses the way language can and cannot convey meaning, and how that has an impact upon the interpretation of the divine word, the Hebrew Bible. He then turns to the relative merits of faithful transmission versus learned innovation with regard to the elaboration of Jewish law.
Related Guide
Early Medieval Bible Translations and Commentaries
Creator Bio
Isaac Ibn Ghiyath
Isaac ben Judah Ibn Ghiyath was a leader of Andalusi Jewry and an accomplished poet, halakhist, and exegete. The descendant of an old Jewish family of Lucena, a Spanish city with a large Jewish population at the time, Ibn Ghiyath came to head the academy there after the death of Isaac al-Fāsī (Rif) and wrote a treatise on the laws of the festivals as well as a commentary on the Talmud. His piyyutim, which incorporate scientific and philosophical concepts, were significant early steps toward the use of Hebrew for scientific writing. His halakhic writings drew from both geonic and Andalusi authorities, particularly Samuel ha-Nagid (993–1056).
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