The Book of Nativities

The Book of Nativities (Sefer ha-moladot), which survives in both the original Hebrew and a medieval Latin translation, is based on the idea that the planetary configuration at the time of birth, called a natal horoscope or nativity, is an important factor in shaping a newborn’s character and life. In this work, drawing on Greek, Babylonian, and Arabic astrology, Ibn Ezra considers both the horoscope at the moment of birth and those for subsequent birthdays. Whatever the planetary configuration indicates, interpreting a horoscope has to take into consideration other relevant factors, such as the geographical origin of a people. The seven “climes” divided the inhabited part of the earth into sections according to latitude. Pointing out that “the collective prevails over the particular,” or, in other words, that the horoscope determines a newborn’s characteristics only relative to other predetermined factors, Ibn Ezra notes the constraints on Jewish success.