Hebrew Biblical Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Autograph of the Last Maimonidean Nagid, David II ben Joshua Maimonides

An unknown biblical commentary by the last known leader of the Maimonidean dynasty.

David II ben Joshua Maimonides (c. 1335–1410) was born in Egypt, a sixth-generation direct descendant of the great medieval scholar Moses Maimonides. David II Maimonides was a mystical philosopher, exegete, theologian, and physician who lived in Cairo and, at one time, in Aleppo. Considered to have been the last Jewish philosopher to write in Arabic, he was also the last known nagid (religious leader of Middle Eastern Jewry) of the celebrated Maimonidean dynasty. Himself an elegant scribe, he possessed an important library of religious and scientific works and showed a keen interest in theology, medicine, and astronomy. Well-versed in Arabic philosophy and mysticism (of a Sufi type), he left a vast literary legacy in Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew, focusing on five areas of interest: exegesis, homiletics, ethics, halakhah, and commentaries on the works of Maimonides.

Several of David II’s works have survived, but they have yet to be published. His magnum opus, Summary of Speculative Truths and Ethical Aims, is a treatise in Arabic on philosophy and ethics, divided into two parts, one on the cosmos and man’s place within it, and the second on man as a moral being. Presented almost as a practical manual, the second part ends with the typically Sufi ideal of the Perfect Man. Another important work of his is The Guide to Solitude and the Director to Detachment, a spiritual manual in Arabic, which is said to be the summary of a larger work now lost, and it shows an even more pronounced Sufi influence. Strongly imbued with the thought of medieval Muslim mystics, yet deeply rooted in rabbinic tradition, this treatise is a remarkable synthesis of Jewish pietism and Muslim esotericism.

The present work is a small portion of a philosophical commentary on the Bible, specifically the Book of Ecclesiastes (previously unknown), composed in Hebrew. It was found in an old binding originating from Aleppo, where David II was known to have spent the last part of his life, and it was identified by Prof. Paul Fenton of the Sorbonne as an autograph. It covers Chapter 9, verses 1–3 and 7–11. The biblical text appears with vocalization and cantillation marks throughout. A recipe (apparently medical) is recorded in a later hand along the margins of the final page.

Physical Description

Two loose paper bifolia (135 x 180 mm). 

Literature

Paul B. Fenton, “The Literary Legacy of David ben Joshua, Last of the Maimonidean Nĕgīdim,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 75:1 (1984), 1–56.