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 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS OF MAIMONIDES 
 ON ETHICS 
 
 SHEMONAH PEEAKIM
 
 COLUMBIA 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 SALES AGENTS 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 LEMCKE & BUECHNER 
 30-32 WEST BTTH STREET 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HENRY FROWDE 
 AMEN CORNER, E.G. 
 
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 25 RICHMOND ST., W.
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ORIENTAL STUDIES 
 VOL. VII. 
 
 THE 
 
 EIGHT CHAPTERS OF MAIMONIDES 
 ON ETHICS 
 
 (SHEMONAH PERAKIM) 
 A PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ETHICAL TREATISE 
 
 EDITED, ANNOTATED, AND TRANSLATED 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH I. GORFINKLE, PH.D. 
 
 RABBI OF SINAI TEMPLE, MT. VERNON, N.Y. 
 
 Neto 
 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 1912 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 \fel
 
 NOTE 
 
 THE Hebrew translation of the Shemonah Perakim of Mai- 
 monides, despite its importance in the history of Jewish ethics 
 during the Middle Ages, has never been presented in a critical 
 edition. This Dr. Gorfinkle has done in the present volume 
 with acumen and with much diligence. To this purpose, he 
 has examined carefully a number of manuscripts and printed 
 editions. He has also compared the Arabic original through- 
 out, and has given in the notes his reasons for accepting or 
 rejecting certain readings. In order that the work may be 
 accessible to readers who do not understand Hebrew, an English 
 translation has been added. 
 
 RICHARD GOTTHEIL. 
 MAT, 1912. 
 
 :38873
 
 TO 
 THE SACRED MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 MY FATHER
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT was while in attendance at the Hebrew Union College, and 
 under the able tuition of my friend and teacher, Dr. Henry 
 Malter, now of Dropsie College, that I became acquainted with 
 the masterpieces of Jewish philosophy, and among them the 
 Shemonah Perakim of Maimonides. Remembering the corrupt 
 condition of the text of the ordinary editions of the Perakim, 
 and of that in the Mishnah and the Talmud containing Maimo- 
 nides' Commentary on the Mishnah, and recollecting the fre- 
 quency with which it was necessary to have recourse to the 
 Arabic original in order to render the text intelligible, when 
 casting about for a subject for a dissertation, I thought I could 
 do no better than endeavor to reconstruct the Hebrew text as 
 it came from the pen of of the translator, Samuel ibn Tibbon. 
 
 In this rather ambitious attempt, I was guided throughout 
 by Dr. Richard Gottheil, to whom my sincere thanks are due 
 for his constant interest and for his invaluable suggestions. 
 I wish especially to thank Dr. Malter for his assistance in the 
 Arabic and for his many excellent suggestions. I also take this 
 opportunity of expressing my gratitude to Dr. Alexander Marx 
 for his uniform kindness in allowing me to use manuscripts 
 and books of the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary. 
 To Mr. Simeon Leventall, I am also grateful for his assistance 
 in correcting the proofs of the translation and notes. 
 
 There has been a delay of two years in the publishing of this 
 book owing to the fact that originally it was not intended to 
 include a translation of the Perakim and notes, and because a 
 greater part of the book had to be set up in Europe. 
 
 ix
 
 x PREFACE 
 
 It is with a feeling of trepidation that I send into the world 
 this, my first work, fully realizing its many shortcomings. I 
 can only hope that the kind reader will be so engrossed in these 
 interesting Chapters of the master, Maimonides, and will find 
 their teachings so captivating, that he will overlook the failings 
 of the novice who presents them to him. 
 
 G. 
 
 WlNTHROP, MA88., 
 
 AUGUST, 1912.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION PAGK 
 
 I. THE OBJECT OF MAIMONIDES' WRITINGS. THE COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE MlSHNAH. THE SHEMONAH PERAKIM . . 1 
 
 II. A. MAIMONIDES' ETHICAL WRITINGS DEFINITION OP ETHICS 7 
 
 B. NAME, DATE, DESCRIPTION, AND CONTENTS OF THE SHEMO- 
 
 NAH PERAKIM . . . , . . . . . 9 
 
 C. SAMUEL IBN TIBBON AS A TRANSLATOR His TRANSLA- 
 
 TION OF THE SHEMONAH PERAKIM 19 
 
 D. DESCRIPTION OF COLLATED MATERIAL GENERAL RE- 
 
 MARKS ON THE TEXT 24 
 
 E. MANUSCRIPTS EDITIONS TRANSLATIONS COMMENTA- 
 
 RIES 27 
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS TRANSLATION 
 
 FOREWORD 34 
 
 CHAPTER I Concerning the Human Soul and its Faculties . 37 
 CHAPTER IT Concerning the Transgressions of the Faculties 
 of the Soul, and the Designation of those Faculties which 
 are the Seat of the Virtues and Vices . . . . .47 
 CHAPTER III Concerning the Diseases of the Soul ... 51 
 CHAPTER IV Concerning the Cure of the Diseases of the Soul 54 
 CHAPTER V Concerning the Application of Man's Psychic Fac- 
 ulties towards the Attainment of a Single Goal ... 69 
 CHAPTER VI Concerning the Difference between the Saintly 
 or Temperamentally Ethical Man and him who Subdues 
 
 his Passions and has Self-restraint 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII Concerning the Barrier between God and Man 
 
 and its Signification 79 
 
 CHAPTER VIII Concerning the Natural Disposition of Man . 85 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES 103 
 
 INDEX OF QUOTATIONS FROM THE TALMUD 104 
 
 CRITICAL TEXT AND NOTES OF THE SHEMONAII PERAKIM . . 5-55 
 
 xi
 
 ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGNS 
 
 Abot Pirke A lot, ed. Strack, Berlin, 1888. 
 
 Br British Museum Ms. See p. 24. 
 
 Ma Mahzor. See p. 24. 
 
 Mi First edition of Mishnah. See p. 25. 
 
 So Soncino edition of Abot. See p. 25. 
 
 M Maimonides. 
 
 Eth. NIC. . . . Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, ed. Lewes. 
 
 I.T Ibn Tibbon. 
 
 Poc Pococke's Porta Mosis, Arabic or Latin. 
 
 Ro Rosin's Ethik des Maimonides, 1876. 
 
 Wo Wolff, Musa Maimuni's Adit Capitel, 1903. 
 
 Ar Arabic text as presented in Wolff or Pococke. 
 
 Catal. Bodl. . . . Steinschneider's Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum in 
 
 Bibliotheca Bodleiana. 
 
 Jew. Lit Steinschneider's Jewish Literature. 
 
 HUb Steinschneider's Hebraische Uebersetzungen. 
 
 Arab. Lit Steinschneider's Die Arab. Literatur der Juden. 
 
 AGPh Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophic (Stein). 
 
 AZDJ. .... Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums. 
 
 JE The Jewish Encyclopaedia. 
 
 JQR The Jewish Quarterly Review. 
 
 Moses ben Maimon, I. Memorial Volume, Moses ben Maimon, Sein Leben, Seine 
 
 Werke und Sein Einftuss, Volume I, Leipzig, 1908. 
 
 ZPTiKr Zeitschrift fur Philosophic und philosophisch? Kritik. 
 
 ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gessellschaft. 
 
 + Denotes that the word or words following it are found 
 
 only in sources designated. IT + denotes that what 
 
 follows is added by Ibn Tibbon to the original. 
 > Indicates that the word or words following are not 
 
 found in the text designated. 
 
 Words in small type in the Hebrew text, and those enclosed in brackets in 
 the English, are glosses by Ibn Tibbon. 
 
 xii
 
 THE OBJECT OF MAIMONIDES' WORKS. THE COMMENTARY 
 ON THE MISHNAH. THE SHEMONAH PER A KIM 
 
 DURING the lifetime of Maimonides, there were many who 
 bitterly assailed him, declaring that his Talmudical knowledge 
 was faulty, that his writings were un-Jewish, that he sought to 
 introduce strange elements into Judaism, and that he desired 
 his works to supersede the Talmud. 1 Some of Maimonides' 
 opponents were animated by a spirit of true criticism, but other 
 attacks made upon him were partly due to personal feelings of 
 envy. 2 The opposition continued for a while after Maimonides' 
 death, but it was not long before the true character of this mas- 
 ter's works became universally recognized. The feeling, minus 
 the personal element, that Maimonides wished to have his 
 works take the place of the Talmud, has, however, persisted 
 to this day. Thus, we find Luzzatto 3 stating that Maimonides 
 wrote his Mishneh Torah in order to do away with the study 
 of the Babylonian Talmud. Beer, supporting the same opinion, 
 maintains that Maimonides saw the disadvantages of the study 
 of the Talmud, was aware of the uselessness of some of its 
 parts, and considered its extended study a waste of time. 4 As 
 proof of this he quotes from the introduction to the Mishneh 
 
 1 Moses Maimonides (in Arabic, Ibu 'Imrdn Musa ibn Maimun ibn 'Obaid 
 Allah} was born at Cordova, March 30, 1135 ; in 1165 he accompanied his 
 father to Africa and then to Palestine ; in 1166 he repaired to Egypt, and 
 settled in Fustat, near Cairo ; he died Dec. 13, 1204. On the pronunciation 
 of jia'n, see Geiger, Nachgelassene Schriften (1876), III, Moses ben Maimon, 
 p. 70, note 1 ; Gratz, VI 8 , p. 262, n. 1 ; Catal. Sodl., 1861 ff. ; Arab. Lit., 199 ff. 
 On his life and works, see Catal. Sodl., 1861 ff. ; Gratz, VI 3 , pp. 261-326 ; also 
 Yellin and Abrahams, Maimonides (Philadelphia, 1903) ; I. Broyde", </!?, IX, art., 
 Moses ben Maimon ; etc. 2 On the opposition to Maimonides' works, see Jew. 
 Lit., pp. 85-92. 3 In Kerem Hemed, III, p. 67. * Leben und Wirken des 
 Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Prague, 1834), pp. 6, 15, 16. 
 
 B 1
 
 2 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Torali the famous sentence, " I have named this work Mishneh 
 Torah for the reason that if any one has read the Torah and 
 then this work, he would know the Biblical and oral law with- 
 out having to read any other book." Geiger 1 maintains that 
 Maimonides' object was merely to shorten the study of the 
 Talmud. 
 
 There are those, however, who take exception to this view. 
 Rosin 2 says, " From the very beginning the Talmud alone was 
 the object of his study." Worldly knowledge and philosophy 
 were merely used by Maimonides as instruments for explaining 
 and glorifying the divine teaching. He considered the rabbis 
 to be second only in rank and greatness to the prophets, and 
 held their writings in equally high esteem. On the face of it, 
 the quotation cited from the Mishneh Torah would seem to 
 prove the assertion made above, but this passage may be in- 
 terpreted to prove exactly the opposite ; that far from being 
 his object to discourage the study of the Talmud, he wished 
 to spread its knowledge among those who for any reason were 
 unable to have access to it, or who could not devote sufficient 
 time to master it. "It is a gross injustice often done to Mai- 
 monides," says I. Friedlaender, " to accuse him of having the 
 intention to supersede the Talmud entirely. . . . He consid- 
 ered the Talmud as a most worthy object of study, but only 
 for scholars. The people, however, are not scholars and can- 
 not devote the whole of life to learning. For the mass of 
 people alone he intended to supersede the Talmud by a com- 
 prehensive extract from it." Ziemlich, finally, asserts that 
 Maimonides did not desire to put an end to the study of the 
 Talmud, but rather to cast it into scientific form. 3 
 
 Although this decided difference of opinion as to Maimonides' 
 attitude towards the Talmud still exists, all, however, agree 
 
 1 Moses ben Maimon, p. 67 ; p. 83, n. 33. 2 Ethik, p. 30, "Von Hause 
 aus sei der Talmud allein Gegenstand seines Studiums gewesen." 8 I. Fried- 
 laender, Moses Maimonides, in New Era Illustrated Magazine, January, 1905, 
 Reprint (New York, 1905), pp. 34-35 ; Bernard Ziemlich, Plan und Anlage des 
 Mischne Torah, in Moses ben Maimon, I, p. 259 ; see also M. Friedlander, Guide, 
 In trod., pp. xix, xxi.
 
 INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 that his main object was to harmonize Jewish traditional belief 
 with the current Aristotelian philosophy. 1 For this work 
 Maimonides was admirably equipped ; his ability as a systema- 
 tizer was most remarkable, and not only had he a profound 
 knowledge of Jewish law and lore, but was so deep a student 
 of philosophy and the sciences that his works have since 
 exercised considerable influence even outside the domains of 
 Judaism. 2 His chapters, for instance, in the Moreh on the 
 Mutakallimun have become the main source for the history and 
 knowledge of the Kaldm. 3 
 
 The most important of his works which have had a profound 
 influence upon Judaism are his Commentary on the MisTinah 
 (Wan tZnTS), the Mishneh Torah (mm JTOfc) or Yad ha- 
 HazaTcah (HpTHn T), and the G-uide for the Perplexed 
 
 Ttie Commentary on the Mishnah? Maimonides' first work of 
 importance, written in Arabic, 5 was begun at the age of twenty - 
 
 1 Munk, Guide, Vol. I, Preface, p. 1 ; Beer, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, pp. 4 
 and 12; Arab. Lit., pp. 203-204; Rosin, Ethik, p. 30; Gratz, VI 8 , pp. 275, 
 307 ; Wolff, Acht Capitel, Introd., p. ix ; M. Friedlander, Guide, Introd., p. xxiv. 
 2 Joel, Verhaltniss Alb. d. Gr. zu Moses Maimonides (Breslau, 1863) ; Etwas 
 iiber den Einfluss der jiidischen Philosophic auf die christliche Scholastik 
 (FrankeVs Monatsschr., IX, pp. 205-217) ; Jaraczewski, Die Ethik des M., etc., 
 in ZPhKr., XLVI,pp. 5-24 ; Guttmann, Das Verhaltniss des Thomas v. Aquino 
 zur jud. Literatur (Gottingen, 1891) ; Die Scholastik des 13 Jahrh. in ihren 
 Beziehungen zur jud. Litteratur (Breslau, 1902) ; D. Kaufmann, Der Fiihrer 
 Maimunfs in der Weltlitteratur, AGPh., XI, p. 335 ff. ; Richter, Geschichte der 
 christlichen Philosophie, Vol. I, p. 610 ff. ; Ueberweg, Hist, of Phil. (1885), 
 Vol. I, p. 428 ; Weber, Hist, of Phil. (1895), p. 210, n. 2 ; Jacob Guttmann, Der 
 Einfluss der maimonidischen Philosophie auf das christliche Abendland, in Moses 
 ben Maimon, I, pp. 135-230 ; Philip Bloch, Charakteristik und Inhaltsangabe 
 des Moreh Nebuchim, ib., p. 41, n. 1. 8 Munk, Melanges, p. 323; HUb., 
 p. 415 ; M. Guttmann, Das religionsphil. System der Mutakallimun nach 
 d. Berichte Maimon (Leipzig, 1885) ; D. Kaufmann, op. cit., pp. 339-340. 
 4 The Arabic title is }toD?N asro (iiNon IBD, Book of Illumination), which, 
 however, as Steinschneider (Arab. Lit., p. 200) and Geiger (Moses ben Maimon, 
 p. 82, n. 31) maintain, hardly originated with Maimonides. 5 M. wrote all of 
 his works, with the exception of the Mishneh Torah and a number of letters, 
 in Arabic, but with Hebrew characters, as Arabic was the language used by 
 the Jews living under Islam. On his objection to having the Moreh copied in 
 other than Hebrew characters, see Munk, Notice sur Joseph ben Jehouda (Paris,
 
 4 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 three (1158), in Spain, and was completed at the age of thirty- 
 three l (1168), after he had taken up his residence in Egypt. 
 In this Talinudic work of his early manhood, Maimonides 
 scarcely had a predecessor. 2 Though one of his earliest works, 
 and in spite of the difficulties in writing it during years of 
 wandering and seeking a secure home, with no books accessible, 
 the Commentary is a marvel of lucidity, masterful knowledge, 
 and comprehensiveness. Gratz attributes its existence to the 
 author's striving for "clearness, method, and symmetry." 2 * 
 The fact that it is so often referred to in his later writings 
 testifies that at a very early date Maimonides had outlined 
 for himself a thorough philosophical system and a literary 
 scheme from which he subsequently deviated only slightly. 3 
 Most of the theories and principles established in the Com- 
 mentary were retained in the Mishneh Torah.* 
 
 1842), p. 27, n. 1. On the Arabic language of Maimonides and his style, see 
 I. Friedlaender, Sprachgebrauch des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1902), Intro- 
 duction ; and by the same author, in Moses ben Maimon, I, the articles, Die ara- 
 bische Sprache des Maimonides, pp. 421-428, and Der Stil des Maimonides, pp. 
 429-438 ; also his short account in Selections from the Arabic Writings of 
 Maimonides (Semitic Study Series^ No. XII, edited by Gottheil and Jastrow, 
 Leiden, 1909), In trod., pp. xiv-xxiii. 
 
 1 See infra, p. 10, n. 1. 2 Geiger, Moses ben Maimon, p. 59 ; Harkavy, in 
 Hebrew ed. of Gratz, IV, Appendix, p. 52. 2a Gratz, VI 3 , pp. 266 and 274. 
 8 In the Moreh, which appeared at least twenty-five years after the Com. on the 
 Mishnah, there are twelve or more references to the latter, four of which are to 
 the Perakim. See Moreh, I, 39 ; III, 35 (twice), 48. Scheyer, in Das psycho lo- 
 gteche System des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1845), which he designated 
 as an introduction to the Moreh, draws largely from the Perakim, and constantly 
 refers to them in the notes. See especially Chaps. I, II, and IV. Munk, in the 
 notes in his Guide, refers a number of times to the Mish. Com., many of these 
 being to the Perakim. In Vol. I, p. 210, n. 1, he quotes at length from Pera- 
 l-im I on the rational faculty, and on p. 232, n. 1, from Perakim VIII on the at- 
 tributes of God. Other references are found in Vol. I, p. 125, n. 2, to Perakim 
 II (the classification of the virtues) ; p. 286, n. 3, to Perakim VIII (miracles) ; 
 p. 355, n. 1, to Perakim I (the faculties) ; p. 400, n. 2, to Perakim I (the theory 
 of imagination of the Mutakallimun) ; etc. 4 Ziemlich, Plan und Anlage des 
 Mischne Thora, in Moses ben Maimon, I, p. 305, "Die ira M. K. festgestellten 
 Resultate hat er zum grossen Teile in den M. T. aufgenommen. " See also 
 authorities cited by Ziemlich. On the contradictions of the Mishnah Com- 
 mentary and the Mishneh Torah, see Derenbourg, in Zunz's Jubelschrift (Berlin, 
 1884), Die Uebersetsungen des Mischnah Commentars des Maimonides.
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 The greater part of the Commentary was not translated into 
 Hebrew until after his death. The general introduction to this 
 work and parts of the order Zeraim were translated by Jehudah 
 al-Harizi (1194) ; Moed by Joseph ibn al-Fawwal ; NasTiim by 
 Jakob ibn Abbas ; Nezikin by Salomon b. Josef ibn Ya'kub ; 
 KodosJiim by Nathanel ibn Almoli (or Almali) ; and Tohorot 
 by an anonymous translator. 1 The commentary on Sanhedrin, 
 Chapter X, was translated probably by Al-Harizi, and also by 
 Samuel ibn Tibbon. 
 
 In commenting on the tractate Abot, Maimonides had abun- 
 dant opportunity to make use of his knowledge of Greek 
 philosophy and particularly of Aristotelian ethics. To this 
 tractate he prefixed an introduction of eight chapters, out- 
 lining in a general way a system of ethics based mainly on 
 Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics? which Maimonides harmonized 
 with rabbinical teachings. This introduction constitutes the 
 most remarkable instance in medieval ethical literature of the 
 harmonious welding of Jewish religious belief and tradition 
 with Greek philosophy. 
 
 For the rendering into Hebrew of the Commentary on Abot 
 and its introduction commonly called Dp^lS !"I31DE7 (The Eight 
 
 1 For a detailed account of the translators and translations of the Com- 
 mentary on the Mishnah, see HUb., pp. 923-926; Arab. Lit., pp. 201-202. 
 2 To M., Aristotle was the "chief of philosophers." Cf. Munk, Guide, I, 
 Chap. V, p. 46, and n. 1. See also Moreh, II, 17, 19, 24. He considered him to 
 be almost on a plane with the prophets. See M.'s Letter to Ibn Tibbon, Kobez 
 II. M. refers to the Nichomachean Ethics in Moreh, II, 36, and in III, 49 
 (twice). On his dependence upon Eth. Nic., see Rosin, Ethik, p. 6, et al. M., 
 however, does not slavishly follow Aristotle, and speaks disparagingly of those 
 "who believe that they are philosophers," but who consider "it wrong to differ 
 from Aristotle, or to think that he was ignorant or mistaken in anything" 
 (Moreh, II, 15). In regard to Aristotle's theory of creation, he speaks of the 
 absurdities implied in it (t'ft., II, 18, end). See A. Wolf in Aspects of the Hebrew 
 Genius, London, 1910, pp. 141-142. On M. 's departure in the Perakim from 
 the Aristotelian system, see Jaraczewski, ZPliKr., XLVI, pp. 12-13, 14-15, 
 and 16. On M.'s dependence upon Aristotle, see M. Joel, Die Eeligions-philos- 
 ophie des Mose ben Maimon (Breslau, 1859) ; Scheyer, Das psychol. System 
 des Maimonides ; Rosin, Ethik ; Wolff, Acht Capitel ; Yellin and Abrahams, 
 Maimonides ; Cohen, Charakteristik der Ethik des Maimunis, in Moses ben Mai- 
 mon, I, all en passim ; and Ludwig Stein in JE, II, pp. 47, 48-49.
 
 6 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Chapters), Samuel ibn Tibbon, who was at work on the trans- 
 lation of the Moreh, was eminently fitted. The Shemonah 
 Perakim have always been widely read among the Jews and 
 students of the philosophy of Maimonides on account of their 
 simplicity of style and subject matter, and no less on account 
 of their accessibility, being found in all editions of the Mishnah 
 and Talmud 1 that contain Maimonides' commentary, in a num- 
 ber of Mahzorim? especially of the Roman and Greek ritual, 
 and also in various separate editions. 3 Their popularity is 
 evidenced by the fact that they have been translated into Latin, 
 French, Dutch, English, and many times into German. 4 
 
 An examination, however, of the Hebrew text of the Perakim 
 in the editions of the Mishnah and the Talmud, in the Mahzorim, 
 and the many separate publications, at once shows that no two 
 agree, and that each is in many instances in a corrupt state. A 
 like examination of the manuscript sources bears the same result. 
 Again, if any individual text, even that of the best manuscript, 
 be placed beside the original Arabic in Pococke's Porta Mosis 5 
 or Wolff's Acht Capitel, one would find many divergences. It 
 may be safely stated that there is not in existence to-day, in any 
 form, a text of the Shemonah Perakim which in its entirety is a 
 faithful reproduction of the version of Ibn Tibbon. By a select- 
 ive process based on a collation of the best texts, with the Arabic 
 as a constant guide, it is possible, however, to reconstruct the 
 Shemonah Perakim, so that almost every corrupt reading can be 
 rectified. The purpose of this work is to restore and elucidate 
 linguistically the text of Ibn Tibbon as far as possible, and by 
 a translation make it accessible to readers of English. 
 
 As this is mainly a textual work, its aim is not to treat with 
 any degree of detail Maimonides' ethics, its sources, Jewish or 
 Greek, and its place in Jewish philosophy, all of which has 
 been admirably done by Rosin in his Eihik. But, in order to 
 obtain a more complete knowledge of the Perakim and the 
 theories laid down therein, the editor deems it well to mention 
 and describe Maimonides' other ethical writings, the place of 
 
 1 See pp. 25 and 31. 2 See pp. 24-25, 29-30, and 31. 3 See pp. 31 and 32. 
 4 See pp. 32 and 33. 6 See p. 27.
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 ethics in his philosophical system, and what ethics meant to 
 him. The name and the date of the original composition of 
 the Perakim, as well as that of its translation by Ibn Tibbon, 
 will be discussed. The relation of the Perakim to Maimoni- 
 des' other works will be taken up, followed by a characteriza- 
 tion and summary of their contents. A brief account of the 
 style and character of Ibn Tibbon's translations in general, 
 and as portrayed in the Perakim, will also be given. There is 
 also included a list of manuscripts, editions, commentaries, and 
 translations. 
 
 II 
 
 A. MAIMONIDES' ETHICAL WRITINGS DEFINITION OF 
 
 ETHICS 
 
 THE works in which Maimonides presents his ethical teach- 
 ings are as follows : 
 
 I. Commentary on the Mishnah 1 (!"!JtPn ttJlTD), in many 
 places, but especially in : 
 
 a. G-eneral Introduction to the Mishnah Commentary 
 
 (rowan PITS nrrns) 2 ; 
 
 b. Introduction to Sanhedrin, Chapter X (p?!! pIS) 8 ; 
 
 c. Introduction to Abot (HOtf DITTlS or D^pIS WOP)* ; 
 
 d. Commentary on Abot. b 
 
 II. Book of Commandments (JTliflBn *"lD), 6 in various places. 
 
 1 See Catal. Bodl., 1853; Arab. Lit., p. 200 ff., and Gratz, VI s , p. 273 ff. 
 2 Generally, but incorrectly, named D'jrv -noS nD^n, as in Pococke, Porta Mosis, 
 which contains the Arabic text with Latin translation. 3 Arabic with Latin 
 translation in Porta Mosis. Arabic with Hebrew translation, J. Holzer, Zur 
 Geschichte der Dogmenlehre in der jiid. Religionsphilosophie des Mittelalters. 
 Mose MaimunVs Einleitung zu Chelek (Berlin, 1901) ; English translation by 
 J. Abelson, JQB, vol. XXIX, p. 28 ff. The Arabic text with notes has been 
 recently edited by I. Friedlaender in Selections from the Arabic Writings of 
 Maimonides, pp. 1-39. * See Catal. Bodl., 1890-91. 5 Arab. Lit., p. 273, 
 n. 1. Arabic text by Baneth, Berlin, 1905 ; Ger. translation in Rawicz, 
 Commentar des M. zu den Spriichen der Voter (1910). 6 Written by M. to 
 serve as an introduction to the Mishneh Torah ; it contains the enumeration 
 and classification of the 613 precepts of the Law. See Gratz, VI 3 , p. 291. For 
 a part of the Arabic text with the Hebrew translation of Shelomoh ben Joseph 
 ibn Ayyub, and German translation with notes, see M. Peritz, Das Such der
 
 8 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 III. MISHNEH TORAH I (1170-1180) (mm rUtttt), scattered 
 
 references, but especially in : 
 
 Book of Knowledge (91ttn ISO) in the Treatise on Beliefs 
 (DISH nOWT), and in the Treatise on Repentance (rVDTI 
 
 rarefy).* 
 
 IV. MOREH NEBUKIM (D'O'QJ mitt), 3 in many places, but 
 
 especially Part III, Chapters 51-54. 
 V. Scattered references in his minor works, as : 
 
 a. Terminology of Logic* (|V3nn 
 
 b. Treatise on the Unity of God 5 
 
 c. Various Responsa (JTOltPri) ; Letters (filliK) ; and 
 
 Medical Aphorisms QWfc p*!S). 6 
 
 In his Terminology of Logic"' (pMHn rYDtt), Maimonides divides 
 philosophy into two divisions : theoretical (rP3V2?n fcTSlDlTBH), 
 and practical philosophy (ttTCOn fcTSlDlTSn). 8 The latter 
 he also terms " human philosophy" (fW13K fcfBIDl'TS), or "polit- 
 ical science " (JTS'Httn PlttDnn). Under theoretical philosophy 
 he groups mathematics, physics, and metaphysics. Under prac- 
 tical philosophy are found ethics (11PS3 DTK."! n3!"13!"i), house- 
 hold economy (TVOn romi), the science of government 
 rU'Httn), and politics in its broadest sense (1171*1311 
 
 Gesetze, Theil I (Breslau, 1881) ; the Arabic text was published by Moi'se Bloch, 
 Paris, 1888. See HUb., p. 926 ; Jew. Lit., p. 71 ; and in Moses ben Maimon, I, 
 articles by Moritz Peritz, Das Buch der Gesetze, nach seiner Anlage und seinem 
 Inhalte untersucht, and by Ferdinand Rosenthal, Die Kritik des Maimonidischen 
 " Suches der Gesetze " durch Nachmanides. 
 
 1 Catal. Bodl., 1869 ff. ; Gratz, VI 3 , p. 285 ff. ; Ziemlich, Plan und Anlage des 
 Mischne Thora, in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 248-318. 2 76., pp. 273, 278, 
 281-283. 3 For literature, description, and contents of the Moreh, see HUb., 
 pp. 414-434 ; Gratz, VI 3 , p. 306 ff. ; M. Friedlander, Guide, Introd. ; Bloch, Cha~ 
 rakteristik und Inhaltsangabe des Moreh Nebuchim, in Moses ben Maimon, I, 
 pp. 1-52. * HUb., pp. 434-436. Hebrew by Moses ibn Tibbon in many 
 editions. 8 HUb., pp. 436-437. 6 Consists of Arabic excerpts from the 
 writings of Galen and other physicians. Hebrew by Natan ha-Meati, edited in 
 Lemberg, 1800, 1834-35, and in Wilna, 1888. See Jew. Lit., p. 195 ; HUb., pp. 
 765-767 ; Arab. Lit., pp. 214-215 ; Kosin, Ethik, p. 32, n. 6 ; Pagel, Maimuni als 
 medizinischer Schriftsteller, in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 232-238. 7 Chapter 
 XIV. 8 In the introduction to Sanhedrin, Chap. X (Perek Helek), M. speaks 
 of N^iDi^on JD >B>j?Dn
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 Ethics, or the science of self-guidance, consists, on the one 
 hand, in acquiring for one's self noble soul-qualities or charac- 
 teristics (rVnMJPI mitt!!), and, on the other hand, of avoiding 
 evil qualities (nimnsn nnttlT). These qualities, whether good 
 or bad, are called states or conditions (11131311), and when acquired 
 each is known as a property (j^p). Noble qualities are called 
 virtues (lYnttn JTPVE), while the vices are termed nVHTlB 
 nnBn. The virtues cause good deeds (HDlian nfeWT), the 
 vices, bad ones (5"1H rvnYSSi"!). Ethics is the science of virtues 
 or of good deeds. 1 
 
 B. NAME, DATE, DESCRIPTION, AND CONTENTS OF THE 
 SHEMONAH PERAKIM 
 
 The Shemonah Perakim, in Maimonides' system, come, accord- 
 ingly, under the head of ethics (ItPSJ D"TNn nnjrT), which in 
 turn is a branch of practical philosophy (rnPSOH JTaiDlTBIT). 
 They are divided into eight chapters, from which fact the name 
 is derived. This division undoubtedly goes back to Maimoni- 
 des himself, who, in his short introduction to the Perakim, says 
 "and they are eight chapters." 2 The Arabic equivalent is 
 Thamaniat Fuml, which Wolff uses as a title for his edition of 
 the Arabic text. It seems, however, that neither of these titles 
 originated with Maimonides, for, in Moreh, III. 35, in referring 
 to the Perakim, he calls them the Preface to Abot? Whether 
 Ibn Tibbon used the title Shemonah Perakim, it is difficult to 
 ascertain. 4 The simplicity of the title has fortunately been the 
 cause of avoiding confusion as to its exact meaning, which is 
 not the case with the title Moreh Nelukimf 
 
 1 Rosin, Ethik, p. 37, " Die Ethik ist also nach M. die Lehre von den Tugen- 
 den und den guten Handlungen." 2 a^pio rmco am. See Hebrew text, p. 7. 
 8 ni3t< i-rvna : Ar. man -n$. See p. 3, n. 4, on the Arabic title of the Com. on 
 the Mishneh (JJOD), for which M. is probably also not responsible. 4 In his 
 Preface to the translation of the Commentary on Abot, I. T. refers to them as 
 31 3-vn onpn -\tt>n O'piam. See p. 22, n. 1. 5 On the appropriateness of mio 
 0'3iaj as a translation of the Arabic title Dalalat al Hd'irln (p-VNnSt* riSsS-i), 
 see HUb., p. 418. Maimonides himself was of the opinion that D'OISM n*mn 
 would be preferable. See also Kaufmann, Attrib., p. 363, and n. 1 ; and espe- 
 cially Munk, Guide, Note sur le Titre de cet Ouvrage, at beginning of Vol. I ; 
 and II, pp. 379-380.
 
 10 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 The date of composition of the Perakim cannot be accurately 
 determined. All that can be said is that it was written some- 
 time between 1158 and 1165, along with the rest of the com- 
 mentary on the Mishnah, which was made public in 1168. l 
 As to the translation, the only source of information regarding 
 its date is the manuscript Parma R. 438 6 , which in a note 
 states that the Commentary on Abot was translated by Samuel 
 ibn Tibbon in Tebet 963, which is the year 1202. 2 
 
 Although written originally as an introduction to the com- 
 mentary on the PirTce Abot, for the purpose of explaining in 
 advance problems that Maimonides brings up in the course of 
 his commentary, the Perakim form in themselves a complete 
 system of psychology 3 and ethics, 4 so much so that Rosin, in 
 writing on this phase of Maimonides' activity, uses them as a 
 basis of his discussion in the first half of his Eihik, in which 
 he takes up Maimonides' general ethics. They do not, however, 
 form an exhaustive treatment of this subject, as Maimonides 
 
 1 According to a postscript to the Commentary on the Mishnah written by 
 Maimonides, he began to work on it at the age of twenty-three (1158), and 
 finished it at the age of thirty, in the year 1479 of the Seleucidian era, which 
 is the year 1168, when, however, Maimonides was thirty-three years of age and 
 not thirty. Maimonides could not have made a mistake in his own age. 
 Geiger explains the difficulty by stating that Maimonides must have written 
 the postscript while he was in the Maghreb in 1165, when the Commentary was 
 practically finished. The words onxna and nna:? 1 ? 71 'o rw torn? were, how- 
 ever, added three years later after a revision had been made. The words 
 rw Qiz'hv p through an oversight were allowed to remain. See Geiger, NacJi- 
 gelassene Schriften, III, p. 87, end of note 41 ; and Griitz, VI 3 , p. 273, n. 3. 
 Rosin, Ethik, p. 30, n. 3, says the postscript should read v^y\ &vky p. Cf. 
 Jaraczewski, ZPhKr., XL VI, p. 23, n. 3. 2 See page 28 for description of 
 the manuscript and the note referred to. Jaraczewski (Ibid., p. 22) states 
 that I. T. translated after the death of M. 3 Scheyer, Psychol. tiyst. d. 
 Maim., p. 9, n. 1, says, "Diese Schrift des M. ist eine ethisch-psychologische 
 Abhandlung." Steinschneider describes the Perakim as " the celebrated eight 
 chapters on psychology" (Jew. Lit., p. 102). Friedlander, Guide (1904), In- 
 trod., p. xx, styles them " a separate psychological treatise." The Dutch trans- 
 lation, 1845 (see infra, p. 32), has a sub-title, Maimonides Psychologic. See also 
 Yellin and Abrahams, Maimonides, p. 77. 4 Rosin, Ethik, p. 33, describes the 
 Perakim in general as an " Abriss der allgemeinen Ethik," and Chapters I and 
 
 11 as " die psychologische Grundlage der Ethik im Allgemeinen und Besonderen." 
 Wolff, Acht Capitel, Introd., p. xii, calls them a " System der Ethik."
 
 INTRODUCTION 11 
 
 himself states, but with a reference here and there to some 
 other of his works may be easily made to do so. 1 The Mish- 
 nah Commentary as a whole was written for those who were 
 unable or not disposed to study the Talmud, and for those who 
 were, to facilitate its study. Its philosophical and psycho- 
 logical parts were intended for those who, though they had 
 a knowledge of the Talmud, were unacquainted with philo- 
 sophical problems, or were unable to harmonize them with 
 Jewish thought. The Perakim, consequently, being intended 
 for readers not necessarily versed in philosophy, and some not 
 being deep students of the Talmud, avoid all intricate philo- 
 sophical and Talmudical discussions. For students versed 
 both in the Talmud and in philosophy, Maimonides wrote his 
 Moreh Nebukim, the object of which was to bring into harmony 
 Talmudical Judaism and peripatetic philosophy as developed 
 among the Arabs. Thus, the Mishnah Commentary, in which 
 the rabbinical and the philosophical elements are successfully 
 harmonized and blended, leads the way to Maimonides' master- 
 piece, the Moreh. The Perakim, then, may be looked upon as 
 an introduction to Maimonidean philosophy, and may be profit- 
 ably studied by the student before he attacks the problems 
 contained in the Moreh. They may be briefly described as a 
 treatise on the soul, its characteristics and powers, and their 
 employment towards the goal of moral perfection. 2 
 
 Chapter I is psychological in character. It deals with moral 
 life, the sources of which reside in the soul (tTB3) and its 
 powers (nifO). The soul is a unit having various activities 
 (niSlSS) called powers (111113), and at times parts (Q'pbn). 
 Medical authors speak, however, of many souls, as, for instance, 
 Hippocrates, who says there are three souls, the physical 
 (JV!ntO), the vital (rP3VlT), and the psychical (rPtTS3). The 
 improvement of morals (fiH^n ppfl) is the cure of the soul 
 and its powers. Therefore, just as the physician must know 
 about the body as a whole as well as its individual parts, so 
 must the moral physician know of the soul and all its powers 
 
 1 See infra, Chapter I, p. 45 ; Chapter V, p. 74 ; Chapter VII, p. 83 ; Chapter 
 VIII, p. 100. 2 See Gratz, VI 3 , p. 275.
 
 12 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 or parts. There are five parts to the human soul : (1) the 
 nutritive (p!"I) ; (2) the perceptive (tTT")!"!) ; (3) the imagi- 
 native (ntt"lttn) ; (4) the appetitive (VflSriDn), and (5) the 
 rational ( vDttfiT). Other beings are spoken of as having these 
 powers, but they are essentially different from those of man, 
 whose soul, as the bearer of human properties, is not the same 
 as that of other creatures, as the horse, the ass, or the eagle. 
 
 The nutritive part of the soul has seven powers, or proper- 
 ties : (1) the power of attraction ("]tt71!T) ; (2) the power of 
 retention (|TH"Ifci"l) ; (3) the power of digestion (T>29ft!"I) ; 
 
 (4) the power of repelling superfluities (fYTimttv firm!"!) ; 
 
 (5) the power of growth (Ttl!"I) ; (6) the power of propa- 
 gation (nftYlD TvlZSfJ), and (7) the power of differentiation 
 between the nutritive humors (WITv) and those to be repelled. 
 
 The perceptive part consists of the five senses, seeing (mXIH), 
 hearing (>t#!T), smelling (fTHPt), tasting (D^lOn), and feeling 
 
 The imaginative part is the power of retaining impressions 
 of objects even when they do not perceptibly affect the senses, 
 and of combining them in different ways, so that the imagina- 
 tion constructs out of originally real things those that never 
 have nor can exist. The Mutakallimun overlook this truth as 
 regards the imagination, which they make the corner-stone of 
 their philosophical system. 
 
 The appetitive part is the power to long for a thing or to 
 shun it. From this there results the seeking after or fleeing 
 from a person or thing ; inclination and avoidance ; anger and 
 satisfaction ; fear and bravery ; cruelty and compassion, and 
 many other qualities (D'HpD, accidents) of the soul. The 
 organs of this power are all parts of the body. 
 
 The rational part is the power peculiar to man by which he 
 understands, thinks, acquires knowledge, and discriminates be- 
 tween proper and improper actions. This manifold activity of 
 the rational part is both practical and speculative. The practi- 
 cal activities are partly mechanical (rOtPfTtt rO&Ott) and partly 
 intellectual. The speculative activities are the powers of man 
 by which he knows things which, by their nature, are not sub-
 
 INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 ject to change. These are called the sciences. The mechanical 
 power is that by which man learns the arts, as that of archi- 
 tecture, agriculture, medicine, or navigation. The intellectual 
 power is that by which man reflects upon the possibility or 
 manner of doing an intended action. The soul, which is a unit, 
 but which has many powers or parts, bears the same relation 
 to the intellect (TOttM) as matter does to form. 
 
 Chapter II, like Chapter I, is psychological in character. 1 
 It deals with the powers of the soul, obedient or disobedient 
 to the Law, and the determination of the parts which produce 
 virtues or vices. Violations (JllTO!?) and observances (ni2tt3) 
 of the Law are found only in two of the parts of the soul, 
 namely, the perceptive and the appetitive. The nutritive and 
 the imaginative have no violations nor observances connected 
 with them, since these powers have neither knowledge nor 
 choice. There is some doubt as regards the rational power, 
 but if it has violations and observances, they are, respectively, 
 beliefs in false or true doctrines. 
 
 Virtues are of two kinds, ethical virtues (rfi1ft!"I fll T>2?) and 
 intellectual virtues (rVTTOttM ni79). Their opposites are the 
 two kinds of vices. Intellectual virtues are found in the rational 
 part. These virtues are wisdom (!"ID3)T), which is the knowl- 
 edge of the near and remote causes (HOD) of things based on a 
 previous knowledge of their existence ; reason (^DttT), which in 
 turn comprises (a) innate, theoretical reason (K1JT1 ^VSn TOttM 
 SntDD Vh XtffcJn) ; (5) acquired reason (,1^3,1 ^DEM) ; (c) sa- 
 gacity (rWOnn HOI), or intellectual cleverness (rtOJ"in 2110), or 
 the ability to quickly understand a thing. The vices of this 
 power are the opposites of these virtues. The ethical virtues 
 belong only to the appetitive part, and in this connection the 
 perceptive part is subservient to the appetitive. The virtues of 
 this power are very numerous. They are moderation (rVPPriT) ; 
 liberality (HOT) ; probity (""KPT) ; meekness (.113!?) ; humility 
 (Pirn nibBtP) ; contentedness (mparCPI) ; bravery (.11132), 
 and uprightness (Hlltt^). The vices of this power consist of 
 
 * On the title of Chapter II, see Hebrew text, p. 14, n. 1,
 
 14 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 an exaggeration or a deficiency of these virtues. The nutritive 
 and the imaginative powers have neither vices nor virtues. 
 
 The diseases of the soul (ttfSJH ""7FT) are described in 
 Chapter III. The ancient philosophers laid down the dictum 
 that the soul, like the body, can be healthy or sick. A 
 healthy soul is in such a condition (Hi'DD) that only good and 
 honorable deeds flow from it. The opposite is true of a dis- 
 eased soul. Just as the physically sick desire things that are 
 bad for them, but which they consider good, so do those whose 
 souls are ill seek the bad and the evil, thinking that they are 
 good. Furthermore, just as those whose bodies are diseased 
 consult a phj^sician and take medicines that are unpleasant to 
 the taste in order that they may be restored to a healthy con- 
 dition, so must the morally ill consult the wise men (D^wf!!"!), 
 who are the physicians of the soul (ttfBJH "'XS'Tl), and ascertain 
 from them what are the bad and what are the good deeds. 
 They must follow the advice of the soul-physicians, even though 
 what they prescribe be distasteful. If a person is physically 
 ill, and does not consult a physician, his end will be premature 
 death, and, likewise, one morally ill, who does not seek the 
 advice of the sages, will experience a moral death. 
 
 Chapter IV deals with the cure of the diseases of the soul. 
 In agreement with Aristotle, Maimonides declares that actions 
 are good when they follow a medium course between two ex- 
 tremes which are both bad. Virtues are conditions (D'U'On) 
 of the soul and characteristics which are midway between two 
 states, one of which is excessive and the other deficient. Thus, 
 generosity is the mean between sordidness (HITS) and extrav- 
 agance OUS) ; courage (iTTQ3), the mean between recklessness 
 (nUSDS ITVD&) and cowardice (Snbn "p) ; humility (ITO), 
 that between haughtiness (ITIfcW) and self-abasement (fTPSE? 
 tmn), and so forth. People often consider one or the other 
 extreme a virtue, as when they praise the reckless man as be- 
 ing brave, or the lazy as being contented. To cure a person 
 who is morally unsound, that is who performs deeds which go 
 to the one or the other extreme, he should be made to practise 
 the opposite extreme until his original fault has been remedied.
 
 INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 That is, if a man is niggardly, he must practise deeds of extrava- 
 gance until his niggardliness disappears. Then he is instructed 
 to stop his extravagance, and follow the medium course of 
 generosity. Man must constantly guard his actions that they 
 maintain the proper balance between exaggeration and defi- 
 ciency. By this means he gains the highest degree of human 
 perfection, comes nearer to God, and partakes of His eternal 
 blessings. This is the most perfect form of reverencing the 
 Deity. Maimonides ends the chapter by harmonizing the phil- 
 osophical and Talmudical views in regard to man's powers of 
 weighing his actions and following the proper mean. 
 
 The directing of the powers of one's soul towards a certain 
 goal is the subject of Chapter V. Man's one aim in life should 
 be to understand God. All his actions and words should be 
 so arranged as to accomplish this purpose, and consequently he 
 should seek not the most pleasant but the most useful things. 
 The body should be kept in a healthy condition for the sake 
 of the purity of the soul. When one partakes of food that 
 is pleasant but dangerous to the health, he is like a senseless 
 beast. Man acts sensibly only when all his actions are aimed 
 at gaining bodily welfare and spiritual superiority. Science 
 and education aid in this ; for the study of algebra, geometry, 
 and mechanics sharpens one's intellect, and enables one to 
 understand the truth of the proofs of God's existence. Man 
 ought to direct his words towards this goal. He should speak 
 only of such things as will benefit his soul, or avert danger 
 from his body. In consequence of this, man will desist from 
 many ordinary actions and words. He will not think of beau- 
 tifying the walls of his house with costly decorations or his 
 clothes with expensive embroideries, unless it be done for the 
 purpose of spiritual uplifting. Such an aim is lofty and dif- 
 ficult of attainment, but one accomplishing it ranks as high as 
 does a prophet. The rabbis have most wonderfully and con- 
 cisely expressed this sentiment by the saying, "Let all your 
 actions be for the sake of God." (Abot II, 12.) 
 
 In Chapter VI, 1 Maimonides discusses the difference between 
 1 On title, see Hebrew text, p. 35, n. 1.
 
 16 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 the saintly man (rnTSOn TDHH) and the one who curbs his 
 desires (1WBJ DK bttn&m m 1 m EDm). Agreeing with 
 Aristotelian philosophy, Maimonides asserts that the truly vir- 
 tuous man practises the good as a result of an innate inclina- 
 tion to do so. He is superior to the one who, though he may 
 do deeds equally good, yet in order to accomplish them, must 
 subdue his desires which are of an evil nature. That is, the 
 condition of the saint's soul is better than that of the man who 
 subdues his passions. Proverbs XXI. 10, "The soul of the 
 wicked longeth for evil," agrees with this sentiment. The 
 rabbis, however, seem to contradict this opinion by saying 
 that he who has evil thoughts and desires, but who conquers 
 them, is greater than he who has no battle to fight. They 
 even maintain that the greater a man is, the more powerful 
 are his desires. On the face of it, the opinions of the rabbis 
 and the philosophers seem to disagree. But here Maimonides 
 uses his wonderful ability as a harmonizer of philosophical and 
 rabbinical doctrines. He explains away the contradiction by 
 stating that the philosophers meant by the desires for evil the 
 inclination to commit such transgressions as murder, stealing, 
 deceit, and so forth. The laws forbidding these are called by the 
 rabbis "commandments" (TfiiCtt), or "ordinances" (D'TDStPtt). 
 There is no doubt that a soul that desires any of these grave 
 evils is a bad soul. There is, however, another kind of less 
 important transgressions, the performance of which is prohib- 
 ited by statutes (Dpi"!). It is in reference to these evils, and 
 not to the first mentioned, that the rabbis say that if a man 
 desires, but conquers them, his reward is great. These are, for 
 instance, the partaking of meat and milk together, or the wear- 
 ing of clothes made of two different materials. The rabbis 
 would not say, any more than the philosophers, that the man 
 who desires to murder but refrains from doing so is greater 
 than the one who never desires to murder. 
 
 In Chapter VII, Maimonides discusses the partitions or walls 
 (filiTntt) which separate man from God, and also describes 
 what prophecy is. As explained in Chapter II, there are in- 
 tellectual and moral virtues, and their opposite vices. These
 
 INTRODUCTION 17 
 
 vices, which are termed partitions, prevent man from behold- 
 ing God. As many vices, intellectual or moral, a man has, by 
 so many partitions is he separated from God. The prophets 
 "looked upon " God from behind the least number of partitions. 
 The fewer they were, the higher was the rank of the prophet. 
 Three virtues the prophets, however, must have, which Mai- 
 monides deduces from the rabbinical saying, " Prophecy rests 
 only upon the wise, the brave, and the rich." The wise man 
 is the one who possesses all intellectual virtues. The brave 
 man is he who conquers his desires. The rich man is the one 
 who is satisfied with his lot. Moses was the only prophet in 
 whom all moral and intellectual virtues were combined. The 
 only partition or wall between him and God was his physical 
 body, from which the spirit of man cannot divorce itself on 
 earth. This partition the rabbis call specularia, 1 a transparent 
 wall, through which Moses gazed upon the highest truth, but 
 not as one does with human eyes. 
 
 The interesting problem of the freedom of will, in which 
 again Maimonides successfully blends the philosophical and 
 the rabbinical doctrines, is taken up in Chapter VIII. Mai- 
 monides begins with the statement that man is not born with 
 either virtues or vices, just as he is not born skilled in an art. 
 He may, however, have a predisposition towards a certain char- 
 acteristic, but every man's temperament is equally susceptible 
 to virtue as well as to vice. It is man's moral duty to encour- 
 age any predilection he may have towards virtue, and to stamp 
 out any desire for the vicious. No virtue is unattainable ; there 
 is no vice that cannot be avoided, no matter what man's natural 
 bent may be. The developing of what is good and the conquer- 
 ing of what is bad may be accomplished by instruction, guidance, 
 and habit. Astrologers, however, and those who believe with 
 them, maintain that a man's destiny, his conduct in life, in fact, 
 all his actions, are determined according to the constellation 
 under which he is born. This belief Maimonides denounces as 
 ridiculous. The rabbis and the philosophers alike agree in the 
 belief that man has absolute free choice, and that he alone is 
 
 1 See infra, chapter VII, p, 79, notes 3 and 4. 
 c
 
 18 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 responsible for his actions. If this were not so, all commands 
 and prohibitions of the law would be in vain. All learning, 
 teaching, and effort of all kinds would be useless if man's actions, 
 knowledge, and characteristics were determined by an outside 
 power. If such were the case, reward and punishment would 
 be unjust; for no matter how much a man would try to do a 
 certain deed, if it were predetermined that he should not do it, 
 he would be unable to perform it. If Simeon killed Reuben, 
 it would be unjust to punish Simeon ; for he did not kill of his 
 own volition, but was forced to do so. 
 
 Maimonides then attacks a popular belief that all actions, 
 even such as sitting or standing, are done by the will of God. 
 In general, this is true, but not of any given individual action. 
 A stone thrown up in the air falls to the ground, which is in 
 accordance with a general law of nature that God willed at 
 creation. God, however, does not will that a certain stone at 
 a certain time, when thrown into the air, should fall to the 
 ground. At creation God willed also that man should have 
 certain characteristics, that he should walk upright, have a 
 broad chest, have fingers on his hands and so forth, and like- 
 wise man was endowed with the characteristics of having free- 
 dom of will which he can exercise. Maimonides then proves 
 that certain statements in the Bible which seemingly support 
 the theory of predestination are not of such a nature. 
 
 In conclusion, Maimonides takes up a question often asked, 
 " Does God know in advance that a certain man will do a good 
 or a bad deed at a certain time, or does He not know it ? " If 
 He does not know, then the principles of religion are under- 
 mined, for God is said to be all-knowing. If He does know in 
 advance, then this clearly proves that man's actions are pre- 
 ordained. Maimonides answers by having recourse to meta- 
 physics. God does not know, he says, by means of human 
 knowledge, nor does He live by means of human life, so that it 
 can be said He and His knowledge are distinct, or that He and 
 His life are different, as is true of man. God is, however, the 
 knower, the knowing and the known. He is the living, He is 
 the life, and the giver of life. Man cannot, owing to his imper-
 
 INTRODUCTION 19 
 
 fections, comprehend what is the knowledge or life of God any 
 more than he can grasp what God Himself is. Thus, Maimoni- 
 des reconciles the two beliefs that man is free to choose, and 
 that God is yet all-knowing. 
 
 C. SAMUEL IBN TIBBON AS A TRANSLATOR HIS TRANS- 
 LATION OF THE SH EM ON AH PERAKIM 
 
 Samuel ibn Tibbon, 1 the most famous of an illustrious fam- 
 ily of translators, by his translation of Maimonides' Moreh 
 Nebukim, performed an inestimable service for Jewish philoso- 
 phy. Written originally in Arabic, the Moreh would have 
 remained a sealed book to the majority of Jews, had not Ibn 
 Tibbon rendered it accessible. Had he not translated it, no 
 doubt some one sooner or later would have accomplished that 
 task, but it was very fortunate that one who was a contempo- 
 rary of Maimonides, who had his entire confidence, and who 
 could correspond with the author in regard to obscure passages, 
 and receive valuable instructions from him, should have done 
 the work. From the correspondence between Maimonides and 
 the men of Liinel, Ibn Tibbon's birthplace, we note that Mai- 
 tnonides had a high regard for Samuel's ability as a translator, 
 and honored him as a man of erudition. 2 It seems that the 
 scholars of Liinel wrote to Maimonides asking him to translate 
 the Moreh into Hebrew, but the answer came that Ibn Tibbon 
 was already at work on it, and that Maimonides had faith in the 
 translator. 3 He considered Ibn Tibbon a capable and skilled 
 translator, and wondered at his knowledge of Arabic, although 
 he did not live in an Arabic-speaking country. 
 
 Shortly after Ibn Tibbon translated the Moreh, Jehudah al- 
 Harizi, the poet, was asked by a number of scholars to do the 
 same work. This, of course, implied that Ibn Tibbon's render- 
 ing was not satisfactory to them. They wished al-Harizi to 
 
 1 Born 1160, died 1230. See Renan-Neubauer, Les Bobbins Franqais, p. 
 673 ff. ; also Les Ecrivains Franqais ; Gratz, VI 3 , 205 ; Winter and Wtinsche, 
 Die Jud. Litteratur, II, 330, 385 ; M. Schloessinger, in JE., vol. VI, p. 548 ; 
 Geiger, Judaism and its History (New York, 1911), pp. 375-376. 2 On 
 Maimonides' correspondence with the men of Liinel, see HUb., pp. 415-416. 
 Gratz, VI 8 , p. 324 ; HUb., p. 417.
 
 20 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 translate the Moreh in a simple, clear and polished style, as the 
 version of Ibn Tibbon, being literal, was necessarily heavy. 
 Al-Harizi prefixed to his work two introductions, one contain- 
 ing an alphabetical list of " strange words," and the other, the 
 contents of each chapter. It is fortunate for Ibn Tibbon that 
 al-Harizi, too, did the same work, for a comparison shows the 
 marked superiority and excellence of Ibn Tibbon's translation. 
 In his Grlossary of Strange Words, which he later prefixed to the 
 Moreh, Ibn Tibbon rightfully shows the many errors and short- 
 comings of the translation of al-Harizi, who might be a good 
 poet, but who showed his ignorance when he attempted to deal 
 with scientific matters. 1 
 
 Pococke's opinion of the two translators is interesting. He 
 says, " The version of Harizi is inferior to that of Ibn Tibbon, 
 not because that of Tibbon is more elegant, but as regards mat- 
 ter it is closer to the original text." 2 Shem Tob ibn Palquera 
 in a letter says, " In Ibn Tibbon's translation there are only a few 
 errors ; and if the learned translator had had time he would 
 certainly have corrected these. But in al-Harizi's translation 
 mistakes are numerous and words are often given a wrong 
 meaning." 3 Munk scores Ibn Tibbon's translation as a mere 
 cast of the original and unintelligible to the ordinary Hebrew 
 reader. 4 Steinschneider, 5 in commenting on this harsh criti- 
 cism, shows the difficulties that faced Ibn Tibbon, and points 
 
 1 Cf. HUb., p. 420 ff. ; Kaufmann, Der F'uhrer MaimunPs in der Weltlittera- 
 tur, AGPh., XI, p. 346 ff. See especially Kaufmann, Attrib., p. 493, n. 182, 
 where are mentioned a number of those who find fault with al-Harizi's trans- 
 lation and introductions. Abraham ben Maimon says of him : inpnjn nn'rw 
 nSpSipci neois'D (Kobez, III, f. 16 b coll.). Ibn Tibbon in his own Glossary of 
 Strange Words especially condemns that of al-Harizi with the words : IXD S JNI 
 D'San nn vjcS IJFN ^yvr\ nc'ND D'Sis'ua N*?n I'M *nnn -iysns> TCNO icis nx:pi nNjtr 
 C'S>33>Di D^SD >jflS o>Si:s>3Di nvjro D^io nsfM. See also Friedlander, Guide, 
 . 1904, Introd., p. xxxii. 2 Preface to Porta Mosis, " Versis (Charisii) illi 
 ab Aben Tibbon factae postposita, fuit, non quod ilia Tibbonidae elegan- 
 tior, sed materiae congruentior fuerit," etc. 8 HUb., p. 432 ; JE., art., Ibn 
 Tibbon. 4 Munk, Guide, I, Preface, p. ii, "La version d'Ibn-Tibbon, qu'on 
 peut appeler un veritable ' caique ' de 1'originale arabe, ne peut etre bien com- 
 prise que par celui qui possede a la fois la connaisance de 1'arabe et celle de 
 1'hebreu rabbinique et qui a acquis des notions suffisantes de la philosophic mu- 
 sulmane et de sa tenninologie." 6 HUb., pp. 419, 423.
 
 INTRODUCTION 21 
 
 out the value of his translation, even though it is largely a lit- 
 eral one. He maintains that Ibn Tibbon's work will continue 
 to be one of the most important in the history of translations, 
 for it laid the foundation of Hebrew philosophical style with its 
 syntactical and terminological Arabisms. 1 Gratz contemptu- 
 ously calls Ibn Tibbon a "handicraftsman in philosophy." 2 
 
 While it is true that Ibn Tibbon's style is not the best, he 
 should not be criticized too severely on this account. He con- 
 sciously avoided elegance of expression for the sake of accuracy, 
 and in order to faithfully render the original even went so far 
 as to reproduce ambiguities. As far as possible, he consulted 
 Maimonides on difficult passages. 3 One must remember, too, 
 that Ibn Tibbon was a pioneer in the art of translating from 
 Arabic into Hebrew, that he had no patterns to go by, 
 except the works of his father, Jehudah, that a philosophical 
 Hebrew vocabulary did not exist, and, in consequence, even the 
 most ordinary terms had to be coined. 4 Ibn Tibbon was well 
 aware of the difficulties that the reader would meet in his 
 translation, and in order to avoid these as far as possible 
 composed a Glossary of Strange Words, 5 in which he ably 
 explains the philosophical terms employed. He realized fully 
 that his translation contained Arabisms, 6 but wherever it was 
 possible to use a Hebrew word or expression he did so. Many 
 words and constructions in Hebrew which Ibn Tibbon used for 
 the first time to convey the Arabic sense are now commonly 
 accepted philosophical terms. It is unjust, moreover, to judge 
 Ibn Tibbon by the ordinary texts of the works he has trans- 
 lated. Not until a carefully prepared and revised text of the 
 Moreh has been published will one be able to determine accu- 
 rately his ability and his shortcomings. Judging by the expe- 
 rience of the editor in his textual work in the Perakim, often 
 
 1 Arab. Lit., p. 205. 2 Gratz (Eng. ed.), Ill, p. 566. 8 See his Preface to 
 the Moreh, also Friedlander, Guide, Introd., p. xxviii. 4 He had as guides his 
 father's translations and various Arabic books which he possessed. See his 
 Preface to the Moreh, also HUb., p. 416. 5 On I.T.'s Glossary (mSn ID e>r^B 
 nnr), see HUb., p. 421 ff. 6 On Arabisms of I.T., see his Preface to the 
 Moreh ; also HUb., pp. 419-420.
 
 22 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 an otherwise obscure or meaningless passage is rendered clear 
 by evidence from manuscript, or other reliable sources. 
 
 Ibn Tibbon translated Maimonides' Commentary on Abot, in- 
 cluding its introductory chapters, the Perakim, at the request 
 of the men of Liinel, 1 who were presumably convinced of his 
 capabilities by what Maimonides thought of him. All that has 
 been said of Ibn Tibbon as a translator of the Moreh is true 
 generally of his work on the Perakim. As in the Moreh, he 
 sacrificed style for the sake of accuracy, and so, on the whole, 
 translated with great literalness, very often word for word. 
 Wherever he has to any marked degree departed from the orig- 
 inal, the fact has been mentioned in the notes. As an instance 
 of the care he exercised in turning the Arabic into Hebrew, we 
 may point to his rendering the Arabic phrase X7K Drn"?K, 
 meaning "unless indeed," into the Hebrew fcO DK DTPK, which 
 very naturally gave rise to a misreading, 2 or, where preserved 
 correctly, was unintelligible save to those who were acquainted 
 with the Arabic idiom. This shows the justice of Munk's criti- 
 cism. Wherever Ibn Tibbon was uncertain of the translation 
 of an Arabic word, which might be rendered by one of two 
 Hebrew words, his usual custom was to put one in the text and 
 the other in the margin. These variants came afterwards into 
 the text. In regard to the Moreh, he relied upon the advice of 
 Maimonides as to which should be eventually used. 3 It seems, 
 however, that he did not consult Maimonides in reference to 
 the Shemonah Perakim, and consequently at obscure points 
 introduced glosses, noted by the expression "that is to say" 
 CTffte), or "I mean" (S"*)), or "the explanation of" (' S S). 
 An instance of this is seen in Chapter II, where, after the words 
 " as moderation " (filTniD), there is added the phrase " that is 
 to say, fear of sin " (KtDh RT "IBI^D). 4 
 
 At the beginning of Chapter IV, where the doctrine of the 
 
 1 See LT.'s Preface to his translation of the Commentary on Abot : 1*0 
 [some Mss., Twaa] Tiara :nn onpn -\vx trpioni nroDen DN? BTVD \-n?is -vj? S^jiS >n3n 
 o'Diaj mm 1DND3 w$ T^No onS ifvnyn 1 ? >jc3 wpa nijijj?. See Preface to Porta 
 Mosis, p. 4, and Perakim, ed. Slutcki, p. 3. 2 See Hebrew text, c. V, p. 32, 
 n. 28. 8 See I.T.'s Preface to the Moreh. * See Hebrew text, c. II, p. 16, n. 1.
 
 INTRODUCTION 23 
 
 Mean is discussed, Ibn Tibbon has taken what in his case may 
 be considered great liberties with the text, resulting in such a 
 divergence from the original that Rosin 1 was compelled to 
 assume that the translator had before him an Arabic text dif- 
 fering from that of the manuscript reproduced in Pococke's 
 Porta Mosis. The order of the list of virtues in Ibn Tib- 
 bon's version in no manuscript or edition is the same as 
 that of the original, although the manuscripts and editions 
 disagree among themselves in this regard. There are also a 
 number of glosses, explaining in detail some of the virtues. 
 The reason for a change in arrangement seems to be hinted 
 at in one of the glosses, written in all likelihood by Ibn 
 Tibbon, where there occurs the phrase, " and for this reason I 
 have arranged them thus" ("p DTHID PTPl). 2 The nice dis- 
 tinction drawn by Maimonides between the extremes of the 
 various virtues he discusses was sufficient cause for Ibn Tibbon 
 to have introduced explanatory glosses, as it was impossible for 
 him to find in Hebrew the proper words for the fine Arabic 
 terminology. The necessity of elucidation becomes apparent 
 from the fact that a number of glosses which did not originate 
 with Ibn Tibbon are found in some of the sources. 3 It may, 
 consequently, be maintained that the Arabic text we have to- 
 day is substantially the same as that~from which Ibn Tibbon 
 translated, 4 and also that, on the whole, the Hebrew of the 
 Perakim follows the Arabic very closely. 
 
 It is needless to go into detail here as to the peculiarities of 
 Ibn Tibbon's translation, as these are taken up in the notes 
 on the text. The critical text of the Hebrew offers in places 
 valuable evidence on obscure readings in the Arabic, attention 
 to which has also been drawn in the notes. 6 
 
 1 Rosin, Ethik, p. 31, n. 2. 2 See Hebrew text, c. IV, p. 21, line 8. 8 See He- 
 brew text, c. IV, p. 19, notes 16 and 17. * The translators of the Mishnah 
 Commentary seem to have had only one copy from which they all translated. 
 Geiger, Moses ben Maimon, p. 83, n. 43. 5 See Hebrew text, c. VIII, p. 42, 
 n. 14 ; p. 43, n. 7 ; p. 47, n. 6 ; p. 53, n. 1.
 
 24 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 D. DESCRIPTION OF COLLATED MATERIAL GENERAL 
 REMARKS ON THE TEXT 
 
 A glance at the long list of manuscripts and editions of the 
 Perakim shows the impracticability of trying to collate all the 
 material available. The editor has, therefore, chosen a number 
 of the most valuable sources, and has minutely compared them, 
 being constantly guided by the Arabic. He has confined his 
 attention as far as the Arabic is concerned to the Pococke ver- 
 sion and that of Wolff based on it. A careful collation of Arabic 
 texts may, however, clear up some points which are still left 
 in doubt. The editor hopes to accomplish this task some day. 
 
 The material used in collation is as follows : 
 
 Br = manuscript of British Museum Add. 14763, written 
 A.D. 1273, containing Samuel ibn Tibbon's translation of Mai- 
 monides' Commentary on Abot preceded by Ibn Tibbon's intro- 
 duction to and translation of the Shemonah Perakim. This is the 
 oldest and, on the whole, the best source known to the editor. 
 It is very carefully written, with scarcely any scribal errors. 
 For the first six chapters its evidence is very reliable. In the 
 seventh chapter it begins to vary from the original Arabic, and 
 in the eighth it departs rather widely, having readings which 
 agree substantially with those of some unreliable sources. It 
 is possible that the first six chapters were copied from one 
 source, the seventh and eighth from another. This manuscript 
 is characterized throughout by an almost superfluous use of 
 the matres lectionis, even in Biblical quotations. It has a few 
 vocalized words, all of which have been recorded in the notes. 
 
 Ma = a manuscript Mahzor, Roman rite, fourteenth or fif- 
 teenth century ; in the library of the Jewish Theological Sem- 
 inary of America. Its readings are, on the whole, close to the 
 Arabic, in places superior to those of Br, especially in Chapters 
 VII and VIII, where the latter is faulty. The revised text of 
 these two chapters is based mainly on this manuscript. There 
 are, however, many, though unimportant, omissions, except in 
 one instance in Chapter VIII, 1 where all texts depart from the 
 
 1 See Hebrew text, p. 61, n. 10.
 
 INTRODUCTION 25 
 
 original, on account of which lack of evidence on the part of 
 Ma, the editor has been obliged to reconstruct the text. It 
 has a number of errors such as misspelled words and minor 
 repetitions, due to carelessness of the scribe, or to a faulty 
 source. A few vocalized words and marginal readings, chiefly 
 of a later hand, occur. 
 
 So = Maimonides' Commentary on Abot, Soncino (148485 ?). 
 It is found in the libraries of Columbia University, of the 
 Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and elsewhere, and 
 is an incunabulum. It is minutely described by De Rossi, in 
 Annales Hebraeo Typographici, Parma, p. 131. It was prob- 
 ably copied from the Soncino edition of the Mahzor. 1 Its chief 
 value lies in its being in places corroboratory of Br or Ma. 
 Only occasionally does it offer an independent reading of value. 
 
 Mi = Mishnah text with Commentary of Maimonides, Naples, 
 1492 ; printed by Joshua Soncino. 2 This is the first edition of 
 the Mishnah. The copy used by the editor is found in the 
 library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. It 
 has marginal notes offering corrections, as well as some inter- 
 linear insertions. It agrees substantially with So, its source 
 evidently being the same, both being Soncino editions.. Va- 
 riants from it are recorded in the notes only when differing 
 from those of So. 
 
 As it has been the aim of the editor to restore the text as it 
 came from the pen of Ibn Tibbon, it has very often become 
 necessary for him to place in the notes readings whose Hebrew 
 is superior to that of those retained in the text. 3 Ibn Tibbon, 
 on the whole, translated literally, and consequently the literal- 
 ism of a reading indicates conclusively that it originated with 
 him. The more idiomatic renderings are due to copyists, who 
 endeavored to improve the text, but who, it may be added, 
 
 1 See Catalogo di Opere Ebraiche Greche Latine ed Italians stampate dai 
 Celebri Tipografi Soncini ne 1 Secoli XV e XVI, Compilato da Gaetana Zaccaria 
 Antonucci, p. 113 ; Steinschneider, Supplementum Catalogi libr. hebr.in Biblioth. 
 Bodleiana, in Centralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen (Leipzig, 1894), Vol. XI, p. 486, 
 and JE., vol. VI, p. 578, art. Incunabula. 2 See Antonucci, Catalogo, etc., 
 pp. 63-54. 3 See, for instance, Hebrew text, c. I, p. 9, n. 1.
 
 26 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 through their ignorance of the Arabic constructions, at times 
 introduced errors into their manuscripts. 1 
 
 In order, however, to equalize the text and render it as 
 smooth as possible, wherever one source has a reading which 
 in minor details is more correct grammatically than that of 
 another, though perhaps better manuscript or edition, the 
 former reading is preferred without mention in the notes, 
 although the looser rendering may go back to Ibn Tibbon. 
 This is especially true as regards the agreement of suffixes and 
 pronouns with their nouns. Thus, D!"Q, DHtt, etc., of So are 
 often retained in preference to JHD, ptt, etc., of Br or Ma, 
 although the latter are more authoritative sources. 2 
 
 Emendations of the text have been avoided unless supported 
 by good authority, and always by that of the original Arabic, 
 as, for instance, in Chapter VIII, 3 where all the Hebrew 
 sources are at fault, the manuscripts and editions reading, 
 TOKl, inn&X, -pn&1, or naxi inn&X. The Arabic Kl^ne 
 points plainly to an original in^l. 
 
 Glosses which can be traced to Ibn Tibbon are printed in 
 small type. All other glosses are put in the notes. 
 
 The reader can generally tell the source on which a given 
 part of the text is based by the absence of the sign of that 
 source from the notes. In Chapters I to VI, for instance, the 
 sign Br is seldom present in the notes, which indicates that the 
 text follows that manuscript very closely. The character of 
 the notes in this regard should, however, be taken into consid- 
 eration. Thus, Chapters VII and VIII are based mainly on 
 Ma, but that sign appears often in the notes because of minor 
 errors and omissions in its text. Variants occurring in Mi are 
 noted only when they differ from those in So. 
 
 1 See Hebrew text, c. V, p. 32, n. 28. 2 1.T. was conscious of such errors in his 
 translations. See his Preface to the Moreh, in which he refers to his father's 
 (Jehudah's) Preface to his translation of Bahyaibn Pakuda's niaarn main, where 
 Jehudah dwells upon the difficulties in translating from Arabic into Hebrew. 
 Cf. HUb., p. 374. 8 See Hebrew text, p. 54, n. 37.
 
 INTRODUCTION 27 
 
 E. MANUSCRIPTS EDITIONS TRANSLATIONS COMMEN- 
 TARIES 
 
 For a list and description of the Arabic manuscripts contain- 
 ing the Thamaniat Fusul (Shemonah Perakim), see Gated. Jiodl., 
 1889-1890. 
 
 The Arabic text, in Hebrew characters, with a Latin transla- 
 tion is contained in : 
 
 1. Porta Mosis sive Dissertationes Aliquot a R. Mose Mai- 
 
 monide, suis in varias Mishnaioth, etc., by Edward Po- 
 cocke (Oxford, 1654), pp. 181-250. 
 
 2. The Theological Works of the Learned Dr. Pocock, edited 
 
 by Leonard Twells (London, 1740), pp. 68-93. 1 
 
 3. It has also been edited by Wolff, with a German transla- 
 
 tion, under the title Thamaniat Fuml, Musa Maimum's 
 Acht Capitel. Arabisch und Deutsch mit Anmerkungen 
 von Dr. M. Wolff (Leipzig, 1863). Second revised 
 edition, Leiden, 1903. 
 
 In the following are enumerated a partial list of manuscript 
 works containing the whole Abot Commentary, and also of the 
 manuscript Mahzorim in which the Shemonah Perakim are 
 found : 2 
 
 I. WITH ABOT 
 
 Oxford Bodleian Library * 
 
 376.3. Massekhoth Aboth, with Sh'muel ibn Tibbon's translation of M.'s com- 
 mentary. Copy made by Mord'khai ben Levi jfpn at Ferrara for H. 
 
 1 The Porta Mosis also contains the other introductions found in Maimoni- 
 des' Commentary on the Mishnah, namely, the Introduction to the Mishnah 
 (erroneously called in Seder Zeraim praefatio) , the introduction to Perek Helek, 
 to Kodoshim, to Tohoroth, and to M'nahoth. Twells, in his account of the life 
 and writings of Pococke, says (p. 44) that the Mss. Pococke made use of "were 
 very good and some of them, he imagined, the very originals written by the 
 author's (M.'s) own hand." Jaraczewski (ZPhKr., XL VI, p. 22) states that 
 Pococke used an Oxford Ms. The title page of the Porta Mosis has the imprint 
 of H. Hall Academiae Typographies, 1655, but the title page of the Appendix is 
 dated 1654. 2 See, also, Catalogues des Manuscripts Hebreux et Samaritains 
 de la Bibliotheque Imperiale (Paris, 1866), nos. 332 1 , 334*, 605, 609, 617, 674 s , 
 750 2 , and 1191 10 , and catalogues of other libraries. 8 Neubauer, Catalogue.
 
 28 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Noah ben 'Immanuel Norzi; finished on Sunday, 22d of lyyar, 5237 
 (1477) (German rabbinical characters). 
 
 409.3. Fol. 285. On Aboth, translation of Sh'muel Tibbon. In M.'s commen- 
 tary on Mishnah (German rabbinical characters). 
 
 714.2. Fol. 54. Sh'muel ibn Tibbon's preface and Heb. translation of M.'s 
 commentary on Aboth and of the Eight Chapters (Italian rabbinical 
 characters) . 
 
 1254.2. Fol. 112. M.'s commentary on Aboth in Heb. (German rabbinical 
 characters). 
 
 2282.3. Fol. 14. Sh'muel ibn Tibbon 1 s translation of M.'s Eight Chapters and 
 his commentary on Aboth, with marginal notes by a later hand (German 
 rabbinical characters). 
 
 British Museum Library 1 
 
 Add. 14763. Sam'l ibn Tibbon' s translation of M.'s Commentary on nias, pre- 
 ceded by Ibn Tibbon's introduction and c^no 'n, A.D. 1273. 2 
 
 Add. 16390. M.'s a'p-io 'n, XVIth century. 
 
 Add. 17057. The aipie n:iDt? of M. and his Commentary on Aboth (imperfect), 
 translation from the Arabic into Hebrew by Samuel ibn Tibbon, XVth 
 century. 
 
 De Rossi Library (Parma) 8 
 Cod. 46. 3. R. Mosis M. Scemone Perakim, seu octo Capita de animae facul- 
 
 tatibus a R. S. Tibbonide hebraice versa. Sec. XV. 
 Cod. 71. Pirke Avoth seu Capitula patrum cum Comm. Maimonidis ejusque 
 
 praefat ; memb. rabb. in 4 in Sec. XV. 
 Cod. 269. 2. Pirke Avoth cum Commentario Maimonidis ac fusa ejus praefa- 
 
 tione ; membr. rabb. in 4. an. 1444- 
 
 Cod. 273. 1. Pirke Avoth seu Capitula patrum cum Com. Maimon. 
 Cod. 327. 8. Maimonidis Comm. in Pirke Avoth cum fusa praef. seu octo 
 
 Perakim ex R. S. Tibbonides translatione. 
 
 Cod. 353. P. A. seu capitula patrum cum Comm. Maimonidis, etc. Sec. XV. 
 Cod. 438. 6. M. Comm. in P. A. cum praef. Sam. Tibbonidis. Ad calc. vero 
 
 Com. M. in P. A. haec reperiuntur " Finita est translatis comm. hujus 
 
 tractatus ex lingua arab. in sanctam mensa tebelh an. 963 (chr. 1202) 
 
 quern vetrit in arce Liinel sapiens philosophus, eruditus in omnia scien- 
 
 tia, R. Sam. fil. sapientis magni R. Jeh. aben. Tib. fel. m. Granatensis 
 
 hispanus." 
 Cod. 1161. 2. Pirke avoth cum commentario M. et fusa ejus prefatione. An. 
 
 1419. 
 Cod. 1246. 1. R. M. M. Perachim, Capitula de facultatibus animae seu fusa 
 
 praefatio ad P. A. 
 
 2. P. A. seu Capitula patrum, cum M. com. ex versione R. aben T. 
 
 Sec. XIV. 
 
 1 Margoliouth, Hebrew and Samaritan Mss., London, 1893. 2 See supra, 
 p. 24. 8 Mss. Codices Hebraici, Parma, 1803.
 
 INTRODUCTION 29 
 
 Cod. 1262. R. Mosis Maim. Tredecim articuli fidei et Commentarius in P. A. 
 cum fusa seu Capitibus de facult. animae. Auni 1454. 
 
 Koniglichen Hof und Staatsbibliothek in Muenchen l 
 
 128 1 . Maimonides (maw -DD -e) voran die s. g. 8 Kapp. (297 12 , 327 7 ), h. von Sam. 
 
 Tibbon ; N. 210 2 . Sp. curs XV Jahrh. 
 210 a . Schon. ital. rabb. XIV-XV J. dann verschied ; s 16 . 
 
 35 b , man 'DD e>WB s. N. 128 am Rand vow. f. 35, 35 b Raschi, 946 zu 
 
 K. 6, etc. 
 297 12 . 299 f . span. Curs, gross bis 62, 199 b-240, 296 ff . a. 1431-9. 231 Maimoni- 
 
 des (oipna ruiDt? s. n. 108) K. 3 ff. Saml. Tib.'s Vorw. f. 240 b angefangen. 
 327 7 . (55b-71b) S"st p"D p wo wai paion Snjn annS mas rwn wfl enthalt 
 
 nur das Vorw. des Uebersetzers S. ibn Tib. und die a^pia njiDB> (so zuletzt, 
 
 vgl. 128 1 . Zeile 3, 4 im Akrost. des Abschreibes lautet : 
 
 "D jai an 
 unnni njnn <ja /ijn 1 ? oSia uru 
 
 DJ nyatp pn jni jn>? 
 
 401 7 . (Von der Hand des Cod. 400 XV-XVI J.) 269. Ms' acht Kapitel. Ant 
 und Mitte def ; s. Cod. 128 zuletzt Minuskel 1498. 
 
 Koniglichen Bibliothek (Berlin)* 
 
 60 (Ms. Or. Qu. 498.) Kleine italien. Cursiv, gegen Ende XV (?) Jahrh. Be- 
 sitzer : Benj. Pesaro. (man naoa) der talinud. Tractat Aboth, Text in 
 grosserer Schrift & punktirt mil dem Commentar des Maimonides dessen 
 Einleitung, bekannt als a>pifl njin^ (8 Kapitel) vorangeht. 
 
 752 (Ms. Or. Oct. 138.) Pergament, 303 Seiten, grosse schone span. rabb. Hand. 
 etwa XIV Jahrh. S. 86 maw roon S~T a"annS C'IT'B (zuletzt) Commentar 
 des Mose Maimonides zum Tractat Abot (ohne Text, vgl. Cod. 567, Fol. 
 498 Qu 1 ). Der erste Abschreiber fand die Vorrede des Uebersetzers 
 Sam'l ibn Tibbon erst nachtraglich und schrieb sie S. 293-303, etc. 
 
 H. MAHZORIM 
 
 British Museum 
 
 Harley 5686. IITHD for the whole year, Roman rite. Aboth with M.'s com- 
 mentary and his Eight Chapters in Sam'l ibn Tibbon's transl. XVth 
 century. 
 
 Add. 16577. mrno Roman rite, includes Aboth with Eight Chapters and com- 
 mentary of M. in Hebrew translation of Samuel ibn Tibbon. XVth 
 century. 
 
 1 Steinschneider, Die Hfb. Handschriften, Munich, 1875. 2 Steinschneider, 
 Verseichniss der Heb. Handschriften, Berlin, 1878.
 
 30 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Add. 27070. Part 1 of a iiinc, Roman rite, including Aboth with the Eight Chap- 
 ters and Commentary of M. in Samuel ibn Tibbon's Hebrew translation. 
 XVth century. 
 
 Add. 19944-19945. -nine, Roman rite, including Aboth with the Eight Chapters 
 and Commentary of M. in the Hebrew translation of Samuel ibn Tibbon. 
 A.D. 1441. 
 
 De Rossi Library 
 
 Cod. 63. Mahzor . . . item Pirke Aboth cum com. Maimonidis membr. rabb. 
 
 in 4 min. Sec. XV. M.'s com. in Pirke Avoth quern in Machazorim 
 
 passim, addi supra animadvertimus, est ex Hebr. versione R. Samuelia 
 
 Aben Tibbon. Occurrunt etiain ejusdein M. octo Perakim seu capita. 
 Cod. 260. Mahzor . . . Accedunt Pirke Avoth seu Capitula patrum cum com. 
 
 M. . . . memb. rabb. fol. min. sec. XV. M. com. Pirke Av. et epistola 
 
 de resurrectione sunt ex versione R. Samuelis Aben Tib. ; ac prior ille 
 
 praefixaim, habet fucam auctonus praefationem, seu Capitula de facultati 
 
 bus animae. 
 Cod. 378. Mahzor seu Purim et Pesach cum libro Esther, etc. et. M. Com. 
 
 P. A. ex versione S. Aben T. memb. rabb. Mutilis in 4 : maj. sec. XIII. 
 
 Vetustus codex singularibus, instructus lectionibus, etc. 
 Cod. 403. Mahzor hisp. cum Sect, biblicia ac Psal. occurr. . . . P. A. cum 
 
 com. M. Minhag seu Treves, memb. rabbin, in 8 an. 1470. 
 Cod. 420. Mahzor ital. ; cum Ruth, etc. P. A. cum Com. M. sec. XV. 
 Cod. 740. Mahzor ital. . . . Pirke Avoth cum comm. Maimonidis, membr. 
 
 rabb. fol. min. vel. 4 Maj. Sec. XV. 
 Cod. 767. Mahzor ital. . . . P. A. cum comm. M. membr. rabb. in fol. an 
 
 1463. 
 
 Cod. 770. P. A. cum M. Comment, hebr. verso a R. S. aben Tib. Sec. XIV. 
 Cod. 802. Mahzor italicuin . . . P. A. cum com. M. ei Perachim seu VIII 
 
 capitibus. Sec. XV. 
 Cod. 814. Mahzor ritus italici . . . P. A. . . . cum comm. M. ej. Perachim 
 
 membr. ital. 1489. 
 Cod. 955. Mahzor hisp. . . . P. A. cum com. M. ; membram hisp. fol. sec. 
 
 XIV vel XV. 
 Cod. 959. Mahzor romanum vel italicum . . . P. A. cum com. M. ac Jarchii 
 
 ej. M. Perachim an. 1400. 
 NOTE. Maimonides com. in P. A. qui est consueta Sam. Tibbonidis 
 
 versione praemittur interpretis et auctoris altera f usior de animae facul- 
 
 tatibus quam scemone perachim seu octo capitula inscripsit. 
 Cod. 1212. Machazor italicum . . . P. A. cum com. M. ac fusa ejus praef. seu 
 
 Octo Capitibus. Sec. XV. 
 
 Jewish Theological Seminary (New York) 
 Mahzor. Roman rite, fourteenth or fifteenth century. 1 
 
 1 See supra, pp. 24-25.
 
 INTRODUCTION 31 
 
 EDITIONS OF THE SHEMONAH PERAKIM 
 
 The Perakim are found in all editions of the Mishnah and 
 Talmud which contain the Commentary of Maimonides. 1 The 
 text of the Perakim contained in the first edition of the Mishnah 
 agrees substantially with that found in the Commentary on Abot 
 which has been collated by the editor, and designated by So. 
 Both were printed by Soncino. la The Perakim in the first 
 edition of the Talmud are practically in accord with these. 
 
 The Commentary on Abot with the Perakim was incorporated 
 into the Italian ritual (1484) and also into the Greek ritual 
 (since 1520). 2 They may also be found in the Mdhzorim of the 
 Soncino Brothers, Soncino, 1485 (finished, Casal Maggiore, 
 I486), 3 and Rimini, 1521, and in the Bologna edition of the 
 Mahzor, 1540-1541.* 
 
 EDITIONS OF ABOT WITH THE SHEMONAH PERAKIM 
 
 1. Abot with commentary of Maimonides, including the She- 
 monah Perakim, Soncino, 1484 ; described on page 25. 
 
 2. JH p SwrroK pror pn "si oaain a DS rvo pna 
 no* nSro nn -i&K&n otw mpi SMS-OK rmrp,i545. 
 ,TW rwrm. 6 4. 
 
 3. nOK p*)S, with commentary of Maimonides, London, 
 5532 (1772). 6 12. 
 
 SEPARATE EDITIONS 
 
 1. Hurwitz, Abraham. 6 . . . DmSK 'tt JfeW QTOK HDH 1BD 
 
 Dp*lB roitttf S^ pimn ^n3^ IS. Lublin, Kalonymos 
 ben Mordechai Jafe und sein Sohn Chojyim. 1574. 
 
 2. teSWnWK triD <i n Dr . . . &W Vienna, 1798. 8. 
 
 1 See Fiirst, Bibliotheca Judaica, vol. II, p. 309. la See supra, p. 25. 2 HUb. , 
 pp. 437-438. (7aaZ. Bodl., 1890, 2483. 3 See Antonucci, Catalogo, etc., p. 115. 
 HUb., p. 438, n. 477. * Rosin, .EWh'fc, p. 31, n. 2. 5 See Catalogue of the 
 Cohen Library, Baltimore, Md. 6 Other editions of the same are Lublin, 1616 ; 
 ib., 1622 ; Krakau, 1577 ; ib., 1602. See Fiirst, loc. cit. Hurwitz was a pupil 
 of R. Moses Isserles ; see Monatsch. fur Gesch. und Wissenschaft des Judenthum 
 (1903), vol. XI, p. 163, n. 1. 7 According to the preface, it follows a Latin 
 text, presumably that of Pococke, but its text is hardly different from that of the 
 other editions.
 
 32 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 3. Lichtenstein (Abraham ben Eliezer). ppTII p13t JVI 1BD 
 
 Sprat po w a -o rwa irm pis u n bv nova nnan. 
 
 Wilna, 1799. (I03pn) M^Yl. 4. (Contains only chap- 
 ters I-V.) 
 
 4. v*i ayixsD-OT'K |9ttra w i -n to^o aatyinb npiB rmarc 
 
 SSKJDIK Sto-lSDSn-ISS pw. Basel, 1804. Printed by 
 Wilhelm Haas. 1 
 5. Salomon, Gotthold. 2 . . . D"p-|B mitttt bbl'D ppPJtt 
 
 Dessau, Moses Philippsohn, 1809. 8. With 
 vowels. 
 
