Abstract
A basic axiom of Judaism over the generations has been that the Torah is of divine origin and that it was written by Moses with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, Hazal and the medieval sages did not agree about the nature of God's revelation to Moses, which enabled him to write the Torah. Did God dictate the Torah to Moses word by word (a textual revelation), or did Moses, perhaps, have a role in selecting content and words? This article examines the opinion of R. Abraham Ibn Ezra on this matter. Ibn Ezra differentiated between the content of the Torah, as transmitted to Moses by God, and its literal expression, as written by Moses. In his view, different processes of formation are reflected in two significant passages: The Ten Commandments in Exod 20 are, according to Ibn Ezra, a word for word copy of the Tablets written by God, whereas the Ten Commandments in Deut 5 combine God's words as written on the Tablets with those of Moses. The second part of the article examines the level of innovation and uniqueness of Ibn Ezra's opinion, and in the third part, it discusses the philosophical-theological background underlying it.
Translated title of the contribution | The Divine Content (teʿamim) and the Words (milot) of Moses: R. Abraham Ibn Ezra on Moses' Role in Writing the Torah |
---|---|
Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 387-407 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | תרביץ: רבעון למדעי היהדות |
Volume | 80 |
Issue number | 3 |
State | Published - 2012 |