Language:
English
Year of publication:
2024
Titel der Quelle:
Revue des Etudes Juives
Angaben zur Quelle:
183,1-2 (2024) 107-124
Keywords:
Caspi, Joseph, Criticism and interpretation
;
Maimonides, Moses,
;
Bible Allegorical interpretations
;
Bible Hermeneutics
;
Jewish philosophy Middle Ages, 500-1500
Abstract:
Joseph ibn Kaspi is both a biblical commentator – and, as he himself attests, a commentator on the pešaṭ meaning of scriptures – and a very loyal Maimonidean. The combination of these two characteristics at times puts him in an uncomfortable position. On the one hand, he wishes to preserve the literal sense of the biblical verses while avoiding giving a philosophical interpretation, for in his view, scriptures were given to the 'simple' people and therefore should be understood by the uneducated. On the other, as a faithful student of Maimonides, he needs to justify why he deviates from Maimonides’s principle according to which one should reinterpret the biblical text so that it coheres with the philosophical enquiry in the event of a contradiction between the two. In this article, I examine how Kaspi approaches an allegorical interpretation in several of his writings. I argue that despite his clear declaration that 'one should always remain close to the pešaṭ meaning of the biblical verse', he diverts from the rule that he himself set for his readers in at least one case. I will further argue that the 'young' Kaspi was a very enthusiastic biblical commentator and that he was therefore very adamant about preserving the pešaṭ meaning, while in his later days, he had to take into consideration problematic biblical texts that may have posed severe theological difficulties.
DOI:
10.2143/REJ.183.1.3293241
URL:
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