 6. Beer, Michal. tn&'lS D^plB !TOtf. Le huit Chapitres 
 
 de Maimonide^ etc., trad, en franc. 8. Paris, 1811. 
 
 7. Acht Abschnitte 3 . . . aus dem Arabischen. Braunschweig, 
 
 1824. 8. 
 
 8. Falkenheim, S. Die Ethik des Maimonides oder Schemoneh 
 
 Perakim; deutscJi bearbeit. Konigsberg, 1832. 8. 
 
 9. D"2X2*lS D^plB H310W. De Acht Hoofdstukken van Mai- 
 
 monides. Bevattende zijne Zielkundige Verhandeling. 
 Set Hebreeuwsch op nieuw nagezien en in het Nederduitsch 
 vertaald.* Groningen, S. J. Oppenheim, 1845. 
 10. Slucki, David. D'SainS Dp*lB mW in bvTW^ ni23n. 
 Contains also a biography of Samuel Ibn Tibbon and 
 notes. Warsaw, 1863. 
 
 11. Wolf, Michai. POT? vnnb prea n'^rb o^pis 
 rvnsri vbv ^01:1 ^bxii b^^o nxa oisib toim 
 
 m3W n2 mwin. Lemberg, 1876 (Follows ed. Dessau, 
 1809). With vowels, but unreliable. 
 
 COMMENTARIES, ANNOTATED EDITIONS, AND 
 TRANSLATIONS 
 
 The commentaries on the Perakim are found in some of the 
 above-mentioned editions. They are the D!"PQK IDPI *1BD by 
 
 1 Haas was a member of the Acad. der mech. Kiinste in Berlin. 2 HUb., 
 p. 488. Salomon was a teacher at the Freischule in Dessau ; Beer, Rabbi Moses 
 ben Maimon, p. 72. 3 Catalogue of Hebrew Books in the British Museum, 
 p. 587. * A copy is found in the Columbia University Library (N.Y.).
 
 INTRODUCTION 33 
 
 Hurwitz, which is found in all editions of the Talmud which 
 contain Maimonides' commentary, 1 and that of Lichtenstein in 
 
 his p*ra pn "\so. 
 
 The annotated editions are those of Vienna, 1798 ; Dessau, 
 1809 ; Groningen, 1845 ; Warsaw, 1863 ; and Lemberg, 1876. 
 
 The popularity of the PeraTcim is evident from the fact that 
 they have been translated many times into various languages. 
 The following is a list of the translations : 
 
 a. Latin. The Perakim in Latin 2 are found in : 
 
 (1) Pococke's Porta Mosis, from the Arabic. (2) The trans- 
 lation of the Mishnah, with the commentaries of Maimonides 
 and Bartinora, by Surenhusius. 2 * (3) The unedited transla- 
 tion of Maimonides' Commentary on Abot, by Jacob Manti- 
 nus. 3 (4) The translation of Maimonides' Commentary on 
 Abot, by C. C. Uythage*. 
 
 b. Grerman. In the editions of (1) Vienna, 1798 ; (2) Haas, 
 Basel, 1804 ; (3) Salomon, Dessau, 1809 ; (4) Wolff, Leipzig, 
 1863 and Leiden, 1903, from the Arabic; (5) Wolf, Lemberg, 
 1876 ; (6) by M. Rawicz, in Kommentar des Maimonides zu den 
 Spruchen der Vater, ins Deutsche iibertragen, 1910, pp. 1-47. 
 Portions of chapters I and VIII are translated by Beer, in R. 
 Moses ben Maimon. 
 
 c. French. Beer, Paris, 1811 ; Jules Wolff, 4 * Paris, 1912. 
 
 d. Dutch. Groningen, 1845. 
 
 e. English. Hebrew Review, edited by Morris J. Raphall, 
 London, Volumes I and II (1834-1835). 6 
 
 1 See Fiirst, loc. cit. 2 Jaraczewski (ZPhKr, XL VI, p. 23) refers to a 
 Latin translation which appeared in Bologna in 1520. 2a Mishnah sive totius 
 Hebraeorum juris, rituum, antiquitatum, aclegum oralium systema cum Maimo- 
 nidis et Bartenorae commentariis inteyris. Accedunt variorum auctorum notae 
 Latinate donavit G. Surenhusius. Amstelaedami, 1698-1703. 3 Jak. Mantino 
 (A. in Tortosa) Octo Capita R. Mosis Maimonidis . . . in versione latino, etc. 
 Bologna, 1526. 4. See Fiirst, loc. cit.; HUb., p. 438. * Cnej. Cornel. 
 Uythage (in Leyden), Explicatio K. Mosis Maimonidis . . . complectens octo 
 capita, etc., Leyden, 1683. 8. HUb., p. 438. ** See Jew. Chronicle (London), 
 No. 2255, p. 30. 5 Incomplete and very free. Chapter IV is translated by Coup- 
 land in Thoughts and Aspirations of the Ages, London, 1895, pp. 206 ft .
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 THE author, Rabbi Moses (may God preserve him!) said: 1 
 We have already explained in the introduction to this work 
 (i. e. the Commentary on the Mishnati) the reason the author 
 of the JMishnah had for putting this treatise (Abot) in this 
 Order (Nezikin) 2 . "We have also mentioned the great benefit 
 that is to be derived from this treatise, and have promised 
 many times in preceding passages to discuss certain important 
 points at some length in commenting upon it. For, although 
 the contents of the treatise seem clear and easy to under- 
 stand, yet to carry out all that it contains is not a simple 
 matter for everybody. Moreover, not all of its contents is in- 
 telligible without ample comment, withal that it leads to great 
 perfection and true happiness. For these reasons, I have deemed 
 it advisable here to go into a more lengthy discussion. Besides, 
 our Rabbis of blessed memory have said, "He who wishes to 
 be saintly, let him practise the teachings of Abot" 3 . Now, 
 there is nothing that ranks so high with us as saintliness, 
 unless it be prophecy, and it is saintliness that paves the way 
 to prophecy ; as our Rabbis of blessed memory said, "Saintliness 
 leads to holy inspiration." * Thus, their words make it clear 
 
 1 See Hebrew text p. 5, n. 2. The introductory words are by ibn Tibbon. 
 
 2 See Goldschmidt, Der Bdbylonische Talmud, I, Berlin, 1897, Einleitung 
 in die MiSnah von Moses Maimonides, p. XXX; and Hebrew Review, vol. 
 I, p. 191. 
 
 3 Baba Eamma, 30 a: ^a D"p^ NTon irns^ <m \XK> 'Nn mw *ai ten 
 
 "o n 1 ? -neto masn ^B IBN ton pp'in 
 
 'Abodah Zarah, 20 b: Kn TNT T^ rwna m riijjf *\*b rwaa nrron 
 TV nto3 KBH rwv
 
 FOREWORD 35 
 
 that the putting into practice of the teachings of this tractate 
 leads one to prophecy. I shall later expound the truth of this 
 assertion, because upon it depends a number of ethical prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Further, I deem it fit to preface the commentary on the re- 
 spective Haldkot 1 proper by some useful chapters, from which 
 the reader may learn certain basic principles which may later 
 serve as a key to what I am going to say in the commentary. 
 Know, however, that the ideas presented in these chapters and 
 in the following commentary are not of my own invention; 
 neither did I think out the explanations contained therein, 2 
 but I have gleaned them from the words of the wise occurring in 
 the Midrashim, in the Talmud, and in other of their works, 
 as well as from the words of the philosophers, ancient and 
 recent, and also from the works of various authors, 3 as one 
 
 1 I. e., the verses of Abot. 
 
 2 See H. Malter, Shem Tob Joseph Palquera, in JQ R (new series), vol. I, 
 p. 163, n. 21. 
 
 3 The "ancient" philosophers upon whom M. drew, although not always 
 from the sources (see Munk, Guide, I, p. 345, n. 4; Rosin, Ethik, p. 5, 
 n. 4), are Socrates, Plato, the Stoics, especially Aristotle (see Introduction, 
 p. 5, n. 2), Alexander of Aphrodisias (Moreh, I, 31; II, 3), and Themistius 
 (Ibid., I, 71). By the "recent" philosophers M. means Abu Nasr al-Farabi 
 (Ibid., I, 73, 74; II, 15, 18, 19; III, 18), Ibn Sina, al-Gazzali, Abu Bekr Ibn 
 al-Zaig (Ibid., I, 74; II, 24 twice; III, 29), but hardly Ibn Roshd (Averroes). 
 The "works of various authors" refers to the ethical writings of M.'s 
 Jewish predecessors, among whom were Saadia, Ibn Gabirol, Bahya, Bar 
 Hiya, Ibn Zaddik, Yehudah ha-Levi, Abraham Ibn Ezra, and Ibn Daud. 
 See M.'s Letter to Ibn Tibbon, in Kobe? Teshubot ha-Rambam, II, 28b; 
 Munk, Ibid., I, p. 107, n. 1 ; p. 345, n.' 4; p. 433, n. 2; 434, n. 4; III, p. 417, 
 n. 2, and p. 438, n. 4; Beer, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon pp. 47-50; Geiger, 
 Nachgelassene Schriften, III, Moses ben Maimon, p. 41 ; Kaufmann, Attri- 
 butenlehre, p. 324, n. 186; Rosin, Ibid., pp. 5-25, 96, n. 3; Wolff, Acht Capitel, 
 Introduction, XII-XIII; Cohen, Charakteristik, in Moses ben Maimon, I p. 79; 
 in JE, articles on the Greek, Arabic, and Jewish philosophers mentioned 
 in this note, and article by I. Broyde, Arabic Philosophy Its Influence 
 on Judaism, II, p. 58. On M.'s relation to Ibn Roshd, see Munk, Notice 
 sur Joseph ben-Jehouda, p. 31, and n. 1; Steinschneider, Catal. Bodl., Moses 
 
 Maimonides. 
 
 c*
 
 36 
 
 should accept the truth from whatever source it proceeds. 1 
 Sometimes, I may give a statement in full, word for word in 
 the author's own language, but there is no harm in this, and 
 it is not done with the intention of glorifying myself by pre- 
 senting as my own something that was said by others before 
 me, since I have just confessed (my indebtedness to others), 
 even though I do not say "so and so said", which would ne- 
 cessitate useless prolixity. Sometimes, too, the mentioning of 
 the name of the authority drawn upon might lead one who 
 lacks insight to believe that the statement quoted is faulty, and 
 wrong in itself, because he does not understand it. Therefore, 
 I prefer not to mention the authority, for my intention is only 
 to be of service to the reader, and to elucidate for him the 
 thoughts hidden in this tractate. I shall now begin the 
 chapters, which, in accordance with my intention, are to serve 
 here as an introduction, which is to consist of eight chapters. 
 
 1 See Jaraczewski, Die Ethik des Maimonides, etc., in ZPhKr., XL VI, 
 p. 9; and H. Malter, Ibid., p. 169, n. 31.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 CONCERNING THE HUMAN SOUL AND ITS FACULTIES* 
 
 KNOW that the human soul is one, 2 but that it has many 
 diversified activities. Some of these activities have, indeed, been 
 called souls, which has given rise to the opinion that man has 
 many souls, as was the belief of the physicians, with the result 
 that the most distinguished of them 3 states in the introduction 
 of his book that there are three souls, the physical, the vital, 
 and the psychical. 4 These activities are called faculties and 
 
 * For a discussion of the contents of this chapter, see Scheyer, Psychol. 
 Syst. d. Maim., c. I; Jaraczewski, ZPhKr., XL VI, pp. 9 10; and Rosin, 
 Ethik, p. 45 ff. A summary of the Perakim is found in Speier, The Three- 
 fold Cord (London, 1891), Appendix. 
 
 2 In Moreh, I, 41, M. explains the term soul (B>D3) as being " the vital- 
 ity which is common to all sentient beings." Cf. Aristotle, De Anima, 
 c. 1 (ed. Hicks, pp. 50 and 51), "Hence soul is the first actuality of a 
 natural body having in it the capacity of life." On the homonymous use 
 of the word WBi, see Moreh, loc. cit. 
 
 * Hippocrates, the creator of medical science. See Rosin, Ethik, p. 45; 
 Wolff, Acht Oapitel, p. 1, n. 2; M. Schloessinger, in JE., VI, p. 403. 
 
 * M. opposes the belief in the existence of three souls, but uses this 
 classification to designate a threefold division of the soul's faculties, al- 
 though, later in this chapter (see infra, pp. 38 39), he divides the faculties into 
 five classes. In Moreh, III, 12, he points to the threefold division of the 
 faculties, where he says, "all physical, psychical, and vital forces and 
 organs that are possessed by one individual are found also in the other 
 individuals." See, also, ibid., Ill, 46 (end), where the appetitive (mttnn), the 
 vital (JViVnn), and the psychic (rfH&BJn) faculties are enumerated. Bahya, 
 Ibn Gabirol, and Ibn Zaddik seem to have believed in the existence of 
 three souls in man. See I. Broyde in JE., vol. xi, art. Soul. Abraham 
 ibn Daud, in Emunah Ramah, I, 6 (ed. Weil, 1842), also, opposed the belief 
 of the physicians, supporting the Aristotelian view of the unity of the soul, 
 as did M. Consult Scheyer, Psychol. Syst. d. Maim., p. 11, n. 3; Munk, 
 Guide, I, p. 355, n. 1; idem, Melanges, p. 38, n. 1; p. 40, n. 3; p. 54, n. 2; 
 Rosin, Ethik, p. 45, n. 1; Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, p. 398, n. 60.
 
 38 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 parts, so that the phrase "parts of the soul," frequently employed 
 by philosophers, is commonly used. By the word "parts", how- 
 ever, they do not intend to imply that the soul is divided into 
 parts as are bodies, but they merely enumerate the different 
 activities of the soul as being parts of a whole, the union of 
 which makes up the soul. 
 
 Thou knowest that the improvement of the moral qualities 
 is brought about by the healing of the soul and its activities. 1 
 Therefore, just as the physician, who endeavors to cure the 
 human body, must have a perfect knowledge of it in its entirety 
 and its individual parts, just as he must know what causes 
 sickness that it may be avoided, and must also be acquainted 
 with the means by which a patient may be cured, so, likewise, 
 he who tries to cure the soul, wishing to improve the moral 
 qualities, must have a knowledge of the soul in its totality and 
 its parts, must know how to prevent it from becoming diseased, 
 and how to maintain its health. 2 
 
 So, I say that the soul has five faculties; the nutritive [also 
 known as the "growing" faculty], the sensitive, the imaginative, 
 
 1 The phrase, the improvement of the moral qualities (nvran Jipfi, Ar. 
 p!?5^ riN^SK), is one which M. probably borrowed from Ibn Gabirol, author 
 of Tikkun Middot ha-Nefesh (The Improvement of the Moral Qualities) to 
 designate the practical task of ethics. Cf. Rosin, Ethik, pp. 12, 37, n. 5. 
 M. is not concerned with a theoretical discussion of ethics, but with the 
 problem as to how one's moral qualities are to be improved, which is a 
 practical question. Therefore, the science of curing the soul is to him as 
 practical as is that of healing the body. What Aristotle says in Eth. Nic., 
 II, 2 may well apply here. "Since, then, the object of the present treatise 
 is not mere speculation, as it is of some others (for we are inquiring not 
 merely that we may know what virtue is, but that we may become virtuous, 
 else it would be useless), we must consider as to the particular actions 
 how we are to do them, because, as we have just said, the character of 
 the habits that shall be formed depends on these." 
 
 2 Philo, too, speaks of a physician of the soul (Quod Omnis Probus 
 Liber, I, 2). Cf. Eth. Nic., I, 12, where Aristotle states that it is necessary 
 for the Politician (moralist) to have a certain knowledge of the nature 
 of the soul, just as it is for the oculist to have a knowledge of the whole 
 body, and in fact more so, as Politics (ethics) is more important than the 
 healing art.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS I 39 
 
 the appetitive, and the rational. 1 We have already stated 
 in this chapter that our words concern themselves only with the 
 human soul; for the nutritive faculty by which man is nourished 
 is not the same, for instance, as that of the ass or the horse. 
 Man is sustained by the nutritive faculty of the human soul, 
 the ass thrives by means of the nutritive faculty of its soul, 
 and the palm-tree 2 flourishes by the nutritive faculty peculiar 
 to its soul. Although we apply the same term nutrition to all 
 of them indiscriminately, nevertheless, its signification is by no 
 means the same. In the same way, the term sensation is used 
 homonymously 3 for man and beast; not with the idea, however, 
 
 1 M. agrees with Aristotle as to the number of the divisions of the 
 faculties of the soul, but instead of the latter's faculty of motion, has that 
 of imagination. 5wd/j.ea 8' etiropev ^pfirTixbv (}in), 6peicnK6t> (TWriOn), ai<rr)ruc6i> 
 (B^iltan), KivT)riKbv KO.T& rbmov, 5iavoriTu<6i> (^5tWl). De Anima, II, 3, ed. Hicks, 
 pp. 58 and 59. M.'s division is preferable to that of Aristotle, motion being 
 subservient to the appetitive and the rational faculties, as Aristotle himself 
 states (De Motu Animalium, chaps. 6 and 8). M. considers motion, espe- 
 cially that of the limbs of the body, to be dependent upon the appetitive 
 faculty (see infra, p. 43), and to be "an accident pertaining to living things" 
 (Moreh, I, 26). Of., also, ibid. I, 46 (n pn mptt ^3K Tin Dxutt ny jmnnff); 
 and Aristotle, Physics, V, 2. See Scheyer, Psychol. Syst. d. Maim., p. 11, 
 n. 3; p. 14, n. 4. Al-Farabi (niKSwn m!?nnn, in epDHH IBD, Leipzig, 1849, p. 2) 
 divides the faculties as follows : nonon nsni rumen rDm(^3n of M.)rnnon ran 
 BPjnion nsni. In making his division, M. seems to have had in mind the divi- 
 sions of Aristotle and al-Farabi. By adding the nutritive faculty (jtn), 
 which Aristotle includes in his list, to the list of al-Farabi we have M.'s 
 list. See Rosin, Ethik, p. 47, n. 4. 
 
 2 See Hebrew text, c. I, p. 9, n. 9. 
 
 3 nn *|ina; Ar. DDN^K -jN-intPfcO, homonymously, i. e. the participation 
 of two things in the same name. In Millot ha-Higgayon, c. XII, M. 
 defines this term as follows. "If a noun has a number of significations 
 
 it is a homonym The word ^y, which is used to designate the 
 
 eye which sees, and a fountain, is a homonym. The common or appelative 
 noun (see Munk, Guide, I, Introd., p. 6, n. 2) designates something common 
 to two or more things, and by such a word we recognize, as regards each 
 of these things, the class to which it belongs on account of the conception 
 of the thing which each shares in common, as, for instance, the word 
 living (Tl) which is applied to a man, a horse, a scorpion, and a fish; for 
 life, which consists of nutrition and sensation, is a common possession of 
 each one of these species." In this sense, the words nutrition (]NJ) and
 
 40 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 that the sensation of one species is the same as that of another, 
 for each species has its own characteristic soul distinct from 
 every other, with the result that there necessarily arises from 
 each soul activities peculiar to itself. It is possible, however, 
 that an activity of one soul may seem to be similar to that of 
 another, in consequence of which one might think that both 
 belong to the same class, and thus consider them to be alike; but 
 such is not the case. 
 
 By way of elucidation, let us imagine that three dark places 
 are illumined, one lit up by the sun shining upon it, the second 
 by the moon, and the third by a flame. Now, in each of these 
 places there is light, but the efficient cause in the one case is 
 the sun, in the other the moon, and in the third the fire. So 
 it is with sensation and its causes. In man it is the human 
 soul, in the ass it is the soul of the ass, and in the eagle, the 
 soul of the eagle. These sensations have, moreover, nothing in 
 common, except the homonymous term which is applied to them. 
 Mark well this point, for it is very important, as many so-called 
 philosophers have fallen into error regarding it, in consequence 
 of which they have been driven to absurdities and fallacies. 
 
 Returning to our subject of the faculties of the soul, let me 
 say that the nutritive faculty consists of (1) the power of at- 
 tracting nourishment to the body, (2) the retention of the same, 
 (3) its digestion (assimilation), (4) the repulsion of superfluities, 
 (5) growth, (6) procreation, and (7) the differentiation of the 
 nutritive juices that are necessary for sustenance from those 
 which are to be expelled. 1 The detailed discussion of these 
 seven faculties the means by which and how they perform their 
 functions, in which members of the body their operations are 
 most visible and perceptible, which of them are always present, 
 and which disappear within a given time belongs to the science 
 of medicine, and need not be taken up here. 
 
 The faculty of sensation consists of the five well-known senses 
 
 sensation (tf'ilfi) are homonyms. See Munk, Guide, I, Introd., p. 6, notes 
 2 and 3; and Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, pp. 420, n. 91, 460, n. 148, 461, 
 n. 149. 
 
 1 The first four of these powers are discussed with more detail in 
 Moreh, I, 72. See Munk, Guide, I, p. 367, n. 6.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS I 41 
 
 of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, the last of 
 which is found over the whole surface of the body, not being 
 confined to any special member, as are the other four faculties. 
 The imagination is that faculty which retains impressions of 
 things perceptible to the mind, after they have ceased to affect 
 directly, the senses which conceived them. This faculty, com- 
 bining some of these impressions and separating others from 
 one another, thus constructs out of originally perceived ideas 
 some of which it has never received any impression, and which 
 it could not possibly have perceived. For instance, one may 
 imagine an iron ship floating in the air, or a man whose head 
 reaches the heaven and whose feet rest on the earth, or an 
 animal with a thousand eyes, and many other similar impossi- 
 bilties which the imagination may construct and endow with 
 an existence that is fanciful. 1 In this regard, the Mutakallimun 11 
 
 1 M. defines imagination in Moreh, I, 73, Tenth Proposition, Note. It 
 is the opposite of the intellect which "analyzes and divides the component 
 parts of things, it forms abstract ideas of them, represents them in their 
 true form as well as in their causal relations, derives from one object a 
 great many facts, which for the intellect totally differ from each other, 
 just as two human individuals appear different to the imagination; it 
 distinguishes that which is the property of the genus from that which is 
 peculiar to the individual, and no proof is correct unless founded on the 
 former; the intellect further determines whether certain qualities of a 
 thing are essential or non-essential. Imagination has none of these functions. 
 It only perceives the individual, the compound in that aggregate condition 
 in which it presents itself to the senses; or it combines things which 
 exist separately, joins some of them together, and represents them all as 
 one body or as a force of the body. Hence it is that some imagine a 
 man with a horse's head, or with wings, etc. This is called a fiction, a 
 phantasm; it is a thing to which nothing in the actual world corresponds. 
 Nor can imagination in any way obtain a purely immaterial image of an 
 object, however abstract the form of the image may be. Imagination 
 yields, therefore, no test for the reality of a thing." Further (ibid. II, 36) 
 it is stated that part of the functions of the imagination is to retain im- 
 pressions by the senses, to combine them, and chiefly to form images. 
 The most perfect developement of the imaginative faculty results in 
 prophecy. See infra, p. 47, and n. 3. 
 
 a The Mutakallimun were a sect of dogmatic or religious philosophers 
 who tried to harmonize Mohammedan theology with Aristotelian philosophy. 
 Starting with the "word of God" (kaJdm, A6-yos), as contained in the Koran,
 
 42 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 have fallen into grievous and pernicious error, as a result of 
 which their false theories form the corner-stone of a sophistical 
 system which divides things into the necessary, the possible, and 
 the impossible; so that they believe, and have led others to 
 believe, that all creations of the imagination are possible, not 
 having in mind, as we have stated, that this faculty may at- 
 tribute existence to that which cannot* possibly exist. 1 
 
 The appetitive is that faculty by which a man desires, or 
 loathes a thing, and from which there arise the following 
 
 they endeavored to reconcile revelation with philosophy. I. T., in his 
 Glossary of Strange Words, harshly criticizes them as "a sect of pseudo- 
 scientists without wisdom." T. J. De Boer says of their system of philo- 
 sophy, "An assertion, expressed in logical or dialectic fashion, whether 
 verbal or written, was called by the Arabs, generally, but more particularly 
 in religious teaching Kalam (A6yoj), and those who advanced such 
 assertions were called Mutakallimun. The name was transferred from the 
 individual assertion to the entire system, and it covered also the intro- 
 ductory, elementary observations on Method, and so on. Our best de- 
 signation for the science of the Kalam is 'Theological Dialectics' or 
 simply 'Dialectics', and in what follows we may translate Mutakallimun 
 by 'Dialecticians'," Geschichte der Philosophic im Islam, Stuttgart, 1901, 
 p. 43 ff.; Eng. ed., London, 1903, pp. 42-43. To M. we are indebted for 
 a knowledge of the details of the system of the Mutakallimun, which he 
 describes in a masterly way in his famous attack on the Kalam (Moreh, 
 I, 71 76). He is vehemently opposed to them, not because of the views they 
 held in regard to the universe and God, many of which coincided with 
 his own, but on account of the method they pursued in arriving at their 
 conclusions. On the Mutakallimun, and the Kalam, see Yehudah ha-Levi, 
 Cuzari, c. V; Munk, Melanges, pp. 311-312, 318 if.; idem, article Arabes, 
 in Dictionnaire des Sciences philosophiques ; idem, Notice sur R. Saadia 
 Gaon, p. 156 ff.; idem, Guide, I, p. 335, n. 2; Steinschneider, Heb. Lit., 
 p. 117; idem, HUb., p. 415; Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, see index; M. Gut- 
 mann, Das Religionsphil. Syst. d. Mutakallimun nach der Berichte des Mai- 
 mun, Leipzig, 1885; Ludwig Stein, in AGPh., vol.' XI, pp. 330-334; 
 Schreiner, Der Kalam in der judischen Literatur, Berlin, 1895; S. Horo- 
 vitz, in ZDMG, 57, p. 177 ff.; I. Goldziher, Vorlesungen uber den Islam, 
 (Heidelberg, 1910), p. 100 f.; 127 f.; 129; 172 f.; 177 f.; etc. 
 
 1 Cf. Moreh, I, 73, Tenth Proposition, in which M. describes the theory 
 of admissibility of the Mutakallimun, which forms the principal support 
 of their doctrine (n&Dn lies inn irror IPX rrann n NTI rrwn nonpnn 
 D^aion). Everything conceived by the imagination, they maintain, is ad- 
 mitted as possible. Cf., also, ibid., I, 49; III, 15. See Scheyer, Psychol. 
 Syst. d. Maim., pp. 12-13; Munk, Guide, I, p. 400, n. 2.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS I 43 
 
 activities: the pursuit of an object or flight from it, inclination 
 and avoidance, anger and affection, fear and courage, cruelty 
 and compassion, love and hate, and many other similar psychic 
 qualities. 1 All parts of the hody are subservient to these ac- 
 tivities, as the ability of the hand to grasp, that of the foot to 
 walk, that of the eye to see, and that of the heart to make 
 one bold or timid. Similarily, the other members of the body, 
 whether external or internal, are instruments of the appetitive 
 faculty.* 
 
 Reason, that faculty peculiar to man, enables him to under- 
 stand, reflect, acquire knowledge of the sciences, and to discriminate 
 between proper and improper actions. 3 Its functions are partly 
 practical and partly speculative (theoretical), the practical being, in 
 turn, either mechanical or intellectual. By means of the spe- 
 culative power, man knows things as they really are, and which, 
 by their nature, are not subject to change. These are called 
 the sciences 4 in general. The mechanical power is that by 
 
 onp&n, psychic accidents. Cf. Moreh, I, 51. "It is a self- 
 evident fact that the attribute is not inherent in the object to which it 
 is ascribed, but it is superadded to its essence, and is consequently an ac- 
 cident." See, also, ibid., I, 73. Fourth Proposition. With M.'s description 
 of the appetitive faculty compare that of al-Farabi, in niNSDJn JY6nrn, p. 2: 
 i ,UDD man? 1 lain ppanso rvaruMn rmwnnn ,T.T na w ton m-njnsm 
 nsnvn ,na'm wnm ,nanm n:n IT.T iai ,inp'riT i ,inDK&n IN irnrv 
 .Bjn npa nBn nw&mm nmoNm ,pvn warn ,]inttani 
 
 2 Cf. Moreh,I,46 . tfsan m^s^ D^D D^ID "o-'isni nno nmjn nnx non 0^12 o^an 
 'D1 niB^nnDn. All the organs of the body are employed in the various 
 actions of the soul. Cf. Aristotle, De Anima, III, 10, ed. Hicks, pp. 152 
 and 153. 
 
 3 Cf. Millot ha-Higgayon, c. XIV (beg.) : "The word dibbur as used by 
 former philosophers of cultured nations, is a homonym having three 
 significations. In the first place, it is used to designate that power 
 peculiar to man by which he forms conceptions, acquires a knowledge of 
 the sciences, and differentiates between the proper and the improper. 
 This is called the reasoning faculty or soul." Cf. Ibn Daud, Emunah 
 Ramah, I, 6. 
 
 4 CLEth.Nic., VI, 3: "What science is is plain from the following con- 
 siderations, if one is to speak accurately, instead of being led away by 
 resemblances. For we all conceive that what we scientifically know cannot 
 be otherwise than it is So, then, whatever comes within the
 
 44 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 which the arts, such as architecture, agriculture, medicine, and 
 navigation are acquired. 1 The intellectual power is that by 
 which one, when he intends to do an act, reflects upon what 
 he has premeditated, considers the possibility of performing it, 
 and, if he thinks it possible, decides how it should be done.2 
 
 This is all we have deemed it necessary to say in this regard 
 concerning the soul. Know, however, that the soul, whose facul- 
 ties and parts we have described above, and which is a unit, 
 may be compared to matter in that it likewise has a form, 
 which is reason. If the form (reason) does not communicate its 
 impression to the soul, then the disposition existing in the soul 
 to receive that form is of no avail, and exists to no purpose, 
 as Solomon says, "Also in the want of knowledge in the soul 
 there is nothing good". 3 This means that if a soul has not 
 
 range of science is by necessity, and therefore eternal because all things 
 are so which exist necessarily and all eternal things are without be- 
 ginning, and indestructible." 
 
 1 Of. Millot ha-Higgayon, loc. cit.: ibw *)np& DB> n^npn to nsK^O Dwm 
 
 neon to itp"i ,DTOs6Dn nwem to to p Di ini^S'i mvp neon to to 
 ,-DNbei ]nb nfivw ni rvasnm nniano nnx to ixip^i ,mv9 naxbc K'-BiDi^sn. 
 Of., also, Eth. Nic. VI, 4, on "Art." 
 
 2 With M.'s definition of the rational faculty compare that of al-Farabi 
 (niNSDin nibnnn, p. 2) : Dos^oni nmann mxn \w n n in inon nani. 
 See Rosin, Ethik, p. 47, n. 4; Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, p. 398, and 
 note 60. On this faculty and its functions, see Scheyer, Psychol. Syst. d. 
 Maim., pp. 14-29; Rosin, Ethik, pp. 49-51, and Wolff, Acht Capitel, 
 p. 7, n. 1. 
 
 The following scheme will elucidate the divisions of the functions of 
 the rational faculty, according to M. 
 
 Reason Ctopn nan ,nmn nsn ,rn:non ts>Bjn ; 
 Ar. 
 
 Practical ("WD; Ar."^ey) Theoretical Oil"? ^n-'iv 
 
 Mechanical (ni2no nDS^a Intellectual ("atyntt ; Sciences (nitsDn; Ar. Dito); 
 ^"IWD rott'jO; Ar. 
 
 Ar. "3,10) 
 
 Architecture, etc. 
 Prov. XIX, 2.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS I 45 
 
 attained a form but remains without intelligence, its existence 
 is not a good one. 1 However, this is not the place for us to 
 discuss such problems as that of form, matter, and the number 
 of different kinds of intelligence, and their means of acquisition; 2 
 nor is it necessary for what we have to say concerning the 
 subject of ethics, but is more appropriately to be discussed in 
 the Book on Prophecy, which we mention (elsewhere). 3 
 Now I conclude this chapter, and begin the next. 
 
 1 M. considers matter and form in the Aristotelian sense. The prin- 
 cipia of all existing, transient things are matter, form, and the absence 
 of a particular form (Moreh, I, 17). Matter (ittin ,fnNB, ^ 6X17) consists 
 of the underlying, basic substance of a thing, which has a potential but 
 not a real existence, its true nature consisting in the property of never 
 being without a disposition to receive a form (ibid., Ill, 8). Every sub- 
 stance is endowed with a form (mis, finis, TO etSos), or incoporeal being 
 (ibid., II, 12), by means of which that substance is what it is. That is, 
 through form that which is potentially in existence comes into real exi- 
 stence (Aristotle, Physics, II, 3; Metaphysics, I, 3), and upon it the reality 
 and essence of a thing depend. When the form is destroyed, the thing's 
 existence is terminated (Moreh, III, 69). As soon as a substance has 
 received a certain form, the absence or privation (Twnn, ms^N) of that 
 form which it has just received has ceased, and it is replaced by the privation 
 of another form, and so on with all possible forms (ibid., I, 17). Of. 
 Aristotle, Physics, I, 5-7; also )n nil, c. IX. Matter is constantly seeking 
 to cast off the form it has in order to receive another, and so form does 
 not remain permanently in a substance. M. aptly compares matter to a 
 faithless wife, who, although not being without a husband, continually 
 seeks another man in his place (Moreh, III, 8). The soul, according to 
 Aristotle, is the form of the body which, as matter, has merely a potential- 
 ity for existence. See supra, p. 37, n. 2. He says, "It must follow, then, that 
 soul is substance in the sense that it is the form of a natural body having 
 in it the capacity of life." (De Anima, II, 1, ed. Hicks, pp. 48 and 49). 
 M. agrees with this, and says in Tesode ha-Torah, IV, 8. "The soul of 
 all flesh is its form which God has given it." The human soul, however, 
 needs in turn a form in order that it may become a reality. The soul's 
 form is, as M. states here, reason (^3tf, ^pP, vovi), or more definitely the 
 acquired reason (napan bst?; see Scheyer, Psychol. Syst. d. Maim., c. Ill; 
 also p. 59, note E; p. 65 ff., especially p. 66), and it this that makes man 
 what he is. Cf. Moreh, I, 7. "It is acknowledged that a man who does 
 not possess this form, is no man." 
 
 2 See Moreh, I, 68; Scheyer, ibid., c. II, c. Ill, and especially Munk, 
 Guide, I, pp. 304-308, note. 
 
 3 In Perek Helek, Seventh Article of Faith (Holzer, Dogmenlehre, p. 24;
 
 46 
 
 I. Friedlaender, Arabic Writings of M., p. 32), M. mentions his intention 
 of writing a Book on Prophecy and a Book of Harmony (ifflN PP3K "p'B^ 
 si 13 porno "iw nNttan nans IN wro 11 i rwnn wiTsa DK iDipe^), for the 
 purpose of elucidating the exoteric lessons of the prophets and of the 
 Midrashim. After having started, however, he abandoned this intention, 
 and later incorporated the material for the Book on Prophecy in the Moreh, 
 Part II, in chapters 32 to 48, and that of the Book of Harmony (HBD 
 TTKIOTin) he scattered throughout the Moreh. See Moreh, I, Introd.; Bloch, 
 Charakteristik und Inhaltsangabe des Moreh Nebuchim, in Moses ben Maimon, 
 I, pp. 7, 8 and 15.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 CONCERNING THE TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE 
 
 FACULTIES OF THE SOUL AND THE DESIGNATION 
 
 OF THOSE FACULTIES WHICH ARE THE SEAT OF 
 
 THE VIRTUES AND THE VICES t 
 
 KNOW that transgressions and observances of the Law have 
 their origin only in two of the faculties of the soul, namely, 
 the sensitive 2 and the appetitive, and that to these two faculties 
 alone are to be ascribed all transgressions and observances. 
 The faculties of nutrition and imagination do not give rise to 
 observance or transgression, for in connection with neither is 
 there any conscious or voluntary act. That is, man cannot 
 consciously suspend their functions, nor can he curtail any one 
 of their activities. The proof of this is that the functions of 
 both these faculties, the nutritive and the imaginative, continue 
 to be operative when one is asleep, which is not true of any 
 other of the soul's faculties. 3 
 
 1 For a discussion of the contents of this chapter, see Scheyer, Psychol. 
 Syst. d. Maim., p. 102 ff. ; Jaraczewski, ZPhKr., XL VI p. 10; and Rosin, 
 Ethik, p. 54 ff. On the title, see Hebrew text, c. II, p. 14, n. 1 and 2. 
 
 J In ascribing transgressions and observances to the faculty of sensation, 
 M. differs from Aristotle who asserts that sense is the originating cause 
 of no moral action, since brutes, too, are possessed of sense-, but are in no 
 ways partakers of moral actions (Eth. Nic., VT, 2). M., however, draws a 
 distinction between the sensitive faculty of man and that of animals. Sen- 
 sation as applied to man and beast is a honionymous term, the sensitive 
 faculty of man being different from that of all other animate beings. See 
 supra, c. I, pp. 39 40. 
 
 3 M. differs from al-Farabi who ascribes participation in moral and im- 
 moral acts to all the faculties of the soul (rrtiTCDin rv6nnn, p. 35 ff.). The
 
 48 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 As regards the rational faculty, uncertainty prevails (among 
 philosophers) *, but I maintain that observance and transgression 
 may also originate in this faculty, in so far as one believes a 
 true or a false doctrine, though no action which may be de- 
 signated as an observance or a transgression results there- 
 from. 2 Consequently, as I said above, these two faculties (the 
 
 latter, however, does not consider nutrition to be one of the faculties. 
 Abraham ibn Daud, including nutrition among the soul's faculties, allots 
 to each a cardinal virtue (Emunah Ramah, III, p. 110). Aristotle excludes 
 the imagination as one of the faculties directly affecting the performance 
 of virtues, but considers it as producing movement through the agency 
 of appetency (De Anima, III, 10). M., later, departs somewhat from the 
 view he holds in the Perdkim regarding the imagination, and, in agreement 
 with Aristotle, considers it to be bound up indirectly, through the appeti- 
 tive faculty, with conscious activity (see Scheyer, ibid., pp. 98, and 105). 
 This is the sense of the passage in Moreh, II, 4, where he states that 
 animate beings move either by instinct (P3B considered equivalent to PO 
 "niynttn), or by reason. Instinct he defines as the intention of an animate 
 being to approach something agreeable, or to shun something disagreeable, 
 as, for instance, to approach water on account of thirst, or to avoid the 
 sun on account of its heat. He, then, goes on to say that it makes no 
 difference whether the thing really exists or is imaginary, since the ima- 
 gination of something agreeable or of something disagreeable likewise causes 
 the animate being to move (Tin D"J SjmrY 1 nwty noi 1J33 Nintf ntt JV&13 "O). 
 Furthermore, in Moreh, II, 12, he declares that all defects in speech or 
 character are either the direct or indirect work of the imagination (*?3 '3 
 \hy& nriN -jt?3 IN pnsin bj?s Kin rmea IN -121:1 pnon). In regard to prophecy, 
 M. lays great stress upon the imagination (ibid., II, 35), considering pro- 
 phecy to be the most perfect development of the imaginative faculty. 
 During sleep this faculty is the same as when it receives prophecy, except 
 that when asleep the imagination is not fully developed, and has not 
 reached its highest perfection. See supra, c. I, p. 41, n. 1. 
 
 1 See Rosin, Ethik, p. 55, n. 1. 
 
 2 Of. Moreh, II, 4, "But even a being that is endowed with the faculty 
 of forming an idea, and possesses a soul with the faculty of moving, does 
 not change its place on each occasion that it forms an idea; for an idea 
 alone does not produce motion, as has been explained in (Aristotle's) Meta- 
 physics. We can easily understand this, when we consider how often we 
 form ideas of certain things, yet do not move towards them, though we 
 are able to do so ; it is only when the desire arises for the thing imagined 
 that we move in order to obtain it." Cf. De Anima III, 10. The same 
 thought is expressed in Eth. NIC. VI, 2, "And so since moral virtue is a
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS II 49 
 
 sensitive and the appetitive) alone really produce transgressions 
 and observances. 
 
 Now, as for the virtues, they are of two kinds, moral and 
 intellectual, with the corresponding two classes of vices. 1 The 
 intellectual virtues belong to the rational faculty. They are 
 (1) wisdom, which is the knowledge of the direct and indirect 
 causes of things based on a previous realization of the existence 
 of those things, the causes of which have been investigated; 2 (2) rea- 
 son, consisting of (a) inborn, theoretical reason, that is, axioms, 3 
 (b) the acquired intellect,* which we need not discuss here, and 
 
 disposition exercising choice, and choice is will consequent on deliberation, 
 the reason must be true and the will right to constitute good choice, and 
 what the reason affirms the will must pursue . . . But operation of the in- 
 tellect by itself moves nothing, only when directed to a certain result i. e. 
 exercised in moral action . . ." See Scheyer, ibid., p. 103 104; and Rosin, 
 Ethik, p. 56, n. 2. 
 
 i Cf. Eth. Nic., (ofxrcu -finical and diavorjriKai) I, 11 (end); II, 1 ; VI, 2; Eude- 
 mian Ethics, II, 1 ; Millot ha-Higgayon, c. XIV (nvnim ni!?jm nrmn rtbyti). 
 
 s Wisdom (n3n), according to M., is used of four different things 
 (Moreh, III, 54). It denotes (1) the knowledge of those truths which lead 
 to the knowledge of God, (2) the knowledge of any workmanship, (3) the 
 acquisition of moral principles, and (4) cunning and subtlety. In Moreh, 
 I, 69, where M. demonstrates that God is the Primal Cause, in agreement 
 with Aristotle (Physics, II, 7), he asserts that everything owes its origin 
 to four causes, the substance, the form, the agens (^JHB), and the final cause 
 (rpbsn). These are sometimes direct (D^"lp), and sometimes indirect (D^pim), 
 though each in itself is a cause (rfov or mo, corresponding to Ar. <*-X* and 
 *_-*-^M>; alrla, atnov. Cf. Munk, Guide, I, p. 313, n. 1.) 
 
 8 Literally, first impressions (fiWBWin rflbSBflOn; Ar. !?lit!?N rtN^pJJD; apxai 
 rQ>v airoSfiKT&v a&6fjMTa, intelligibilia prima), which are fundamental principles 
 or axioms that would need no proof even though man were left in his 
 primitive state (Moreh, I, 51), and which are explained by common sense. 
 There are four kinds of knowledge which need no demonstration, one of 
 them being the knowledge of axioms, as, for instance, that the whole is 
 greater than a part, that two is an even number, that two things equal to 
 the same thing are equal to each other (Millot ha-Higgayon, c. XIV), and 
 that one cannot both affirm and deny a thing. See Scheyer, note to 
 Moreh, I, 51. Cf. Eth. Nic., VI, 6 on Intuitive Apprehension; Scheyer, 
 Psychol. Syst. d. Maim., p. 16 17; and Munk, Guide, I, p. 128, n. 3. 
 
 * For the definition and description of the acquired intellect (HipiH bys 
 or bSNin mpin hytl; Ar. IXSnoobN hpvhx, vow <?TCT^OS), see Moreh, I, 72; I. T. 
 
 D
 
 50 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 (c) sagacity and intellectual cleverness, which is the ability to 
 perceive quickly, and to grasp an idea without delay, or in a 
 very short time. The vices of this faculty are the antitheses 
 or the opposites of these virtues. 
 
 Moral virtues belong only to the appetitive faculty to which 
 that of sensation in this connection is merely subservient. 1 The 
 virtues of this faculty are very numerous, being moderation, [i. e. 
 fear of sin], liberality, honesty, meekness, humility, contentedness, 
 [which the Rabbis call "wealth", when they say, "Who is truly 
 wealthy? He who is contented with his lot" 2 ], courage, [faith- 
 fulness], and other virtues akin to these. The vices of this 
 faculty consist of a deficiency or of an exaggeration of these 
 qualities. 
 
