Azharot

Isaac Ibn Gikatilla

Mid-10th Century

His Holy One (Isaiah 49:7) warned His priests from becoming drunk—they may not draw near His seat; they may not approach.
A sojourner and a hired servant may not eat consecrated foods.
The verse warns: And if a priest’s daughter is married to a nonpriest [she may not eat of the holy things], unless she returns to her father’s house in widowhood or after divorce.
My Holy One declared, “Separate yourselves from the holy things of the children of Israel that they are sanctifying,
   and you shall be holy to me (Leviticus 20:26).”
The holy ones were warned to separate themselves from seventy-one transgressions punished by excision.
Most have been listed above in the obligations that apply to the person, and as for the rest, their punishment is first stated here.
Cut of the sorcerer, the blasphemer, the enticer, one who has relations with his mother or the wife of his father or a male or an animal, and a woman who has relations with an animal.
Chop of the wayward, rebellious son, and one who has relations with a betrothed woman or with his daughter-in-law; they are executed by stoning,
   and of them shall be taken up a curse (Jeremiah 29:22).
A curse and reproach for one who has relations with a woman and her daughter, or the daughter of her daughter, or with the daughter of a priest if she profanes herself [by playing the harlot]; all despise him, and his soul is exacted.
Shame upon one who has relations with the daughter of his son or the daughter of his daughter; he is reduced by an extermination wholly determined (Isaiah 28:22).
Shrivel one who has relations with his mother-in-law or her mother or his father-in-law’s mother; ten of these are executed by burning; go astray through them, and they will be exacted.
   The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).
Evil will be wrought to the murderer and to an incited city; both of them are sentenced to execution by the sword, like those killed in battle.
Poison to one who strikes his father and mother, and one who kidnaps a person, and a rebellious [elder] and a prophet who speaks falsehood or who speaks in the name of strange gods; they will surely be destroyed.
Murder is accounted for one who has relations with a married woman, and the plotting witnesses of a daughter of a priest and the man who has relations with her; eight of these are executed by strangulation; keep far from them and be pleasant
   as one who fnds great spoil (Psalms 119:162).
Many will be astounded at one who has relations with his sister, or the sister of those who bore him, or his wife’s sister; a great weight to bear.
Thunder for one who has relations with a menstruating woman, or a brother’s wife, or his uncle’s wife, and an impure person who ate consecrated food, and one who enters the consecrated place without the awe of God.
A wink with an eye [which causes sorrow (Proverbs 10:10)] against one who eats forbidden fat, and blood or notar1 or pigul2 before all observing eyes;
   let destruction come upon him (Psalms 35:8).
Destruction for one who smears himself with or blends the anointing oil or the incense and one who slaughters and ofers sacrifices outside the Temple; in addition, he will be set ablaze with the heat of the inferno.
It is like robbery when one eats unleavened bread on Passover, and a pure person who does not ofer the paschal lamb, and one who performs labor on Yom Kippur; he has sealed up his ear,
if he matured and did not circumcise himself; these twenty-three whither through excision,
   and I will execute judgments upon you (Ezek iel 11:9).
Judgments will be rendered upon one who eats tevel,3 and a nonpriest or impure priest who ate pure terumah4 or who served in the sanctuary; they will be stopped.
Uprooted will be those who serve as a tevul yom,5 one who lacks atonement,6 and a priest who lacks the requisite garments, or who did not wash his hands and feet, or who is drunk, or whose hair is overgrown; these are appropriately punished by death.
This concludes the list of those sentenced to death for seventy-one sins at the hands of the seventy-one judges, in accordance with the Torah of the Master of the universe,
   and all her paths are peace (Proverbs 3:17).
Peace upon concluding the sum of the negative commandments from the sixty-fve chapters handed down to My assembly.
Study diligently the chapter of devoted items and the law of the murderer and the anointed priest and trespasses and to build the Temple with whole stone, in accordance with My law.
Completed are the 365 negative commandments corresponding to the days of My solar year.
   Give ear, My people, to my Torah (Psalms 78:1).
My Torah, my protection, with my ordering, today the sum of its statutes is complete,
the curls of the 613 commandments in my fnal tally. Realize the hope of my congregation, and accept them as though they fulflled Your will by fulflling them:
   all the words of this law in a book, until they were fnished (Deuteronomy 31:24).
My Creator, preserve their wholeness for those who are imprisoned and hope for You;
I have called for pardon when I stood in Your congregation.
   Order my footsteps by Your sayings; Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies (Psalms 119:133, 98).
You have given Your commandments to me as an inheritance, like the day You drew me from the womb and made me trust [see Psalms 22:10].
To praise me with the statute of life above all dwellers of the world,
from that time my lips will praise You, and my bones, my heart, and my innards,
   and altogether therein is the life of my spirit (Isaiah 38:16).
Establish my spirit and musings and straighten our path.
Appear speedily to restore us to our borders, and we will sing a new song at our three pilgrimage festivals.
O merciful King, have mercy upon us.
Translated by Avi Steinhart.

