Centre for Jewish Studies, University of Manchester, SHLOMO SELA, THE SECULARISATION OF THE HOLOY TONGUE

THE SECULARISATION OF THE HOLY TONGUE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDIEVAL HEBREW

DR SHLOMO SELA, BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT OF RESEARCH SEMINAR 9 DEC 2004

After the middle of the eighth century, with the completion of the Islamic conquest of the eastern, northern and part of the western shores of the Mediterranean, Jews willingly adopted the Arabic language, spoke Arabic fluently, wrote Arabic in Hebrew letters, and employed Arabic in the composition oftheir literary and scientific works. This phenomenon is especially noticeable in Andalusia, that is, Muslim Spain, where Jewish scientists and intellectual made a very significant contribution.

New historical vicissitudes in the Iberian Peninsula, however, doomed this honeymoon between Andalusian Jewish intellectuals and the Arabic language, and brought it to a gradual end. As a result of the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula by two traditionalist Berber dynasties in 1090 and 1145, Jewish intellectuals gradually severed their links with the Arabic language and found in the Hebrew language an alternative linguistic vehicle for expressing their intellectual aspirations. In contrast with the previous contributions of Jews to science - written in Arabic but devoid of any significant Jewish imprint - the new 'medieval Hebrew science' that emerged, beginning with the twelfth century until the end of the Middle Ages, was a robust and continuous mainstream of original Hebrew compositions and translations into Hebrew, conveying, with a clearly Jewish character, the Graeco-Arabic world view to Jewish civilization.

This transition from Arabic to Hebrew was actually the passage from a language which had already proved able to successfully accommodate itself to the reception of Greek science and philosophy, to a language previously used almost exclusively for religious and liturgical purposes. In other words: the transition from Arabic to Hebrew was tantamount to the creation of a new Hebrew vocabulary. In what follows, the linguistic strategy of four outstanding twelfth-century Jewish intellectuals is briefly analyzed.

Judah Ibn Tibbon's (ca.1120-ca.1190) life epitomizes the fate of those Jews who were expelled from al-Andalus and were thus compulsorily detached from the Arabic language. Hewas born in Granada, approximately in 1120, but was forced to abandon al-Andalus as a consequence of the invasion of the Almohades in 1145. He immigrated to southern France, where he practiced medicine and won his fame as a translator. Although Judah Ibn Tibbon bequeathed to succeeding generationsa remarkable list of Hebrew translations, he did not conceal his admiration and yearning for the superseded Arabic language.

Maimonides (1135-1204) presents an additional significant model. His historical fate was similar to Judah Ibn Tibbon's in that he was compelled to abandon al-Andalus in the forties of the twelfth century (1148) as result of the invasion of the Almohades. Maimonides, however, took up residence in Fustat, the Old City of Cairo. Therefore, unlike Judah Ibn Tibbon, he remained under the sway of the Arabic language. Maimonides was not only an outstanding author of rabbinical literature, but also a philosopher of imposing stature, an eminent physician and a competent writer on astronomical subjects. An overall scrutiny of his writings, however, reveals an outstanding dichotomous linguistic stance. By and large, Hebrew was the language of his religious and halakhic work, whereas Arabic was the linguistic vehicle he adopted in writing his works dealing with the 'external sciences'. In this regard, the Maimonidean linguistic model may be seen as embodying the tendency to preserve as long as possible the attachment to the Arabic language.

From a purely chronological perspective, Abraham Bar Hiyya (ca.1065-ca.1140), should be credited with the title of genuine pioneer. Bar Hiyya's work may be divided into five main parts: astronomy, mathematics, Jewish calendar, astrology and philosophy, and the main fact that should be emphasized here is that he wrote all his literary work in Hebrew, an unprecedented and innovative endeavour. Researches made on his Hebrew scientific vocabulary show an eclectic attitude: on the one hand, Bar Hiyya coined new scientific Hebrew terms by taking words from the classical Hebrew lexicon, that is, from the Bible and the Mishnah, and by modifying their meaning. These were words of 'Hebrew body and Arabic soul'. On the other hand, Abraham Bar Hiyya did not feel any embarrassment in borrowing Arabic terminology and introducing Arabic words directly into the Hebrew language by way of transliteration.

Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca.1089-ca.1167) rose to fame principally because of his outstanding Hebrew biblical exegesis, but he also wrote religious and secular poetry, a series of religious-theological monographs, grammatical treatises, and very significant scientific corpus of roughly thirty treatises. This scientific corpus, which recalls Bar Hiyya's contribution, may be divided into the following parts: (1) Mathematics, astronomy, scientific instruments and tools; (2) Jewish calendar; (3) astrology; (4) translations from Arabic into Hebrew. Ibn Ezra's literary production was not written in Muslim Spain where he was born and grew up. His first works date precisely from the time he abandoned al-Andalus and arrived at Latin Europe. From a purely literary perspective, then, Ibn Ezra first appeared on the scene when he was already fifty years old, in Rome in 1140. Thereafter he led the life of an intellectual wanderer, roaming through Italy, France and England teaching and writing prolifically, almost exclusively in Hebrew, on an extremely wide variety of subjects. This fact strongly suggests that had Ibn Ezra not abandoned al-Andalus and had not changed his linguistic vehicle from Arabic to Hebrew, in all likelihood he would have sunk into complete oblivion, instead of becoming a prolific writer and one of the most original medieval thinkers. Ibn Ezra preferred biblical words over other common and more normative expressions, because in his opinion the available biblical vocabulary occasionally holds some original and authentic scientific meanings that represent some of the most central concepts of nature and reality.