 As regards the faculties of nutrition and imagination, it can- 
 not be said that they have vices or virtues, but that the nutri- 
 tive functions work properly or improperly; as, for instance, 
 when one says that a man's digestion is good or bad, or that 
 one's imagination is confused or clear. This does not mean, 
 however, that they have virtues or vices. 
 
 So much we wished to discuss in this chapter. 
 
 Glossary of Strange Words, sub voce (under D); Scheyer, ibid., pp. 17 19, 
 3993; Munk, Guide, I, pp. 307308, note; Rosin, Ethik, p. 57, n. 1; 
 Wolff, Acht Capitel, p. 11, n. 1; and idem, Miisa b. Maimtins eschatologische 
 Gedanken, p. 13, etc. 
 
 1 See Scheyer, ibid., pp. 104 105, and Rosin, ibid., p. 57, n. 4. 
 
 2 Abot, IV, 1.
 
 THE ancients 2 maintained that the soul, like the body, is 
 subject to good health and illness. The soul's healthful state is 
 due to its condition, and that of its faculties, by which it con- 
 stantly does what is right, and performs what is proper, while 
 the illness of the soul is occasioned by its condition, and that 
 of its faculties, which results in its constantly doing wrong, 
 and performing actions that are improper. 3 The science of 
 medicine investigates the health of the body. Now, just as 
 those, who are physically ill, imagine that, on account of their 
 vitiated tastes, the sweet is bitter and the bitter is sweet and 
 likewise fancy the wholesome to be unwholesome and just as 
 their desire grows stronger, and their enjoyment increases for 
 such things as dust, coal, very acidic and sour foods, and the 
 like which the healthy loathe and refuse, as they are not only 
 not beneficial even to the healthy, but possibly harmful so 
 those whose souls are ill, that is the wicked and the morally 
 perverted, imagine that the bad is good, and that the good is 
 bad. The wicked man, moreover, continually longs for excesses 
 which are really pernicious, but which, on account of the illness 
 of his soul, he considers to be good. 4 Likewise, just as when 
 
 i For a discussion of the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, 
 ZPhKr., XL VI pp. 1011; and Rosin, Ethik,p. 77 ff. A short summary 
 is contained in H. Deot, II, 1. 
 
 5 See Foreword, p. 35 n. 3. 
 
 3 Of. Pirke Mosheh, in Kobe?, II, 20b, WV D^lDl^sn 1BND VT7i p nfffc ifi 
 y\ "Vim nwa vsti. 
 
 * Aristotle, in discussing Pleasures (Eth. Nic., X, 5), says, "Yet in the 
 case of human creatures they (pleasures) differ not a little; for the very 
 same things please some and pain others ; and what are painful and hateful 
 
 n*
 
 62 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 people, unacquainted with the science of medicine, realize that 
 they are sick, and consult a physician, who tells them what they 
 must do, forbidding them to partake of that which they imagine 
 beneficial, and prescribing for them things which are unpleasant 
 and bitter, in order that their bodies may become healthy, and 
 that they may again choose the good and spurn the bad, so 
 those whose souls become ill should consult the sages, the moral 
 physicians, who will advise them against indulging in those evils 
 which they (the morally ill) think are good, so that they may 
 be healed by that art of which I shall speak in the next 
 chapter, and through which the moral qualities are restored to 
 their normal condition. But, if he who is morally sick be not 
 aware of his illness, imagining that he is well, or, being aware 
 of it, does not seek a remedy, his end will be similar to that 
 of one, who, suffering from bodily ailment, yet continuing to 
 indulge himself, neglects to be cured, and who in consequence 
 surely meets an untimely death. 
 
 Those who know that they are in a diseased state, but neverthe- 
 less yield to their inordinate passions, are described in the truthful 
 Law which quotes their own words, "Though I walk in the stubbor- 
 ness of my heart, in order that the indulgence of the passions may 
 appease the thirst for them." * This means that, intending to quench the 
 
 to some are pleasant to and liked by others. The same is the case with 
 sweet things; the same will not seem so to the man in a fever as to him 
 who is in health ; nor will the invalid and the person in robust health have 
 the same notion of warmth. The same is the case with other things also." 
 Cf., also, H. Deot, II, 1, "To those who are diseased the bitter tastes sweet 
 and the sweet bitter. Some sick people, moreover, crave and long for food 
 that is unfit to eat, such as dust and charcoal, spurning food that is bene- 
 ficial, such as bread and meat, according to the intensity of their illness. 
 Likewise, people whose souls are diseased desire and love evil character- 
 istics, and hate the moral path, being loathe to pursue it, since, on ac- 
 count of their illness, it is very difficult for them to do so. Thus, Isaiah 
 says of such people, '"Wo unto those that say of the evil it is good, and 
 of the good it is evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, 
 that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter' (V, 20). Concerning them 
 it is also said that '(they are those) who leave the path of uprightness to 
 walk in the ways of darkness' (Prov. II, 13)." 
 i Dt. XXIX, 18.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS III 53 
 
 thirst, it is, on the contrary, intensifed. He who is ignorant 
 of his illness is spoken of in many places by Solomon, who says, 
 "The way of the fool is straight in his own eyes, but he who 
 hearkeneth unto counsel is wise". 1 This means that he who 
 listens to the counsel of the sage is wise, for the sage teaches 
 him the way that is actually right, and not the one that he 
 (the morally ill) erroneously considers to be such. Solomon 
 also says, "There is many a way which seemeth even before a 
 man; but its ends are ways unto death". 2 Again, in regard to 
 these who are morally ill, in that they do not know what is 
 injurious from that which is beneficial, he says, "The way of the 
 wicked is like darkness; they do not know against what they 
 stumble." 
 
 The art of healing the diseases of the soul will, however, 
 form the subject-matter of the fourth chapter. 
 
 i Prov. XII, 15. J Ibid., XIV, 12. 
 
 Ibid., IV, 19. Cf. jff. Deot, II, 1, "What is the remedy for those whose 
 souls are diseased? Let them consult the sages who are the physicians 
 of the soul, who will cure their disease by teaching them those character- 
 istics by which they may return to the moral path, and recognize their 
 evil traits. Concerning those who do not seek the sages in order to be 
 cured, Solomon says, 'wisdom and instruction fools despise' (Prov. I, 7)". 
 The conception of a spiritual healing originated neither with Aristotle nor 
 with M. There are many biblical passages based on such a comparison 
 with the healing art, as Jer. Ill, 22 : D^niSltfD nEJiN ; Hos. XIV, 5 : nraitPfi B1 
 Ps. XLI, 5: ~\h TiNton "O "PBi nan, etc. Rosin, Ethik, p. 78, n. 4, refers to 
 similar passages in Hebrew, Greek, and Arabic literature.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CONCERNING THE CURE OF THE DISEASES OF THE SOUL t 
 
 GOOD deeds are such as are equibalanced, 2 maintaining the 
 mean between two equally bad extremes, the too much and the 
 
 i To this chapter, in which the Aristotelian doctrine of the Mean 
 (Meffbrrp, balance) is applied to Jewish ethics, M. later supplemented 
 H. Deot, I, 17; II, 2, 3, 7; and III, 1. Cf. Eth. Nic. II, 59; III, 814; 
 IV. Although M. follows Aristotle in defining virtue as a state inter- 
 mediate between two extremes, the too little and the too much, he still 
 remains on Jewish ground, as there are biblical and Talmudical passages 
 expressing such a thought. Such passages are Prov. IV, 26, "Balance well 
 the track of thy foot, and let all thy ways be firmly right"; ibid., XXX, 8, 
 "Neither poverty nor riches give thou unto me"; Eccles. VII, 16, "Be not 
 righteous overmuch; neither show thyself overwise" (quoted in H. Deot, 
 III, 1) ; etc. In Moreh, I, 32, M. interprets "neither show thyself overwise" 
 and "To eat too much honey is not good" (Prov. XXV, 27) as a warning 
 against attempting to exceed the limits of one's intellectual powers, and 
 as an admonition to keep knowledge within bounds. In the Palestinian 
 Talmud (Hagigah, II, 77 a bot.), there is found an interesting passage which 
 sums up well the thought of this chapter, and it is curious that M. did 
 not refer to it. It reads, "The ways of the Torah may be likened to two 
 roads, on one of which fire and on the other snow is encountered. If one 
 go along one path, he will be burned to death, and if he proceed along 
 the other, he will perish in the snow. What, then, should one do? He 
 must go between the extremes." A similar passage is found in Tosefta 
 Hagigah 2 (cf. Yer. Hagigah, p. 20), "They make it incumbent upon man 
 to go between the extremes, and not to incline to this side or to that." 
 See, also, Sotah, 5 a, "he (the scholar) in whom there is pride deserves ex- 
 communication, and also he in whom there is no pride at all." For a 
 discussion of Aristotle's doctrine of the Meo^s, see Grant, The Ethics of 
 Aristotle, vol. I, pp. 251 262. For that of M., see Jaraczewski, ZPhKr, 
 XLVI, pp. 11 12; Rosin, Ethik, p. 26, n. 1; p. 79 ff.; Lazarus, Ethik, vol. 
 I, Abhang XIV (Eng. ed. vol. I, p. 273 f.); Wolff, Acht Capitel, Introd., 
 pp. XIII XIV; Yellin and Abrahams, Maimonides, pp. 78 83; Cohen, 
 Charakteristik, etc., in Moses ben Maimon, I, p. Ill ff. ; A. Lb'wenthal in 
 JE., II, p. 101; Lewis, in Aspects of the Hebrew Genius, (London, 1910) 
 pp. 82 83. On the mean in Jewish religious philosophy, see Rosin, Ethik, 
 pp. 10, 12, 14, 19, 24; H. Malter, JQR (new series) vol. I, p. 160, n. 15. 
 
 * BMttTJ, the equidistant (equivalent to the Aristotelian foov, the exactly
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 55 
 
 too little. 1 Virtues are psychic conditions and dispositions which 
 are mid-way between two reprehensible extremes, one of which 
 is characterized by an exaggeration, the other by a deficiency. 2 
 Good deeds are the product of these dispositions. To illustrate, 
 abstemiousness is a disposition which adopts a mid-course between 
 inordinate passion and total insensibility to pleasure. Abstem- 
 iousness, then, is a proper rule of conduct, and the psychic dis- 
 position which gives rise to it is an ethical quality ; but inordi- 
 nate passion, the extreme of excess, and total insensibility to 
 enjoyment, the extreme of deficiency 3 , are both absoluteley 
 pernicious. The psychic dispositions, from which these two 
 extremes, inordinate passion and insensibility, result the one 
 being an exaggeration, the other a deficiency are alike classed 
 among moral imperfections. 
 
 Likewise, liberality is the mean between sordidness and extra- 
 vagence; courage, between recklessness and cowardice; dignity, 
 between haughtiness and loutishness 4 ; humility, between arrogance 
 
 equal, the normal, or equibalanced); cf. Moreh, II, 39, "It is clear, then, 
 that the Law is normal (rPWfi) in this sense; for it contains the words, 
 'Just statutes and judgments' (Deut. IV, 8); but 'just' is here identical 
 with 'equibalanced' (D^llW)." 
 
 i D'JttlO&n, the mean (Aristotelian ntvov). Nic. Eth., II, 6, "By an ob- 
 jective mean, I understand that which is equidistant from the two given 
 extremes, and which is one and the same to all, and by a mean relatively 
 to the person, I understand that which is neither too much nor too little." 
 
 8 Cf. ibid., "Virtue, then, is a disposition of the moral purpose in 
 relative balance, which is determined by a standard, according as the 
 thoughtful man would determine. It is a middle state between two faulty 
 ones, in the way of excess on one side, and defect on the other; and 
 it is so, moreover, because the faulty states on one side fall short of, 
 and those on the other side exceed, what is right, both in the case of the 
 emotions and the actions; but virtue finds, and, when found, adopts the 
 mean." Cf. JET. Deot, 1, 4, and II, 2. 
 
 s ]lt?ion nspn, is the extreme of excess (Aristotle's vweppo\fy, and rrcpn 
 pnKn the extreme of deficiency (ax^w). Cf. H. Deot, I, 5; III, 1 ; pmnNl 
 '31 p nnw vfyi "ii hw bv n |nnn inb, where ynnNn ns clearly means the 
 extreme of the too little. 
 
 * See Hebrew text, c. IV, pp. 1920, n. 17. On the gloss royiDtt nmni 
 '31, introduced here in some Mss. and edd., see Hebrew text, c. IV, p. 20, 
 note. This gloss seems to go back to Eth. Nic., II, 7, "He that is as he
 
 56 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 and self-abasement; contentedness, between avarice and slothful 
 indifference; and magnificence, between meanness and profusion. 
 [Since definite terms do not exist in our language with, which to 
 express these latter qualities, it is necessary to explain their con- 
 tent, and tell what the philosophers meant by them. A man is 
 called magnificent whose whole intention is to do good to others 
 by personal service, by money, or advice, and with all his power, 
 but without meanwhile bringing suffering or disgrace upon himself. 
 That is the medium line of conduct. The mean man is one 
 who does not want others to succeed in anything, even though 
 he himself may not thereby suffer any loss, hardship, or injury. 
 That is the one extreme. The profuse man, on the contrary, 
 is one who willingly performs the above-mentioned deeds, in spite 
 of the fact that thereby he brings upon himself great injury, 
 or disgrace, terrible hardship, or considerable loss. That is the 
 other extreme. 1 ] Gentleness is the mean between irascibility 
 and insensibility to shame and disgrace; and modesty, between 
 impudence and shamefacedness. 2 [The explanation of these latter 
 
 should be may be called friendly, and his mean state friendliness ; he that 
 exceeds, if it be without any interested motive, somewhat too complaisant, 
 if with such motive, a flatterer; he that is deficient and in all instances 
 unpleasant, quarrelsome and cross." 
 
 1 The virtue which I. T. explains here, owing to the inadequacy of the 
 Hebrew terms, is the one which Aristotle calls magnificence (I. T.'s llto 
 2 1 ?). The excess is want of taste or wdgar profusion (xhr\ 21B ynn 11 ), and 
 the defect paltriness (<"6i3n). See Eth. Nic., loc. cit. According to Aristotle, 
 magnificence is a higher kind of liberality (niTIJ), and consists of the 
 spending of money on a grand scale, with taste and propriety. It is 
 prompted by a desire for what is noble, concerning itself with the services 
 of religion, public works, and so forth. The vulgar man, whose object is 
 ostentation, offends with excessive splendor, while the mean man, on the 
 other hand, through timidity and constant fear of expense, even though 
 he does expend large amounts, mars the whole effect by some petty charac- 
 teristic of meanness (ibid., IV, 2). I. T. has, accordingly, incorrectly ex- 
 plained the terms 21B 2^, ntei, and S&Tl 21b ]nn. 
 
 2 See JET. Deot, I, and II for a list and discussion of the virtues. 
 Aristotle mentions and discussess the following virtues in Eth. Nic.; courage 
 (II, 7, and III, 6 9), perfected self-mastery or temperance (II, 7, and 
 III, 1011), liberality (II, 7, and IV, 1), magnificence (II, 7 and IV, 2), 
 greatness of soul (II, 7, and IV, 3), love of honor (II, 7, and IV, 4),
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 57 
 
 terms, gleaned from the sayings of our sages (may their memory 
 be blessed!) seems to be this. In their opinion, a modest 
 man is one who is very bashful, and therefore modesty is the 
 mean. This we gather from their saying, "A shamefaced man 
 cannot learn". 1 They also assert, "A modest man is worthy of 
 Paradise" 2 , but they do not say this of a shamefaced man. 
 Therefore, I have thus arranged them." 3 ] So it is with the other 
 qualities. One does not necessarily have to use conventional 
 terms for these qualities, if only the ideas are clearly fixed in 
 the mind. 4 
 
 It often happens, however, that men err as regards these 
 qualities, imagining that one of the extremes is good, and is a 
 virtue. Sometimes, the extreme of the too much is considered 
 noble, as when temerity is made a virtue, and those who reck- 
 lessly risk their lives are hailed as heroes. Thus, when people 
 see a man, reckless to the highest degree, who runs deliberately 
 into danger, intentionally tempting death, and escaping only by 
 mere chance, they laud such a one to the skies, and say that he 
 is a hero. At other times, the opposite extreme, the too little, is 
 greatly esteemed, and the coward 5 is considered a man of for- 
 bearance; the idler, as being a person of a contented disposition; 
 and he, who by the dullness of his nature is callous to every 
 joy, is praised as a man of moderation, [that is, one who eschews 
 sin]. In like manner, profuse liberality and extreme lavishness 
 are erroneously extolled as excellent characteristics. 6 This is, 
 however, an absolutely mistaken view, for the really praiseworthy 
 
 gentleness (II, 7, and IV, 5), friendliness (II, 7, and IV, 6), truthfulness 
 (II, 7. and IV, 7), jocularity or liveliness (II, 7, and IV, 8), and modesty 
 (II, 7, and IV, 9). Of., also, Eudemian Ethics, II, 3, where a formal table 
 is given contaning fourteen virtues and their respective pairs of extremes; 
 and Mag. Mor. I, 20 . 
 
 i Abot, II, 5. 2 Abot, V, 20. 3 See Hebrew text, c. IV, p. 21, n. 16. 
 
 4 Aristotle also mentions the paucity of terms to express the nice 
 distinctions he makes (Eth. Nic., II, 7). 
 
 s Better, "the apathetic" ; see Hebrew text, c. IV, p. 21, n. 27. 
 
 6 Cf. Eth. Nic., II, 9, "for we ourselves sometimes praise those who 
 are defective in this feeling (anger), and we call them gentle; at another, 
 we term the hot-tempered manly and spirited."
 
 58 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 is the medium course of action to which every one should strive 
 to adhere, always weighing his conduct carefully, so that he may 
 attain the proper mean. 
 
 Know, moreover, that these moral excellences or defects 
 cannot be acquired, or implanted in the soul, except by means 
 of the frequent repetition of acts resulting from these qualities, 
 which, practised during a long period of time, accustoms us to 
 them. 1 If these acts performed are good ones, then we shall 
 have gained a virtue; but if they are bad, we shall have ac- 
 quired a vice. Since, however, no man is born with an innate 
 virtue or vice, as we shall explain in Chapter VIII, and, as 
 every one's conduct from childhood up is undoubtedly influenced 
 by the manner of living of his relatives and countrymen, 2 his 
 conduct may be in accord with the rules of moderation; but, 
 then again, it is possible that his acts may incline towards either 
 extreme, as we have demonstrated, in which case, his soul be- 
 comes diseased. 3 In such a contingency, it is proper for him 
 to resort to a cure, exactly as he would were his body suffering 
 from an illness. So, just as when the equilibrium of the physical 
 health is disturbed, 4 and we note which way it is tending in 
 order to force it to go in exactly the opposite direction until 
 it shall return to its proper condition, and, just as when the 
 proper adjustment is reached, we cease this operation, and have 
 recourse to that which will maintain the proper balance, in 
 exactly the same way must we adjust the moral equilibrium. 5 
 
 1 Cf. Yoma, 86 b; Sotah, 22 a, "As soon as a man has committed a sin 
 and repeated it, it becomes to him a permitted act". 
 
 2 Cf. H. Deot, "VI, 1, "The natural disposition of the human mind 
 occasions man to be influenced in his opinions and actions by those with 
 whom he associates, and his conduct to be dependent on that of his friends 
 and countrymen". 
 
 3 On the acquisition of virtues and vices, see Eth. Nic., II, 1 3; and 
 H. Deot, I, 2, 7. See below c. VIII, p. 85ff. 
 
 4 Cf. Eth. Nic., II, 2, "for excessive training impairs the strength as 
 well as deficient; meat and drink, in like manner, in too great or too 
 small quantities, impair the health; while in due proportion they cause 
 increase, and preserve it". 
 
 5 Cf. H. Deot, II, 2. The same thought is expressed by Aristotle in 
 Eth. Nic., II, 9. If we find ourselves at one of the faulty extremes, we
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 59 
 
 Let us take, for example, the case of a man in whose soul there 
 has developed a disposition [of great avarice] on account of 
 which he deprives himself [of every comfort in life], and which, 
 by the way, is one of the most detestable of defects, and an im- 
 moral act, as we have shown in this chapter. If we wish to 
 cure this sick man, we must not command him merely [to prac- 
 tise] deeds of generosity, for that would be as ineffective as a 
 physician trying to cure a patient consumed by a burning fever 
 by administering mild medicines, which treatment would be in- 
 efficacious. We must, however, induce him to squander so often, 
 and to repeat his acts of profusion so continuously until that 
 propensity which was the cause of his avarice has totally dis- 
 appeared. Then, when he reaches that point where he is about 
 to become a squanderer, we must teach him to moderate his 
 profusion, and tell him to continue with deeds of generosity, and 
 to watch out with due care lest he relapse either into lavishness 
 or niggardliness. 1 
 
 must drag ourselves away in the opposite direction, for by bending our- 
 selves a long way back from the erroneous extreme, allowing for the 
 recoil, as when one straightens a crooked piece of timber, we shall at 
 length arrive at the proper mean. Punishment of sin also, according to 
 M., forces the culprit to the other extreme of the sin committed. Thus, 
 if a man sin as regards property, he must spend his money liberally in 
 the service of God; if he has indulged in sinful bodily enjoyments, he 
 must chastise his body with fasting, privation, and the like. This practice 
 should even extend itself to man's intellectual failings, which may cause 
 him to believe some false doctrine, a fault that is to be remedied by 
 turning one's thoughts entirely away from wordly affairs, and devoting 
 them exclusively to intellectual exercises, and carefully reflecting upon 
 those beliefs in which he should have faith (Moreh, III, 46). Compare with 
 this Aristotle's theory as regards correction, according to which the 
 remedies are of such a nature as to be the contraries of the ills they 
 seek to cure (Eth. Nic., II, 2). 
 
 * Cf. H. Deot, II, 2, "How shall he cure them (the moral ills)? The 
 sages tell the wrathful man that if he is accustomed to scold and curse 
 he should train himself never to give vent to these feelings, and that he 
 should continue this course a long while, until he has eradicated wrath 
 from his heart. If he is haughty let him train himself to be humble, let 
 him clothe himself in ragged garments which humiliate those who wear 
 them, and let him do similar acts, until he has uprooted his pride, and
 
 60 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 If, on the other hand, a man is a squanderer, he must be 
 directed to practise strict economy, and to repeat acts of niggard- 
 liness. It is not necessary, however, for him to perform acts of 
 avarice as many times as the mean man should those of pro- 
 fusion. This subtle point, which is a canon and secret of the 
 science of medicine, tells us that it is easier for a man of profuse 
 habits to moderate them to generosity, than it is for a miser to 
 become generous. Likewise, it is easier for one who is apathetic 
 [and eschews sin] to be excited to moderate enjoyment, than it 
 is for one, burning with passion, to curb his desires. Consequently, 
 the licentious man must be made to practise restraint more than 
 the apathetic man should be induced to indulge his passions; 
 and, similarly, the coward requires exposure to danger more 
 frequently than the reckless man should be forced to cowardice. 
 The mean man needs to practise lavishness to a greater degree 
 than should be required of the lavish to practise meanness. 
 This is a fundamental principle of the science of curing moral 
 ills, and is worthy of remembrance. 
 
 On this account, the saintly ones 1 were not accustomed 
 to cause their dispositions to maintain an exact balance 
 between the two extremes, but deviated somewhat, by way 
 of [caution and] restraint, now to the side of exaggeration, 
 and now to that of deficiency. Thus, for instance, ab- 
 stinence would incline to some degree towards excessive 
 denial of all pleasures; valor would approach somewhat towards 
 temerity; generosity to lavishness; modesty to extreme humility, 2 
 
 returned to the middle course which is the moral one; and, when he has 
 done so, let him continue in it all his days. He should act in a similar 
 way with all his characteristics. If he is far from the middle course, at 
 one extreme, let him force himself to go to the other, and accustom him- 
 self fully to it, until he returns to the proper course, which is the medial 
 trait as regards each characteristic". 
 
 1 See infra, c. VI; and M.'s Commentary on Abot, V, 7. 11. 
 
 3 M. departs from strict adherence to the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean, 
 which Aristotle himself does, at times, and especially as regards the virtue 
 of justice. M. states here that the deviation from the mean on the part 
 of the saints was because of caution and restraint. Later, in H. Deot, 
 I, 5, he expands this thought in drawing a distinction between the wise
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 61 
 
 and so forth. This is what the rabbis hinted at, in their 
 
 man (D2n) and the saint (Ton). Wise men cling to the exact middle 
 course, but "the early saints were accustomed to deviate in their charac- 
 teristics from the middle course towards either one or the other extreme, 
 now making one characteristic tend towards the extreme of deficiency, 
 and now another towards that of excess. This is doing 'more than the 
 strict letter of the law demands'." In regard to the two characteristics, 
 pride and anger, M. states, in some instances , the Aristotelian view which 
 considers the medium course the virtue, only to depart from it at other 
 times, and, following the Bible and Talmud, considers the extreme the 
 virtue. Thus, in this chapter, pride (niNJ) is the one extreme, self-abasement 
 (nnn mbsv) the other, and humility (71129), the mean, is the virtue; anger 
 (Djn) is the excess, insensibility to shame and disgrace (nB"in 711W171 YWTT 
 mi) the deficiency, and mildness (nii^2D), the mean, is the virtue. In 
 H. Deot, I, 4, the medium course ( S i13 s 2), likewise, in respect to anger, is 
 designated as the virtue. Man should not be insensible to anger (nOD bl 
 B^ilD 1VN), although he should give vent to his wrath only at great pro- 
 vocation (hli in hs b DIW *6). In his Commentary on Abot, IV, 4 
 (Rawicz, Commentar^ pp. 78 80), and in H. Deot, II, 3, M. asserts, how- 
 ever, that excessive humility and complete absence of anger are the virtues, 
 and not the medium course. The passage in Deot is as follows, "There 
 are, however, some dispositions in regard to which it is wrong to pursue 
 even a middle course, but the contrary extreme is to be embraced, as, for 
 instance, in respect to pride. One does not follow the proper path by 
 merely being humble. Man should be very humble and extremely meek. 
 To this end, Scripture says of Moses, our master, that he was 'very 
 humble' (Num. XII, 3), and not that he was simply humble. Therefore, the 
 sages command us, 'Be thou very humble' (Abot, IV, 4), and say, further- 
 more, that all who are proud-hearted deny an important principle of our 
 faith, for Scripture says, 'Thy heart will become uplifted, and thou wilt 
 forget the Lord thy God' (Deut. VIII, 14), and they also say, 'he who is 
 presumptuous, even to a slight degree deserves excommunication'. In like 
 manner, anger is a very bad characteristic; one should go to the opposite 
 extreme and school himself to be without wrath, even as regards a matter 
 
 at which it might seem proper to show anger The Rabbis of old said, 
 
 'Whoever allows himself to be carried away by his wrath is like a wor- 
 shipper of idols' (Nedarim, 22&). Futhermore, they said, 'If a wise man 
 becomes angry, his wisdom forsakes him; if a prophet, his inspiration departs 
 from him' (Pesahim, 66 b), and, 'Those that abandon themselves to their 
 angry passions do not deserve to live' (Pesahim 113 b). Therefore, they 
 recommend total absence of anger, so that a man may thus train himself 
 never to feel it, even at those things which naturally would provoke one 
 to wrath. The proper course to pursue, and the way of the righteous, is 
 that 'they are insulted, but do not insult; they hear themselves reviled, and
 
 62 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 saying, "Do more than the strict letter of the law 
 demands." * 
 
 "When, at times, some of the pious ones deviated to one 
 extreme by fasting, keeping nightly vigils 2 , refraining from eating 
 meat or drinking wine, renouncing sexual intercourse, clothing 
 themselves in woolen and hairy garments, dwelling in the moun- 
 tains, and wandering about in the wilderness, they did so, partly 
 as a means of restoring the health of their souls, as we have 
 explained above, and partly because of the immorality of the 
 towns-people. 3 When the pious saw that they themselves 
 might become contaminated by association with evil men, or by 
 constantly seeing their actions, fearing that their own morals 
 might become corrupt on account of contact with them, they 
 fled to the wildernesses far from their society, as the prophet 
 Jeremiah said, "Oh that some one would grant me in the wilder- 
 ness the dwelling of a wanderer, and I would quit my people 
 and abandon them; for they are all adulterers, a troop of faith- 
 less evil-doers." 4 When the ignorant observed saintly men 
 acting thus, not knowing their motives, they considered their 
 deeds of themselves virtuous, and so, blindly imitating their acts, 
 thinking thereby to become like them, chastised their bodies 
 with all kinds of afflictions, imagining that they had acquired 
 perfection and moral worth, and that by this means man would 
 approach nearer to God, as if He hated the human body, and 
 desired its destruction. It never dawned upon them, however, 
 that these actions were bad and resulted in moral imperfection 
 of the soul. Such men can only be compared to one who, 
 ignorant of the art of healing, when he sees skilful physicians 
 administering to those at the point of death [purgatives known 
 
 answer not; they do good from pure motives of love; they rejoice amidst 
 their sufferings, and of them it is said, 'Those that love him are like the 
 sun going forth in its might' (Judges V, 31, Shabbat, 38b)". See Rosin, 
 Ethih, p. 87, n. 5; Cohen, Charakteristik, in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 112 116. 
 See, however, supra, p. 54, note 1, for biblical and Talmudical passages 
 which support the doctrine of the medium course. 
 
 1 Baba Me?ia, 35 a: fin mwfi D'JB 1 ? it muni larri 
 
 2 To study Torah. 
 
 3 Cf. H. Deot, VI, 1, and H. Nedarim, XIII, 23. 
 1 Jer. IX, 1.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 63 
 
 in Arabic as] colocynth, scammony, aloe, and the like, and 
 depriving them of food, in consequence of which they are com- 
 pletely cured and escape death, foolishly concludes that since 
 these things cure sickness, they must be all the more efficacious 
 in preserving the health, or prolonging life. If a person should 
 take these things constantly, and treat himself as a sick person, 
 then he would really become ill. Likewise, those who are 
 spiritually well, but have recourse to remedies, will undoubtedly 
 become morally ill. 
 
 The perfect Law which leads us to perfection as one who 
 knew it well testifies by the words, "The Law of the Lord is 
 perfect restoring the soul; the testimonies of the Lord are faithful 
 making wise the simple" 1 recommends none of these things 
 (such as self-torture, flight from society etc.). On the contrary, 
 it aims at man's following the path of moderation, in accordance 
 with the dictates of nature, eating, drinking, enjoying legitimate 
 sexual intercourse, all in moderation, and living among people 
 in honesty and uprightness, but not dwelling in the wilderness 
 or in the mountains, or clothing oneself in garments of hair and 
 wool, or afflicting the body. The Law even warns us against 
 these practices, if we interpret it according to what tradition tells 
 us is the meaning of the passage concerning the Nazarite, "And 
 he (the priest) shall make an atonement for him because he hath 
 sinned against the soul." 2 The Rabbis ask, "Against what soul 
 has he sinned? Against his own soul, because he has deprived 
 himself of wine. Is this not then a conclusion a minori ad ma- 
 jus? If one who deprives himself merely of wine must bring 
 an atonement, how much more incumbent is it upon one who 
 denies himself every enjoyment." 3 
 
 By the words of our prophets and of the sages of our Law, 
 we see that they were bent upon moderation and the care of 
 their souls and bodies, in accordance with what the Law pre- 
 scribes and with the answer which God gave through His 
 
 1 Ps. XIX, 9. 
 
 2 Num. VI, 11. 
 
 3 Nazir, 19a, 22a; Ta'anit, lla; Baba Eamma, 91b; Nedarim, lOa; cf. 
 M.'s Commentary on Abot, V, 15.
 
 64 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 prophet to those who asked whether the fast-day once a year 
 should continue or not. They asked Zechariah, "Shall I weep 
 in the fifth month with abstinence as I have done already these 
 many years?" l His, answer was, "When ye fasted and mourned 
 in the fifth and in the seventh (month) already these seventy 
 years, did ye in anywise fast for me, yea for me? And if ye 
 do eat and if ye do drink are ye not yourselves those that eat 
 and yourselves those that drink?" 2 After that, he enjoined 
 upon them justice and virtue alone, and not fasting, when he 
 said to them, "Thus hath said the Lord of Hosts. Execute 
 justice and show kindness and mercy every man to his brother." 3 
 He said further, "Thus hath said the Lord of Hosts, the fast- 
 day of the fourth, and the fast-day of the fifth, and the fast of 
 seventh, and the fast of the tenth (month) shall become to the 
 house of Judah gladness, and joy, and merry festivals; only love 
 ye truth and peace." 4 . Know that by "truth" the intellectual 
 virtues are meant, for they are immutably true, as we have ex- 
 plained in Chapter II, and that by "peace" the moral virtues 
 are designated, for upon them depends the peace of the world. 
 But to resume. Should those of our co-religionists and it 
 is of them alone that I speak who imitate the followers of 
 other religions, maintain that when they torment their bodies, 
 and renounce every joy, that they do so merely to discipline the 
 faculties of their souls by inclining somewhat to the one ex- 
 treme, as is proper, and in accordance with our own recommen- 
 dations in this chapter, our answer is that they are in error, 
 as I shall now demonstrate. The Law did not lay down its 
 prohibitions, or enjoin its commandments, except for just this 
 purpose, namely, that by its disciplinary effects we may per- 
 sistently maintain the proper distance from either extreme. For, 
 the restrictions regarding all the forbidden foods, the prohibitions 
 of illicit intercourse, the fore-warning against prostitution, the 
 duty of performing the legal marriage-rites which, nevertheless, 
 does not permit intercourse at all times, as, for instance, during 
 the period of menstruation, and after child-birth, besides its 
 
 ' Zech. VII, 3. 2 j Wd ., VII, 6. 3 iud., VII, 9. 
 
 Ibid., VIII, 9.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 65 
 
 being otherwise restricted by our sages, and entirely interdicted 
 during the daytime, as we have explained in the Tractate San- 
 hedrin all of these God commanded in order that we should 
 keep entirely distant from the extreme of the inordinate in- 
 dulgence of the passions, and, even departing from the exact 
 medium, should incline somewhat towards self-denial, so that 
 there may be firmly rooted in our souls the disposition for 
 moderation. 1 
 
 Likewise, all that is contained in the Law concerning the 
 giving of tithes, the gleaning of the harvest, the forgotten 
 sheaves, the single grapes, and the small bunches in the vine- 
 yards for the poor, the law of the Sabbatical year, and of the 
 Jubilee, the giving of charity according to the wants of the 
 needy one, all these approach the extreme of lavishness to be 
 practised in order that we may depart far from its opposite, 
 stinginess, and thus, nearing the extreme of excessive prodigality, 
 there may become instilled in us the quality of generosity. 2 If you 
 should test most of the commandments from this point of view, 
 you would find that they are all for the discipline and guidance 
 of the faculties of the soul. Thus, the Law forbids revenge, 
 the bearing of a grudge, and blood-revenge by saying, "Thou 
 shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge"; 3 "thou shalt surely 
 unload with him" 4 (the ass of him who hates you); "thou shalt 
 surely help him to lift them up again" 5 (thy brother's ass or 
 ox which has fallen by the way). These commandments are 
 intended to weaken the force of wrath or anger. Likewise, the 
 command, "Thou shalt surely bring them back" 6 (thy brother's 
 ox or lamb which has gone astray), is meant to remove the 
 disposition of avarice. Similarly, "Before the hoary head shalt 
 thou rise up, and honor the face of the old man", 7 "Honor thy 
 father and thy mother" 8 etc., "thou shalt not depart from the 
 sentence which they may tell thee" 9 etc., are intended to do 
 away with boldness, and to produce modesty. Then, in order 
 to keep away from the other extreme, i. e. of excessive bashful- 
 
 i Of. Moreh, III, 35, and H. Deot, III. 2 Cf. Moreh, III, 39. 3 Lev. 
 XIX, 18. 4 Ex. XXIII, 5. s Deut. XXII, 4. e jjy., XXII, 1. 
 
 7 Lev. XIX, 32. Ex. XX, 12. Deut. XVII, 11. 
 
 E
 
 66 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 ness, we are told, "Thou shalt indeed rebuke thy neighbor" etc., 1 
 "thou shalt not fear him" 2 (the false prophet) etc., so that ex- 
 cessive bashfulness, too, should disappear, in order that we pursue 
 the medium course. Should, however, anyone who would with- 
 out doubt be foolish if he did so try to enforce these commands 
 with additional rigor, as, for instance, by prohibiting eating and 
 drinking more than does the Law, or by restricting connubial 
 intercourse to a greater degree, or by distributing all of his 
 money among the poor, or using it for sacred purposes more 
 freely than the Law requires, or by spending it entirely upon 
 sacred objects and upon the sanctuary, he would indeed be 
 performing improper acts, and would be unconsciously going to 
 either one or the other extreme, thus forsaking completely the 
 proper mean. In this connection, I have nerver heard a more 
 remarkable saying than that of the Rabbis, found in the 
 Palestinian foUmuA, in the ninth chapter of the treatise Nedarim, 
 where they greatly blame those who bind themselves by oaths 
 and vows, in consequence of which they are fettered like prisoners. 
 The exact words they use are, "Said Rabbi Iddai, in the name 
 of Rabbi Isaac, 'Dost thou not think that what the Law pro- 
 hibits is sufficient for thee that thou must take upon thyself 
 additional prohibitions?' " 3 
 
 From all that we have stated in this chapter, it is evident 
 that it is man's duty to aim at performing acts that observe 
 the proper mean, and not to desist from them by going to one 
 extreme or the other, except for the restoration of the soul's 
 health by having recourse to the opposite of that from which 
 the soul is suffering. So, just as he who, acquainted with the 
 science of medicine, upon noting the least sign of a change for 
 the worse in his health, does not remain indifferent to it, but 
 prevents the sickness from increasing to a degree that will re- 
 quire recourse to violent remedies, and just as when a man, 
 feeling that one of his limbs has become affected, carefully nurses 
 it, refraining from things that are injurious to it, and applying 
 every remedy that will restore it to its healthy condition, or at 
 
 Lev. XIX, 17. * Deut. XVIII, 22. 3 Yer. Nedarim, IX, 1; 
 
 ed. Krotoschin, 41 b:
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS IV 67 
 
 least keep it from getting worse, likewise, the moral man will 
 constantly examine his characteristics, weigh his deeds, and daily 
 investigate his psychic condition; and if, at any time, he finds 
 his soul deviating to one extreme or another, he will immediately 
 hasten to apply the proper remedy, and not suffer an evil 
 aptitude to acquire strength, as we have shown, by a constant 
 repetition of that evil action which it occasioned. He is, like- 
 wise, bound to be mindful of his defects, and constantly to endeavor 
 to remedy them, as we have said above, for it is impossible for 
 any man to be free from all faults. 1 Philosophers tell us 
 that it is most difficult and rare to find a man who, by his 
 nature, is endowed with every perfection, moral as well as 
 mental. 2 This thought is expressed often in the prophetical 
 books, as, "Behold in his servants he putteth no trust, and his 
 angels he chargeth with folly", 3 "How can man be justified 
 with God? or how can be pure one that is born of woman?" 4 , 
 and Solomon says of mankind in general, "For no man is so 
 righteous upon earth that he should do always good, and never sin". 5 
 Thou knowest, also, that God said to our teacher Moses, 
 the master of former and later ages, "Because ye have not 
 confided in me, to sanctity me" 6 , "because ye rebelled against 
 my order at the waters of Meribah" 7 , "because ye did not 
 sanctify me".s All this (God said) although the sin of Moses 
 consisted merely in that he departed from the moral mean of 
 patience to the extreme of wrath in so far as he exclaimed, 
 "Hear now ye rebels" 9 etc., yet for this God found fault with 
 him that such a man as he should show anger in the presence 
 of the entire community of Israel, where wrath is unbecoming. 
 This was a profanation of God's name, because men imitated 
 the words and conduct of Moses, hoping thereby to attain 
 temporal and eternal happiness. How could he, then, allow his 
 wrath free play, since it is a pernicious characteristic, arising, 
 as we have shown, from an evil psychic condition? The divine 
 
 1 Cf. Moreh, III, 36. 
 
 2 Cf. M.'s Commentary on Abot, V, 14 (Rawicz, Commentar, p. 100). 
 See Eth. Nic., VII, 1, "it is a rare thing for a man to be godlike". 
 
 3 Job IV, 18. * Ibid., XXV, 4. * Eccl. VII, 20. Num. XX, 12. 
 i Ibid., XX, 24. s Deut. XXXII, 51. 9 Num. XX, 10.
 
 68 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 words, ,,Ye (Israel) have rebelled against me" are, however, to 
 be explained as follows. Moses was not speaking to ignorant 
 and vicious people, but to an assembly, the most insignificant 
 of whose women, as the sages put it, were on a plane with 
 Ezekiel, the son of Buzi. 1 So, when Moses said or did any- 
 thing, they subjected his words or actions to the most searching 
 examination. 2 Therefore, when they saw that he waxed wrath- 
 ful, they said, "He has no moral imperfection, and did he not 
 know that God is angry with us for demanding water, and that 
 we have stirred up the wrath of God, he would not have been 
 angry with us". However, we do not find that when God spoke 
 to Moses about this matter He was angry, but on the contrary, 
 said, "Take the staff . . . and give drink to the congregation 
 and their cattle". 3 
 
 We have, indeed, digressed from the subject of this chapter, 
 but have, I hope, satisfactorily solved one of the most difficult 
 passages of Scripture concerning which there has been much 
 arguing in the attempt to state exactly what the sin was which 
 Moses committed. Let what others have said be compared 
 with our opinion, and the truth will surely prevail. 
 
 Now, let me return to my subject. If a man will always 
 carefully discriminate as regards his actions, directing them to 
 the medium course, he will reach the highest degree of per- 
 fection possible to a human being, thereby approaching God, 4 
 and sharing in His happiness. This is the most acceptable way 
 of serving God which the sages, too, had in mind when they 
 wrote the words, "He who ordereth his course aright is worthy 
 of seeing the salvation of God, as it is said, 'to him that ordereth 
 his course aright will I show, will I show the salvation of 
 God!' 5 Do not read wesam but wesJiam derek". 6 Shumah 
 means "weighing" ajid "valuation". This is exactly the idea 
 which we have explained in this chapter. 
 
 This is all we think necessary to be said on this subject. 
 
 1 Mekilta to r63 (Ex. XV, 2). 2 See Moreh, I, 4, on the inter- 
 
 pretation of Ex. XXIII, 8. 3 Num. XX, 8. 
 
 4 See below, c. VII, n. 5 a. On nearness to God (nimpnn), see Cohen, 
 Charakteristik, etc., in Moses b. Maimon, vol. I, pp. 106, and 124. 
 
 * Ps. L, 23. e Sotah, 5b; Mo'ed Katan, 5a.
 
 OHAPTEE V 
 
 CONCERNING THE APPLICATION OF MAN'S PSYCHIC 
 FACULTIES TOWARDS THE ATTAINMENT OF A SINGLE GOAL i 
 
 As we have explained in the preceding chapter, it is the 
 duty of man to subordinate all the faculties of his soul to his 
 reason. He must keep his mind's eye fixed constantly upon 
 one goal, namely, the attainment of the knowledge of God 2 
 (may He be blessed!), as far as it is possible for mortal man 
 to know Him. Consequently, one must so adjust all his actions, 
 his whole conduct, and even his very words, that they lead to 
 this goal, in order that none of his deeds be aimless, and thus 
 retard the attainment of that end. So, his only design in 
 eating, drinking, cohabiting, sleeping, waking, moving about, 
 and resting should be the preservation of bodily health, while, 
 in turn, the reason for the latter is that the soul and its 
 agencies may be in sound and perfect condition, so that he 
 may readily acquire wisdom, and gain moral and intellectual 
 virtues, all to the end that man may reach the highest goal 
 of his endeavors. 
 
