IBN 'EZRÁ' ABRÁHÁM ben MÉ'IR. — Grammarian, biblical commentator, poet, philosopher, and astrologer, born in Toledo (Castile) or Tudela (Navarre) c. 1092, died, according to tradition, at Calahorra in 1167. He emigrated to escape Jewish persecutions before 1140. He subsequently lived at Qayrawan, at Rome in 1140, where he wrote a commentary on the Ecclesiastes, followed by commentaries on the other four “scrolls” and a Hebrew grammar (Móznajim, “Balance”).
Other works were composed by him around 1144 at Lucca. In 1145 he completed the commentary on Isaiah; in the same year he moved to Mantua, where he wrote another grammatical work. The Italian Jews, devoted to Talmudic studies, did not appreciate the scientific activity of I. 'E. In 1155 he went to Provence and there, especially at Béziers, he was received with great honors. At Rodez (southern France) he finished the commentaries on Daniel, the Psalms, and the twelve minor prophets. In 1157 he completed the commentary on the Pentateuch, which was criticized because it was not entirely in conformity with Talmudic tradition. In 1158 he wrote the work Yasdih móra' at London. In 1160 he wrote an astrological work at Narbonne. Then he went to Rome. The life of I. 'E. was wandering, marked by intense work and poverty, of which he himself speaks with a touch of irony.
As a poet, he is too much of a grammarian to allow himself linguistic liberties. Many of his poems are of a liturgical character. He sometimes treats of the struggle between body and spirit and teaches one to accept life’s vicissitudes with serenity. At other times he recalls the past glories of Israel and, a son of his time, seeks to deduce from prophetic visions the beginning of the messianic era.
His philosophical ideas are scattered through his biblical commentaries. His exclusively philosophical work is the aforementioned Yasdih móra' (“The Foundation of Fear”). I. 'E. was a follower of Ibn Gèbhīrōl. In psychology one can detect the influence of al-Farābī, the Neoplatonists, and the Pythagoreans, reflected in Arabic philosophy. God is creator insofar as He transforms prime matter through emanation. The world of celestial bodies occupies an intermediate place between the primordial basis of all things and the sensible world, in which three spheres are to be distinguished: those of minerals, plants, and living beings. At the head of the last sphere stands man, whose soul is an emanation. Divine Providence extends over the laws that govern the universe, so that man can exercise his own will. The sensible world depends on the constellation of celestial bodies, and only
IBN 'EZRA' ABRÂHÁM — ICHABOD
the soul of one who has overcome sensual nature depends directly on God.