Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ and the earliest commentaries on the Ṣefer Yeẓīra
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Modern scholarship has revealed that the impact of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ in the general history of ideas was more extended, ramified and lasting than previously assumed, and that it needs to be significantly re-evaluated. As part of this broad phenomenon, it is also becoming increasingly clear today that the Brethren of Purity left a profound mark on Jewish thought throughout the Middle Ages and that their influence was not restricted to a particular place but widely disseminated across the diaspora. The present article is another contribution to this field, resolutely focused on contemporary material. Its purpose is to reconsider the possible influence of the Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ on three commentaries on the Ṣefer Yeẓīra (Book of Creation) which were all written during the tenth century, respectively by Sa‘adya Gaon (d. 942), Dūnash ben Tamīm (d. after 955/6) and Shabbetay Donnolo (d. c . 982).
Source: Journal of Jewish Studies
Author: GODEFROID DE CALLATAŸ
Institution: UCLouvain
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4402488829