 Accordingly, man will not direct his attention merely to 
 obtain bodily enjoyment, choosing of food and drink and the 
 other things of life only the agreeable, but he will seek out 
 the most useful, being indifferent whether it be agreeable or 
 not. There are, indeed, times when the agreeable may be 
 
 1 For a discussion of the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, 
 ZPhKr, XL VI, pp. 213, and Rosin, Ethik, p. 105 S. 
 
 2 Cf. Ibn Baud, Emunah Eamah, III, and Moreh, III, 51. See I. Fried- 
 laender, Der Stil des Maimonides, in Moses b. Maimon, I, p. 430.
 
 70 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 used from a curative point of view, as, for instance, when 
 one suffers from loss of appetite, it may be stirred up by highly 
 seasoned delicacies and agreeable, palatable food. Similarly, 
 one who suffers from melancholia may rid himself of it by 
 listening to singing and all kinds of instrumental music, by 
 strolling through beautiful gardens and splendid buildings, by 
 gazing upon beautiful pictures, and other things that enliven 
 the mind, and dissipate gloomy moods. The purpose of all this 
 is to restore the healthful condition of the body, but the real 
 object in maintaining the body in good health is to acquire 
 wisdom. Likewise, in the pursuit of wealth, the main design 
 in its acquisition should be to expend it for noble purposes, 
 and to employ it for the maintenance of the body and the pre- 
 servation of life, so that its owner may obtain a knowledge of 
 G-od, in so far as that is vouchsafed unto man. 
 
 From this point of view, the study of medicine has a very 
 great influence upon the acquisition of the virtues and of the 
 knowledge of God, as well as upon the attainment of true, 
 spiritual happiness. Therefore, its study and acquisition are 
 pre-eminently important religious activities, and must not be 
 ranked in the same class with the art of weaving, or the science 
 of architecture, for by it one learns to weigh one's deeds, and 
 thereby human activities are rendered true virtues. The man 
 who insists upon indulging in savory, sweetsmelling and palat- 
 able food although it be injurious, and possibly may lead to 
 serious illness or sudden death ought, in my opinion, to be 
 classed with the beasts. His conduct is not that of a man in 
 so far as he is a being endowed with understanding, but it is 
 rather the action of a man in so far as he is a member of the 
 animal kingdom, and so "he is like the beasts who perish". 1 
 Man acts like a human being only when he eats that which 
 is wholesome, at times avoiding the agreeable, and partaking of 
 the disagreeable in his search for the beneficial. Such conduct 
 is in accordance with the dictates of reason, and by these acts 
 man is distinguished from all other beings. Similarly, if a man 
 satisfy his sexual passions whenever he has the desire, regardless 
 
 i Ps. XLIX, 13.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS V 71 
 
 of good or ill effects, he acts as a brute, and not as a 
 man. 1 
 
 It is possible, however, for one to shape one's conduct entirely 
 from the point of view of utility, as we have stated, with no 
 aim beyond that of maintaining the health of the body, or 
 guarding against disease. Such a one does not deserve to be 
 called virtuous, for, just as he strives for the enjoyment of good 
 health, another like him may have as his aim the gratification 
 of eating, or of sexual intercourse, none of which actions leads 
 towards the true goal. The real duty of man is, that in adopting 
 whatever measures he may for his well-being and the pre- 
 servation of his existence in good health, he should do so with 
 the object of maintaining a perfect condition of the instruments 
 of the soul, which are the limbs of the body, so that his soul 
 may be unhampered, and he may busy himself in acquiring the 
 moral and mental virtues. So it is with all the sciences and 
 knowledge man may learn. Concerning those which lead directly 
 to this goal, there is naturally no question; but such subjects 
 as mathematics, the study of conic sections, 2 mechanics, the 
 various problems of geometry, 3 hydraulics, and many others of 
 a similar nature, which do not tend directly towards that goal, 
 should be studied for the purpose of sharpening the mind, and 
 training the mental faculties by scientific investigations, so that 
 man may acquire intellectual ability to distinguish demonstra- 
 tive proofs from others, whereby he will be enabled to com- 
 prehend the essence of God. Similarly, in regard to man's 
 conversation, he should speak only of those things that will be 
 conducive to the true welfare of his soul and body, or that 
 will tend to avert injury from them, whether his words concern 
 themselves with science, or virtue, or praise of virtue or of a 
 virtuous man, or with censure of vice or of a vicious person; for 
 to express contempt for those who are loaded with vice, or to 
 
 i Cf. H. Deot, III, 2, and Moreh, III. 8, "Those who desire to be men 
 in truth, and not brutes, having only the appearance and shape of men, 
 must constantly endeavor to reduce the wants of the body, such as eating, 
 cohabiting, drinking, anger, and all vices originating in lust and passion." 
 
 ' See Wolff, Acht Capitel, p. 38, n. 1. 
 
 3 See Sachs, Beitrage, vol. II, p. 78; and Rawicz, Commentar, p. 22.
 
 72 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 depict their deeds as contemptible if done for the purpose of 
 disparaging them in the eyes of other men who may avoid 
 them, and not do as they do is indeed a virtuous duty. 
 Does not Scripture say, "After the doings of the land of 
 
 Egypt ye shall not do, and after the doings 
 
 of the land of Canaan"? 1 Also, the story of the Sodomites 
 and all the passages occuring in Scripture, which censure those 
 laden with vice, and represent their doings as disgraceful, and 
 those passages which praise and hold the good in high esteem, 
 endeavor, as I have said, to induce man to follow the paths 
 of the righteous, and to shun the way of the wicked. 
 
 If man has this as his ideal, he will dispense with many of 
 his customary deeds, and refrain from a great deal of ordinary 
 conversation. 2 He who follows this line of conduct will not 
 trouble himself with adorning his walls with golden ornaments, 
 nor with decorating his garments with golden fringe, unless it be 
 for the purpose of enlivening his soul, and thus restoring it to 
 health, or of banishing sickness from it, so that it shall become 
 clear and pure, and thus be in the proper condition to acquire 
 wisdom. Therefore, our Rabbis of blessed memory say, "It is 
 becoming that a sage should have a pleasant dwelling, a beauti- 
 ful wife, and domestic comfort"; 3 for one becomes weary, and 
 one's mind dulled by continued mental concentration upon difficult 
 problems. Thus, just as the body becomes exhausted from hard 
 labor, and then by rest and refreshment recovers, so is it 
 necessary for the mind to have relaxation by gazing upon 
 pictures and other beautiful objects, that its weariness may be 
 dispelled. Accordingly, it is related that when the Rabbis be- 
 came exhausted from study, they were accustomed to engage in 
 entertaining conversation 4 (in order to refresh themselves). From 
 this point of view, therefore, the use of pictures and embroideries 
 for beautifying the house, the furniture, and the clothes is not 
 to be considered immoral nor unnecessary. 
 
 Know that to live according to this standard is to arrive at 
 
 i Lev. XVIII, 3. See S. Deot, II, 4, and 5, for a further 
 
 discussion of this subject. 3 Sh.abbat, 25b. 
 
 4 Cf. ibid., 30b : ( 3i Nfiuvm n^tt io pnl? irb nnsn 'p mm n ^.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS V 73 
 
 a very high degree of perfection, which, in consequence of the 
 difficulty of attainment, only a few, after long and continuous 
 perseverance on the paths of virtue, have succeeded in reaching. 
 If there be found a man who has accomplished this that is 
 one who exerts all the faculties of his soul, and directs them 
 towards the sole ideal of comprehending God, using all his 
 powers of mind and body, be they great or small, for the at- 
 tainment of that which leads directly or indirectly to virtue I 
 would place him in a rank not lower than that of the prophets. 
 Such a man, before he does a single act or deed, considers and 
 reflects whether or not it will bring him to that goal, and if it 
 will, then, and then only, does he do it. 
 
 Such striving does the Almighty require of us, according to 
 the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy might", 1 that is, with all 
 the faculties of thy soul, each faculty having as its sole ideal the 
 love of God. 2 The prophets, similarly, urge us on in saying, "In 
 all thy ways know Him", 3 in commenting upon which the sages 
 said, "even as regards a transgression (of the ritual or cere- 
 monial law)," 4 meaning thereby that thou shouldst set for every 
 action a goal, namely, the truth, even though it be, from a 
 certain point of view, a transgression. 5 The sages of blessed 
 memory, too, have summed up this idea in so feAv words and 
 
 Deut. YI, 5. 
 
 2 Cf. Moreh, I, 39 (end) which refers to this passage in the Perakim, 
 and to the Mishneh Torah (Yesode ha-Torah, II, 2). 
 
 3 Prov. Ill, 6. 
 
 4 BeraJcot, 63a. This does not imply that the end justifies the means; 
 that crime may be committed to bring about religious or charitable ends. 
 It refers only to the violation of the ceremonial or ritual laws, as the 
 breaking of the Sabbath, and eating on Yom Kippur, for the sake of saving 
 life, etc. Cf. Ketubot, 5 a, "You must remove debris to save a life on the 
 Sabbath" ; and Shabbat, 30 b, ''Better to extinguish the light on the Sabbath 
 than to extinguish life, which is God's light", etc. The distinction in 
 regard to the various kinds of transgressions which M. makes below, 
 Chapter VI, pp. 7678, applies here. See Shemonah Perakim, ed. Wolf, 
 1876, p. 53, n. 5. 
 
 s Cf. M.'s Commentary on Berakot, IX, 5: 3Wn -W3 *p!r MBD pa!? ^33 
 jnn 12P31. Cf. also his Commentary on Abot, V, 20 (Rawicz, Commentar, 
 p. 108), and Moreh, III, 22 (end).
 
 74 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONTDES 
 
 so concisely, at the same time elucidating the whole matter 
 with such complete thoroughness, that when one considers the 
 brevity with which they expressed this great and mighty thought 
 in its entirety, about which others have written whole books 
 and yet without adequately explaining it, one truly recognizes 
 that the Rabbis undoubtedly spoke through divine inspiration. 
 This saying is found among their precepts (in this tractate), 
 and is, "Let all thy deeds be done for the sake of God". 1 
 
 This, then, is the thought we have been dwelling upon in 
 the present chapter, and what we have said must be considered 
 sufficient for the needs of this introduction. 2 
 t 
 
 1 Abot, II, 12. 
 
 2 That is, the Shemonah Perdkim, which constitute M.'s introduction to 
 his Commentary on Abot. See Introduction, p. 5. 
 
 H. Deot, III, 3 contains a summary of the contents of the latter part 
 of this chapter.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 CONCERNING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SAINTLY [OR 
 
 HIGHLY ETHICAL] MAN AND HIM WHO [SUBDUES HIS 
 
 PASSIONS AND] HAS SELF-RESTRAINT 1 
 
 PHILOSOPHERS maintain that though the man of self-restraint 
 performs moral and praiseworthy deeds, yet he does them desir- 
 ing and craving all the while for immoral deeds, but, subduing 
 his passions and actively fighting against a longing to do those 
 things to which his faculties, his desires, and his psychic dis- 
 position excite him, succeeds, though with constant vexation 
 and irritation, in acting morally. The saintly man, however, 
 is guided in his actions by that to which his inclination and 
 disposition prompt him, in consequence of which he acts morally 
 from innate longing and desire. Philosophers unanimously agree 
 that the latter is superior to, and more perfect than, the one 
 who has to curb his passions, although they add that it is 
 possible for such a one to equal the saintly man in many 
 regards. In general, however, he must necessarily be ranked 
 lower in the scale of virtue, because there lurks within him 
 the desire to do evil, and, though he does not do it, yet be- 
 cause his inclinations are all in that direction, it denotes the 
 presence of an immoral psychic disposition. Solomon, also, 
 entertained the same idea when he said, "The soul of the 
 wicked desireth evil", 2 and, in regard to the saintly man's re- 
 joicing in doing good, and the discontent experienced by him, 
 
 1 On the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, ZPhKr, XLVI, 
 pp. 13 14, and Rosin, Ethik, p. 92ff. See Schechter, Some Aspects of 
 Rabbinic Theology, p. 201 if., on Hasidut (Saintliness). Cf. Eth., Nic., VII, 
 on Self-control. 
 
 Prov. XXI, 10.
 
 76 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 who is not innately righteous, when required to act justly, he 
 says, "It is bliss to the righteous to do justice, but torment to 
 the evil-doer". 1 This is manifestly an agreement between Scrip- 
 ture and philosophy. 
 
 When, however, we consult the Rabbis on this subject, it 
 would seem that they consider him who desires iniquity, and 
 craves for it (but does not do it), more praiseworthy and perfect 
 than the one who feels no torment at refraining from evil; and 
 they even go so far as to maintain that the more praiseworthy 
 and perfect a man is, the greater is his desire to commit iniquity, 
 and the more irritation does he feel at having to desist from 
 it. This they express by saying, "Whosoever is greater than 
 his neighbor has likewise greater evil inclinations". 2 Again, 
 as if this were not sufficient, they even go so far as to say 
 that the reward of him who overcomes his evil inclination is 
 commensurate with the torture occasioned by his resistance, 
 which thought they express by the words, "According to the 
 labor is the reward". 3 Furthermore, they command that man 
 should conquer his desires, but they forbid one to say, "I, by 
 my nature, do not desire to commit such and such a trans- 
 gression, even though the Law does not forbid it". Rabbi 
 Simeon ben Gamaliel summed up this thought in the words, 
 "Man should not say, 'I do not want to eat meat together 
 with milk; I do not want to wear clothes made of a mixture 
 of wool and linen; I do not want to enter into an incestuous 
 marriage', but he should say, 'I do indeed want to, yet I must 
 not, for my father in Heaven has forbidden it'". 4 
 
 At first blush, by a superficial comparison of the sayings 
 of the philosophers and the Rabbis, one might be inclined to 
 say that they contradict one another. Such, however, is not 
 the case. Both are correct and, moreover, are not in disagree- 
 ment in the least, as the evils which the philosophers term such 
 and of which they say that he who has no longing for them 
 is more to be praised than he who desires them but conquers 
 
 1 Prov. XXI, 15. 2 Siikkah, 52a. See Lazarus, Ethics, II, pp. 106107. 
 3 Abot, V, 23. 
 
 * Sifra to Lev. XX, 26, and Midrash Yalkut to Wayikra, 226, although 
 referred to as the words of R. Eleazar b. Azariah.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VI , 77 
 
 his passion are things which all people commonly agree are 
 evils, such as the shedding of blood, theft, robbery, fraud, injury 
 to one who has done no harm, ingratitude, contempt for parents, 
 and the like. The prescriptions against these are called com- 
 mandments (HlSfi), about which the Rabbis said, "If they had 
 not already been written in the Law, it would be proper to 
 add them". 1 Some of our later sages, who were infected with 
 the unsound principles of the Mutakallimun, 2 called these rational 
 laws. 3 There is no doubt that a soul which has the desire for, 
 and lusts after, the above-mentioned misdeeds, is imperfect, that 
 a noble soul has absolutely no desire for any such crimes, and 
 experiences no struggle in refraining from them. When, how- 
 ever, the Rabbis maintain that he who overcomes his desire 
 has more merit and a greater reward (than he who has no 
 temptation), they say so only in reference to laws that are 
 ceremonial prohibitions. This is quite true, since, were it not 
 for the Law, they would not at all be considered transgressions. 
 Therefore, the Rabbis say that man should permit his soul to 
 entertain the natural inclination for these things, but that the 
 Law alone should restrain him from them. Ponder over the 
 wisdom of these men of blessed memory manifest in the examples 
 they adduce. They do not declare, "Man should not say, 'I 
 have no desire to kill, to steal and to lie, but I have a desire 
 for these things, yet what can I do, since my Father in heaven 
 forbids it!'" The instances they cite are all from the cere- 
 monial law, such as partaking of meat and milk together, wear- 
 ing clothes made of wool and linen, and entering into con- 
 
 1 Yoma, 67 b. See infra, p. 78, n. 2. 
 
 2 See supra, p. 41, and n. 2; infra, p. 90. 
 
 3 M. refers especially to Saadia who, in Emunot we-De'ot, III, 2, 
 divides the divine commandments into rational (ni^3tf mSD), and revealed 
 laws (nwo niXB). See Scheyer, PsychoL Syst. d. Maim., pp. 24 and 
 106; Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, p. 503; Rosin, Ethik, p. 93, n. 5; 
 Schreiner, Der Kalam, etc., pp. 13-14; Wolff, Acht Capitel, p. 45, n. 1; Gold- 
 ziher, Kitab ma'am al-Nafs, Berlin 1907, p. 22* f., and text p. 17, n. 6; and 
 Cohen, Charakteristik, etc., in Moses ben Maimon, I, p. 77 ff. M. refers 
 also to Saadia in Moreh, I, 71 : ,D"1pn ^t*0 ,tnitn rttp^> pn ntfi nbjrotf 71D1 
 D^NPBtsrn |D Dnynsn p ninp 1 ? D^JP on. See Munk, Guide, I, p. 336, n. 1. 
 On Saadia's relation to the Kalam, see Kaufmann, Hid., p. 3, n. 5, et al.
 
 78 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 sanguinuous marriages. 1 These, and similar enactments are what 
 Q-od called "my statutes" (Tllpn), which, as the Rabbis say are 
 "statutes which I (God) have enacted for thee, which thou hast 
 no right to subject to criticism, which the nations of the world 
 attack and which Satan denounces, as for instance, the statutes 
 concerning the red heifer, the scapegoat, and so forth". 2 Those 
 transgressions, however, which the later sages called rational 
 laws are termed commandments (filSfi), as the Rabbis explained. 3 
 
 It is now evident from all that we have said, what the trans- 
 gressions are for which, if a man have no desire at all, he is on 
 a higher plane than he who has a longing, but controls his 
 passion for them; and it is also evident what the transgres- 
 sions are of which the opposite is true. It is an astonishing 
 fact that these two classes of expressions should be shown to 
 be compatible with one another, but their content points to 
 the truth of our explanation. 
 
 This ends the discussion of the subject-matter of this chapter. 
 
 1 See Rosin, Ethik, p. 94, n. 4. 
 
 5 Yoma, 67 b: laro^ Kin p nroj vb N^NP D-nai its>n ^SPD n ]xr\ wn 
 new *npn nx[i] on ro*oi toil D"DT ni3Bt?i nmj? 'I'pii nit mias? ]n V?i 
 titsw niyoto Tin nVoN )n i^i jn^p p-^o ntoyn ntDixi on^s? :TB>D jtstww 
 OH f n "OK itti^ iiD'jn en inn n^o noNn wnts'i nbnts>n wvn j?n^n ninoi noy 
 ]na imnV nwi ^bl 1^1 vnppn 'n. 
 
 3 Of. Eth. Nic., V, 10, where the "just" is spoken of as of two kinds, 
 the natural and the conventional, the former corresponding to "command- 
 ments" (niSD), and the latter to "statutes" (D'pn). The former, says 
 Aristotle, have everywhere the same force, while the latter may be this 
 way or that way indifferently, except after enactment, being, in short, 
 all matters of special decree, such as, for instance, the price of a ransom 
 being fixed at a mina, or sacrificing a goat instead of two sheep, etc. 
 
 M. discusses the nature of the commandments in Moreh, III, 26. He 
 makes, as here, a distinction between commandments whose object is 
 generally evident, such as the prohibition of murder, theft, etc., and those 
 whose object is not generally clear, such as the prohibition of wearing 
 garments of wool and linen, boiling milk and meat together, etc. The 
 former he calls judgments (D S B2D, termed niSB here), and the latter he 
 designates statutes or ordinances (n^pn). See Scheyer, Dalalat al Haiirin, 
 Part III (Frankfurt am Main, 1838), p. 178, n. 2; and Lazurus, Ethics, I, 
 pp. 118-119.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 CONCERNING THE BARRIER (BETWEEN GOD AND MAN) AND 
 ITS SIGNIFICATION* 
 
 MANY passages are found in the Midrash, the Haggadah, 
 and also the Talmud, which state that some of the prophets 
 beheld God from behind many barriers, and some from behind 
 only a few, according to the proximity of the prophet to Him, 
 and the degree of his prophetic power. 2 Consequently, the 
 Rabbis said that Moses, our teacher, saw God from behind a 
 single, clear, that is transparent, partition. As they express 
 it, "He (Moses) looked through a translucent specularia" . 3 Spe- 
 cularia is the name of a mirror made of some transparent body 
 like crystal or glass, as is explained at the end of Tractate 
 
 i For a discussion of the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, 
 ZPhEr, XL VI, pp. 1415; Rosin, Ethik, p. 113 ff., and Graetz (Eng. ed.), 
 vol. Ill, pp. 483-484 on M.'s views on prophecy. 
 
 J For a detailed discussion of prophecy, see Moreh, II, 32-48. See supra, 
 c. I, p. 45, n. 3. See also Bloch, Charakteristik und Inhaltsangabe des Moreh 
 Nebuchim, in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 35-39. 
 
 3 Yebamot, 49 b: Sanoi ivm na ,;rv& nrtw N^pBDto ibanoi owaan ba 
 nvxan N^pBDKa. Cf. also Leviticus Rabbah, I. In Perek Helek, M. 
 describes the four points in which the prophecy of Moses was distin- 
 guished from^that of the other prophets. See Holzer, Dogmenlehre, pp. 24-25. 
 Cf. also Mishneh Torah, Sefer Madda, I, 7, 6; Moreh, I, Introduction (beg.), 
 and II, 35. 
 
 4 The passage in his commentary on Kelim, XXX, 2 to which M. refers 
 is as follows : mania r6o ^s Kim v-vinNO mtrh new i noaen s n tr-^pBOK 
 nKT 1 h 'i^BD ian |fi i ix^a \o i rvaiam in noaon mn nT nn ( TI pen 
 n ne Tnan noaen n^eann inpM "nKn vujr ^j> nT ^ |a 
 
 n"j>ie riwna toon ns ^>j? iai mon N-n^p&DK vnina nan 
 ninn nona in ie msn ityB na n^an ^j? *pan s iian i 
 ni mun '3XT K^ 'a nta pan^ na laa. Specularia (Lat.) = windowpanes, a 
 window. Job 28,17, rvaiat, glass = ^j3SDX (Ta^Mm). Cf. Sukkah, 45 b; 
 Gen. Rabbah, sect. 91; etc.
 
 80 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Let me now explain the above statement. In accordance 
 with what we have made clear in Chapter II, virtues are 
 either intellectual or moral. Similarly, vices are intellectual, as 
 ignorance, stupidity, and want of understanding; or they are 
 moral as inordinate lust, pride, irascibility, anger, impudence, ava- 
 rice, and many other similar defects, a list of which we have 
 given and explained in Chapter IV. Each of these defects is 
 as a partition separating man from God, the Most High. This 
 is what the prophet meant when he said, "But your iniquities 
 have ever made a separation between you and your God"; 1 
 which means that our sins which, as we have said, are the 
 evil qualities are the partitions which separate us from God. 2 
 
 Know, then, that no prophet received the gift of prophecy, 
 unless he possessed all the mental virtues and a great majority 
 of the most important moral ones. So, the Eabbis said, "Pro- 
 phecy rests only upon the wise, the brave, and the rich". 3 By 
 the word "wise", they undoubtedly refer to all the mental per- 
 fections. By "rich", they designate the moral perfection of 
 contentment, for they call the contented man rich, their de- 
 finition of the word "rich" being, "Who is rich? He who is 
 contented with his lot", 4 that is, one who is satisfied with 
 what fortune brings him, and who does not grieve on account 
 of things which he does not possess. Likewise, "brave" stands 
 for a moral perfection; that is, one who is brave guides his 
 faculties in accordance with intelligence and reason, as we have 
 shown in Chapter V. The Rabbis say, "Who is brave? He 
 who subdues his passions". 5 
 
 1 Isa. LIX, 2. 
 
 2 On man's nearness to God being determined by the conduct of man, 
 and God's removal from the earth by sin, see Schechter, Some Aspects of 
 Rabbinic Theology, pp. 33, 83, 232-3, 241. 
 
 3 Nedarim, 38 a; Shabbat, 92 a: !?W1 nwi TQJ DDn h* tib* mw narstwi v 
 nwp. Of. Moreh, II. 32. * Abot, IV, 1. 
 
 5 Ibid., IV, 1. See, also, Yesode ha-Torah, VII, 1, for an account of 
 the characteristics necessary for a prophet. Cf. Moreh, II, 36, and 
 III, 51, where M. briefly describes those who form the class of prophets 
 as directing all their minds to the attainment of perfection in metaphysics, 
 devoting themselves entirely to God, and employing all their intellectual 
 faculties in the study of the universe, in order to derive a proof for
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VII 81 
 
 It is not, however, an indispensable requirement that a 
 prophet should possess all the moral virtues, and be entirely 
 free from every defect, for we find that Scripture testifies in 
 reference to Solomon, who was a prophet, that "the Lord ap- 
 peared to Solomon in Gibeon", 1 although we know that he 
 had the moral defect of lust, which is plainly evident from 
 the fact that he took so many wives, a vice springing from 
 the disposition of passion which resided in his soul. It plainly 
 says, "Did not Solomon sin by these things?" 2 Even David 
 a prophet, according to the words, "To me spoke the Rock 
 of Israel" 3 we find guilty of cruelty, and, although he exercised 
 it only against the heathens, and in the destruction of non- 
 believers, being merciful towards Israel, it is explicitly stated 
 in Chronicles that God, considering him unworthy, did not 
 permit him to build the Temple, as it was not fitting in His 
 eyes, because of the many people David caused to be killed. 
 So, God said to him, "Thou shalt not build a house to my 
 name, because much blood hast thou shed". 4 We find, also, 
 that Elijah gave vent to his anger, and although he did so 
 only against unbelievers, against whom his wrath blazed up, 
 the sages declared that God took him from the world, saying 
 to him, "He who has so much zeal as thou hast is not 
 fit to guide men, for thou wilt destroy them". 5 Likewise, we 
 find that Samuel feared Saul, and that Jacob was afraid to 
 meet Esau. These and similar characteristics were so many 
 partitions between the prophets (peace be unto them !) and God. 
 He of them who had two or three qualities which did not 
 maintain the proper medium, as is explained in Chapter IV, 
 is said to have seen God from behind two or three partitions. 
 
 Thou must not be surprised to learn, however, that a few 
 moral imperfections lessen the degree of prophetic inspiration; in 
 fact, we find that some moral vices cause prophecy to be entirely 
 withdrawn. Thus, for instance, wrath may do this, as our 
 
 the existence of God, and to learn in every way possible how God rules 
 things. 
 
 i I K. Ill, 5 2 Neh. XIII, 26. * II Sam. XXIII, 3. 
 
 I Ch. XXII, 8. s Sanhedrin, 113 a. 
 
 F
 
 82 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 Rabbis say, "If a prophet becomes enraged, the spirit of pro- 
 phecy departs from him". 1 They adduce proof for this from 
 the case of Elisha, from whom, when he became enraged, pro- 
 phecy departed, until his wrath had subsided, at which he ex- 
 claimed, "And now bring me a musician!" 2 
 
 Grief and anxiety may also cause a cessation of prophecy, 
 as in the case of the patriarch Jacob who, during the days 
 when he mourned for Joseph, was deprived of the Holy Spirit, 
 until he received the news that his son lived, whereupon Scripture 
 says, "The spirit of Jacob, their father, revived", 3 which the 
 Targum* renders, "And the spirit of prophecy descended upon 
 their father, Jacob". The sages, moreover, say, "The spirit of 
 prophecy rests not upon the idle, nor upon the sad, but upon 
 the joyous". 5 
 
 When Moses, our teacher, discovered that there remained no 
 partition between himself and God which he had not removed, 
 and when he had attained perfection by acquiring every possible 
 moral and mental virtue, he sought to comprehend God in His 
 true reality, since^. there seemed no longer to be any hindrance 
 thereto. He, therefore, implored of God, "Show me, I beseech 
 Thee, Thy glory". 6 But God informed him that this was im- 
 possible, as his intellect, since he was a human being, was still 
 influenced by matter. So, God's answer was, "For no man can 
 see me and live". 7 Thus, there remained between Moses and 
 his comprehension of the true essence of God only one trans- 
 parent obstruction, which was his human intellect still resident 
 
 i Pesahim 66 b. Cf. Moreh, II, 36 (end). 
 
 II K. Ill, 15. See Pesahim 117 a. 3 Gen. XLV, 27. 
 
 1 M. attached a great deal of importance to the Targum of Onkelos 
 in the elucidation of many biblical passages, and refers to it many times 
 in the Moreh. In Moreh, I, 27, he speaks of Onkelos, the proselyte, as 
 being thoroughly acquainted with the Hebrew and Chaldaic languages. 
 See Frankel, Hodegetik, p. 322, and Bacher, Die Bibelexegese Moses Maimunis, 
 pp. 38-42. 
 
 5 Shabbat, 30 b; Pesahim, loc. cit.: tibi fi^s ^no vh mi ru'stwi yw 
 im -pflo b n^eo nnm -pro vb N-I nibp -pro "?i pint? -pro *6i nusj? 
 hvf nnD. Cf. Moreh, II, 36 (end). 
 Ex. XXXIII, 18. 7 ibid., XXXIII, 20.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VII 83 
 
 in matter. God, however, was gracious in imparting to him, 
 after his request, more knowledge of the divine than he had 
 previously possessed, informing him that the goal (he sought) 
 was impossible of attainment, because he was yet a human being. 1 
 The true comprehension of God, Moses designates by the 
 term "beholding the Divine face", for, when one sees another 
 person face to face his features become imprinted upon the 
 mind, so that one will not confuse him whom he has seen with 
 others; whereas, if he sees only his back, he may possibly 
 recognize him again, but will more probably be in doubt, and 
 confuse him with others. Likewise, the true comprehension of 
 God is a conception of the reality of His existence fixed in 
 the mind (of the knower) which, as concerns this existence, is 
 a conception not shared by any other being; so that there is 
 firmly implanted in the mind of the knower a knowledge of 
 God's existence absolutely distinct from the knowledge the mind 
 has of any other being (that exists). It is impossible, however, 
 for mortal man to attain this high degree of comprehension, 
 though Moses (peace be unto him) almost, but not quite, reached 
 it, which thought is expressed by the words, "Thou shalt see 
 my back parts". 2 I intend more fully to discuss this subject 
 in my Book on Prophecy.* 
 
 So, since the sages (peace be unto them) knew that these 
 
 1 The corporeal element in man is a screen and partition that prevents 
 him from perceiving abstract ideals, as they are. It is absolutely impossible 
 for the human mind to comprehend the Divine Being, even though the 
 corporeal element were as pure as that of the spheres. The Scriptural 
 passages Ps. XCVII, 2 and XVIII, 12 express in figurative language this 
 idea, that, on account of our bodies, we are unable to comprehend God's 
 essence (Moreh, III, 9). 
 
 Ex. XXXIII, 23. Cf. Yesode ha-Torah, I, 10. "But my face shall 
 not be seen" (Ex. XXXIII, 23) means that*God's true existence, as it is, 
 cannot be comprehended (Moreh, I, 37), and "thou shalt see my back" 
 (Ex. loc. cit.) signifies that!; God allowed Moses to see that which follows 
 Him, is similar to Him, and is the result of the Divine Will, i. e., all 
 things created by God (Moreh, I, 39). Cf. also Moreh, I, 21 and 54. See, 
 on the interpretation of "my back" ('inN) and "my face" ("iB), Kaufmann, 
 Attributenlehre, p. 405, and n. 72. 
 
 3 See supra c. I, p. 45 n. 3. 
 
 F *
 
 84 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 two classes of vices, that is, the mental and the moral, separated 
 man from God, and that according to them the rank of 
 the prophets varied, they (the Rabbis) said of some of their 
 own number, with whose wisdom and morality they were ac- 
 quainted, "It is fitting that the spirit of God should rest upon 
 them as it did upon Moses, our teacher". 1 Do not, however, 
 mistake the intention of the comparison. They did, indeed, 
 compare them with Moses, for they were far (God forbid!) from 
 giving them equal rank. In the same way they speak of others, 
 characterizing them as being "like Joshua". 
 
 This is what we intended to explain in this chapter. 
 
 1 Sukkah, 28 a; Baba Batra, 134 a. See Kosin, Ethik, p. 114, n. 5.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CONCEKNING THE NATURAL DISPOSITION OF MAN t 
 
 IT is impossible for man to be born endowed by nature 
 from his very birth with either virtue or vice, just as it is im- 
 possible that he should be born skilled by nature in any part- 
 icular art. It is possible, however, that through natural causes 
 he may from birth be so constituted as to have a predilection 
 for a particular virtue or vice, so that he will more readily 
 practise it than any other. 2 For instance, a man whose natural 
 constitution inclines towards dryness, whose brain matter is clear 
 and not overloaded with fluids, finds it much easier to learn, 
 remember, and understand things than the phlegmatic man 
 whose brain is encumbered with a great deal of humidity. But, 
 if one who inclines constitutionally towards a certain excellence 
 is left entirely without instruction, and if his faculties are not 
 stimulated, he will undoubtedly remain ignorant. On the other 
 hand, if one by nature dull and phlegmatic, possessing an abun- 
 dance of humidity, is instructed and enlightened, he will, though 
 with difficulty, it is true, gradually succeed in acquiring know- 
 ledge and understanding. In exactly the same way, he whose 
 blood is somewhat warmer than is necessary has the requisite 
 
 1 The title applies only to the first part of the chapter which is mainly 
 a discussion of human free will, and is be supplemented by parts of M.'s 
 Commentary on Abot, by H. Teshubah, V and VI, and Moreh, III, 16 21. 
 On the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, ZPhKr, XL VI, pp. 15 
 15; and Rosin, Ethik, p. 62 ff. 
 
 2 Of. Eth. Nic., II, 1, "The virtues, then, come to be in us neither by 
 nature nor in despite of nature, but we are furnished with a capacity for 
 receiving them, and are perfected in them through custom". This applies 
 to nations as well as to individuals; see Pirke Mosheh, c. XXV, fol. 53 a.
 
 86 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 quality to make of him a brave man. Another, however, the 
 temperament of whose heart is colder than it should be, is 
 naturally inclined towards cowardice and fear, so that if he 
 should be taught and trained to be a coward, he would easily 
 become one. If, however, it be desired to make a brave man 
 of him, he can without doubt become one, providing he receive 
 the proper training which would require, of course, great 
 exertion. 
 
 I have entered into this subject so thou mayest not believe 
 the absurd ideas of astrologers, who falsely assert that the con- 
 stellation at the time of one's birth determines whether one is 
 to be virtuous or vicious, the individual being thus necessarily 
 compelled to follow out a certain line of conduct. We, on the 
 contrary, are convinced that our Law 1 agrees with Greek 
 philosophy, which substantiates with convincing proofs the con- 
 tention that man's conduct is entirely in his own hands, that 
 no -compulsion is exerted, and that no external influence is 
 brought to bear upon him that constrains him to be either 
 virtuous or vicious, except inasmuch as, according to what we 
 have said above, he may be by nature so constituted as to find 
 it easy or hard, as the case may be, to do a certain thing; but 
 that he must necessarily do, or refrain from doing, a certain 
 thing is absolutely untrue. 2 Were a man compelled to act ac- 
 
 Of. Moreh, HI, 17, Fifth Theory. 
 
 1 Saadia was the first Jewish philosopher to dwell at length upon the 
 question of free will (Emunot we-Deot, III), being influenced by the dis- 
 cussions of Arabic theologians, although Philo, who generally followed 
 the system of the Stoics, professed a belief in this doctrine (Quod Deus 
 Sit Immutabilis, ed. Mangey, p. 279). He was followed by Bahya (Hobot 
 ha-Lebabot, III, 8); Ibn Zaddik ('Olam Raton, p. 69, ed. Jellinek, Leipzig, 
 1854); Yehudah ha-Levi (Cuzari, pt. V, ed. Cassel, p. 418); Abraham Ibn 
 Ezra ( Yesod Morah, VII); and Ibn Baud (Emunah Bamah, p. 96, ed. Weil, 
 Frankfurt a. M., 1842). For references to passages in M.'s works where 
 he discusses free will, see p. 85 n. 1. M. undoubtedly had Eth. Nic. Ill 
 in mind when he said that "Our Law agrees with Greek philosophy". 
 See especially Eth. Nic. Ill, 5. 7, where are found the following statements, 
 "So it seems as has been said, that man is the originator of his actions", 
 and "if it is in our power to do and to forbear doing what is creditable 
 or the contrary, and these respectively constitute the being good or bad, 
 then the being good or vicious characters is in our power". See Rosin,
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 87 
 
 cording to the dictates of predestination, then the commands 
 and prohibitions of the Law would become null and void, and 
 the Law would be completely false, since man would have no 
 freedom of choice in what he ; does. Moreover, it would be use- 
 less, in fact absolutely in vain, for man to study, to instruct, 
 or attempt to learn an art, as it would be entirely impossible 
 for him, on account of the external force compelling him, ac- 
 cording to the opinion of those who hold this view, to keep from 
 doing a certain act, from gaining certain knowledge, or from 
 acquiring a certain characteristic. Reward and punishment, 
 too, would be pure injustice, both as regards man towards man, 
 and as between God and man. 1 Suppose, under such conditions, 
 that Simeon should kill Reuben. Why should the former be 
 punished, seeing that he was constrained to do the killing, and 
 Reuben was predestined to be slain? How could the Almighty, 
 who is just and righteous, chastise Simeon for a deed which it 
 was impossible for him to leave undone, and which, though he 
 strove with all his might, he would be unable to avoid? If 
 such were the true state of affairs, all precautionary measures, 
 such as building houses, providing means of subsistence, fleeing 
 when one fears danger, and so forth, would be absolutely use- 
 less, for that which is decreed beforehand must necessarily happen. 
 This theory is, therefore, positively unsound, contrary to reason 
 and common sense, subversive of the fundamental principles of 
 religion, and attributes injustice to God (far be it from Him!). 
 In reality, the undoubted truth of the matter is that man has 
 full sway over all his actions. If he wishes to do a thing, he 
 does it; if he does not wish to do it, he need not, without any 
 external compulsion controlling him. Therefore, God very properly 
 commanded man, saying, "See I have set before thee this day life 
 and the good, death and evil .... therefore choose thou life", 2 
 
 Ethik, p. 5, n. 4, and p. 66, n. 1. Consult on this subject I. Broyde, in 
 J. E; vol. V, art. Free Will, and works mentioned there ; Wolff, Acht Ca- 
 pitel, Excursus, III, pp. 84 85; and Cohen, Characteristik, etc., in Moses 
 ben Maimon, I, p. 76. 
 
 1 M. mentions the same argument in the Moreh, but it had often been 
 advanced before him. See Rosin, Ethik, p. 67, n. 2. 
 
 2 Deut. XXX, 15. 19. Cf. H. Teshubah, V, 3.
 
 88 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 giving us, as regards these, freedom of choice. Consequently, 
 punishment is inflicted upon those who disobey, and reward 
 granted to the obedient, as it is said, "If thou wilt hearken", 
 and "If thou wilt not hearken". 1 Learning and teaching are 
 also necessary, according to the commands, "Ye shall teach 
 them to your children", 1 * "and ye shall do them and observe 
 to do them", 2 and, similarly, all the other passages referring to 
 the study of the commandments. It is also necessary to take 
 all the precautionary measures laid down in the Law, such as, 
 "Thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof; that thou bring 
 not blood upon thy house", 3 "lest he die in the battle", 4 "wherein 
 shall he sleep?" 5 , and "no man shall take to pledge the nether 
 or the upper millstone", 6 and many other passages in regard to 
 precautions found in the Law and the Prophets. 7 
 
 The statement found in the sayings of the Rabbis, "All is 
 in the power of God except the fear of God" 8 is, nevertheless, 
 true, and in accord with what we have laid down here. Men 
 are, however, very often prone to err in supposing that many 
 of their actions, in reality the result of their own free will, are 
 forced upon them, as, for instance, marrying a certain woman, 
 or acquiring a certain amount of money. Such a supposition 
 is untrue. If a man espouses and marry a woman legally, then 
 she becomes his lawful wife, and by his marrying her he has 
 fulfilled the divine command to increase and multiply. God, 
 however, does not decree the fulfillment of a commandment. 
 If, on the other hand, a man has consummated with a woman 
 an unlawful marriage, he has committed a transgression. But 
 God does not decree that a man shall sin. Again, suppose a 
 man robs another of money, steals from him, or cheats him, 
 and then uttering a false oath, denies it; if we should say that 
 God had destined that this sum should pass into the hands of 
 the one and out of the possession of the other, God would 
 
 ' Deut. XI, 27. 28. i Ibid., XI, 19. 2 Ibid., V, 1. a Ibid., 
 
 XXII, 8. * Ibid^ XX, 5 or 7. Ex. XXII, 26. 6 Deut. XXIV, 6. 
 
 ^ See H. Teshubah, V, 4, and Moreh, III, 20; cf. Ibn Baud, Emunah 
 Ramah, II, 6, 2, p. 96. 
 
 8 Berakot, 33 b; Niddah, 16 b; Megillah, 25 a.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 89 
 
 be preordaining an act of iniquity. Such, however, is not the 
 case, but rather that all of man's actions, which are subject to 
 his free will, undoubtedly either comply with, or transgress, 
 God's commands; for, as has been explained in Chapter II, the 
 commands and prohibitions of the Law refer only to those actions 
 with regard to which man has absolute free choice to do, or 
 refrain from doing. Moreover, to this faculty of the soul (i. e. 
 the freedom of the will) "the fear of God" is subservient, and 
 is, in consequence, not predestined by God, but, as we have 
 explained, is entirely in the power of the human free will. 
 By the word "all" (^OH), the Rabbis meant to designate only 
 natural phenomena which are not influenced by the will of man, 
 as whether a person is tall or short, whether it is rainy or dry, 
 whether the air is pure or impure, and all other such things 
 that happen in the world, and which have no connection with 
 man's conduct. 
 
 In making this assertion that obedience or disobedience to 
 the Law of God does not depend upon the power or will of 
 God, but solely upon that of man himself, the sages followed 
 the dictum of Jeremiah, who said, "Out of the mouth of God 
 there cometh neither the bad nor the good". 1 By the words 
 "the bad" he meant vice, and by "the good", virtue; and, ac- 
 cordingly, he maintains that God does not preordain that any 
 man should be vicious or virtuous. Since this is so, it be- 
 hooves man to mourn and weep over the sins and the trans- 
 gressions he has committed, as he has sinned of his own free 
 will in accordance with what the prophet says, "Wherefore 
 should a living man mourn? Let every man mourn because of 
 his sins". 2 He continues, then, to tell us that the remedy for 
 this disease is in our own hands, for, as our misdeeds were the 
 result of our own free will, we have, likewise, the power to repent 
 
 1 Lam. Ill, 38. This verse is, however, generally translated, "Out of 
 the mouth of God, the Most High, cometh there not evil as well as good?", 
 which is exactly the opposite of M.'s interpretation. This verse is also 
 quoted in H. Teshubah, V, 2, where M. states that it is wholly in the 
 power of man to be as righteous as Moses or as wicked as Jeroboam. 
 
 2 Lam. Ill, 39.
 
 90 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 of our evil deeds, and so he goes on to say, "Let us search 
 through and investigate our ways, and let us return to the 
 Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God, in the 
 heavens". 1 
 
 As regards the theory generally accepted by people, and 
 likewise found in rabbinical and prophetical writings, that man's 
 sitting and rising, and in fact all of his movements, are governed 
 by the will and desire of God, it may be said that this is true 
 only in one respect. Thus, for instance, when a stone is thrown 
 into the air and falls to the ground, it is correct to say that 
 the stone fell in accordance with the will of God, for it is true 
 that God decreed that the earth and all that goes to make it 
 up, should be the centre of attraction, so that when any part 
 of it is thrown into the air, it is attracted back to the centre. 
 Similarly, all the particles of fire ascend according to God's 
 will, which preordained that fire should go upward. 2 But it 
 is wrong to suppose that when a certain part of the earth 
 is thrown upward God wills at that very moment that it 
 should fall. The MutdkaUimun^ are, however, of a different 
 opinion in this regard, for I have heard them say that the 
 Divine Will is constantly at work, decreeing everything from 
 time to time. 4 We do not agree with them, but believe that 
 the Divine Will ordained everything at creation, and that all 
 things, at all times, are regulated by the laws of nature, and 
 run their natural course, in accordance with what Solomon said, 
 "As it was, so it will ever be, as it was made so it continues, 
 and there is nothing new under the sun". 5 This occasioned the 
 sages to say that all miracles which deviate from the natural 
 course of events, whether they have already occured, or, according 
 to promise, are to take place in the future, were fore-ordained 
 
 1 Ibid., HI, 40^1. Of. H. Teshubah, loc. cit. 
 
 2 Aristotle uses the example of a stone and fire, in Eth. Nic., II, 1, to 
 show that nature is not affected by custom. A stone by custom can never 
 be brought to ascend, nor fire do descend. Moral virtues are, however, 
 the result of custom. 
 
