Don Isaac Abrabanel

Don Isaac Abrabanel
Don Isaac Abrabanel
    Don Isaac Abrabanel
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Don Isaac Abrabanel
    (Also: Abravanel, Abarbanel).
    Jewish statesman, apologist and exegete, born in Lisbon 1437; died in Venice, 1508, buried in Padua. From his early youth, he was carefully instructed in the Talmudlc and Rabbinic literatures, and mastered the various branches of secular learning. His keen intellect and, above all, a great business ability drew to him the attention of Alfonso V of Portugal, who made him his treasurer, a position that he held until 1481. The favour shown by a Catholic prince to a Jew shocked the public opinion of those times, and under John II Abrabanel was accused of conspiring with the Duke of Braganza, and barely saved his life by fleeing to Castile, 1483. Soon afterwards he entered the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1484-92. After the fall of Granada, he shared the fate of his race, and was banished from Spain in 1492. He repaired to Naples and, owing to various vicissitudes went successively to Messina, Corfu, Monopoli, and finally to Venice. Most of Abrabanel's works date from the last years of his life, when, on account of his misfortunes, he found more leisure for collecting and ordering his thoughts. Abrabanel knew Plato and Aristotle, and is often ranked among the Jewish philosophers. His philosophy, however, was intended by him simply as a means of defending his religious convictions. He can hardly be said to have written any work professedly philosophical, with the possible exception of a juvenile treatise on the form of the natural elements; his views in this respect must be gathered from his various theological and exegetical treatises. As a theologian and apologist Abrabanel shows himself a champion of the most rigid Jewish orthodoxy, and does not hesitate to oppose even Maimonides when the latter seems to depart from the traditional belief. In the field of Biblical exegesis, Abrabanel has the merit of having anticipated much of what has been advanced as new by modern investigators, and of having considered systematically not only the letter of the sacred text, but also the persons of its authors, their aim and surroundings. Each commentary is furnished with a preface in which these preliminary questions are treated. His familiarity with Christian authors his acquaintance with court life and customs, a keen sense of his misfortunes, joined with a very extensive knowledge and a great power of observation, fitted him eminently for the task of a Biblical interpreter. We have from him a commentary on Deuteronomy; on the first four books of the Pentateuch; on the earlier and on the later Prophets. They have been warmly lauded both by Jews and by Christians, have passed through several editions, and many of them have been, in whole or in part, translated into Latin. Of his other works we may mention "The Crown of the Ancients", "The Pinnacle of Faith", "The Sources of Salvation", in the form of a commentary on Daniel, "The Salvation of His Anointed" "The Herald of Salvation", in which are collected and explained all the Messianic texts. His works the titles of which are here rendered in English were written in a clear, refined, but occasionally diffuse modern Hebrew.
    ROMAIN BUTIN
    Transcribed by Tomas Hancil

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Isaac Abrabanel — Don Isaac Abrabanel Born 1437 Lisbon, Portugal Died 1508 Venice, Italy …   Wikipedia

  • Isaac Abrabanel — Isaac Abravanel Pour les articles homonymes, voir Abravanel (homonymie). Rabbi Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) Don Itshak ben Yehouda Abravanel ( …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abrabanel, Don Isaac — • Jewish statesman, apologist and exegete (1437 1508) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • ABRABANEL, JUDAH — (called Leone Ebreo or Leo Hebraeus; c. 1460–after 1523), physician, poet, and one of the foremost philosophers of the Renaissance. Abrabanel was born in Lisbon, the eldest son of Don Isaac abrabanel and was instructed by his father in Jewish… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ABRABANEL, ABRAVANEL — (Heb. אַבְּרַבַנְאֵל; inaccurately Abarbanel; before 1492 also Abravaniel and Brabanel), Sephardi family name. The name is apparently a diminutive of Abravan, a form of Abraham not unusual in Spain, where the h sound was commonly rendered by f or …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ABRABANEL, ISAAC BEN JUDAH — (1437–1508), statesman, biblical exegete, and theologian. Offshoot of a distinguished Ibero Jewish family, Abrabanel (the family name also appears as Abravanel, Abarbanel, Bravanel, etc.) spent 45 years in Portugal, then passed the nine years… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Abrabanel — Isaac Abravanel Pour les articles homonymes, voir Abravanel (homonymie). Rabbi Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) Don Itshak ben Yehouda Abravanel ( …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Isaac Abravanel — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Abravanel (homonymie). Rabbi Isaac Abravanel (1437–1508) Don Itshak ben Yehouda Abravanel (1437, Lisbonne ( …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Abrabanel, Isaac ben-Judah — (1437–1508)    Portuguese financier and scholar. Isaac’s grandfather, who lived in Seville, converted to Christianity during the wave of anti Jewish riots which swept the country in 1391. Taking the name of Juan Sanchez, he became royal treasurer …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • ABRABANEL — ABRABANEL, family in Italy. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the three brothers, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, founders of the Italian family, settled in the kingdom of Naples. The family tree shows the relationships of the Italian… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

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