The Bible and Jews in Medieval Spain examines the grammatical, exegetical, philosophical and mystical interpretations of the Bible that took place in Spain during the medieval period. The Bible was the foundation of Jewish culture in medieval Spain. Following the scientific analysis of Hebrew grammar which emerged in al-Andalus in the ninth and tenth centuries, biblical exegesis broke free of homiletic interpretation and explored the text on grammatical and contextual terms. While some of the earliest commentary was in Arabic, scholars began using Hebrew more regularly during this period. The first complete biblical commentaries in Hebrew were written by Abraham Ibn ‘Ezra, and this set the standard for the generations that followed. This book analyses the approach and unique contributions of these commentaries, moving on to those of later Christian Spain, including the Qimhi family, Nahmanides and his followers and the esoteric-mystical tradition. Major topics in the commentaries are compared and contrasted. Thus, a unified picture of the whole fabric of Hebrew commentary in medieval Spain emerges. In addition, the book describes the many Spanish Jewish biblical manuscripts that have remained and details the history of printed editions and Spanish translations (for Jews and Christians) by medieval Spanish Jews. This book will appeal to scholars and students of medieval Spain, as well as those interested in the history of religion and cultural history.

This book presents an original perspective on the variety and intensity of biblical narrative and rhetoric in the evolution of history writing in León-Castile during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It focuses on six Hispano-Latin chronicles, two of which make unusually overt and emphatic use of biblical texts. Of particular importance is the part played by the influence of exegesis that became integral to scriptural and liturgical influence, both in and beyond monastic institutions. Alun Williams provides close analysis of the text and comparisons with biblical typology to demonstrate how these historians from the north of Iberia were variously dependent on a growing corpus of patristic and early medieval interpretation to understand and define their world and their sense of place. Narrative, Piety and Polemic in Medieval Spain sees Williams examine this material as part of a comparative exploration of language and religious allusion, showing how the authors used these biblical-liturgical elements to convey historical context, purpose and interpretation.

This book is a comparative study in the hermeneutics of the ancient interpretations of the biblical Joseph story. Assuming that every interpretation results from a creative encounter between the ultimately open text of Scripture and the specific thought world of the interpreter, it examines the particular way in which each exegete construes the biblical outline of Joseph's character. Paying special attention to the literary nature of the sources, the study begins with an analysis of the narrative methods and the hermeneutic potential of the biblical story, and then proceeds to the inter-testamental evidence. The central concern of this study is to compare the different interpretations of the philosopher Philo, the historian Josephus and the Midrash Genesis Rabbah. These sources do not only range over a considerable amount of time but significantly derive respectively from the Greek and Hebrew cultural realm. Consequently, their figures of Joseph fulfil distinctly different purposes, ranging from an idealisation of Joseph as a Hellenistic politician to autobiographical apologetics and religious instruction.

Jewish Life in Medieval Spain is a detailed exploration of the Jewish experience in medieval Spain from the dawn of Sephardic society in the ninth century to the expulsion of 1492. An important contribution of the book is the integration of the rise and fall of Jewish life in Muslim al-Andalus into the history of the Jews in medieval Christian Spain. It traces the collapse of Jewish life in Muslim Spain, the emigration of Andalusi Jewry to the lands of Christian Iberia, and the long and difficult confluence of these two distinct Jewish subcultures. Focusing on internal developments of Jewish society, it offers a narrative of Jewish history from the inside out, bringing to light the various divisions and rivalries within the Jewish community. This approach, in turn, allows for a deeper understanding of the complex relations between Spanish Jews and their Muslim and Christian neighbors. Jonathan Ray's original perspective on the Jewish experience is particularly instructive when considering the widescale anti-Jewish riots of 1391. The combination of violence and mass conversion of the Jews irrevocably shifted the dynamics of inter-religious relations as well as those within the Jewish community itself. Yet even in the wake of these tragic events, the Jews of Spain continued to flourish, fostering a culture that they would carry into exile and that would preserve the memory of Jewish Spain for centuries to come.