 3 See supra, c. I. p. 41, n. 2; and p. 77. 
 
 * Cf. Moreh, I, 73. Sixth Proposition. See Munk, Guide, I, p. 286, n. 3. 
 Eccles. I, 9.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 91 
 
 by the Divine Will during the six days of creation, nature being 
 then so constituted that those miracles which were to happen 
 really did afterwards take place. Then, when such an occurence 
 happened at its proper time, it may have been regarded as an 
 absolute innovation, whereas in reality it was not. 1 
 
 The Rabbis expatiate very much upon this subject in the Mi- 
 drash KoheUth and in other writings, one of their statements in 
 reference to this matter being, "Everything follows its natural 
 course". 2 In everything that they said, you will always find that 
 the Rabbis (peace be unto them!) avoided referring to the Divine 
 Will as determining a particular event at a particular time. When, 
 therefore, they said that man rises and sits down in accordance 
 with the will of God, their meaning was that, when man was 
 first created, his nature was so determined that rising up and 
 sitting down were to be optional to him; but they as little meant 
 that God wills at any special moment that man should or should 
 not get up, as He determines at any given time that a certain 
 stone should or should not fall to the ground. 3 The sum and 
 substance of the matter is, then, that thou shouldst believe that 
 just as God willed that man should be upright in stature, broad- 
 chested, and have fingers, likewise did He will that man should 
 move or rest of his own accord, and that his actions should be 
 
 1 M. reiterates this view of the miracles in his Commentary on Abot, 
 V, 6, which enumerates ten things created on the eve of the Sabbath of 
 the week of creation. See Lipmann Heller, in Tosefot Yom-Tob, on this 
 passage; and Hoffman, Mischnaioth, Seder Nezikin, Berlin, 1889, p. 353. 
 Cf. Moreh, I, 66, and Munk, Guide, I, p. 296. M. also supported this 
 view in Moreh, II, 29 where he refers to Genesis Rabbah, V, 4, and 
 Exodus Rabbah, XXI, 6, which read, "When God created the world He made 
 an agreement that the sea should divide, the fire not hurt, the lions not 
 harm, the fish not swallow persons singled out by God for certain times, 
 and thus the whole order of things changes whenever he finds it neces- 
 sary." Consult on this subject Joel, Moses Maimonides, 1876, p. 77 ; Rosin, 
 Ethik, p. 69, n. 5; "Wolff, Acht Capitel, Excursus, IV; Lazarus, Ethics, II, 
 p. 77, n. 1; Kohler, art. Miracles, in J. E., vol. VIII, pp. 606607; Geiger, 
 Judaism and its History, p. 348. 
 
 1 'Abodah Zarah, 54b. See Lazarus, ibid., II, p. 74 ff. 
 
 3 Cf. M.'s Commentary on Abot, IV, 23 (Rawicz, Commentar, pp. 89 90); 
 H. Teshubah, V, 4, and Moreh, III, 17, Fifth Theory. See Rosin, Ethik, 
 p. 69, n. 6.
 
 92 THE ETHICS OP MAIMONIDES 
 
 such as his own free will dictates to him, without any outside 
 influence or restraint, which fact God clearly states in the truth- 
 ful Law, which elucidates this problem, when it says, "Behold, 
 the man is become as one of us to know good and evil". 1 The 
 Targum, in paraphrasing this passage, explains the meaning of 
 the words mimmenu lada'at tob wara'. Man has become the only 
 being in the world who possesses a characteristic which no other 
 being has in common with him. What is this characteristic? 
 It is that by and of himself man can distinguish between good 
 and evil, and do that which he pleases, with absolutely no 
 restraint. Since, then, this is so, it would have even been possible 
 for him to have stretched out his hand, and, taking of the tree 
 of life, to have eaten of its fruit, and thus live forever. 2 
 
 Since it is an essential characteristic of man's makeup that 
 he should of his own free will act morally or immorally, doing 
 just as he chooses, it becomes necessary to teach him the ways 
 of righteousness, to command and exhort him, to punish and 
 reward him according to his deserts. It behooves man also to 
 accustom himself to the practice of good deeds, until he acquires 
 the virtues corresponding to those good deeds; and, furthermore, 
 to abstain from evil deeds so that he may eradicate the vices 
 that may have taken root in him. Let him not suppose that 
 his characteristics have reached such a state that they are no 
 longer subject to change, for any one of them may be altered 
 from the good to the bad, and vice versa; and, moreover, all in 
 accordance with his own free will. To confirm this theory, we 
 have mentioned all these facts concerning the observances and 
 the transgressions of the Law. 
 
 It now remains for us to explain another phase of this problem, 
 which arises from the fact that there are several Scriptural 
 passages in which some think they find proof that God pre- 
 ordains and forces man to disobedience. This being an erroneous 
 opinion, it becomes our duty to explain these passages, since 
 so many people are confused regarding them. One of these is 
 that in which God said to Abraham, "and they (the Egyptians) 
 
 Gen. HI, 22. ' Of. H. Teshubah, V, 1.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 93 
 
 will make them (the Israelites) serve, and they will afflict them". 1 
 "Is it not evident", it is claimed, "that God decreed that the 
 Egyptians should oppress the seed of Abraham? Then, why 
 did He punish them, since, owing to divine predestination, it 
 was inexorably decreed that they should enslave the Israelites?" 
 The answer to this is as follows. Suppose God had said that 
 of those who were to be born in the future, some were to be 
 transgressors and others observers of the Law, some pious and 
 some wicked. Such would take place, but it would by no means 
 follow from this divine decree that a certain individual would 
 necessarily have to do evil, or that another pious individual 
 would be forced to do good. On the contrary, every evil-doer 
 would become such of his own free will; if he preferred to be 
 a righteous man, it would be in his power, and nothing could 
 prevent him from becoming such. Likewise, if every righteous 
 man preferred to do evil, nothing would hinder him, for God's 
 decree was not pronounced against any certain individual, so 
 that he might say, "It has already been decreed that I do this 
 or that", but [these words] applied to the race in general, at the 
 same time allowing every individual to retain his own free will, 
 according to the very makeup of his nature. Consequently, every 
 Egyptian who maltreated or oppressed the Israelites had it in 
 his own power not to do them any injury unless he wanted to, 
 for it was not ordained that any certain individual should harm 
 them. 2 
 
 The same answer may also apply to another passage in 
 which God says, "Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and 
 then will this people rise up and go astray after the gods of 
 the stranger of the land". 3 This is no more nor less than if 
 God had said, "Whoever practises idolatry will meet with 
 this or that treatment", but, if no transgressor should ever be 
 found, then the threat of punishment for idolatry would become 
 nullified, and the curses would all be ineffectual. 4 The same is 
 true of all punishments mentioned in the Law. As we cannot 
 say that simply because we find the law of stoning for Sabbath- 
 
 t Gen. XV, 13. * Cf. H. Teshubah, VI, 5. s Deut. 
 
 XXXI, 16. * Cf. H. T'shubah, loc. cit.
 
 94 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 breakers [in the Torah] that he who desecrates the Sabbath was 
 compelled to violate it, no more can we maintain that because 
 certain maledictions occur there that those who practised idolatry, 
 and upon whom these curses consequently fell, were predestined 
 to be idol-worshippers. On the contrary, every one who prac- 
 tised idolatry did so of his own volition, and so received due 
 punishment, in consonance with the passage, "Yea they have 
 made a choice of their own ways ... so will I also make choice 
 of their misfortune". 1 
 
 As regards, however, the words of God, "and I will harden 
 the heart of Pharaoh", 2 afterwards punishing him with death, 
 there is much to be said, and from which there may be deduced 
 an important principle. Weigh well what I say in this matter, 
 reflect upon it, compare it with the words of others, 3 and give 
 preference to that which is best. If Pharaoh and his coun- 
 sellors had committed no other sin than that of not permitting 
 Israel to depart, I admit that the matter would be open 
 to great doubt, for God had prevented them from releasing 
 Israel according to the words, "For I have hardened his heart 
 and the hearts of his servants". 4 After that, to demand of 
 Pharaoh that he send them forth while he was forced to do 
 the contrary, and then to punish him because he did not dis- 
 miss them, finally putting him and all his followers to death, 
 would undoubtedly be unjust, and would completely contradict 
 all that we have previously said. Such, however, was not the 
 real state of affairs, for Pharaoh and his followers, already of 
 their own free will, without any constraint whatever, had rebelled 
 by oppressing the strangers who were in their midst, having 
 tyrannized over them with great injustice, as Scripture plainly 
 states, "And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the 
 children of Israel is more numerous and mightier than we, come 
 let us deal wisely with it". 5 This they did through the dictates 
 of their own free will and the evil passions of their hearts, with- 
 out any external constraint forcing them thereto. The punish- 
 
 Isa. LXVI, 3. 4. 2 Ex. XIV, 4. 3 M. probably 
 
 means Abraham ibn Ezra and Ibn Baud. See Rosin, Ethik, p. 24. 
 < Ex., X, 1. s Ibid., I, 9, 10.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 95 
 
 ment which God then inflicted upon them was that He withheld 
 from them the power of repentance, so that there should fall upon 
 them that punishment which justice declared should he meted 
 out to them. The fact that they were prevented from repenting 
 manifested itself by Pharaoh's not dismissing them. This God 
 had explained and told him, namely, that if He had merely 
 wished to liberate Israel, He would have destroyed him and 
 his adherents, and He would have brought out the Israelites; 
 but, in addition to the liberation of his people, God wished to 
 punish him because of his previous oppression of Israel, as it 
 is said at the beginning of the matter, "And also that nation 
 whom they shall serve will I likewise judge". 1 It would have 
 been impossible to have punished them, if they had repented; 
 therefore repentance was withheld from them, and they continued 
 to keep the children of Israel in bondage, as it says, "For even 
 now I have stretched out my hand, etc. . . . but for this cause 
 have I allowed thee to remain". 2 
 
 No one can find fault with us when we say that God at 
 times punishes man by withholding repentance from him, thus 
 not allowing him free will as regards repentance, for God (blessed 
 be He) knows the sinners, and His wisdom and equity mete out 
 their punishment. Sometimes, He punishes only in this world, 
 sometimes only in the world to come, sometimes in both. Further- 
 more, His punishment in this world is varied, sometimes being 
 bodily, sometimes pecuniary, and sometimes both at once. Just 
 as some of man's undertakings, which ordinarily are subject to 
 his own free will, are frustrated by way of punishment, as for 
 instance a man's hand being prevented from working so that 
 he can do nothing with it, as was the case of Jereboam, the 
 son of Nebat 3 , or a man's eyes from seeing, as happened to 
 the Sodomites who had assembled about Lot 4 , likewise does 
 God withhold man's ability to use his free will in regard to 
 
 1 Gen. XV, 14. 
 
 2 Ex. IX, 15. 16. The same explanation for the hardening of Pharaoh's 
 heart is given in H. Teshubah, VI, 3. On the withholding of repentance, 
 see Schechter, Some Aspects of BabUnic Theology, p. 332. 
 
 3 See I K. XIII, 4. * See Gen. XIX, 11.
 
 96 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 repentance, so that it never at all occurs to liim to repent, and 
 he thus finally perishes in his wickedness. It is not necessary 
 for us to know about God's wisdom so as to be able to ascertain 
 why He inflicts precisely such punishment as He does and no 
 other, just as little as we know why one species has a certain 
 particular form and not another. It is sufficient for us to know 
 the general principle, that God is righteous in all His ways, 
 that He punishes the sinner according to his sin, and rewards 
 the pious according to his righteousness. 
 
 If you should inquire why God repeatedly asked Pharaoh 
 to release Israel which he was unable to do while he, in 
 spite of the plagues which befell him, persisted in his rebellion 
 and stubbornness, which very rebelliousness and stubbornness 
 was his punishment and yet God would not in vain have 
 asked him to do a thing which he could not do, then know that , 
 this, too, was a part of God's wisdom, to teach Pharaoh that 
 God can suspend man's freedom of will when it pleases Him 
 to do so. So, God said to him (through Moses), "I desire that 
 thou shouldst liberate them, but thou wilt not dismiss them, so 
 that thou shouldst die". Pharaoh should have consented to 
 release them, and therely disprove the words of the prophet 
 (Moses) that he was unable to obey, but he had not the power. 
 Thus, a great wonder was revealed to the people, as it is said, 
 "In order that they may proclaim my name throughout the 
 earth", 1 namely, that it is possible for God to punish man by 
 depriving him of his free will respecting a certain deed, while 
 he, though realizing it, is, however, unable to influence his soul, 
 and return to his former state of freedom of the will. 
 
 Such was, likewise, the punishment of Sihon, King of Heshbon; 
 for, on account of his former misdeed, to which he was not 
 forced, God punished him by preventing him from granting the 
 request of the Israelites, as a result of which they put him do 
 death, as Scripture says, "But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, 
 would not suffer our passing by him", 2 etc. What has made 
 this passage difficult for all commentators is their impression 
 that Sihon was punished for not permitting Israel to pass 
 
 * Ex. IX, 16. 2 Deut. II, 30. Of. H. Teshubah, VI, 3.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 97 
 
 through his land, just as they imagined that Pharaoh and 
 his adherents were punished for not releasing Israel, and so 
 they ask, "How could he (Sihon) be justly punished, since he 
 was not a free agent?" These suppositions are incorrect, and 
 the matter is as we have explained, namely, that Pharaoh and 
 his adherents were punished by G-od because of their previous 
 oppression of Israel, of which they did not repent, so that there 
 befell them all the plagues; while Sihon's punishment, which 
 consisted of his inability to do the will of Israel, thus resulting 
 in his death, was due to the former deeds of oppression and 
 injustice which he had practised in his kingdom. 1 
 
 God has, moreover, expressly stated through Isaiah that He 
 punishes some transgressors by making it impossible for them 
 to repent, which He does by the suspension of their free will. 
 Thus, He says, "Obdurate will remain the heart of this people 
 and their ears will be heavy and their eyes will be shut, lest 
 . . . they be converted and healing be granted them". 2 The 
 meaning of these words is so plain and obvious that they need 
 no explanation. They are, however, a key to many unopened 
 locks. Upon this principle also are based the words of Elijah 
 (peace be unto him!) who, when speaking of the unbelievers of 
 his time, said of them, "Thou hast turned their hearts back", 3 
 which means that, as they have sinned of their own accord, 
 their punishment from Thee is that Thou hast turned their 
 hearts away from repentance, by not permitting them to exer- 
 cise free will, and thus have a desire to forsake that sin, in 
 consequence of which they persevere in their unbelief. So it is 
 said, "Ephraim is bound to idols; let him alone", 4 which means 
 that since Ephraim has attached himself to idols of his own 
 free will, and has become enamoured of them, his punishment 
 consists in his being abandoned to his indulgence in them. 
 This is the interpretation of the words "Let him alone". To 
 
 1 M. cannot, however, point to any biblical passage that substantiates 
 his contention that Sihon had previously committed injustice. 
 
 2 Isa. VI, 10, quoted also in H. Teshubah, VI, 3. 
 
 3 I K. XVIII, 37, quoted again in H. Teshubah, loc. cit., which also 
 refers to Josh. XI, 20. 
 
 * Hos. IV, 17.
 
 98 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 one who understands subtle ideas, this explanation will appeal 
 as being excellent. 
 
 Very different, however, is the meaning of what Isaiah said, 
 
 "Why hast thou let us go astray, oh Lord, from Thy ways, 
 
 and suffered our hearts to be hardened against Thy fear?" * These 
 
 words have no bearing upon the foregoing exposition. Their 
 
 meaning is to be gathered from the context in which they occur. 
 
 The prophet, bewailing the captivity, our residence among 
 
 strangers, the cessation of our kingdom, and the sovereignty of 
 
 the nations over us, says by way of prayer, "0 God, if Israel 
 
 continues to see this state of affairs in which the unbelievers 
 
 wield the power, they will go astray from the path of truth, 
 
 and their heart will incline away from Thy fear, as if Thou 
 
 wast the cause of making those ignorant ones originally depart 
 
 from the path of truth, as our teacher Moses said, 'Then will 
 
 the nations which have heard Thy fame say in this manner 
 
 that because the Lord was not able'," 2 etc. For this reason, 
 
 Isaiah said after that, "Return for the sake of Thy servants 
 
 the tribes of Thy heritage", 3 so that there should not be a 
 
 blasphemy of God's name (by the heathens). Likewise, in the 
 
 "minor prophets", there is found the opinion of those who, 
 
 following the truth, were nevertheless conquered by the nations 
 
 at the time of the exile, which passage, quoting their own words, 
 
 reads, "Every one that doth evil is good in the eyes of the 
 
 Lord, and in them he findeth delight, or else, where is the God 
 
 of justice?" 4 The prophet, quoting their own words which were 
 
 occasioned by the length of the exile, continues, "Ye have said, 
 
 It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept 
 
 His charge, and that we have walked contritely before the Lord 
 
 of Hosts? And now we call the presumptuous happy; yea, 
 
 built are they that practise wickedness" 5 , etc. Then, however, 
 
 explicitly stating that God, in the future, will reveal the truth, 
 
 he says, "And ye shall return, and see the difference between 
 
 the righteous and the wicked". 6 
 
 Isa. LXIII, 17. 2 Num. XIV, 15. 16. 3 I sa ., loc. cit. 
 
 Mai. II, 17. s ibid., Ill, 14. 15. 
 
 tti, III, 18. Of. Moreh, III, 19.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 99 
 
 These are the ambiguous passages in the Law and Scripture 
 from which it might appear that God compels man to commit 
 transgressions. We have, however, undoubtedly explained the 
 meaning of these verses, and if one examines it very closely, he 
 will find it a truthful explanation. We, therefore, hold to our 
 original contention, namely, that obedience or transgression of 
 the Law depends entirely upon man's free will; that he is the 
 master of his own actions; that what he chooses not to do he 
 leaves undone, although God may punish him for a sin which 
 he has committed by depriving him of his free will, as we have 
 made clear; furthermore, that the acquisition of virtues and 
 vices is entirely in the power of man, in consequence of which 
 it is his duty to strive to acquire virtues, which he alone can 
 acquire for himself, as the Rabbis in their ethical sayings in 
 this very tractate say, "If I am not for myself who will be 
 for me?" 
 
 There is, however, one thing more relating to this problem 
 about which we must say a few words, in order to treat in 
 a comprehensive manner the subject-matter of this chapter. 
 Although I had not intended at all to speak of it, necessity 
 forces me to do so. 2 This topic is the prescience of God, 3 
 because it is with an argument based on this that our views 
 are opposed by those who believe that man is predestined by 
 God to do good or evil, and that man has no choice as to 
 his conduct, since his volition is dependent upon God. The 
 reason for their belief they base on the following statement. 
 "Does God know or does He not know that a certain individual 
 will be good or bad? If thou sayest 'He knows', then it ne- 
 cessarily follows that man is compelled to act as God knew 
 beforehand he would act, otherwise God's knowledge would be 
 
 1 Abot, I, 14. Cf. M.'s commentary on this passage. 
 
 2 M. feels it necessary here to discuss philosophically the prescience 
 of God, which he does reluctantly, as the Perakim are intended for readers 
 not versed in philosophy. See Introduction, p. 11. 
 
 3 For M.'s discussion of God's knowledge, see Perek Helelc; H. Teshubah, 
 V, 5; Yesode ha-Torah, II, 8-10; Moreh, I, 58, and III, 19'-21. See Munk 
 
 Guide, I, p. 301, n. 4. 
 
 a*
 
 100 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 imperfect. If thou sayest that God does not know in advance, 
 then great absurdities and destructive religious theories will 
 result." Listen, therefore, to what I shall tell thee, reflect well 
 upon it, for it is unquestionably the truth. 1 
 
 It is, indeed, an axiom of the science of the divine, i. e- 
 metaphysics, that God (may He be blessed!) does not know by 
 means of knowledge, and does not live by means of life, 2 so 
 that He and His knowledge may be considered two different 
 things in the sense that this is true of man; for man is distinct 
 from knowledge, and knowledge from man, in consequence of 
 which they are two different things. If God knew by means 
 of knowledge, He would necessarily be a plurality, and the 
 primal essence would be composite, that is, consisting of God 
 Himself, the knowledge by which He knows, the life by which 
 He lives, the power by which He has strength, and similarly 
 of all His attributes. I shall only mention one argument, simple 
 and easily understood by all, though there are strong and con- 
 vincing arguments and proofs that solve this difficulty. It is 
 manifest that God is identical with His attributes and His 
 attributes with Him, so that it may be said that He is the 
 knowledge, the knower, and the known, and that He is the 
 life, the living, and the source of His own life, the same being 
 true of His other attributes. This conception is very hard to 
 grasp, and thou shouldst not hope to thoroughly understand it 
 by two or three lines in this treatise. There can only be im- 
 parted to thee a vague idea of it. 3 
 
 Now, in consequence of this important axiom, the Hebrew 
 language does not allow the expression He Adonai (the life of 
 God) as it does He Fara'oh 4 (the life of Pharaoh), where the 
 
 1 For a list and the opinions of Jewish philosophers before M. who 
 discussed this problem, see Rosin, Ethik, p. 73, n. 5. 
 
 2 Cf. Moreh, I, 57: SHD! *b JH1M D"ro xh 'n pi, and Yesode ha-Torah, 
 II, 10. See Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, p. 423, and note 94. 
 
 3 For an exhaustive discussion of the theories which M. merely mentions 
 here, see Moreh, I, 50-51, on the attributes of God. See Munk, Guide, 
 I, 50, p. 179 ff., passim; Kaufmann, ibid., p. 418 ff.; Cohen, Charakteristik, 
 etc. in Moses ben Maimon, I, pp. 89-90. 
 
 Gen. XLII, 15.
 
 THE EIGHT CHAPTERS VIII 101 
 
 word he (in the construct state) is related to the following 
 noun, for the thing possessed and the possessor (in this case) 
 are two different things. Such a construction cannot be used 
 in regard to the relation of a thing to itself. Since the life of 
 God is His essence, and His essence is His life, not being se- 
 parate and distinct from each other, the word "life", therefore, 
 cannot be put in the construct state, but the expression Hai 
 Adonai L (the living God) is used, the purpose of which is to 
 denote that God and His life are one. 2 
 
 Another accepted axiom of metaphysics is that human 
 reason cannot fully conceive God in His true essence, because 
 of the perfection of God's essence and the imperfection of our 
 own reason, and because His essence is not due to causes 
 through which it may be known. 3 Furthermore, the inability 
 of our reason to comprehend Him may be compared to the 
 inability of our eyes to gaze at the sun, not because of the 
 weakness of the sun's light, but because that light is more 
 powerful than that which seeks to gaze into it. 4 Much that 
 has been said on this subject is self-evident truth. 
 
 From what we have said, it has been demonstrated also that 
 we cannot comprehend God's knowledge, that our minds cannot 
 grasp it all, for He is His knowledge, and His knowledge is 
 He. This is an especially striking idea, but those (who raise 
 the question of God's knowledge of the future) fail to grasp 
 it to their dying day. 5 They are, it is true, aware that the 
 
 1 Ruth, in, 13. 
 
 2 Cf. Yesode ha-Torah, II, 10, and Moreh, I, 58 (beg.). See Munk, 
 Guide, I, p. 302, n. 3. The expressions D'nto 'n (II Sam. II, 27), h* -n 
 (Job XXVII, 2), and especially -jSJ <m nw <n (I Sam. XX, 3; XXV, 26, 
 and II K. II, 2), and Jer. XXXVIII, 16 substantiate this novel linguistic 
 argument of M. Amos VIII, 14 p "pnbx 'n is used in reference to the 
 gods of idolators. 
 
 3 See Aristotle's Metaphysics, XXII, 9. 
 
 4 Cf. Moreh, I, 59, "All philosophers say, 'He has overpowered us by 
 His grace, and it is invisible to us through the intensity of His light', 
 like the sun which cannot be perceived by the eyes which are too weak 
 to bear its rays". Cf. Bahya, Robot ha-Lebobot, I, 10. See Munk, Guide 
 I, p. 252; Rosin, Ethik, pp.75, n. 4; Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, pp. 324-325; 
 445, n.128; and Wolff, Acht Capitel, p. 80, n. 1. 
 
 * See Hebrew text, c. VIII, p. 55, n. 37.
 
 102 THE ETHICS OF MAIMONIDES 
 
 divine essence, as it is, is incomprehensible, yet they strive to 
 comprehend God's knowledge, so that they may know it, but 
 this is, of course, impossible. If the human reason could grasp 
 His knowledge, it would be able also to define His essence, 
 since both are one and the same, as the perfect knowledge of 
 God is the comprehension of Him as He is in His essence, 
 which consists of His knowledge, His will, His life, and all His 
 other majestic attributes. Thus, we have shown how utterly 
 futile is the pretension to define His knowledge. All that we 
 can comprehend is that just as we know that God exists so 
 are we cognizant of the fact that He knows. If we are asked, 
 "What is the nature of God's knowledge?", we answer that we 
 do not know any more than we know the nature of His true 
 existence. 1 Fault is found, moreover, with him who tries to 
 grasp the truth of the divine existence, as expressed by the 
 words, "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou 
 find out the Almighty unto perfection?" 2 
 
 Reflect, then, upon all that we have said, namely, that man 
 has control over his actions, that it is by his own determination 
 that he does either the right or the wrong, without, in either 
 case, being controlled by fate, 3 and that, as a result of this 
 divine commandment, teaching, preparation, reward, and punish- 
 ment are proper. Of this there is absolutely no doubt. As 
 regards, however, the character of God's knowledge, how He 
 knows everything, this is, as we have explained, beyond the 
 reach of human ken. 
 
 This is all that we purposed saying in this chapter, and it 
 is now time for us to bring our words to an end, and begin 
 the interpretation of this treatise 4 to which these eight chapters 
 are an introduction. 
 
 1 Cf. Moreh, III, 20-21. 2 Job XI, 7. 
 
 s In his Commentary on Abot, III, 15, M. maintains that the phrase 
 "Everything is foreseen (by God), but freedom of choice is given", is in 
 harmony with his theory of the omniscience of God, which does not, 
 however, deprive man of free will. See Rawicz, Commentary p. 75. 
 
 4 I. e., Abot
 
 INDEX 
 
 INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES 
 
 Genesis III. 22 . 
 XV. 13 . 
 XV. 14 . , 
 
 XIX. 11 
 XLII. 15 . 
 XLV. 27 
 
 Exodus I. 9. 10 . , 
 IX. 15. 16 
 
 IX. 16 . 
 
 X. 1 . . 
 XIV. 4 . 
 
 XX. 12 . 
 
 Page 
 
 .... 92 
 
 .... 93 
 
 .... 95 
 
 .... 95 
 
 .... 100 
 
 .... 82 
 
 .... 94 
 
 .... 95 
 
 .... 96 
 
 .... 94 
 
 .... 94 
 
 .... 65 
 
 XXII. 26 88 
 
 XXIII. 5 65 
 
 XXXIH. 18 82 
 
 XXXIII. 20 82 
 
 XXXIII. 23 83 
 
 Leviticus XVIII. 3 72 
 
 XIX. 17 66 
 
 XIX. 18 65 
 
 XIX. 32 65 
 
 Numbers VI. 11 63 
 
 XIV. 15. 16 98 
 
 XX. 8 68 
 
 XX. 10 67 
 
 XX. 12 67 
 
 XX. 24 67 
 
 Deuteronomy II. 30 96 
 
 V. 1 88 
 
 VI. 5 73 
 
 XI. 19 88 
 
 XVII. 11 .... 65 
 
 XVIII. 22 . 66 
 
 Deuteronomy XX. 5 .... 
 XX. 7 .... 
 XXII. 1 ... 
 XXII. 4 ... 
 XXII. 8 ... 
 XXIV. 6 . . 
 
 XXIX. 18 . . 
 
 XXX. 15. 19 . 
 
 XXXI. 16 . 
 
 Page 
 . 88 
 
 . 88 
 . 65 
 . 65 
 . 88 
 . 88 
 . 52 
 . 87 
 . 93 
 
 II Samuel XXIII. 3 81 
 
 I Kings III. 5 81 
 
 XIII. 4 95 
 
 XVIII. 37 97 
 
 II Kings III. 15 82 
 
 Isaiah VI. 10 97 
 
 LIX. 2 80 
 
 LXIII. 17 98 
 
 LVI. 3. 4 94 
 
 Jeremiah IX. 1 62 
 
 Hosea IV. 17 97 
 
 Zechariah VII. 3 64 
 
 VII. 6 64 
 
 VII. 9 64 
 
 VIII. 9 64 
 
 Malachi II. 17 98 
 
 III. 14. 15 98 
 
 III. 18 98 
 
 Psalms XIX. 9 63 
 
 XLIX. 13 70 
 
 L. 23 68 
 
 Proverbs III. 6 73 
 
 XII. 15 63 
 
 XIV. 12 53
 
 104 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Proverbs XIX. 2 44 
 
 XXL 10 75 
 
 XXI. 15 76 
 
 Job IV. 18 67 
 
 XI. 7 102 
 
 XXV. 4 67 
 
 Ruth III. 13 101 
 
 Lamentations III. 38 89 
 
 III. 39 . 89 
 
 Page 
 
 Lamentations III. 40. 41 .... 90 
 
 Ecclesiastes I. 9 90 
 
 VII. 20 67 
 
 Nehemiah XIII. 26 81 
 
 I Chronicles XXII. 8 81 
 
 TARGUM ONKELOS 
 
 Genesis III. 22 92 
 
 XLV. 27 . .82 
 
 INDEX OP QUOTATIONS FROM THE TALMUD 
 
 MISHNAH 
 
 Abot, I. 14 
 II. 5 
 II. 12 
 IV. 1 
 
 Page 
 
 . . 99 
 . . 57 
 . . 73 
 50, 80 
 
 V. 20 57 
 
 V. 23 76 
 
 BABYLONIAN TALMUD 
 
 Berakot, 33b 88 
 
 63a 73 
 
 Shabbat, 25b 72 
 
 30b 82 
 
 92a 80 
 
 Pesahim, 66b 82 
 
 117a 82 
 
 Moed Eatan, 5a 68 
 
 Yoma, 67b 77, 78 
 
 Sukkah, 28a 84 
 
 52a 76 
 
 Telanit, Ha 63 
 
 Megillah, 25a 88 
 
 Page 
 
 Yebamot, 49b 79 
 
 Nedarim, lOa 63 
 
 38a 80 
 
 Nazir, 19a, 22a 63 
 
 Sotah, 5b 68 
 
 Baba Kamma, 30a 34 
 
 91b 63 
 
 Baba Mezi'a, 35 a 62 
 
 Baba Batra, 134 a 84 
 
 Sanhedrin, 113 a 81 
 
 Abodah Zarah, 20b 34 
 
 54b 91 
 
 Niddah, 16b 88 
 
 PALESTINIAN TALMUD 
 
 Nedarim, IX, 1 66 
 
 MIDRASHIM 
 Mekilta'to Ex. XV. 2 . . 
 Sifra to Lev. XX, 26 . . 
 Yalkut to Wayikra 226 . 
 
 68 
 76 
 76
 
 55 n pie D'piB naie 
 
 ,TPBH w no nn ^rnjrw TV wijrr :wr& napai , 
 
 n nan ^aw nn inwD ^ao n\n ijno 
 pjnm nfcavn njrrn p iniN^oa KVW IOD JBW Kin 
 JUBTQ natwiBW irwa naa *mm ^naan nna m 4 r6m 
 5 Hint? jnit? loa jnv Hint? jna WMJW te 7niw nibo 
 
 nno " 
 
 ,i3son nt? n^an ny n son n6 npnn 
 wnenai v!? mnioo Dnn n^iyB "imineiw no b 14 )o pni 
 10 f o*yapn s iiyo 17 nn by l ^b asm nman ^n^ao yen 
 bapniw^m ,btosrv\ ,inianni ^^lo^m ^ivsn-'wn rrn 
 nnsp wnjn nnann ^D^ wuiwn 'n s inv s n s nm Dio ,pBD nr 
 
 21 piDBi nj; njrin "DDI ,pnsn ma wn nw iiira no a mi 
 is i^ i^ n^ lionpn i 22 KroDD n nt ^insn ^nni ,mn nnann 
 
 raised the question of God's knowledge of future things, and they die in 
 ignorance of it. Mss. and edd. are corrupt, showing that IfiDI was mis- 
 understood, and that attempts were made to read sense into the passage. 
 
 20 Br n&m nno -ram WK Kim So inno nno isa- i Him Ma nsaa n Kim 
 jinoi one edd. inoi innn ono 1x22 nw Nim. Undoubtedly now, wnfi, and 
 11TI131 go back to an original inei = Ar 13^n&. By leaving off" the [ of Ma 
 ]int31, the proper reading is obtained. 
 
 Ma wpa TKI. 2 mj>T i tf n = Ar. nr6ip nnn rp 11 ""nn. Br urw 
 
 25 nni So impT. 3 TTIWSO . . . I^NP Ar. miia toeriN ne^a 3tDn i^> nn. 
 Ma rh^f\ So ^an for ^an. * Br So psnm onm. Ma onbiti. Br 
 nan. e Br So + 1^> ^. ' Thus Ma = Ar. al?D. Br So Q1 
 
 !?w ii^Br. s Br > Kin. 9 Br So + i^. o ie 'jy p^nin iaai 
 
 thus Ma = Ar. p "by 133K ipl "and He finds fault with him who". pTnn 
 
 30 b "disprove of, find fault with". See c. IV, p. 28. n. 17; c. VIII, p. 49, 
 n. 29. Br So hvmm 131 pDBi 1331. " Br So hy nn 1 ?. Br Ma 
 
 So > 'TV. Ma K3D. '* Ar. |0 bsnnB; Br ^3m Ma pm 
 
 So )2m. is Br So liiewty. > Br rV So vhy Tian\ " Ma 
 
 So nnK. 8 Ma 'iism ii&Vn. Br Ma naanm. 20 unwiV msp = Ar. 
 
 35 Hi ISpn; Ma > linsTT 1 ?. 21 Thus Br = Ar. jNSpK )K ^ ^K 1p Ma 1331 
 
 piDBb ran So pioaV nn ^n iaai. 22 Br So rwn Nnsoon. Wolff 
 omits ^>ISB!? nin totnp nh TI^ KOSDU^K nnn m 
 So + D^pnw i3 hh nSnn D^ia niiown ion.
 
 n pis D-pB MUMP 
 
 nipm Dfr PBD nr mw nwnm 
 
 54 
 
 ,)inn nmK 
 
 nan 
 
 K!? ^ Kin 
 
 nn 
 
 p 
 by 
 
 p 
 36 Kin 
 b w 
 
 pm nw nin m 
 nni , 
 ^ m 
 
 nn ,Kin wijn 
 IJ;T onty 
 
 Kim ,6'nn Kim ,Bnn Kini /yrrn Kim ,jnrn Kim , 
 mpn *6 owp B^ayn ^KI ,nnnn IKB> pi ,n"n 
 yra nty WDKI ,naiB s^fa? IK nnw TOB na^ man 5 
 
 n 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 nra 
 
 Dno 20 
 
 Br So niajnon 
 ; Ma 
 
 nnw 
 
 ?6pi. 
 3 So nn. 
 
 Br 
 
 5 Br snvn im j>wn ini. Ma So 
 7 Br So "piPDDn im Ma T&< ii. 8 Br a^fi. 
 
 o Ma wnn So nrnn. " Br D"nnn So nay. Ma > 
 
 nn So nias r n. '3 Br > no So ie itsa. " 
 
 ^B^BJ 'n. Ma > *ptMtsrn. Ma > nnai. 
 
 is Br So W *k is Br So MW. " Br So + mm. 
 
 2 Ar. mi frip s m 
 * Ma > ij> Br 
 ^nn mi 'nn Mini. 
 Ma > one. 
 
 12 Ma 25 
 Br So n 
 17 Ma 
 
 21 Br > 
 
 nn. 22 Br So iniT3n. 23 Br So -f- mas. So + nw n 'n ^n 
 
 rtn san n ^. 2* Ma > ma ruvon. 25 So > nan. 25 Ma So 30 
 
 wwna. 27 Br nws^ "ists. as Br nmm Ma -portv 29 Ar. 
 so Br So n2ip Ma nsipa 1 . si Ma nsipa. si Br Ma So > ^>a . . 
 = Ar. ba DDB'bN nw tffah ^n 0^.]B. Found in edd. Basel 1804, Dessau 
 1809, Groningen 1845, Slutcki 1863, Lemberg 1876, etc. 33 ... ftnk 
 
 nin thus Ma = Ar; Br So niNin niNe pin en IIK (So nrrfc nb) nvn <aBts, 35 
 3< So bi inrn p Di. 35 irwn w^a" wbi = Ar. na e^na bi "and we 
 
 cannot comprehend Him". 36 So > ton. 37 in&l , . . im = Ar. mi 
 
 Ktt^HB dnnB -6K. Wolff's rendering and explanation (see Acht Capitel, p. 80, 
 and n. 2) seem to be correct This wonderful idea has escaped those who
 
 53 n pB D'ptB 
 
 "ps nt ^BOI , 2 iTa 'mwnsm nityon 
 
 YJflD ^ fKtt mtyon 
 
 PK DK KroDon 5 nt no-ion 
 K*?K pyn mo "iww K*?I 
 B sK-an from te %a n ia-6 vijna mn K^P B'^KI , 7 pisn 
 
 "DIKH ni^ys tean ,m s ayn ^ nen 
 K s an ntyi ,D\n^n HTHM n^na inTna in nnn 
 IK p^s mm DK 13 DtJ7i n yn s B^KH nt ,iow KIW 
 10 pyn ^y niaio mm mo anrp yT noxn DKI ,jrr 
 
 Tta iny^T mnn IK r "D 
 
 niowy mpmn mo "ianm mp jm K non OKI 
 ,IKO n tenom 2 imK IOIKS? no 
 
 15 ii"K DW ,ynon nnty no i ,mnKn noann iKann naa nn 
 nnm >i^ jnom Kin mm ny Q^nn s n 22 
 s i nn p DK niKn s n^n jnem yion s 
 
 2 6vm 'mn 25 inno mn jnos 24 ynv nn mn 
 /n Kin 29^ ^ anm ,J;T n 2 8"yK ynom nn 
 
 20 r6pi nnnp mya n^nn ^ s niD D^OKI ,viKin to pi ,to 2 9Kin ni 
 
 Ar. ^&^ 3Dn3K |1. Poc. -4- et vitiorum = nnvnsni. AT. originally 
 must have read bwn^81 ^K3B^M. Br wVwBH for Tfbmm. 2 Ma > ITS. 
 
 3 Ma > DiTto. < Br ne p^l. s Br Ma > '10103; Br Ma nD. 
 
 6 Br So + irw. ' So pisn nt. Ma So iitoan. 9 Him 
 
 25 nnwn (Br + ^?M) on njrr = Ar. nHi"3^K3 nbb8 D!?I> ini "and it is God's 
 knowledge of future things", see Bloch, Sefer Hamiswoth, p. 175; I. Fried- 
 laender, Sprachgeb., sub )\ Wo., von den seienden und werdenden Dingen. 
 10 Ma iTte. So > na. i Ma > DINH , . . nnaie. 12 Br So mbn. 
 
 Thus Ma = Ar.; Br Br>n m ^H1n f?8" 3Bfi ten flHtn ni1N^> Dli 1H1 
 
 30 nian w J?T So Kiian rr t^n m ^>in ^HBW in n3ion rn6 nnn ni. 
 " Br So invn ma. Ma So > njrr. e So onipo. " Br 
 
 wwm n\T ne nipn JT V So ns la^iw. is Br imnji. 19 Br So 
 3?e p^. Ma > H jea. 20 Br So ^. 21 Br So Hin '3. 22 Ma 
 
 ir1. 23 Thus Ma = Ar. JtonK HJSHB "and therefore they are two 
 
 35 things": Br So D"W '3 DH Kin p ]V31. p DM almost equal to p *?J> 
 (er^o). 2 * Br on jnv. So + me. ' Br So + D'Hxaan. 
 
 Ar. l^tH^H "the eternal things". Br > D'SI. 28 Ma > 1H. 
 
 2 So > ton,
 
 n pis D'piB naitttf 62 
 
 pi *i rrvnan or rrin *i nawnn 
 mn D'IBK B'asy inn ,3nmo DIBS ty m *iBB iTBnm ,Kinn 
 ani irrmaa n^syn ^ lannn KIJW V*i 
 mpi pa*# n B^aion twiTBn JB nn ,1^ run py Kini 
 
 5 
 
 11 IBI , 
 
 ,inT i 03^ nta^i non 7110 ijwv "dnsDn niiMne piyn m 
 mwo "ID8D3 non 7110 ns^> ^n^wn 0^30^ nao nn n\n 10 
 rbw s n^>3 I^IBK*; "jvo^ n ijnw TH o^^n ^3 
 
 nanin o^stwoan IBRD ityj; nna 17 i3ty 1031 ,i6Dn in pyn 
 3 iniTim "IBDD ie ^ni^an pn isn^un p Dvnwan 
 TBDI ,BBon \n^ ( T 1 ,v sn ^^ n Dn31 ^ 'W aw 15 
 
 nuy w nniD 21 ni^n ane p 
 
 nwas 
 
 BBTWP one 24nTty wipoai mina B^BIBBH B^PIBBH i 20 
 2 an ny WD nia im ,pso *6a Bwy liina Him ,nn s ayn ^ 
 
 .niiiiannn 
 iman 
 oam 
 
 Br Ma So + wnmK; Ma oiifi for frm. 2 Ma -f- nnb. 3 Ma 25 
 
 * So + r\"9 train Br Ma + n". Br So ^5. Ma 
 
 na "S3. ' Br So inn s ain. Br So irn^i ^. 9 posm 
 = Ar. tuymDpm 10 Thus Ma; nVsn TIT = Ar. BiynD; Br So 
 nt "?. Br So oneian miain !?-icr IKTS. 12 Ma o^aon 
 for nbwn D^aob. Br So (So + .TJ>) iaa-i mm ia ntsa. J * Ma 30 
 
 > lot* 1 ?. is Br ivtfn. 6 Br So ^viin -p W'n. " Br iai 
 1N3. 18 So D'Wn p. 9 Br + DTitaV 20 Br wv. 21 Br 
 So (So mbi) nAin ana p iaa onnano ISDI edd. n^i TIIKO pmn onnants naioi. 
 I. T. correctly has diTianfi, although Ar. has ttibip p. p Di = Ar. ^; Ma 
 
 > ni^:n . . . IBDO -it5. 22 Br ap"ri at? wn^isani So w m n wrpoanv 35 
 23 So + ma. 2 * Br ntoin. 2 Br rrD&. 2 Br So aits. 
 
