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Book: A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy

Chapter: 53. Isaac Ibn Ghiyath: Commentary on Ecclesiastes

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.45430

Blurb:

Isaac Ibn Ghiyath was a rabbinic leader in Lucena, Andalusia (Islamic Spain), during a golden age of Jewish scholarship in Andalusia. The only extant biblical book he commented on is his Judeo-Arabic translation of and commentary on Ecclesiastes (Qohelet), which was probably the first commentary written on this controversial book by a Rabbinic authority during the Middle Ages. This long commentary is strongly grammatical and also philosophical. This entry contains the first part of Ibn Ghiyath’s introduction to his commentary on Ecclesiastes wherein he presents a theory of language, prophecy, scripture, and tradition which would influence later Jewish scholars in Andalusia and beyond.

Chapter Contributors

  • James T. Robinson ([email protected] - jtrobinson) 'The University of Chicago Divinity School '