Three Approaches to Biblical Metaphor ─ From Abraham Ibn Ezra and Maimonides to David Kimhi

Cohen (Judaic studies, Yeshiva U.) shows how three heirs of the Jewish exegetical tradition in al-Andalus Muslim Spain harnessed the literary tools available to them to devise a hermeneutic for analyzing biblical metaphor. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164) and Maimonides (1135- 1204) were both poets who lived in Andalus and had access to the rich Muslim literary traditions and practices. Kinhi (1160-1235), the son of emigres from Andalus to Christian Provence, was not a poet and did have such access, but perpetuated the tradition as a Talmud teacher immersed in rabbinic literature. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Mordechai Z. Cohen, Ph.D. (1994) in Bible, Yeshiva University, is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Yeshiva University. He has published articles on Bible, medieval biblical interpretation, and the integration of Arabic poetics and logic in medieval Jewish learning.