 " Ar. n^wn^Ni nV nra jtwiKto i. Br + on So + .Tn after mwn. 
 2 Ma nnw6. 2 Ma > ntw V . . . ntsi. 30 Br 
 
 31 Br wntra ia.
 
 51 
 
 vki n?a 
 
 n pis oyiB naiB 
 
 nn n^ys rrvna 
 
 10 
 
 mp 
 
 ]tn p'sno 
 /w 
 n 
 
 nwan 
 prra 
 wwi 
 prra 
 
 no hy 
 
 IB nt jn 
 waon nrwi ,nn 
 
 103 ,iTi^nan orb 
 j 
 nnso 
 
 no 
 
 WBI 
 
 n nt 
 
 main * TPK 5 noo 
 
 no wm , 7 im:nnt? ny 
 
 onirna ate n^ison ^y 
 
 nw noon nte 
 pi 
 
 nawnn ono 
 naan viti ntn 
 
 13 onion 
 
 in"y in^K nan a^a^in 
 
 AT. iVia w Q^yi = nn w jn^i; Br Ma So mmri. J Br nhv for 
 
 K"?1; Br > -[VtKb So WV. 3 Thus edd.; AT. MTrt Br Ma So TWvrfy. 
 
 20 * Br noa nn Tnn ^jn. 8 Br uoa. So v^j> way. ' Br 
 
 inwim wp ionV: n iVian Vww ionn VMV So + wwm icnSa^ is 
 
 s Br So ntn 'JBD obs Q"iBon ^ np piDBn nt ] (So 
 
 b ""asa b pn*D aa b ^a. So inp. " iniain 
 
 MSB. and edd. are confused and deficient, but the text can be reconstructed 
 
 25 with the aid of the Arabic and Ma. Ar. KB3 "info W\ 3pK^ tj-3 
 
 in 
 
 rrv 
 
 s nn 
 
 30 !? rrn 
 ne !?jr 
 
 no 
 
 mpn KO ^ 
 wo\ Ma 
 nn 
 
 ona 
 
 no 
 
 (Br. an 
 lea b 
 35 U1H30. Br So > 
 
 . Br So w 
 
 inn n nwpn (So -f- m) nnaio Mini 
 itspi npia papa S 
 Br na"pn. u Br 
 
 train So waa. Br rg. onetsn. Br So pataw. I. T. > Ar. 
 na. Br So (So era nvnan) ,T>"nan DTa atp 11 K*?I. Br So nt3a. 
 
 Ar. (Poc.) Wa for ^>a. s Ma > mn. Br So + vtDID. 20 Br So 
 oap. 
 d*
 
 nm 
 
 ]& 
 
 rrvna 
 
 p , 
 
 ,pKn ton 
 
 n pifi oyiB nyazv 50 
 
 i ,n^ an 
 ByBi ,iua 
 
 wvwiaa ]rw *ann rojron rap 
 y 102 8< m i 
 
 ana 
 a n^ 
 nta 
 
 nawnn 
 
 naon no yi 
 
 a ^ton to ,nnn mis i nnvi 
 : waan s ea a^won ^iBiM won 10 
 
 29,-pn p u nt r 
 ,n^ea 
 nn ^K 
 nn 
 nw n?a mm ,D> mn 
 
 3 o'n^ 15 
 IBB typaa 
 7ns mm ,rnBnt? ny 
 
 i Br So nrri2 D'eai mn D^IJD D^DBBI nn^> nan trtwa D^OPB. 2 ITWB^ 20 
 = AT. IK; Ma + tMJP; So D"0S. 3 Br D'BJ>B1 So D'eB. < Br nWKDI 
 
 bea s So 1O3 for 1031. 5 Br So m ^a. Thus Ma for Ar. hto \ brio 
 = boatO; Br blB^aa So bieaa. ' Ar. eab ] "from taking hold, 
 
 seizing". 8 Br nttWB. Br 033 p DWrt n 1K3 So p D3T^ 
 
 B33 Ma + B33 p. 10 Ar. iT3J> 1 Br U'J MDD 11 1 Ma fjn HIBD 1 So 25 
 
 VJJ> KOD^ 18. According to Ar. 13'J? is to be construed like IT, as the ob- 
 
 ject of baaa. 
 Bi 1 ? nns by. 
 is Br f?a. 
 20 Br 
 
 " Br So 
 Br oo^n UK 
 Ma So 
 
 r n. 
 
 Br ntten 1 
 4- TP 'no. 
 28 Br So 
 
 n Br wvb nvv na So 
 is So > ny. " Br > ^3 n^. 
 
 " So + m. Ma > awn ^fi. 
 trn no j>nj b nw3 So 
 23 \fyy , . . vni for Ar. n 
 Br Ma So + vh after neb 
 26 Br inwps? by TIBJW rpn 
 
 2 Br ,Tn in p 03 m "3. 30 Br Ma > TV. 
 
 Br 30 
 
 2* So Wipl. So > by. K So 
 2 ? Br nann b&zb So 
 
 3i So 
 
 32 Ar. rhvrat. Br b = Ar. ib "if". Ma ^Ki. 33 Ar. = r\nbv 35 
 Br So Ma onnte. So n\nn. 34 Thus Ma = Ar. pf?un b pb Br So 
 
 nn*w TipT 1 p. 3* Ma 715 m n\m So 7121 ton rr-ni. 35 Br 
 So ( B trasn nan. 37 Ma nsn Br 3B3 ,T,T. 3 So 
 Ma > ba. <o Ma
 
 49 n pfi trpiB rniet? 
 
 rrn 2 p iron 
 
 Kin ino\-6i ante K^> it?Ka 5 itwy^> n;a iron 
 ,9uonpnt? no s^> nniDi psa K^a by rrn m 
 laom ,"man ^ao anvnaa no iny^oi njne tow ,*op pyn 
 5 ^niK-aa nasty 102 "-raw ^ nn^y i^_yi aama 12 rn IPK anan 
 /ui i^ noanni nan uoo rnsyi an ^tntr s ia ny mn 
 nnvi ^i naa^ yra\ anTnaa ane nn\i * 
 
 nawnn p ayio^ nr ^y arA an wiy iTm ,nman nta 
 nriy pn p nn^> 'ifco rrvw no iiiyn p nn^v 
 10 iymm nr an 21< wa naai ,an^ ^ in nauwin p 
 in^Di im nawo n\n naV BJCSVI^ 22 nsn ( TH 
 anipn DDOH ^>v 2i it^i^ nni 2 *^in ny run 
 , 27 '^i s ai p mar TOK ^un n aai , 26 )^y 
 ,ana ipnnni nawnn p iy:oi p fyn nawn n^iy rrn 
 is nai Tmoyn nr nnya atom ^s'^i S T n ^nn^sy nny 
 ann tyiy s arw now n 
 
 ntn abiya ^iy s a^oys f wiyn mjw rrrr nM moan 
 
 Ma > na zh run. 2 Br So -p*- 3 MSS. edd. one. uoa 
 
 20 "of him" = AT. ruts which context requires. Br So D^niaio nm. 
 
 s Br So p nn DIJ> 7i. e Br So > WD ^31 Nin werfti. ' Br 
 
 So ntra rm. Br So b. Br So + wwn. <> Ar. 
 
 irisn Vn^> D^ ] -pi \lb. Mss. edd. > Ar. 73 "it remains" == 13. The 
 V of fK points to some word that has fallen out. Ar. nai N^ inp 
 
 25 "without force or constraint". Ma 113. Edd. ^W D 
 
 l1Di "and they placed upon them a heavy yoke". l * Br So ltt3 "WN3 
 
 Ma > nwaa. Br + nnn, Br So yra pi man ^a onTnaa. 
 t7 Br So > nrnan no nn^r rwn ^>. See n. 16. p man ^a probably a 
 misplaced equivalent of nrron , , . vk\ Br So ^irr. ' Br So 
 
 30 D'Wiiyno. 20 I. T. > Ar. DnapJ> "fii ]H "that this should be their 
 
 punishment" = DB>1J> nw. " So lfi. 22 Br ran D'. 23 Br 
 
 So + mrrK ]"o mno after D'taw. Ma ban So one for D3i. 2* Ma 
 w^n So iN'Sin. 25 Thus Ma = Ar. napjr } Br So uvwb. Thus 
 Ma = Ar. nt5K^ ^i ^s bxp NO3 mpnfi^K nne^B; "bj> Br So DDHD mp no by 
 
 55 naw rrtsanty nfia (So maw) omap^. 27 So + bvu iwana is s a-nw. 
 
 2 I. T + nana ^ep ni -jniN ii. 2 Of. c. IV, p. 28, n. 17, and below 
 p. 55, n. 10. wbv jnpib \>*i = Ar. nya 3C!?' 1 bi. a nawnn p 
 = Ar. a-UV ^> ]a "in that he does not repent". So nawnns 
 3' Br So mna^ vor bt. Br So i w in Ma xnv. " So 
 d
 
 n pna D"piB 
 
 48 
 
 a jn nvn? jnn 
 jn ana rrrw s & b 
 pi ,1^ jnia j 
 ma 3 
 
 Dpi 
 rw 
 mnsnn 
 li 1 ? ) s 
 rpn 
 
 mina 
 
 pi ,-inT 
 
 12 
 
 i n? 
 pi , 
 
 inTnaa 2 e^ ,,Tp&6 nn 
 i ( i5i DTOYO iina nan D 
 
 nn naa 31 
 
 ma 
 
 rrn pn* nvn> nsn ;rn 
 rrn & jn niv6 ran 
 
 35 nt 
 
 po p 
 
 mn nj?n 10 
 
 ,p^ I 3 
 
 2 <>vni n 
 
 nnn ni^bpn orvty i^ni is 
 ,rnav 
 
 i Ma "Din nn Nbi Br So ntsNtsn nt 'ise Kbi. 
 So A y^D, * Br So DIDN. s Ma > -W. 
 "itwn for -iKBtti. Mi + ^1, s Ma So lp2. 
 D. n Mi D'sn vn. 12 Br vrtx for 
 
 Ma SUM. Edd. + pn nsi "n^x nn. 
 
 na n^sa "towards him shall we do and act". 
 
 2 So + p^nsi. 3 Ma 
 
 e So > vbs. 7 So 
 
 9 Mi DmTlM. " Br 25 
 
 Br Dwerr So ooon^. 
 
 15 So '& ^3. i 6 Ar. 
 
 " Ma 
 
 !3 Ar. *wv "transgress". Br So nni niap^ Ma " nr. Originally 
 "liartf, but incorrectly copied liayty, a natural mistake, as niay^ is used 30 
 so often here. It then became necessary to supply an object. 19 So + 
 20 So vm. 21 Ma + ona. 22 g ^n nw. 23 Ar. na0. 
 
 24 Ma 
 
 + 'a ( oa So 
 
 -f- o 
 
 irY3. 
 
 33 *f{yft 
 
 3* Ma + ''ttN. 
 
 vvnam for maan 
 
 ioa. 
 
 si Ma Marion. 
 - -p B 
 
 26 So maj?^. Br ^ for ^a. 2 7 Br 
 
 28 Ma DiT-ama = on^sna. Br Ma So 
 
 r nipo ] s in inia \ 3 o I. T. + 35 
 
 32 Ar. nnpsi "and compare it" Br inl. 
 
 a u those who have spoken about it". 
 
 as Br So > nt. 
 
 "a. 
 
 36 Br So "pn nn. 
 
 Br
 
 47 
 
 n pis D'p-is 
 
 jm 
 
 pyn nra toy ^nnu^ nn 
 
 "ini ,onB ^ yaiB jw mm? nno np ntyyi ,yvn ai&n yr 
 :B^y^ vn tei 6 n? np^i IT nte't? IB ,p 
 5 awn nitoyfi inTnaa rwyw V f n mn nwnnoa nr 7 a^nnnty 
 
 wyin 
 
 p pnin^i ,mtyBn 
 nn 
 
 10 pi jnn 
 
 n 
 
 mp ^ 
 nn ,i^ 
 is na ntBi , 22 nna 
 
 yn 
 
 nan 
 
 a 
 
 nain 
 
 ain jnn 
 ni2n 
 
 rum 
 nna 
 
 nn 
 
 niana nn 
 pyn 
 TDm 
 
 27 nra 
 
 ana 
 
 onB 
 
 Dt?n now 
 
 20 Ma + mina ia 1221, 2 Ma > V'i. 
 5 So Kin 12 KXD3 i. s Ar. rnSu^N nnn 
 absence of V**n from the text of I. T., and arbore in brackets in Poc., seem to 
 
 3 So iniM. * Ma n. 
 nitn = |Kn nta npM. The 
 
 imply that 
 
 ' Ma So ann'. 
 
 25 -On; Br narg- _|- 
 
 Ma Ar. nT 
 12 So + n^an. 
 is Ma ba. 
 17 Ar. 
 
 was not originally in the Ar. Ma npVl Ma > nm. 
 8 Ma rT3; Br + |3 DM after HST. Ma > 
 
 ni. 10 So iTH^I m!?&:M 1T^3M inTHH. i Thus 
 
 ^NJ>BM now nw ]M So mbwsa Br ansn mbwea 
 
 13 Ma rvpjyns; So IWM for DM. n Br 
 
 Ar. -j^n 1 ? iMrota^M mi "and he is the chooser in this". 
 win imi. Br So ""asm for mm Ma > ^a. 
 
 30 19 Br So > nsp; So D <1 p1DS)3. 20 Br nnab. 21 Diwa 1 ? 13M D^"1 = 
 
 Ar. Mna"aa^B -'and so we shall explain them". 22 Many edd. > Dna ... "O. 
 2s Br So n&MJW nts for iiM. 24 i. T. + na niND 2iN. 25 Ar. 
 
 nMin "thou seest Him". 25 Ar. on 1 ? na *6 nins^Ma oni onapM ^ 'M^B 
 
 "np Mtta Dnionano^ ]K "then why did He punish them, since by necessity 
 35 and inevitably they must enslave them as He had decreed?" Ma fiB^l 
 ntjaty loa nna nana man nnsna ntw DIWJ? Br mana !?ni D3 nebi 
 itaa ona nann dn ( naa So dn (Mi mta) nitaa mana ^n Da nts 1 ?! 
 -a ioa ona nawwn. 2 ? Ma nawnn; Br So frvk for nn. 
 
 2 Ma > iV3 nbn ^an. 2 Ma .Tn 11 ono; Br iins for mm. 3 <> Br 
 40
 
 n ps Q'pnB naie 46 
 
 pan 
 
 to yjmrp ntyo^ naoo *pto wtew ny tea nt 
 nv,-6 mpt? pjna rkycb yjmiv t?an ^pbno pto te pi 
 pan ]B pbnn nt 'yjmnnt? nya nan DBW "? ,ntyo!? nyyuno 
 anew 9Q s nyop o ^wen ip!?n s ntai ,rmcb yynrw 5 
 pnn "j ,iina pei p rin f Ten nv nn ny "DT ten 
 103 Ton DjntD ^ i 2 Dte onann "wtwMfl ,n <i ty*^n <i o <i 
 fn nnn enn te pw ,11^^ in rwyip nei rrrw in iTnty 
 yin n^srn D^nsion "^3 IDI^ n^osnn 14 iDisin nt ^BDT 
 nn mp nte "nna TJP no nvnV DHTIJ; TI rn n{y 10 
 no nna 
 
 : 2 p pyn ) s i ,trrnnin nny n awm ^s nv 
 na 22 nnooDi , 21 in^n n^np amoa nain pvn nta 
 D^nnia 2 4n r/ v nnnan tea n^on nsni ,23^^ ^nioa D"?IJ? pyn 
 ma ID S 25-n nt ^jn ,r\y nn nyai nan nn wa ]in nno 15 
 
 DBnnty V"i a^ s i op 
 loip nya nny ren 
 
 nty 3opn nt n^sia nny 
 asi man ,T,TI? ssa^n ns"i ia s a 
 
 SJ;D miM ; yyiin^ nsn p ,n^as a ,nmn am , 34 naipn 20 
 103 ,]no 37 ^ viio ^ nn^v ^ ^mao p inn^naa ni^iyo 
 ,-pn m*n \n ^opyn nt 3 nnaD moi n^noan ssmwa 
 42 ia ps-vw 4iiTBn ovnnn n s a naai ;ui jni 210 nv^ woo 
 
 Ma -f nea 1 ? nrv. 2 Ma m. a Ma wn IM. < Ma > rtfo. 
 
 5 Br p^>nfi. So Viv6 for w-'wn rmb. ^ Ma i3r>". Br 25 
 
 D-p^in. 9 So VWDtf. I" Ma ]1S1 W. I* Ma So WIW. 2 Br 
 
 + 13. 13 Br 103 -WHO. * Br tt^^n ^"B^. 1 Br So ^3 3. 
 
 16 Br So -WK oil. " Br 'nan ona n^ IKB So avon ona nr no. 
 
 is Ma So ]in ona. " Ma nnn\ 2 Thus Ma = Ar. rnn ND"?B 
 
 j'na D^I |b ne no ruN n*B fe 'iay nto npibw "B. Br lain annnn ia i 30 
 p nain vi nnna nn D"nn iatsw TIWH nra So TIWH na wnnn 11 iai 
 p nann yw cnnnj nn n Q'nn iawir. 21 Ma unSw. 12 Ma So 
 
 2 s Br ^W. 2 * So n"J> after DMX&m. 25 Br ^>l 
 
 . 2 Ma ari. 27 So jwia. 2 Br o^wn So 
 
 2 Br ? ia. 30 Br itn pn So nwn pun. 31 So ?. 35 
 3 Ma i^n nt. 33 So n yetotf nann Wav 34 Br > Dn So nsT 
 
 w on. 35 Ma ntwp. 36 So ]W; Ma snats. 37 Br > i 1 ?. 
 
 38 Br niinno nxann -ia. 39 Br So >,T\DNI,; maon for nnae. < Br 
 + Dioa So -f- nibsa. * Br t^i-vsa Dii-tfia Ma BMVBn ouinn mina. 
 
 < 2 n ]nn = Ar. mnpn ] "that its meaning". 40
 
 45 n pis D'pnB 
 
 by in MWW TOM DK npa6 zvby yatioi n t?nai nniK ntfn IK 
 pyn jw ,nT3j>a nu naa nnn m TD KJWI n^ peon nt jwrw nt 
 5 iK3o s p&n K"73 *nm irrrnaa niKan 3 mn ni^ya ^>a !?3K ,p 
 ',-pnratKi rrnnn nwa s it?n pnaa wna naa ^ finrraym non 
 5 p^nn nrai ,nr 'OKVtfi rwjw n^na 9 nna DIK"? TOK sm^vsa on 
 
 ^e 
 p 
 
 ,isnsp i *]n inrn *p 
 no ^ao ^nta wsm ,i7int 
 10 : "wmioi mn 
 
 n?a 
 
 25 on mynrw 
 
 y 26 nw ^ ntynty IDI ,D^ait3 o^j;n nn aiam 
 is 2 9naa^ pwn % DTt6 2 8^ii p pyn inw ,ai& i jn 
 
 no i&Ni ,iiis"ia yirsty nn nwaym D^sonn p rwjw no 
 
 p n 
 
 u 5 ? p w 
 34V| iy 
 
 20 DNsann nana 1:00 Kso 11 nil m ^a ^SK nn*neen noen 
 
 mn na^^ im p 
 
 na 
 
 > Ar. HiN3 1 "or cheat him". See Ro., p. 68, n. 4. Br HDH, Br 
 25 riiin, hiphil of nv "oppress, maltreat, overreach in dealing" (HJN). * I. T. 
 > n!?Nts 'B == U1D03. 3 Br nrg. + on. So viTro:! nvibni ~b 
 
 pa for DH2 imTDS mDn. Br arg. ^. ni^l before I^O 11 ; So 
 
 e So + viTnaa. 7 Ma nnratto. Ar. ^yBN^N B Br 
 
 Ma So ni'jlPBa. 9 Ma > ona. o So !? IK. Ma Ta. 
 
 30 12 So + nhytb. u Ar. na pTT 02 ban hiK Dn^>1pB "and when they said 
 ban, they only meant by it". Ma ''in DiOK D s Dn T3 !?an So D'DWH 
 Ma > pa. is Ma nspi. is Ma > n*n. 17 So Tin Br 
 is So pa. 19 Br Ma vninuoi. 20 Ma D^oan. 2t So TO. 
 
 22 Ma pnai Ta ^ax. 23 go + n ir . ?* Br 'OIK. 25 Ma > on. 
 
 35 26 Br So im im 27 Ma ni. 23 Br + ll? Ma + Kin. 29 Br 
 
 maabi pixiv6. so So im a"jm 31 Ma > -iei. 32 Ma So > 
 
 n iriN. 33 Ma > mipmi. 3i Ma > n So 'n b. 35 Ma > 
 
 warn* bx bx o-'sa b>. 36 Ar. aro 1 ?^. 37 Ar. = ina'an msn 
 
 as I. T. > Ar. ^> = ^>ax. 39 Br Ma iaa. *<> Ma
 
 n pnfi D'pis riMsv 44 
 
 ite nn ,invn 
 
 iwto /mum nom ano^m 2 BUiim teaman 
 nte D*wn nrtiyBP in pso p IPK nan n:o ,ttaa fMn 
 irnrp-o^ man ^ntea 'jwjr *6 mrv DI JWJP HST n t 1 ? nmoa 
 n loavn 9 "p fi ^ <nna ntn ia ,sini^ <itn n\n nt 'asai ,vty 5 
 nnnai ,inai pin ni nien nw man n 
 
 arm ,ona 
 a*m ^ 
 p Da ia^m ,ni^on i^iio^a a n bi Dnwy 1 ? n 
 
 npjna n^yi ^-IOHI ;"mina airoty ica n^3 mnn 10 
 
 noa /ui nentea m s )s ,i^aa D^ 
 nta n^^ain 23 nsoai mina 22 naim ;w 
 
 no 
 
 nwan mn WPB nsp ia{yn s i DI 15 
 ^nte nti ,iTa sopaon nt nvn i , 
 
 nairoa 
 
 w *? om nwo 
 n pi , 
 
 i Ar. htoy\ bnb rAa tnni "but this is wholly impossible and absolutely 20 
 false". 2 So mtwn&m n^Dtsifcn. 3 Ar. mm, read as noun nnm, 
 
 or verb Dim. I. T. construes as noun, Poc. and Wo. as verb. 4 Ar. 
 
 nVntyVN, generally translated by minn or mn. See Munk, 6rwde, I, p. 68, 
 n. 3; Holzer, Dogmenlehre p. 24, n. 6; Peritz, Sefer ha-Mitzwoth, p. 6, n. 1. 
 * So IVObl. e Ar. jin p ^n "may He be exalted above this!". 25 
 
 ^ Ar. tos' K 1 ? ]N1 ^rB f. Br So nSY *? DM1 Ma *h D1. 8 irm* 1 ? , , . ^3D 
 = Ar. f\' f nfh n\b ^l?i^B -^n ^ n^> inp bl lai T3 p "without any constraint or 
 compulsion upon him in regard to it, and therefore the commandments were 
 necessary". So Wimyw. 9 Br uyisb. to Ma > DVn. t Br + " int<<1 
 A 'ts p So > nn run men ni. So D. So > om. " Ma 30 
 . I. T. > Ar. TWn^1 "and the practising of". 15 Ma + Dm. is Ma 
 see p. 43, n. 30. n I. T. > Ar. pnbw = nDn. So + man ^ 
 
 wa. i Ma So > I&NI. > Br Ma So irroa , . , "PS for ^B* 'a 
 baian. 20 Ma Viann. 21 Br Ma > asu 22 i. T. > Ar. 
 
 nj == nwo. 23 So *ianai. 24 Ma rwian. 25 So + T^n n^. 35 
 
 26 Br So p Di tun. 27 Ma ntt 1 ?. 28 Ma nann Bmybv. 29 Ma 
 
 JvaVfi. Jo Ma ntn iit3n. 31 So nM. 32 Br So 'n. 3 3 Ma 
 So nra&n. 34 So rfn. 35 Ma nrasn So !rra mwn. 3 6 Ma ^i\ 
 37 Ar. nplD IK "or steal from him"; Br li&D 333 Ma > 1333 1N So + 13DO.
 
 43 
 
 n ps D'ps 
 
 pits 
 miaan 
 
 \w DKI ,mne 2 atep> wii^m innetowi ,iriBm 
 :pBD te vTiVrvao aw te , 3 ^ni wpa pi 
 ^oon npa* na snwjttpn awnn *6a nt 
 tya IK nty& tya vnwr m T^IBP iaa>rwa nvnnwt 
 5 jrw 7S i aiBN ,mana ann nvyen ty maio annnan ,jnan 
 VWID 102 r WDI^BBI irmwo 
 ^ nnioo 
 
 10 m 15 vn vmys y n"oio DTn rrn ii ,a nt 
 noa on^ n^nn jw nn mei npt? ten nvn iTnnnwi nmnn 
 te niD^i nno^nnni nioSn tow a^nno n^n pi , 
 
 DTNrw nn "n^ea^ ten nt te i^iTni 
 nt D^iown ryi ^h iyina innna^ rrnaen 
 is ,n^iiten men b **Tmmn ,n^iten neann isjnv 20s nteoi /iiten 
 23 ^i ^i^nsp 1 ? irmp ttoD ? 22-1^: ^y p oi aa^m ^oan rrm 
 nn inrpp mans nw nn pwi^ a^iiinn pvoa* n?a , 
 p D2 )3n^ *]^^ )iytr anij^i neb s 
 
 20 DBV nj; nte 
 
 2 p n: nitea vm , 
 
 , Ma 8W1 T"lSn |0. 2 Ma ini^2p\ s Ar. n33B "but with difficulty". 
 * So U1K3. s So nuiw3. 6 Ma naar So npBr 1 cod. 73 (see p. 42, n. 1) 
 VQD\ ' MSB. edd. "38, but Ar. ni8 (= rww), which should be emended 
 25 to 838 (= '38) rather than Heb. '38 to nnK. 8 Ma XTOB. 9 Br So W8. 
 WB' .. (Ma tf^fl) ... 8 1 ?! thus Ma, which = Ar. n^15' H313 3*183 p nb> ^85 8"?1. 
 
 Br So (Mi n&'tf) int5"t Ws (Mi QDSP) iosy nbn K'30 8^1. So + |3. 
 
 Ma ruiwn. 3 So > TO. Ma nsn 18 px 
 
 6 Br Ma ,Tn. " n^esbi bin = Ar. roj? "sport, play". 
 30 construed with nw *?? and mt 'n*?3D1 See Ro., p. 67, n. 1. 
 
 Ma = Ar. 318*3 ]o nun' '8i3 Br \rbv yintt ini8 rms&n Diun "3BB. So > yin. 
 
 20 Br + rp vbv. 21 Ma n'3ibs nesnn So m^s nnsn So nruii. " Ma 
 
 blDi So miB3. Br So p . . . p for 8^ . . , 8^>. 24 Mi 3UW. 
 
 25 H13115 = Ar. linpo 1133D "compelled and constrained". 26 Ma > ^. 
 
 35 27 Ma ViW^. 28 Ma nvt'. 29 Ma > p. 30 Ar. nKl8inDp^K 
 
 Vorsichtsmajh-egeln, see Friedlaender, Sprachgebr., sub voce. Ma m3U3n. 
 
 si Ma Dna. 32 Thus Ma = Ar. n^K "food"; Br So edd. pwan. 33 Ar. 
 
 13; Br So n3. 34 Br So or6 nnn nn^n. 
 
 So 
 
 Ma n'n. 
 
 1S nB8 "H 
 
 Thus
 
 rv6p inv rrrvfayB wm jnorb i ntyio 1 ? pi 
 rrm Pirn 6 ^? new WB 5 m rrrpao n 
 
 tsyo n 'mnn 7 ima 
 nr6 
 
 pi 
 
 nt "fyn , 
 
 D mn^ pie V'i "IIM "nwi ^saya 7is naa nn inv 10 
 noa np inv n^ itB nni ,2onnn2 ina nw miain 
 
 i Thus Ma So edd. = Ar. n'JHDaw^ nit3B^ 'B "concerning human, na- 
 tural disposition" or "inclination". Br cod. 73 (see Ro., p. 30, n. 4; p. 31, 
 a. 2; p. 62. n. 1) "BTUKn won. 2 So nbnna. 3 So + 01*6. * nrna 
 
 . . ., thus Ma = Ar. KHTi bS?B p n^S> SlDK l^n 'JXSBX ]13n ^K3 Br 15 
 
 nibirse v^ rv\hp inv DHD nnxn m^s?B nvrn So ona nnn W'JIPB nvm 
 ^ n^pi nmp inv. Ma rnxn. e Ma V. ' So 
 
 So > nt. 9 Ma hp Ma > vhy. Br marg. "jp> BJJO 12 
 V"?. 10 1^1 Dili 1 ? = Ar. isBnVs "the memory". Ma 
 
 12 mh rmh !?3 < = Ar. 'mba p p "than a phlegmatic individual". 20 
 So hyyo for ^x?3 BTNB. 13 Br isien. i Thus Ma for Ar. 
 
 (Poc.) nip ma nnn bi. Br vnmia niw xbi So rmns T\I S bi. "Wolff (p. 93), 
 unnecessarily, reads Ninn "properly guided" for IWin which, however, if 
 changed to iNnn, gives an acceptable Ar. form from ^ "to rise, be shaken, 
 roused or stirred" = I. T. Tf\y\ Poc. excitetur; "and his faculty is not 25 
 aroused", "stirred up" or "awakened". 15 Thus So edd. = Ar. 
 
 WK&K B^SK inn; Br SOBS an n Ma apn yaan nt. ie Ar. nsi noj?3 "with 
 difficulty and exertion". n So b. Ma > Bye. i Br So 
 
 nvr. 2 <> Ma > mnea 4 , . V"; Br nine So pso *bz for
 
 
 41 t pis D'p-is 
 
 pm 
 
 , &ya ma naa :wn n"j> 
 nt 
 
 pi , 
 10 tpnen nn nn^ Witt i pyn Kin mi , 
 
 oven 
 
 ) s n i^na^ ? an 
 nan amp ty na D s 
 
 So Haw. 2 Thus edd. = Ar. nM '&. Br Ma So 1bS2. 3 So 
 . So + itm Ma win. * Ma innann. * So pi 'n p 
 
 mn. e So iniwts>. 7 Br So > De6. So + p p. 
 
 Ma
 
 t p-IB D'plB miO 
 
 40 
 
 VTBK ,DyDD nBi nKiaan *w& nnn WJWTB rop 
 
 Ki wam wets np^noo inKiai Kin K'aj DK 3 oyi2n 
 ,ioya 'Tonar ny oyD TOKa 6nKiaan UBB *nptoiDi TOK 
 
 nil JJUB s b inp 8 nnjn 
 
 10 *pv ty tiawvi ny to n"? U-OK aapyn? njKim nmKm 5 
 TBKI ,nmaK apy^ nn wn IBK ina "ipaniff iy ,anipn nn 
 
 :nno ^in lino K^K 
 nniK TDH ^ ns^no b 
 0^3 wtotwi " 
 IBKI , 
 
 mn /m ann 
 
 nna 
 
 21 iniK 
 mip 
 
 TK 
 
 p ,ir6it ny 
 
 mnn 
 
 T 
 vty 
 
 nt 
 
 -pne *i ,nj; ^na K mw 
 "wan ntws VT iK3i 
 nnan n^ye u IB^W 10 
 
 now Kim mx Kin 
 
 is 
 
 ny 1 
 
 ^aK K\nn 
 nvi^ Kin 
 p in^>ir Kinn 
 
 ITSO 20 
 imn 
 f\r\r\w 
 
 2 Ma 
 
 3 Ma 
 
 Ar. = nvrvnsn. Br Ma So nin^ns. 
 
 > own Vs. * Br H-oni. 5 Ma njAnoitf. uatso np^noi i 
 HKOin = Ar. ^ni^K m ^N "who lacked" or "was deprived of revelation". 25 
 7 Ma Ton i. * Ma > nroi. So apj? 11 ^. 10 I. T. 
 
 > Ar. ni2K = 1:2. Br -i2nn. 12 Ma So Hainan. I. T. 
 
 i . 
 
 > Ar. iran nD ] rrnfi^H |-I3^ nn!?K. 13 Tar^wm Onkelos to 
 Gen. XLV. 27: pni3 3pjr nib niaa nn mwi. " Br nan So > nan. 
 
 s Ma ma. " Ma nibsfii. J8 Br 30 
 
 19 Br tnian So v 'n mian. 20 Ma 
 
 21 Ma > iniK So vb. 22 So nwmn bstwi. 
 
 " Ar. ; --iai "and he qualified, defined". Ma + 
 by, probably = Ar. \v. *& Br Ma > ib. 26 Ma nplpn. 2T Br 
 
 Ma + mi3ja So + iniK nn irK nD I^BK. 28 So ^. 29 Ma 35 
 
 'BK. 3 Ma |n D'-ejBb ba. si Br + ib. 32 . . . Kin 
 
 iniKo = Ar. miii nns p bsn 11 |K in. Br initose nn s oD mn n^T KNT Ma 
 imw-'so noiND onb ,Tn" Kin So iniK^fi nna mb ( Tnn Kin. DIK or 
 probably did not originate with I. T. 3 Br > BJ3. s Br n 
 
 So + ri"v. 
 nno So v 'n nine. 
 > initcsa nn^tsK by. 
 13 So Kinn. ,
 
 39 t pis Q'piB 
 
 Dan 
 Kin 
 
 B*IB Kim ,Ty pcnoon 
 
 pi ,1*? Benson ^ na 'aw &6i net ^ e^mit? nan ^ p^so^ 
 5 nsyni njnn Ils sa rnina avira V'l Jinan ionise p oa in 
 
 nnon 
 
 nno 
 
 10 n^ ^y 17 fci iao ni ,mnn an nwan ni^ysD nn 
 
 "I&K 1 s <i ai n"y in pi 
 na a "?ty i9s"j>Ni , 
 
 2o-n^a a ^>a ,^mi^^ pnn 
 ,ain na an 1 ? ^m 1 ? 23 vi7a s in rpn bi tynpon 
 15 in^Ka nsai .^nasty n^ai anrr s a S D^ 27 n s a naan 
 
 nnsiaa 2 9na B^BBW B"yi niitiin nia V't 
 
 i"? 
 
 an ,ona sva 
 20 Ti^a 40^^ IK nna 
 
 ia 
 
 nnn 
 
 i Br Ma canni. 2 Ma Kin Wn So + ^D. 3 So 
 
 25 Br + m. s Br V'll. e Ma pa. 7 So ltn\ Ma pi. 
 
 a Ma > Kin So wn p DJ. > So n^jjen. " Ma <abi. " So 
 
 iibK. is Br Ma nfoyb. " Ma imnna' So innns\ I. T. > 
 
 Ar. K^N. i Br > N<3in. 7 Ma So -f !?3. Br 
 
 Ma + ^Nitf 1 \nb So > KOi n". So B". 20 -iitca a = Ar. 
 
 30 p; Ma > -MM. 21 g o ^iie. z So wiann. 23 Br + pi. 
 
 2* n6 . . . ntpnt? = Ar. unpon n 11 ! ] <i ^ n^n' D^ n^ | "that God did 
 not consider him worthy of building the Temple". 25 Ar. r6 bp\ = 
 
 b IBNI. 26 Ar. nns K^>. I Ch. XXII 8: D s 3i D'on -3 "ty^ n'3 nisn S 
 
 ifib H21 n3BB>. M. often quoted from memory. 27 Br So JV3n. 28 So 
 
 35 -f- M. 29 Ma Nb Btf Vty D"J?1. so Br So nK. 31 Br So 
 
 -j- ps 1 ? onV nrn^i. 32 Ma So ib3. 33 Ar. ^WDW Bla + n". 
 
 34 Ar. 3pn. 35 Br So instf. as So wva for i ni^iBts. 3 ' So 
 
 -f- DP w on. 38 Ma > rv'v. 39 So > one. *o Ma n^w So 
 
 + ]ne. *t Ma njwDn. " Br + ino. Br Ma > pion. 
 
 40 * So
 
 woo 3tn anvonai nwnoa *oo' nann 
 
 7 wan ram no ny ,rwaaa nntya ^ on *? onmp ^ mojno 
 DIDK Kim nrnto note rrvTO nn rnrno ^nnwD on snn 
 
 5 
 
 niwnc pe niwnsn pi ,nno 
 ana nno "nwriB )nei ,niiann pnni , 
 ]m ,fft nonm f poon nani ,nirym ,oyam ,nnm ,nim ,ninn 10 
 wwnsn I^KI ,7Oin pisa anjrra mon wiat nasi ,io nm 
 
 pi ann )^a ni^iaon nwnon on 
 
 nwnon on wot ia ninn nm 
 
 i IB 
 
 niptnni nnon 
 
 "concerning the partition, or wall" = Ar. ajnta ^6 "concerning 
 the veils, or screens". See Munk, Guide, III, 56, note 3; 459, note; Geiger, 
 Was hat Muh. aus d. Judent. aufgenommen, p. 81; Steinschneider, Mai- 
 monides 1 Maamar ha-Yihud, p. 21, n. 44; Ro. p. 113, n. 5; Wo., p. 48, 20 
 n. 1; Holzer, Dogmenlehre, p. 38, n. 157. yi, "meaning". So Ma rPi'l. 
 2 Ma rwnoii nnina. s Ma Br>. < So p ty. s Ma p. 
 
 6 Br ints. 7 So n"JWB. Ma + n. Br So ino. 
 
 iO Ar. tr^p&Da. 11 Ma So > D^. So > nMltSH D K"1^pBD81. 
 
 is Ma So jwwn. " So Tnmn. Br n^wtai. " Ma ian ii . 25 
 
 " Ma -f no. is Ma > nwn& . . . n^3D3. Br nin-'na. i So rrnan, 
 20 Ma So > nton\ 21 Ma pi. 22 Ma DDYililJW So DiTmaw. 
 
 Ma pi. 2 Ma H33na. ^ Ma "inV. 2 e Br So -f ^3. 
 
 27 Br So > Dfc.
 
 37 i p-iB n-p-iB naiet? 
 
 rial 
 
 vnpn ntyn Dnp itr nn 
 
 5 nniK wip ni /tti n^ntran "pym ,nan nis pa , 7 ) 
 
 no ^s 
 
 p awn 
 nn ^Bn 
 10 witt 19 no^i 18> i2Di /7 1 nmnty no njr&K ^y mio 
 
 jpisn nt 
 
 i Ma > ntm nai. 2 Ma onnan. s So V ( n. Ar. yw. 
 
 5 Ma nn D^IMS. e Ma ]W\. 7 Br ona. 8 Ma + nn. 
 
 9 Br So nan. So + ^. " So nt. 12 Ma p. s So > 
 
 15 *6p. So ppinew. Ar. nosa taayi = iwaa ^wa^; see p. 36, notes 
 5 and 31. 16 Ar. a^" p^Bini "and a wonderful reconciliation". " Ar. 
 
 . Br inianfi. ^ Br Ma naa. 19 Ma
 
 i pns o^nc naio 36 
 
 3 8^8 nt nn *6i ,iaaa Vna nsr nana 2 ^nan ^a nai anann 
 aa itoaa ny* 211 ^ bna waaa ^ 
 ni8na mn 48,-w iv* anp nta inn 
 
 p pya )m m im ,minn smoNn 5 
 
 nei 
 
 "nt nnnio ]n natwian n>nnn onoKan w s BWBi plan 
 Him ,^3 an^D ^n ) s 8i ,n8 nmv ^8 , 15 ppyn)w ,ntn 
 ^ ^a na i 17 )n mjn D^iDi^sn ^8 )n T nijnnt? 10 
 nn a vw n8 na*i nn^8 inin^ ISB awn 
 
 om ,i 
 
 rap nni8 iip^ , 2 6pro^ 25 vn n^8i nnaa *6 24 8^8 15 
 pun ]^8i ^sni^D^n nan ananan 
 8V nawnn sani ,n"ion \T 1^8 ppin 
 anann ^a f ana nyaana 29 *iyasn 8"?i ^a myin 180 ia* nwnn 
 ibiDii awn 32 "inv ana 31 njp aian soa^aann on^j? natw 
 rn V minn 8VaV8{y n8 nti ^snrya^n nmnn an ,^na 20 
 
 na nt nsai ,^a 
 
 n"y anaan nai minn 37 8 { ?8 ana jw 
 
 9^8 na 
 
 Ma > ^3. 2 Br !?ni. s Ma So IP. < So nrr6. s Ar. 
 
 HDB3 B3NS = lBi3 ^0; see n. 31, and p. 37, n. 15. Ma > nvnj^ . . . Nnn?. 25 
 e iTHtni . . . Nrrw = Ar. ] Kinai nosi B3s |D3^N \\y \ "that man should 
 govern his soul, but they forbid that". Br So VTlTruntf IV. ^ Ma B"K. 
 a Ma ( T>D. a Ar. ^^m |n ]iot ]an "in. 10 Br bib. Ma 
 
 > wsx s a^nn n3 "jDN 1 ?. So "B^>. 13 Ma So 'awsB. * Bi- 
 
 nt, is Br -J3. is Thus Ma = Ar. *i^3 "diversity". Br So npbm. 30 
 
 " So > )n. is Br So mNn&n ;o. i Ma So nVui TOJJI. 20 Ar. 
 
 ]"^1^X. Br So DM D.N. 21 Br So nBNff. 22 Br So Dn^y. 
 
 23 I. T. > Ar. DbobK DiT^y. 2* So -fyvf. 25 Ma So nn. 26 Br Ma 
 So yny^j. " So o^wsnn. 23 Ar. rfapj^K riw^. So rise. 
 
 29 Ma nyasnn. so Ma o^Dbn. si Ar. noBil? D3tVN ] = wsaa ^icnw; 35 
 see n. 5, and p. 37, n. 15. 32 Ma > one. So -f- xin. 33 Ma ton for 
 on. Ar. JTOBD^N *Kib. 3* So m. 35 Ma D. 3 6 Ar. toa\ 
 
 Ma So n\T. ST Ma So pi. 33 Br l^n, later hand. 39 Ma VN.
 
 m< n wawn pi ntojmn Tonn p IBM Bne 
 
 en n 
 nijnn 
 
 ini snmtan rwy^i ,WBI nittni imni vnvo 
 
 no nn lo^ivBa Ti win 
 neaonai , 12 )n^ rpm mnn ini 
 
 vi awn 
 Toro 
 i ,jnn 
 
 10 
 
 m 
 
 innaw ne^ 2 smi 27 D^ain 
 
 ,pyn 3 nD D^oan nan 
 is r an^ nwn ^> nsyo D^ invi awn viv nn 
 inn awn inr sigr^n nw IK te ne ny ,onmna 
 nta w^am ,^ni inv pmna nytwni nway^ inpwn 32,Tnn 
 
 Ar. title nosa^ ns^i &tt&ta p pis^M ^B = Vwiisni Tonn p i 
 
 . See Ko., p. 92, n. 8. 2 Ma > WB33. 3 tWWn 
 
 20 Ar. H^M&^M. Ma Q-'awnn. *-Ar. nT^ = D^tsn. !? p^n 
 
 Ar. *)btO "differ with, disagree, object, oppose". 6 Ma So ^K. 7 Br 
 
 > vh. s Br marg- niaiBn ntw^i. ' Ma nn^K nvnoo. o Br So 
 
 in^ws^. i So > vh. Ma > V"i"^. 13 Ma D'BDi^anD. 
 
 u Br TDn. So + it?B33. 6 Ma + D'&unV'&n ia. Edd. 
 
 25 wsaa bi&n no ^a. Ma tois !?N. So > imx nww. 
 
 20 Ma npwn. t So wsaa. 21 So n"n. 23 Ma > IB. 
 
 2* Ma i. Js Ma nnetr. 26 Ma + ^. >T Ar. jit^ = miwr. 
 
