ENHa-Maʾor ha-Gadol (MS Add.433)
Description
Ha-Maʾor ha-Gadol, a super-commentary on Abraham ibn Ezra on the Pentateuch, by Shem Ṭov b. Judah ibn Mayor שם טוב בן יהודה ן מאיור of Briviesca in Spain. The work was composed in 5144 A. M. (1384 CE), when the author was 24, see f. 2v, where he states ואף כי איש כמוני בן ארבע ועשרים. This copy was produced by the scribe Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz in Salonika in 1557, f. 240r; MS Oxford, Bodleian 228 is another copy of the same work by the same scribe.
There are catchwords on every verso and the titles at the beginning of each paraša are written in larger letters, decorated with supralinear dots. There are some diagrams within the body of the text, e.g. ff. 77v and 80v.
Some of the margins are defaced by scribbled calculations, e.g. f. 1r, children’s alphabetic and other writing exercises, e.g. f. 1v-2r or f. 77r, and more than a few manicules, e.g. ff. 117v–118r.
A later hand has added the name of the corresponding paraša to the top margin of every recto. Other owners have left their marks, including some notes in Ladino on ff. 138r-139r, which perhaps relate to items for a dowry.
An identification of the work and its author, signed by M. Steinschneider and dated 1867, is pasted into the front fly-leaf.
Solomon Schiller-Szinessy explained the importance of this work (of which only two copies were known to him) as resting on two essential features: (a) it is mainly concerned with explaining the grammatical content of Abraham ibn Ezra’s commentary, and thus as a grammatical supercommentary it is unique, and (b) it contains ‘an inexhaustible source of biography and bibliography’ based in large part on oral traditions known to the author, which are not found elsewhere. He also lauded the copyist in hyperbolic terms: ‘[of] the copyist of this MS. it is impossible to speak in too high terms. His intelligence is only equalled by his conscientiousness; and even editors of our own time could only rival but never exceed him’!
Metadata:
Extent: 240 ff. Leaf height: 210 mm, width: 150 mm.
Note(s): There is a brief description in Latin signed by M. Steinschneider on the front fly leaf.
Former Owner(s): Lipschutz, H.; Isaac Ḥanim; Samuel b. Isaac Ḥanim
Binding:
Bound in half-calf by Wiseman, 1874.
Decoration: There are scribblings in the margins (f. 8v and f. 48v) and catchwords (f.76v ). There are marginal annotations (f. 4v, f. 47r, f. 75r and f. 77r) and the beginnings of the pericopes are written in bold (f. 54r).
There are examples of diagrams in the text (e.g. f. 77v, f. 80v) and manicules in the margins (f. 49v, f. 50r and f. 88r)
Title: Ha-Maʾor ha-Gadol
Layout:
26-27 lines
Funding:
Date of Creation: 1557 CE
Origin Place: Spain (?)
Script:
Sefardi script copied by Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz at Salonika, and completed on 4 Ḥešvan 5318 = 28 September 1557, f. 240r
Alternative Title(s): המאור הגדול
Language(s): Hebrew
Physical Location: Cambridge University Library
Classmark: MS Add.433
Subject(s): Bible -- Commentaries; Manuscripts, Hebrew; Rabbinical literature
Author(s) of the Record: Catherine Ansorge, Ben Outhwaite
Abstract:
Ha-Maʾor ha-Gadol, a super-commentary on Abraham ibn Ezra on the Pentateuch, by Shem Ṭov b. Judah ibn Mayor שם טוב בן יהודה ן מאיור of Briviesca in Spain. The work was composed in 5144 A. M. (1384 CE), when the author was 24, see f. 2v, where he states ואף כי איש כמוני בן ארבע ועשרים. This copy was produced by the scribe Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz in Salonika in 1557, f. 240r; MS Oxford, Bodleian 228 is another copy of the same work by the same scribe.
There are catchwords on every verso and the titles at the beginning of each paraša are written in larger letters, decorated with supralinear dots. There are some diagrams within the body of the text, e.g. ff. 77v and 80v.
Some of the margins are defaced by scribbled calculations, e.g. f. 1r, children’s alphabetic and other writing exercises, e.g. f. 1v-2r or f. 77r, and more than a few manicules, e.g. ff. 117v–118r.
A later hand has added the name of the corresponding paraša to the top margin of every recto. Other owners have left their marks, including some notes in Ladino on ff. 138r-139r, which perhaps relate to items for a dowry.
An identification of the work and its author, signed by M. Steinschneider and dated 1867, is pasted into the front fly-leaf.
Solomon Schiller-Szinessy explained the importance of this work (of which only two copies were known to him) as resting on two essential features: (a) it is mainly concerned with explaining the grammatical content of Abraham ibn Ezra’s commentary, and thus as a grammatical supercommentary it is unique, and (b) it contains ‘an inexhaustible source of biography and bibliography’ based in large part on oral traditions known to the author, which are not found elsewhere. He also lauded the copyist in hyperbolic terms: ‘[of] the copyist of this MS. it is impossible to speak in too high terms. His intelligence is only equalled by his conscientiousness; and even editors of our own time could only rival but never exceed him’!
Bibliography:
Descriptions of the manuscript
Format: Codex
Material: Paper
Associated Person(s): Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meïr, 1092-1167
Condition:
Slightly wormed and affected by damp.
Provenance: Rustat Benefaction: bought in 1868 from H. Lipschutz Previously belonged to Isaac Ḥanim; Samuel b. Isaac Ḥanim
Scribe(s): Yoḥanan b. Abraham ibn ʿAziz
Author(s): Shem Tov ben Judah Ibn Mayor of Briviesca