CRAFTING the 613 Commandments

---------------------------------------- • ---------------------------------------------- CRAFTING THE 613 COMManDMentS MaiMOniDES ON the ENUMeratiON, CLASSificatiON anD FOrMULatiON OF the ScriPTUraL COMManDMentS ---------------------------------------- • ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- • ---------------------------------------------- CRAFTING the 613 COMManDMentS: MaiMOniDES ON the ENUMeratiON, CLASSificatiON anD FORMULatiON OF the ScriPTUraL COMManDMentS ----------------- ALbert D. FrieDberg ----------------------- Boston 2013 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: A catalog record for this book as available from the Library of Congress. Copyright © 2013 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved Effective September 5th, 2016, this book will be subject to a CC-BY-NC license. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Other than as provided by these licenses, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or displayed by any electronic or mechanical means without permission from the publisher or as permitted by law. ISBN 978-1-61811-167-8 (cloth) ISBN 978-1-61811-189-0 (electronic) Book design by Olga Grabovsky On the cover: Fragments of Maimonides’ Sefer ha-Mitsvot manuscript from the Cairo Genizah, Cambridge University Library T_S_AR_52_233__L2F0B0S2 Cambridge University Library T_S_MISC_27_4c__L1F0B0S1 London, British Library OR 5563C.23 Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and the British Library board. Published by Academic Studies Press in 2013 28 Montfern Avenue Brighton, MA 02135, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com COntentS CHAPTER I IntrODUctiON ��13 CHAPTER II Important Definitions and Concepts . 36 CHAPTER III Typology of Mitsvot � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 65 CHAPTER IV Logically Inconclusive Individuations . 76 CHAPTER V Innovative Commandments . 97 CHAPTER VI Revisiting the Term Mitsvat ‘Aseh �� 160 CHAPTER VII Peshateh Di-Qera �� 207 CHAPTER VIII The Participial Form and Other Peculiarities . 242 CHAPTER IX When Mitsvah Stands Alone . 271 CHAPTER X Summary and Conclusion . 327 ExcURSUS. 332 POSTScriPT �� 337 BIBLIOgraPHY . 346 CITATIONS INDEX . 383 INDEX OF NAMES . 393 — v — -------------- AbbreviatiONS, citatiONS, tranSLatiONS, anD tranSLiteratiONS -------------- AbbreviatiONS, citatiONS, tranSLatiONS, anD tranSLiteratiONS GP The Guide of the Perplexed HD Hilkhot De’ot MnT Moshe ibn Tibbon’s translation of ShM (the base text in Heller’s and Frankel’s editions) MT Mishneh Torah PhM Perush ha-Mishnayot SE “Short Enumeration of the Commandments” (Minyan ha Qatsar) ShM Sefer ha-Mitsvot SP Shemonah Peraqim P, N Positive, Negative commandment, according to Maimonides Pq, Nq Positive, Negative commandment, according to Qayyara Ps, Ns Positive, Negative commandment, according to Sa’adiah M Mishnah T Tosefta JT Jerusalem (Palestinian) Talmud BT Babylonian Talmud — vi — EDitiONS USED Quotations from Sefer ha-Mitsvot, Nahmanides’ Hasagot, and the commentaries Megillat Esther, Qinat Sofrim, and Lev Sameah are cited to the Frankel edition of Sefer ha-Mitsvot, either by page or by the particular commandment under discussion. There are two Hebrew translations of the Sefer ha-Mitsvot, originally written by Maimonides in Judeo-Arabic, the classical medieval translation of Moses ibn Tibbon, and a recent translation by Joseph Kafih, based on an extant Arabic version. Fragments of a third Hebrew translation, those of Ibn Ayub, were recovered by Heller and noted in his critical edition of the Sefer ha-Mitsvot. It is obvious to the careful student of the Sefer ha-Mitsvot that differences in the translations are not simply due to translational techniques, but rather to differences in the vorlage that underlie their translations. That is, the Hebrew translations are based on different versions of the work and it is impossible at this stage to determine with any degree of certainty which of the versions can be said to represent the author’s final say. I have used Chavel’s English translation of the Sefer ha-Mitsvot, itself based on Joseph Kafih’s Hebrew translation and corrected where necessary by reference to that Hebrew translation. The Hebrew translations of Ibn Tibbon and of Ibn Ayub (when noted by Heller) were consulted and noted where differences against Kafih’s translation proved relevant. I did not rely exclusively on Kafih’s translation, despite the fact that it was based on an extant Arabic version which may appear to be more original because it is not obvious that the extant Arabic version is as