Notes

[Notar is meat of an ofering that was left after its permitted time.—Trans.]

[Pigul is meat of an ofering that was invalidated by the intent to eat it after its permitted time.—Trans.]

[Tevel is produce from which the priestly tithes have not been separated.—Trans.]

[Terumah is the portion of produce that must be set aside for a priest.—Trans.]

[Tevul yom is one who immersed for impurity but must still wait until sunset to be considered purifed.—Trans.]

[I.e., who has to bring certain sacrifices before he is purifed.—Trans.]

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

Engage with this Source

Azharot (warnings) are enumerations of the 613 commandments, a popular genre in the medieval period. These lists were customarily recited on the festival of Shavuot during the Musaf prayers. Ibn Gikatilla’s rhymed but unmetered version inaugurated a tradition of such poems by Spanish Jewish authors. These excerpts present the conclusion of the negative commandments, categorized according to the punishments incurred by the transgressor, and the end of the poem. Each stanza closes with a relevant biblical verse.

Read more

Creator Bio

Isaac Ibn Gikatilla

Ibn Gikatilla, 10th Century

Isaac Ibn Gikatilla (or Chiquitilla) was a poet in Lucena, Spain. Along with two other well-known poets, he defended Menaḥem Ibn Sarūq against the criticisms of Dunash ben Labraṭ. Moses Ibn Ezra noted that Isaac had a rivalry with his contemporary Isaac Ibn Mar Saul, but the former’s poetry was better, exhibiting a more erudite use of Arabic. Although none of Isaac’s secular poetry survives, his “Azharot” (warnings) seems to be the first poetic enumeration of the 613 commandments produced in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain). Isaac taught philology throughout his life and mentored Jonah Ibn Janāḥ, especially in Arabic poetics.

Ibn Qapron, 10th CenturyActive in Córdoba in the second half of the tenth century, Isaac Ibn Qapron was a disciple of Menaḥem Ibn Sarūq. He denounced the use of Arabic metrics in Hebrew poetry. Instead, he proposed the use of syllabic meter for the Hebrew language, a technique he uses in the one liturgical poem of his that survives. Also extant is a grammatical work he coauthored with Isaac Ibn Gikatilla and Judah Ibn Da’ud.

You may also like

He calls to freedom

He calls to freedom every man and woman. He guards you like the pupil of His eye. Your lovely name will never be forgotten, If you sit quietly at rest on the Sabbath day. O seek the welfare of my…
View Source

I said to the stones

I said to the stones distinctly, not in a whisper: “Give me of your strength, so that I may feel again; for griefs have consumed me and made me lean. Is my strength the strength of stones? Is my fesh…
View Source
Photo of a stone capital featuring a relief of an eagle.
Tooltip info icon

Then he opened

Then he opened the hoards of hidden treasures which he and kings of old had stored away. He brought out precious vessels and gold Darics and presented them to his chieftains, to each according to his…
View Source

I call out upon Your name

I call upon Your name; I awake to hold on to You. With the wee-hour vigil I arrive early, I wake the dawn. I approach the ark to speak choice words. I formulate my thoughts precisely, moving the…
View Source