53. Isaac Ibn Ghiyath: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy - Mohammed Rustom
James T. Robinson [+]
The University of Chicago Divinity School
James T. Robinson is Dean and Caroline E. Haskell Professor, The University of Chicago Divinity School.
Description
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.