Abraham ibn Ezra

Lore & Background

Abraham Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, one of the oldest Jewish communities in Navarre, then under Muslim rule. He later moved to Córdoba, though most scholars agree his birthplace was Tudela. Little is known of his family; he married and had five children, four of whom died early. His last-born son, Isaac, became a poet and later converted to Islam in 1140, a deeply troubling event that inspired many of Ibn Ezra's poems. He was a close friend of Judah Halevi, and the two began wandering in 1137; Halevi died in 1141, but Ibn Ezra continued traveling for three decades, reaching as far as Baghdad. He composed secular poetry and rationalist Torah commentaries during his travels. He wandered Europe lamenting his inability to find a patron; a rabbinical post in Vienna was not extended due to his straightforward approach to Talmudic scholarship. While in England he wrote the second version of his biblical exegesis.

Reader's Guide

Ibn Ezra's significance lies in his pioneering biblical criticism and his role in transmitting Islamic science to European Jews. In his commentaries, he adhered to the literal sense of the text, avoiding Rabbinic allegory and Kabbalistic interpretation, and exercised an independent, rationalist criticism. He is claimed by proponents of higher biblical criticism as an early pioneer: Baruch Spinoza cited Ibn Ezra's commentary on Deuteronomy, noting Ibn Ezra's concern over phrasing suggesting Moses was described as being 'beyond the Jordan,' implying a later author. Ibn Ezra also divided the Book of Isaiah into two distinct parts (chapters 1–39 and 40–66), a division now widely accepted. His works on Hebrew grammar, translated from Judeo-Arabic, were among the first expositions of grammar written in Hebrew. He published works on astrology and the astrolabe, and is credited by some with bringing mathematical navigation to Italy and with predating Fibonacci in introducing Indo-Arab counting to Europe. His philosophical thought contains Neoplatonic ideas, and he believed Greek science had been 'pillaged' from earlier Hebrew science.

Did You Know?

• Ibn Ezra's son Isaac converted to Islam in 1140, which deeply troubled him and inspired many poems.
• He was a close friend of the poet Judah Halevi, who was about 14 years older.
• He is credited by some with bringing mathematical navigation to Italy and with predating Fibonacci in introducing Indo-Arab counting to Europe.
• He divided the Book of Isaiah into two distinct parts (First Isaiah and Deutero-Isaiah), a division now widely accepted.