final a draft as the version underlying the Ibn Tibbon or Ibn Ayub translations. — vii — --------------------------------------------------------------------- EDitiONS USED --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mishneh Torah and its traditional commentaries are cited from standard printed editions; references are to treatise, chapter, and halakhah� The Eight Chapters of Maimonides on Ethics (Shemonah Peraqim) is cited in Ethical Writings of Maimonides, edited by Weiss and Butterworth. The midreshe halakhah are cited from the following editions: Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, edited by H. S. Horowitz and Y. Rabin; Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon b� Yohai, edited by Y. N. Epstein and A. S. Melamed; Sifra, edited by I. H. Weiss; Sifre al Sefer Bamidbar ve-Sifre Zuta (“Sifre Numbers”; “Sifre Zuta”), edited by H. S. Horowitz; Sifre al-Sefer Devarim (“Sifre Deuteronomy”), edited by L. Finkelstein. When possible, I provide page numbers in addition to chapter or paragraph numbers for ease of reference. References to a particular commandment in Qayyara’s enumeration follow Naftali Tsvi Hildesheimer, Haqdamat Sefer Halakhot Gedolot), while numerical references to Saadia’s commandments follow Yeruham Fischel Perla, Sefer ha-Mitsvot le-RaSaG. Full citations for all these works can be found in the bibliography. — viii — MaiMONIDES ON the ENUMeratiON, CLASSificatiON anD FORMULatiON OF the Scri PTUraL COMManDMentS ENGLISH TranSLatiONS anD TranSLiteratiONS Quotations of lemmas from the “Short Enumeration” are from Moses Hyamson’s translation of the Mishneh Torah. Quotations from the Sefer ha-Mitsvot are from C. D. Chavel’s translation (The Book of Commandments). Quotations from The Guide of the Perplexed are from Shlomo Pines’ translation, cited by book, chapter, and page (in italics). Quotations from the Shemonah Peraqim are from Weiss and Butterworth’s English translation. I have followed all of these translations quite faithfully; in the rare places where I amend any of them, I note my change. In contrast, the English quotations from the Mishneh Torah are my own adaptations of the Yale University translation (multiple editors). For scriptural quotations, I used J. H. Hertz’s translation of the Pentateuch to match Chavel’s use of biblical passages in his own translation of the Sefer ha-Mitsvot� There will be instances, however, when exegetical derivations will not quite conform to these scriptural translations. Any inconsistencies are likely a result of the nuanced and ambiguous language of Scripture. I did my best to adapt these translations so that the reader will follow the interpretation. By Sages (with a capital “S”), I refer to the authorities of the talmudic period. The proliferation of transliteration systems found in scholarly works is nothing short of bewildering. Preferences are often a function of the scholar’s academic and geographical background. For example, a student from the Lithuanian yeshiva tradition would differentiate the tav (t) from the spirant variety (th). An Israeli student, accustomed to the modern Sephardic pronunciation, would not. The field of Biblical — ix — ----------------------------------- ENGLISH TranSLatiONS anD TranSLiteratiONS ---------------------------------- Studies, because of its emphasis on grammatical and morphological features, has tended to use the scientific or academic system. This work, however, is less concerned with the morphology of biblical passages as it is with idioms of the interpreters, the Sages, and medieval rabbis. With the exception of commonly used spellings, I have therefore adopted what I considered the simplest transliteration system, the “general- purpose style” of the Society of Biblical Literature Handbook of Style, with some slight modifications (ignoring the spirants gh, dh, fh, and th in favor of g, d, f, and t). I retain original Hebrew words or sentence where the translation may leave doubts as to the precise intention of the original rabbinic text. Throughout the work, I make a clear distinction between the terms Mishneh Torah and Halakhot (of the Mishneh Torah). The full work of the Mishneh Torah consists of treatises, divided into Introductions, Headings, and Halakhot. I use the term Mishneh Torah to refer to this full work. When referring only to the text of the Halakhot themselves, without their Headings, I use the term Halakhot� I capitalize the term “Headings” because I treat them as a separate work, likely composed at a different time from the Halakhot. While the Headings likely derive from the “Short Enumeration” and

Load more