Commentary: On 1 Samuel

Commentary on 1 Samuel 2:3

Late 11th or Early 12th Century

About This Entry

This early Judeo-Persian commentary is ascribed to an otherwise unknown Gerson ben Yefet, “the teacher,” although it is not known whether Gerson was the author or just the copyist. This text first criticizes the astronomers and philosophers, then it turns to Christians (Edom) and Muslims (Ishmael). The aversion to non-Jewish knowledge was shared by other Persian Jews in the tenth and eleventh centuries. This text has some affinities to the work of the tenth-century Karaite Yefet ben Eli.

Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth. (1 Samuel 2:3)

Talk no more. Do not talk anymore so very proudly, so very highly [lit., “proud, proud, high, high”], and may abomination not come out of your mouth.

Know that Ḥannah said these things concerning two matters. The first—concerning the astronomers and the philosophers of the world who do not believe in the prophets. And they say: “The creation of the world was thus,” which should not be said or written, all of which David abhorred and said: O Lord, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me (Psalms 131:1). For they say about the sun: “Its size [lit., ‘length’] is this much,” and they say about the moon: “It is larger [lit., ‘longer’] than the earth.” They say about the stars this much and such. And they say many things about the Lord, who is God, and do not believe in the prophets. And they say other [things] about God that should not be said.

The second matter—she said [it] about the kingdom of ’Edom and Ishma‘el. For ’Edom says that Jesus is in heaven, and he says: “As long as the world exists, my kingdom shall exist.” As he said: “Your proud heart has deceived you, you that live in the clefts of the rock, [whose dwelling is in the heights.] You say,” etc. (Obadiah 1:3). Ishma‘el says worse than this, as he said: “In the prophecy of Isaiah [it is written that] the pasul¹ will appear.” And he [i.e., Isaiah] says this: “You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14). And he [i.e., Ishma‘el] said many things [of] heresy.

And Asaph said about this: “They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression” (Psalms 73:8). And Moses said about them: “They pour out their arrogant words; all the evildoers boast” (Psalms 94:4).

Let not arrogance come from [your mouth]. Its interpretation [is] may arrogance not come from your mouth.

Source: St. Petersburg RNL MS Evr.-Arab. I 4608.

Translated by Ofir Haim.

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Notes

Words in brackets appear in the original translation. Biblical verses come from NRSV.

[The Arabic word for prophet is rasul; this is an anti-Muslim jab, as the Hebrew word pasul means “defective thing.”—Ed.]

Credits

Gershon ben Yefet (attrib.), Commentary: On 1 Samuel, trans. Ofir Haim, in Ofir Haim, “Polemical aspects in an early Judeo-Persian Bible exegesis—the commentary on the story of Hannah (RNL Yevr.-Arab. I 4608),” Entangled Religions: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer, vol. 6 (2018): 162–200 (175–76). Used with permission of the translator. Verses from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.