24 scholars – Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic – from North America, Israel, and various European countries, contribute to this rich volume on medieval interpretation and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (5th through 12th centuries). Geographically, they cover most of the world as it was known in these times: from Syria to Spain, from Rome to the Rhine and the Seine. The volume also contains supplements to the previous volume, on Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon. The indexes (names, topics, references to biblical sources and a broad body of literature beyond) are the key to the wealth of information provided. Undoubtedly, this volume will meet the high expectations set by the reviewers of the first volume (I/1) of the series: "Definitive reference work" (Religious Studies Review) "Mine d'information d'une grande richesse" (Revue d'histoire et de philosophie religieuses) "Monumental ouvrage" (Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique) "A veritable treasury" (Catholic Biblical Quarterly) "The foremost account of Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation" (Expository Times) "Onmisbaar handboek voor jeder een die zich serieus met bijbelstudie bezighoudt" (Stem van het boek) "Respekt gebietende Summe wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Forschung" (Zeitschrift für Altes Testament) Selected chapters 23. The Problem of Periodization of Middle Ages 25. Jewish Bible Interpretation in Early Post-Talmudic Times 26. Gregory the Great 28. Seventh through Ninth Century 1. Isidore of Seville 3. Exegesis in the time of Charlemagne 4. From Angelomus of Luxeuil to Remigius of Auxerre 31. The Flourishing Era of Jewish Exegesis in Spain 1. The Linguistic School: Judah Hayyuj, Jonah ibn Janah, Moses ibn Chiquitilla and Judah ibn Bal'am 2. The Aesthetic Exegesis of Moses ibn Ezra 32. The School of Literal Jewish Exegesis in Northern France 4. Menahem ben Helbo5. Solomon Yishaqi / Rashi (1040–1105) 8. Samuel ben Meir / Rashbam (1080–1160) 33. Jewish Exegesis in Spain and Provence and in the East 2. Abraham ibn Ezra4. Moses ben Nahman / Nahmanides (Ramban) 5. Abraham Maimonides and the Yemenite School 34. The School of St. Victor in Paris 35. Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament 1. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Song of Songs 2. Gilbert of Poitiers and Peter Lombard 6. Albert, Thomas, Bonaventure 36. Development of Biblical Interpretation in the Syrian Churches 38. Literal and Spiritual Scriptural Interpretation: Aspects of Correspondence and Tension between Christian and Jewish Exegesis

This collection of historical studies deals with the multiple connections between the history and culture of the Jews of the Netherlands from the beginning of the seventeenth century until the period after the Holocaust, and phenomena and processes that distinguish the history of the Jewish people in the modern period. The Jews of the Netherlands were not only nourished by the cultural creativity of the great Sephardi and Ashkenazi centers, East and West, but also at various stages they served as a source of inspiration for Jews elsewhere in the Jewish Diaspora. The articles of this volume examin the influence of general Jewish history on that of the Jews of the Netherlands and focus on events and processes that highlight the significance of of Dutch Jewry for modern Jewish culture.

This is the first encyclopedic work to focus exclusively on medieval Jewish civilization, from the fall of the Roman Empire to about 1492. The more than 150 alphabetically organized entries, written by scholars from around the world, include biographies, countries, events, social history, and religious concepts. The coverage is international, presenting people, culture, and events from various countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. For a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Medieval Jewish Civilization: An Encyclopedia website.

This work details relations between Jews and Visigoths, polemic and persecution, and between Jews and Muslims, cooperation and conflict, in medieval Spain, including later Christian Spain. New sources and new insights challenge conventional interpretations.

In Biblical Women and Jewish Daily Life in the Middle Ages, Elisheva Baumgarten examines how medieval Jewish engagement with the Bible--especially in the tellings, retellings, and illustrations of stories of women--offers a window onto aspects of the daily lives and cultural mentalités of Ashkenazic Jews in the High Middle Ages.

Based on the biblical commentaries of rabbis and writers who were exiled from Spain in 1492, The Land Is Mine presents late medieval and early modern Iberian Jewish intellectuals as deeply concerned with questions about human relationships to land.