 2 Ar. pBiab "agreeing". 29 Ma + ^y. 3 Ma m ^y. 31 So mn. 
 
 So + ini".
 
 n pis n'p-iB MIB 34 
 
 ,J?BD 
 
 4 in nn ,D s Dty Dty VJT 
 mn na^'^wi inwi no iijptf mi ,pnsn ma 
 
 imonpnn 
 
 1 Ma So nbKitf. 2 Ma rb*. 
 
 I. T. > Ar. MnsDO 1 ?** rnn "B = unseen nta. < Ma in.
 
 33 
 
 naai 
 
 4)vy nnonna natwian 
 ny nnaan 
 poynn 1 ? p m 
 s ,"nw^n moo w ny 
 m 
 
 10 
 
 n pis D'pis 
 
 na rm V't ana Kim ,maann bifi nat 
 
 anann 
 
 p ,nwn wo 1 ? aw TNI sri row? 
 Damns'? 
 pan 
 
 "nniani 
 DTK nws 
 nino 
 
 nanna 
 , 19 no 
 
 nannen ntt? jrn 
 nni 
 
 in.n nann 
 
 inn 
 
 naai , 2 9 n nan im nnx nan moo 
 ^ei onjn 7ann ^aa nai p m 31 pyn m 
 20 s"v nan vn n^an inn tysb trn V'n nn^ay nan 1 ? I 
 nnspa ^a pj^n nt rry D^oan i^a naai ,nn ns nn^ay ia 
 no na^ nnin yn nt to ^y nnia 
 nt 
 
 Br 
 
 Br 
 
 "Vtbrh. 3 Br l?ni. Ma 
 
 25 Tiarm. So -nm. * Ma \>y<y Ton na. 5 nnttj?n "turbid" = 
 
 Ar. n2S^, "difficult, hard". Br edd. nnwan. So > nnwn. Ma *|U. 
 
 7 Br So W1W3. s So TlX. 9 Ma > p Di. 10 Ma )r3. 
 
 11 Br w^n. 12 So + iin. 13 Ma Diini. So -|- nmnan '!? ne nn. 
 
 14 So l^K. Ma rwn. is Ma nWj> So iTtW. is Ar. '31VK1 = 
 
 30 D^am. " Ar. 2K"fi l 7i = n^iam. is miem == Ar. rww "and 
 
 difficult to reach". Mss. edd. miOHl, which goes back to a very early 
 scribal error. is Br 1KB 1NO. Br > ^VU. So > 1NO. 
 
 20 So -ox. 21 So !?na IK pep. 12 So > nai. 
 
 23 Ma n^a ^>K. 24 Br !?arfin. Ma Ka\ 
 
 26 So Kinn Ma > K"nn. 27 Ma So > inw tm. 
 
 28 So > tvbyn. I. T. > Ar. TH'JK. So v 'n. 
 
 so Ar. OKW?K Dn^J) ^3KbK "the prophets" etc. 3i So > 
 
 Br > iiKi. 3S Ma n&Di nsp TK. 
 
 3< Ma i^>Ka owyn So ^a nnwm. 
 
 35
 
 n pna D'piB naiat? 32 
 
 nina a rwerv Ha. nwn 2 inK>3D ^oni IBII J nwna ia 
 nityoa yiiD s^ao WBI poynni ,Dnste *)iin na nn TBPK t?Bin 
 ,nijnn pi nioann p ime^ no to pi ,nvten nityoai nnen 
 noi ,6Dna-n p n p ,KYin n^anV 70 jno Kint? no 
 ,D^nnn IBDI ,patwin smteBO K<nn n^ana ^ ntyin 5 
 nanni "D^pen ro^m /ononinte w^wwo nmn^i 
 nsieni wa ^sn nan ^nni ,ten 12 mr6 nna miian rrm 
 nt i^ nwi ,VI^TO 14s ns^n pnn njrr pip on^ isy^^ 
 pi ,a0n nw^jno nn^o "ny^ nn JTCW 
 wsia prn nm s i n^jnn in WBI^ w^ noa "? ian^ 715 10 
 i 2on^D i n^yo nat^a IK n^yaa IK noana IK ,IBIIO 19 iK 
 rm* DK niiJ^ onan niinonn sl ?j;a n^p ^ ,niu 21 i nm 
 6i ono ipnnn^ TV Qi ^a *?SK D"iDn^> ia 
 wyea 'n 11 HBK n"in K^n ,n^jnD KNHI a^ina Kin 
 
 ^ n bi D^non IIDDI , 22 )jtt3 p ntyyai is 
 no pi ia niiian pK an^ini o^aien natyi KII'? man ninnonn 
 /( n^Kn aoitsn 711 24^nK DTK 'i 
 
 ^ piyn nt ^K pan? ^ ^ ,IKD nann inoxoo 
 nta i^ia 11 2 8K^> DK Dvi^Kn ,maa ant Dipn nity^ IK anta D^nan 20 
 rrnn ny wnbn moo ^^nTi ,nan na WBI 
 
 1 So 12. So nitnas. 2 Ma Vi. 3 So ^no. * So 
 
 5 So [p] nea bnn'-w s ^ |i. onan ...]" = Ar. rr* 
 
 7 Ma So + 12. s So rtww. 9 Ma 1BD IK. 10 Ar. n 
 
 "geometry"; Br no^an^K Ma KOTinto So nman b edd. noiann ^>. Ma 25 
 
 n So + onn. is So -f 1^. u Ma nsien. 18 Ma 
 for TIT nt. is Ma ris^T pp!?. So ^ama. 18 So wa 11 ^. 
 
 > So > IK waaa. o So i^we for nbwts IK. ai So > IK. Ma 
 So > |aa ^IK niwaai. 23 So + iiaots. s * So ^UK. J5 So > a - no. 
 is nnn d'jnn . . . H^KH aitsn = Ar. TK^IK . . . "^IKH. 27 So + ^K. 30 
 
 28 Thus Br Ma = Ar. N^K Sr&K "unless, unless possibly", Lane. So DWH 
 N 1 ? DK D\n!?Nn ; edd. K 1 ? DN D'Kan, D"Kan being an attempt to correct the mis- 
 understood trn^Nn thought to be an adjective modifying Vliaa; cf. Ro., 
 p. 109, n. 1. See on this passage Bacher, Gedenkbuch Kaufmann's, p. 193. 
 See also Saadia, Emunot we-De'ot (ed. Slucki) p. 32, and further p. 115. 35 
 where |K "?K DH^K = Heb. 'D. Cf. Moreh, I. 76, Second Argument: p 
 'ai n^nn Kb DK (edd. n^n^Kn) D^nbKn anann; II. 22: a^wn |nia ban 
 '31 IttK 11 b DK (D7l!?K n"i); and Scheyer on al-Harizi's translation of this 
 passage; also Munk, Guide, I, p. 453, n. 4, a moins, par Dieu!, and Ibn 
 Daud, Emunah Ramah, p. 53. 29 Ma prTVI. so Br mjtt. 40
 
 31 n piB 
 
 nnb vty 2 vnjmn DM pi , lorfc nwne Din Bfiat? ,ma*ijm 
 waani maaa *to s &ni ,nw ^oai owan njro^a rrvD s 
 men TID^I psan avrw noo 6 nta *vai rosvi nrrcrn mam 
 nwoa nanan ivtem ,ia s^w? nt ^aa naiiam ,naoo 
 5 iwiD n^an r?rr "peon mapa poyrwa pi ,naan 
 
 no V 
 
 "pnn nt 
 
 ]o miay nnirpai rrna^ H\TI nwosn ^nntonn ^K y^anai , 
 10 wri^VB "iV^a na s a , "nnaam nana r n\in bi ,m!?nan nniayn 
 
 nin on tysaty mn aia ^nn ?K anj; pto 
 nt ,owns nin-'D^ i np ^in^ nao iTiT 
 in Da ,22 Q ^ ^ n ntyo mn ^>yis nt 
 15 WK ^y n\T Daai ,iei 
 
 poan te*n anyn 
 
 pi ,inB vn^ysa mn aa ntai njnn VIB 27 nn 
 
 ptan 
 
 20 
 
 nt nnaty iea o ,TDH nt pi ^aV 3 n^nn p inie^i isia nwna 
 won 32 nan i teon nan 3l nnn nt ina ,ninan rwan 
 no 
 
 Ar. WBnofi^K nTn^N rpn^H nfiB^3 "by appetising, agreeable, and 
 25 palatable food". 2 Ma TYIWVT. 3 Thus Ma = Ar. '1K11D 0^3 "black 
 gall". Br mvw mno So ( t? mo edd. minty me. * So tonsai. 5 So 
 . Ma So era. ' Thus Ma = Ar. xi\tbx nmoi Br bin 
 
 mnen So edd. minn man ^n. So + n. Ma > IBW. 
 o Br So yi map^. " So msiapa. 2 So -j-nn. So ni&in. 
 30 H Ma nrfcsn. Ma > mman) So nnwsi. I. T. > Ar. ibj?s 
 
 = liT^ws. 7 Br So mnen. i So a". ' ib . . . B3 = 
 
 Ar. Vit "appetible". p^ttt = Ar. ^'l nso "unwholesome, and harm- 
 ful". Ma 1^ pno. 21 So namm. 22 So + bw Vw. 23 Ma > 
 in. 2* So TI for o^n ton. ' So nenaa. z Va'a for Ar. Nns 
 35 ^itn "when he takes or reaches for". 27 Ma arg. n ^Wtsn . . . na!?. 
 28 Ma > nt. 29 Ma any ba. So rv^an. so Br n^Vnn p So 
 at Ma > nnn. 32 Ma > nin. 33 So
 
 no 'BD 5 njnn o wei niro 
 
 pnsa 
 
 man 
 
 nnan 
 pten p -maty nj; na 2 'ninn inira t rrnn pnn nt "jyi 10 
 
 inwn nahrw 35I1 DD 3 4niiB"in noan pi 
 
 1 Ar. ij^isn 'S. uiy "to turn, change direction" ; Lane "employ", Poc. 
 dirigendis, Wo., Ho., Richtung, but here rather "employ, make use of, as 15 
 I. T. 2 I. T. -j- mn3 onnn. 3 Ma m. 4 Ar. mino* "subjugate". 
 Br TMW So Tin* Mi. Edd. napKr^, sAo/e^ of nay, "subject, subjugate". 
 So nunn. Ma "as^. ' Ma n 1 *^ Rim. Ma So -f- Ten; 
 
 Poc. + semper. 9 Ar. b'n w n^ Ma n 11 Kinn. " So > V'l. Ma 
 
 So WID1. u Ma So n^. ' Ma W\ * Ma ni^PBts. 20 
 
 I. T. > Ar. nin. is Ma SO\ i' Ma m. i Ma So W w nW31. 
 
 So mtnaa. 20 Br So D'a^an. ^ Br > nupi So nwpV. 2 J Ar. ^ 
 So niosnn. 23 Ma > niapi. 2* Ma w^ern. '* Ma 
 
 26 Ma mi. 27 Ma nan^. Ma nnwm. 29 go 
 
 rwnann. so Ma > ,T,T. si yv vbz == Ar. ma "hateful, disliked". 25 
 
 Ma + Kb. 32 Ma pa. ss Ma -f- "?. 3 * So niOB-in. ss ^3 
 for Ar. ] ^ro, I. T. evidently having correctly read \o instead of |K.
 
 29 n piB D' 
 
 n'n & -pan* imioyan unaNBn a s n iwpaa w DVD atww jnv 
 , 2 pyn nta v6 naia DJOP TV ats6 titrco *6 IWIJKI ,ojna 
 
 : SDTJD ni ,myn n n^p^ni ntson n np 
 nowity rrnnn ^BDO pso liinn V2 ny^n raioo iis s mm 
 
 5 
 
 Ton VWVB w Diwn nwao 8<| D 
 
 inn 
 
 10 invw s 2 nm nait "vmmw Dn D "now v^y nnDi pyn m 
 pi D^ 14 *opn h* ,D\n^ isy^ ^n -JTT nan ioi na"pn 
 nn UTWD n pyn inn ,iaDm nwn in inowi , 15> p 
 nn ^Tnsty inw"i no -njw nn f nwa 
 
 So wi. i I. T. > aia t6i. 3 Ma > DTM . . . jvpm. 4 So 
 
 15 Ma nm. * Ar. p% imper. "compare". 6 Ar. nv. So TOJP. 
 
 7 So WI3 b. s Ma > ^3. 9 Ar. m KD ^KJ^I "and lie will procure 
 
 what is with Him". o Ma n^oan So + In. " Br > 1101. So 
 
 + (Mi oa) 'nn rriwoi. 13 Ma nj?iBr2. i* Thus Ar. Br Ma So npn. 
 
 is Mss. edd. DPI K|?K DBn. Mas. edd. nowm or rm-wn. " Mi 
 
 20
 
 piB o-'pia njustf 28 
 
 2 nimnBn nnon wy n^? D^ pi ,irow 103 jnn n^yo 
 3 iionpntp 103 To 
 pimi Kin n33 noK 133 
 ,6)310 )ono m^an nityo^i nnon 
 K^> naya )n "IOK ,snain nna m 
 
 cno 
 
 s 5 nK nnno ntyK >v /aanipn ^ owoKn K? )r on IK TDK 
 Kin rry "iKem to m , s niK Dn^^p K^ IK ^y , 13 nnno 'oa 10 
 Kim nnan "ni^yoe n^yeo 15 nipn ]o THK ns^ 
 ;wi onion *o iyoty non niitm ns 1 ? nw 
 ) s ty oipon ^KT S my ^ oyo imaa DTK 
 Do on Wn Kin Kinn ^n "pa ma 
 
 mn n^iyn "nn^n ^>K nnn y^nb D^JJB vm 22 ono^ 21 vn nmoi 15 
 ,i:iK3tr IOD ,jnn ni^iyso Kim oyan 24 i^y 
 nnno \*W* nex ^ '^ Bin nuDno njn 
 ^o ny vto\ 2'D^ao ay we mn K^ Kim , 
 nrwi nmia naapn n s iK ny 
 
 y* IK TDKV no hy\ ,n s oDnn **raw 103 nia 2 o 
 32 mo nimns i*? )^K 31 n"y 
 
 i Mi VUBD. 2 Ma nwn&n. 3 So 
 
 AT. yp3 ]KD3W p" 1 ] 12 V n "since necessarily man has vices". 
 
 KS&V Br on marg. later hand. plO ]01tO = Ar. nfi; So ]31D pa Mi 
 
 7 Mi nsoa. 8 ^>p ^^^ n"B vo nps '33^ ana e "as 35 
 to the books of the prophets they say much in them concerning this". 
 9 I. T. -f rtinn DV vas^oai. o Ar. noi. " Ma + owaan. " So 
 
 > -O3. 13 I. T. 4- narws naa ^ n. >* Ar. naini nbo in; So wen i!?3 nt 
 V1B1. Ar, dual. t Ar. ^iB^8 p H^B p. Br Ma > r6t> So ntoD^. 
 
 " on l^p p^p^ = Ar. rrV nbb npj, "God blamed him". Cf. infra, c. VIII, 30 
 p. 49, n. 29, and p. 55, n. 10. is Ma DM. p3 = Ar. pn 'B 
 
 "with regard to", Friedlaender, Selections, p. 113, note to p. 51, line 3. 
 So inn isr-to for inn s n pa. 20 So vninantsi vm^j?Bia. ' So 
 
 > vn rna-roi. 22 Ar. 'a nnp "imitate". " Ma mr g . nn^>sn. 
 
 2* Ma > vto. So 13. >s Ma + 13. > Ar. '3, Mss. edd. 'B. 27 Ar. 35 
 DKW "laymen, common people". 28 on!? n^SB *6 ] ^1 "and those who 
 did not possess virtues". 29 So invottf. 30 Ma Mi NB. 31 Br 
 
 3 Ar. pbb n!?n-> rrt p in D. So rtv. 33 Ma So
 
 27 T p^B Q'pns 
 
 nspn p pwn 2 p VJKI ,nian Mian ijpani nnyn won 
 3 lion -nan *6 /w irvny n roam rrain new nanan an V'n ;nnn 
 /jraoNn TYIS *nKaw p DJ nanan an men? ny /w 
 lea ,Dnann K ty *pmnV ^man pao 
 p IDW ne ^y 
 
 3 ]w ,ni^yan p 
 
 nanp rrrp "n^vn ^1 nwipnn ^jn snip^n p 
 p KJPI ^nn nspn ^ jrm jn s X s ? im 
 Vsi inr ^a s nvty K^ 13 iai pyn ma 
 10 DSV ^y ts^apen nina nan omi y^nn pnsja anv ^ai 
 "n^K ai ,jiB6n ma DBT n ,nmo pya nwy^ ny D^nii 
 IDIK nnK K^K is.Tnnn 17> ]^ mofctt? "HD 7^ K^ prer ^n 
 nwa 2 irot TK v^vn 19 Kin nn ,tnnK nnan 
 
 jpnon 
 
 15 m^yan ^K pa^ 7*017 plan ma vnyiarc no ^ao aiiKann mn 
 nKisnn ns by vb* ^rmspn p nsp ^K JHD 
 
 y ptnnn!? 
 
 vrbn 2<riaK iaty yrwai ,n^ana npm 
 20 is ,inn 25 nan msw ny i 
 Ten wne "nan? 27 ^ 71* 2 enn nnn p , 
 
 no ^ai ; DV DV wei niian pna^i vn^iya ^p 
 nynn miann n-^ K^I nKWia nn s mpn p 
 
 > Ma nmni Br rim. a So ^. 3 Br Ma nwn So "is 
 
 25 B-K. 4 So lttni. s Ma lb3.. * Ma 11D. ' Ma 
 
 4- "ioi. s Br So to; Ma mpix. 9 So wp5n toi menpnn hv. 
 
 10 Ma pwr ^jn. Ma nn nwo Mi mwo. 12 Ma insn. 
 
 * Ma > in. * Ma Kin. Ar. na "like the appearance 
 
 of, similar to, a sort of". Ma p. ia Some edd. 'fi*i. 1 6 Ma So naa. 
 
 30 IT Ma So > ih. is Ma So mm. is So > m. 20 Br So irottf. 
 
 21 Br So + "ft. 22 Ar. dual. ss ^> T95r == Ar. ^ inrr. 
 
 24 Ar. ntsoi UJ?K p == isii naD. S5 Ma -OK&. 26 obwn mn = 
 
 Ar. ^DD^> ]KD3N^. "Wo., der Mensch, wie er sein soil. In support of this 
 
 translation, Wolff (p. 29, n. 1) says, So ist hier wohl sinngemaJS ^^^ zu 
 
 35 nehmen; "vollkommen" ware unpassend, da "Vollkommenheit" (im Denken 
 
 und Handeln) ja erst erstrebt werden soil". But Munk, Guide, I, 77 )D3 
 
 beD = homme parfait. " Ma > ^. " Ar. "Hi !?3B "as soon 
 
 as he sees". 29 Ma nwp.
 
 pis D s piB nutstp 26 
 
 nn&no ini awiyt? no ansny w^ &w ,ana DM ^ nano 
 i7w ID , train rv\roh i\chn TTT ty ^ arwviKan piBBi 
 nvw ww pnsn nta 2 inNat? no <sa ayo insn nsn ^ 
 no matt ^> minnt? Kim ,"wa TOO 8 ono niyta int ,p 
 
 na Vi na*an nt ^BD ? rvmsv no nnns ^i ITIDKBP 5 
 teen iiotw f *fcnnn *w ^ "inv nnn nsn p 
 noi nahpn by nnnwm ,nmon n 
 on ~^K ^ s D^^ nnmo ny nt b 
 103 ara imyioi ^awon oyo^ "wnnin S ODH nw m ta njn 
 nwnn an nspo "pninn^ an inra Dio ^ia 12 nti ,pinioa 10 
 ny tsyo ninn rwsvi mj^n TS ? ywon p nj6i ^ni pnn 
 :nnvnn nii^n i^nwaaa "pmnw 
 ,nnam ,&p^m ,nnyen 15 ni^nio mina no to pi 
 anp D nt ,nno n-nptm ,^aw ^anaBf pi , 16 rMiyni ^nsm 
 2 <>pnn n^ain rwpo pn~bv TV "^ ai p*uvo 15 
 
 nina 2 4nia"ioi nnoo pty DD oson nisen an 
 aipn ^> nowa Bin r6iai , 25 nTtDim ,no s pin ITIBK 102 
 pi ,nm Byan na vfcrvv TV ,Bpn apn ,airvn airv ,n*^ 
 n-nm ,aipn nan? iso pi ,ni^an mian TiBnt? nv ,aa^n 20 
 
 naa ;w |pt 
 
 Dessau, 1809; Groningen, 1845; Lemberg, 1876, have nJ5K2, with note 
 endeavoring to explain the passage. 
 
 i Ar. bns = inv owa. 2 Br > no. So u-oi. Ma WSJB ww. 
 * Ar. iTiH^K nni ^P "by means of the practice of good works and prayers". 25 
 5 So o^awan. 6 Ma mbwsn. ' 7nn msi = Ar. ij^sw "trouble, 
 
 fuss, ceremony". Ma -p!ttn ntil. 6 Thus Ar.; Mss. nK TOVO or 
 
 WK nwro. Mi n roiroa. Edd. nwipi nwx (or rains) nuiro 7ns. 
 >o Thus Ar.; Mss. and edd. nttjn. " lyniin ^tsan = Ar. 33^; Ma 
 
 So 'in. 1J Br Ma m. " ( D pninn!? own inw = Ar. nsis 30 
 
 ^K "God prescribed it in order that we should go away from". 
 Ma > tam. WW (Ma) == rtSlB Br So liW. "We expect prnnitf instead of 
 * ptnm aar^nnw n = Ar. rarir. "nn So a^nnnv Mi rrnra. 
 
 Edd. wnaa. Mi nMw BIBI. Mi mWw. r a anp = Ar. 
 
 anp. Edd. |nna. i Ma na^. 19 Ma pmw. 20 So pwi. 35 
 
 Thus Ma. Br So rrap^, see supra, n. 17. 22 Ma naiann. 23 Br ]ha. 
 
 m^iiei mnfi^b |rw = Ar. m*n np. See st*pm, n. 4. 25 rrvwm 
 
 Ar. DHpnwbH. s Br lain ^ae. So ^aa.
 
 25 T pis O'pns naie 
 
 no ^a s ,2rpyDn 
 Troop no 
 
 ronis6 
 
 nana 
 no nntw ,wa 
 
 nto rrvnrm ,IBU niyn? *i sTosm Tyan pat? *i ,nnnai 
 5 now ,a>wn ty N&n TBWD 12 vty TBSI Tm HTD ^nbapa Nap no 
 
 IDS 
 
 :noai nea firm 
 
 no 
 
 n 
 
 10 
 
 nt ^n^y itya inn ^onn tyina naan 
 own na a^aty nt T^^ai ^ona TIDDI anos 
 27 p nn ,o^nwn nni n^ain nn 
 15 -iBK 1 ? mas noK na 
 na p 
 
 ni nowm D^aito o^jno^i 
 
 20 vbvn nvT nna I^K nnon mtyo nn 
 
 nn 3 ono{y jrn 
 ,^in pnsa 
 
 i Ar. KT3& "by nature". 2 So mttOMn Ma wtJn. ib nwtsw no 
 = Ar. n^ NO. * Ma > ^irca hvt^h . . . nnwi. So mvnoa. 6 a of 
 
 25 WTO = "practising" or "seeking". nilfiNI == Ar. *)K5NbM "and justice". 
 Ma naiDKa So rui&Nai. 7 Ar. |ina^K "caves". s So -vvm itssn. 
 
 Ar. ransn DD^K 'pW ] ^1 "and that he should not reduce his body to 
 destitution nor torture it". K> Ar. ^pi^N tOKi 02 "according to that 
 
 which tradition brings to us". " Mi 1BK1. 12 I. T. > ]ron. 
 
 30 13 I- T. + !?". So V'n. Br > "01. 4 Br Ma > rn. So b for to. 
 
 So 4- n-iBD -pi*. '6 Br " ntn Ma 'D no So nt noi. Ma Mi 
 
 nani. is lymin osm = Ar. anjn nini "and those who handed down 
 our Law". Mi vn. 'o Mi ^y. 21 Ma 2nn. " Mss. 
 
 and edd. cb\B but Ar. n^ 'B = nam "a year". Error goes back evi- 
 
 35 dently to I. T., who must have read D!?P "Q or D^JJ^>K S B = D^M. J3 So 
 
 > i^j). 2* Mi u6. " So 'aan iiT-otb -no im. 26 Mi '3. 
 " Mi ^^ inw. 2* iwra = Ar. bnnVa = rather, 'IIBD. " Ma 
 
 > nitox. so Ar. noun ]. Ar. bbo^i; Wa = "people, nations". 
 Ma maiOK3. Edd. Basel, 1804, and Slutcki have correct reading. Edd.
 
 n piB D"pn& naiot? 24 
 
 vna p i ,ia*naya Drrnno IDBHO nns^ ny 
 
 ,iT'y rPBV 4^MH 31BNDD JH BIN B 
 
 n rh* wy a^Tanrw 'a^aan iNn "IP*OI ,an:na rmy 
 ,8amaa vim aatwia antot unai maia ant? ian ,nw^iD ijn^ 5 
 
 moi n^yo DOSV^ wp orw 
 12 rani *jun ww nn ^to , 11 DB6 mn 
 
 n^iycn I^MBP ^T ^ nm , 
 
 DO m nnaii nin ipt?nt? n^Bnn o s ^a 10 
 23^^^ ,^ 2 22^iiepDi , 21 nwnp^p tj 
 won p wteii n^no weinai pn one ipoei 
 
 anw nnp^ ^nnni ,na ww 
 ^in nn i^ p ,pso ^a n^n 
 
 :w^"on hy nis"in anp^a pso ?a nwcan is 
 V><1 nnin , 31 n^ii s rr^y Tyn loa iini aonD^on nonsnn mwn nn 
 f nre nan mai ^sb , S HB naono niai VI<| nny , 
 
 , ^ 
 
 Ar. ]i nn?Kj>B rrni 
 
 DnpS2 "lD& iTB ]WpW Ofi Dnmw "when they saw that by associating 
 with them and witnessing their deeds they might become perverted, and 
 that by having social intercourse with them they feared their morals might 20 
 become corrupt". 2 Br So or6. s Ma > jn; 108153 for 1DK&3. 
 
 * So > train. Mi nanm * Mss. edd. + nnan . . . aww. So 
 o^oan. I. T. > Ar. 7^ = r6n. 8 I. T. > Ar. KiVs;ii = i^nnm. 
 
 So row nro Ma naie. 10 Ma + nan. Ma own b. 2 Ma 
 So rram na^ = Ar. ns!?ni na^n "its perdition and destruction". 25 
 
 i* Br So vi. Ma DM '3. 16 So nwenn. " Edd. D'MBnnfi. Br > 
 So D^Mipin D S OD. so Br biBin on So Ma town onw. 
 
 Ma n-norpibip So rwip^p. Ma M^fipom So nM^BpMi. Ma 
 * Ma la^M Min lasm. 2 M. mentions three purgatives, 
 
 Dn "juice of the colocynth, scammony, and aloe". 30 
 He mentions colocynth and scammony in a letter; see Ker. Hem., Ill, 
 p. 16. Of. Mittot ha-ffiggayon, C. VIII (ed. Slucki, p. 41): 
 \Vfth M^lfipMn. See Ro., p. 88, n. 3; "Wo., p. 23, n. 1. 26 n 
 
 mifii "a complete relief" = Ar. KD^'ay S^3 "by a wonderful salvation". 
 27 Br D'Vinn D'KB"i&. 28 p !?3 "so much the more" = Ar. -njM^Mi nnK^Mas 35 
 quanta magis. J 9 n^rr w . . . ^nnm "and if ... then". so Mi 
 
 Ar. nBi. Ma rn\ ** Ma vtn.
 
 23 npi 
 
 Kbi Ynv Kbi iamby iip^i nian^n mbiys 
 
 nerv 
 
 Kb baK , 4 ani}&>bi nib'sn nibiyB 3 nwyb miss IIBD 2 inKiit?a pi 
 Kin 7 ai&n t?nnn rm ,"iitsn byis *iniiaa man a^ys nib"on byis man 
 5 invi bp inr ma-nab nitfin p ami awt? Kim ,miai nKiBin 
 -inn rwonn ntmn viya aw pi ,i 
 by ^isai nt^i ,nno nuKnn tya awo 
 na>jnnn "nya by ^iBai^ nnv nKini 
 "HBB "inv ^miaab iDsy nTD aa^n "p by a^mi ,niKnn 
 
 nKiBi ma int , nbaia aie ab jm ib w ^B ^iiaanD 18 inv aabn 
 
 tvnan nnon 
 
 jon TIT by nann IK wn nsb eye B s tDia w IK ,nwa nysioan 
 15 rwivi myn nsb niTntn )a a^ii ww ba>a TTI ' 
 aii ,y 24 maaaa icsy nTao isb nniain 
 pi oyo nnn mbsty isb niiyn |oi aya aabn ai& 
 
 Di ana a^iK nspi "a^etn nspa an^ann 2 6om wy 
 20 "wa nb^K nnim ^onib^ba aipi , 29 auo 2 sinKn nspn IHK niwo p 
 
 nte nan wy Kb nnaifca nnianm 
 
 uni_n a icsj tjiit/ its i t/j jj uj iu iui t/jn < 
 
 Mi rrby. I. T. > Ar. MOOT = Ttsn. 2 Br Ma ntnaiw. 3 Ma by. 
 
 25 4 So nrttfo. s Ma > noi; wiawa for imiBO. 6 Ma m. 7 umnn 
 31tn = Ar. HroJ^K. Lane, "a nice, subtile saying"; Wo. eine feine Be- 
 merkung, eine Subtilitat. BTnn, "a novel interpretation or idea". "The Win 
 = novelty, was some new thought on religious topics, or some ingenious 
 explanation of a Biblical difficulty", Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle 
 
 30 Ages, p. 132, n. 5. 8 Ar. yilNp = icdvw, Dozy, regie, reglement. 9 Br 
 So y\mt tnni Ma aittrwa rm. 10 So + 21^. i Ma np. 1J So 
 mwnn. ts Ma > n6w&. >* So naso^. i Ma > neo inv. 
 
 Ma iDia !? ymi. " Mi niaaon ntsa. Ma > inv. > Mi 
 y. o Ma niwsja. i Mi niian. 22 Ma m'Btfl. 23 Ma 
 
 35 p pi nwann niwi'in. 2* Ma nysob DBS So niasoa IBI Mi nasoa wsa. 
 
 25 So + nra. 26 Ma ww. 27 So -f- niBipen nvpi. " Br So 
 innn. 29 Ma So DIM. 3 Ma nWa Dipai. So -f "> n n rnirr) 
 
 IWK nwj>? n^T. " Ma > n w rnyi. Ma ] w m So p s . 3Z So 1121301. 
 
 So > 13131W 1B3. s Ar. n8DB^1 "and the corruption of. 35 Ma D.
 
 pis D'pns nai 22 
 
 p a: DEW niyan p pan m tyi ,mn KT iwto inn vw 
 nn 
 
 jrn 5 
 m^ytn ^IB 
 nnn niyen vn DI 
 
 am 
 iT im /MMWI piss "inaity 102 ,]non ^>yi ^ ,n^D ^n iriy 
 
 , 16 isn ^ii vanp "inao S SD iniiBpD ni^vs p5D 161 10 
 IBS ^snnana w "niTnia vrw WBI ,WJIBB ann 
 2 "p-n 
 
 ^B^^ p ia^T p^Di zsnwn^ai ,wn ? 
 
 p ,nv ^ inrBjr^ nB 2 *i^ nwj6 15 
 
 jnn niyBB inr *w visni Bin nvn^nso nwnB mi 
 
 wi ^ ,^inn m niBi^ -' mnayai ^pifin nn 
 nwn jwin nma ainn v^>y 2 9i2aty s e B^ 2 8 s 
 ^B^I ,ays SO^K Dj?5 IB^ in^itr ^ns fci ,vbn innn s 20 
 ,m^D^> ns^non mnn WBAB iiaw ny n 
 32 rn^ys IIBB p^ai mi ^iiitsn naian 
 
 Br So rwu. > Mi -nts. 3 Ma > aaVn 3i p-vn. * Ma 
 
 marg. -p^j m M f or m^. s g w 3 ^. Ma > 0^3. ' AT. 
 
 9& 
 
 ma = ntn man to. So -J- ^>. Br BJ^. o So 25 
 11 Ma + ma. So ^Jim Mi ^iiDl corrected to ^iini. 2 Ma 
 Mi -j- ono. '3 Mi > iri. So + one. Mi mwg- rion wi vn DI n^jfi 
 nn. * Ma + n^nna. Br manaa. i Ma nnp. isn s aw 
 = Ar. in^ai. Mi ran vwaw, but corrected. Mi rovnns. s Mi 
 
 nnoinfi. i Ma im. " So 7113. 2 Ma s>i. -nwai 30 
 
 naas = Ar. ntaKpas. 13 Ma nan^wsi So nwer3i. " ih nwsb aia^ 
 = Ar. nn^apa s to aa*"rt "and we have recourse to its opposite". J5 Ma 
 rwn. as Mi nom. v isa ia inn^ = Ar. nosa *hy na nnp* "be- 
 
 cause of which he gives bare sustenance to his soul". 28 Mi 103. 
 
 " Ma oa'ff. so Br nnK. 3t Thus Ma, paraphrasing the Ar. 35 
 
 NruiKp 11 w In3b nM nV ^$nn ^ n3l "until he almost assumes the 
 disposition of prodigality or approaches it". 31 n^1J>B . . . <W = Ar. 
 
 n: ps-ia raw. Br So nfcwea IT bo 11 mi Ma w^wane p^no' KI Mi 
 
 IT
 
 21 n pis D^ 
 
 nsn IVKP ^a Kim ni n&n Kin baan ,^sen Kim ]vn IK pu m 
 nspn Kim ,pa K^I rni& K!?I jnon ia 2 v naa ib'BK nana DIK ' 
 
 DK I^BKI ,aita a^a nnawn d'nain mnyv Kin aa^n 2113 pirn ,pnnKn 
 
 nspn 'Kini ,nan& 6 noan IK an mio IK 5 jm IK bni pa 
 5 jraiaa sa^B nm ,nm nnn nty^nn myni oyan p 
 
 Kin D^B wy\ t rxra an 
 pi , 16 p 
 
 10 nirepn 2onn i2tyn s i /snivsn 12 m s^a i^ D^J?B mini 
 
 nspn latyn- 1 zinnspc ,Bin ni^VDo ntyai nib 
 onoion inp s i ,n^v niiao^ mean 
 'i men n 
 
 is vw 27 u>Bin runs by ino s i aie vw frown nspn 
 
 i Mi > s tt. 2 Mi + 1^. 3 Mi 
 
 * Ma ona. Ma > ]ina. B Mi 
 
 7 Mi Kint. s See p. 20 n. 2. 9 Mi ntfiani. o Mi -f- "h. 
 
 20 11 Mi D^K Kin itsnatf. " Mi DifiKDD. Br ^'lan Mi 
 
 14 Mi ]Brian. is Mi > pj> p!?. 16 The gloss p n^nmo nt^i 
 is not found in Ma. The use of the first person in the last phrase seems 
 to show, however, that it originated with I. T. i7 mana ... pi = Ar. 
 nfcmn -OKKjns ^>K naKa KIK nSns Kn^ niiio KDDK ^K JKnnn K^I n^o i^iai 
 
 25 HfiinBts. Cod 327 (Parma) has the correct reading. The word K^, necessary 
 according to Ar. and the sense of passage, is missing in all Mss., more 
 than thirty of which were examined, except in cod. 327 (Parma). Ma codd. 
 71 269 1212 Harl. 5686 (Br. Mus.) have 1^K or n^K, cod. (Parma) 438 
 miti l!?K, which probably go back to an original K^. Rosin (Ethik, p. 81, 
 
 30 n. 4) properly suggests the reading K^. Br Mi codd. (Parma) 802 959 
 1246: (Mi vrw) v,Ttw nissona onb DTUIO mnB6 D^B hi hv irntw nnaniKtfpi 
 ai D^CSBI (Mi niana) nain awaits D^"3n. nisaon or noaona is found in Br Mi 
 codd. 46 802 959 1161 1246 1262 etc. Correct reading mana (Ar. rhr) in 
 Ma Mi codd. 71 269 327 438 1212 Harl. 5686. is Mi B. i Mi 
 
 35 nnon. 20 Mi IHK. 21 Ma So D-WBI. 22 nmcb . . . n^ana == 
 
 Ar. n^Knis^K ^ DipbKi iinn^K nw 'B. 23 Ma > itssy . . . maao^. 2* Ar. 
 nDBJa. 25 Ma ^VW. 26 So + Vhv. 27 \y^n nins "coward" for Ar. 
 DBi^K yn&^K, but rather "the apathetic, or phlegmatic in spirit", as above, 
 
 h'jKn&^Ki = tiai nain wmn mm. 23 Ma Vsr. 29 Ma ntwin 
 
 40
 
 n pnB D'p-iB mi& 20 
 
 narw p yjntjo mpsnonm ,nnn rotean mwn p nysiaa 
 IB jvwi ntean p 
 
 ia D'xm nai D\MJ> BHB^ T 
 baa *inxjn lao&ai ism DIN ^ab a'er6 iruua !?a "a amp aits 
 
 nDN1B!?Nl Hj>N^N p "and wit is the mean between buffoonery and clownish- 5 
 ness", evidently going back to the Aristotelian mean e&rpsnre\la "wit, liveli- 
 ness", and the extremes /Jw/xoXox^a "buffoonery, ribaldry", and iypouda. "boor- 
 ishness, coarseness" (Eth. Nic. II. 7); Poc. Urbanitas inter scurrilitatem 
 et rusticitatem. See Ro., p. 80. n. 3. blD^D "loftiness, distinction" ; Prov. 
 IV. 8, n^D "esteem highly, prize her" (Toy); Yer. Bikkurim, I, 64 a D^nai 10 
 pxa ho WO; Kiddushin 78 b , Bekorot 30 b ps3 !?1D^D D'ina D-'ima, "the 
 priests guarded their dignity 11 . 
 
 I. T.'s rendering of the Ar. "and dignity is the mean between haughti- 
 ness and loutishness" is not exact. A number of Mss. have an explanatory 
 gloss, not by I T., but neither is this in accord with the Ar. Br So Mi 15 
 codd. (Parma) 46 378 802 959 1161 1246 1262 + Kin ^tf>D (Mi "B1) "B 
 Mi u-w) WK (802 959 1262 1161 1246 Mi itna) iton naanDtf (1262 Kin *ti) v 
 1262 wwannn) nuwinn, (46 1262 + nwa) (Mi ira) 0^1212 bainia (46 1262, 
 iV ^iK-in ]t3 inv (46 1262 om. Mi mn) DIN laarPBO in (Mi niKmnm 802 
 nm tr Q-'iiin ^nte n^o (46 nw m) on rwmr im niT ntaam 20 
 nain nwns. Harl. 5686 omits this gloss, but after roNBttnnn has 
 
 Br Mi codd. 46 802 959 1161 1246 1262 etc., have an additional virtue 
 man pi ninispm iin&pn p jraion nmni, and have also an explanatory 
 gloss: 802 1161 tnViB 1262 trs^ifi Br n^iD) n'^ia 6a pip^ no x>aun niaia Vn 25 
 Him lite ipi vrae nn'aab nwts ^ai (Mi man) nan ^a in a Kim (959 tr6&iK 
 im mm (Mi wao) o^ats nrrna Ka' iintspn nwa. rnVie is the old Spanish 
 mollidura, Lat. mollitudo "tenderness, softness". Some Mss. have the 
 additional virtue nmm, but not the gloss. Rosin (p. 31, n. 2, and p. 80, 
 n. 4) is of the opinion that I. T. translated here from an Arabic text 30 
 which differed from the Pococke text. He attributes the virtue JVUm, 
 which is not in the Pococke text, to I. T., but not the explanatory gloss. 
 Since, however, there are a number of reliable Mss. (among them Ma codd. 
 (Parma) 327 71 438 269) which do not contain this virtue, it may be concluded 
 that it was added to the I. T. version, and that I. T. did not have before 35 
 him a text varying from that of Pococke. See supra, Introduction, p. 23. 
 
 1 Mi nfcwm .. ni3J?m misplaced after ]lPKin mipn mt nailtt IDBn, p. 21, line 4. 
 
 2 According to Ar., aa^ 31B . . . a^ aitsi should come before nipBDOnm. 
 The virtue aS aiB is entirely missing from Br codd. (Parma) 46 1161 1246 
 1262. The gloss ]lKin . . . n^xn nno 1 ? ]W ^BBI is found in all Mss. that 40 
 have aa"? aiD, as Ma Harl. 5686 (Brit. Mus.) codd. (Parma) 71 269 327 438 
 802 (on marg. by same hand) 959, also in So Mi from which it may be 
 concluded that it originated with I. T. 3 Mi nnoa. Ma liOOl W5W1. 
 Mi
 
 rmxp TO pa ayjnean awwi n^ynn on 2 D t| ^en 
 nwan p njmm ,jnan *;vawn ,nteoin jno nnn , 
 ,mon srnnKni rrvrv JHD nnn ,mjn r.wan TO pa a 
 ma NTO nnvnn ia teem ,ann n^iysn la^nrp nton nwann 
 \T niTntni ,ninn niin myn pi nwnn an 
 moo a^nn 11 BEM ^nittni 
 nspn in nwnn an 
 
 jn arrii ,)nnn nspn i 
 
 10 naiann s m ^'Wiinn nyni ,mwn naonn ^ni ,mnn an 
 :nnon "wwnea "wwne IJT ]iTnB , 
 HTDDH pa nysifi iTiiaam ,n^ Bn ^ ni^an pa VSIDO nianin pi 
 pai rwiwnnn )^a ysio "^a^am ,aa^n 71 pai 
 
 i So nwBin ^n nmsna. Cf. Ro. p. 79, n. 1. So n'lia. 3 i. 
 15 > Ar. twnsa = nn\ * Mi p. Ma + wn. * Ma ona 
 
 6 Edd. + nnn. t pp "an acquired quality" = Ar. rebo "custom, 
 
 habit". s Ma edd. mm. Ma So ntonn iin Br mm 
 
 o Edd. waitan for mi. Mi nuorn. " nvion , . . niTntni = Ar. 
 
 TP^'D ii^B vi risatb Kr\w nt!?n s n^ DBi^> p n\n!?i nKT3b 'TWBK p \T "and 
 
 20 abstinence belongs to the good deeds, and the psychic condition from which 
 
 abstinence necessarily flows is a moral virtue". Ma nno mbyfi KVT. 
 
 So vxvi. 13 Ma nwinn. So t?m. " So TOTHB. Br 
 
 nvninBD Ma rWVlBtt. Mss. and edd. depart from the Ar. from ^ID^Dni 
 p JS1D to rrom D s i21t5 (see i/ra, p. 21, line 9), each Ms. having one or 
 
 25 more glosses, only one or two of which originated with I. T. Edd. acces- 
 sible to editor (Wien 1798, Basel 1804, Dessau 1809, Groningen 1845, Lem- 
 berg 1876, see Introduction, pp. 31 32) except ed. Slucki, contain no glosses, 
 and omit the phrase ITDm D'Jmo . . . tt1B2r t6. Ma codd. (Parma) 71 261 
 269 327 438 1212, etc. mention only seven virtues (Ar. has eight) besides 
 
 30 nwnin, omitting the virtues toote and nm. Br codd. (Parma) 46 1161 1246 
 1262 omit ^ 21B1, but add. nmm. Mi codd. (Parma) 802 959 edd. have nine 
 virtues: ntrai ,ro^>2W ,& asi ,mpBnonni ,nuni ,nnjm ^ID^D.TI ,mi3im , 
 
 ai . . . tooteni = Ar. ooine 
 b*
 
 a pit D- 
 p ,jna awato men -nna^ men BWBU 
 
 18 
 
 rojnn p a win nwsan wsn 2 nn TOK lamm iwv ar6 "ps 
 na WBT TON iDtea anw INBYI ,ma ]w pa n^rr TK ann 
 
 pisa ITOW i Bin nna 
 
 jpso *6a 
 
 "minn ana maw arwiwan nn 
 S wn V'i ;w T^K s a^ nn 
 nan a^aia DJW ^ ] ,as 
 
 am 
 
 nai 
 
 nn 
 
 anwa 
 naa 
 
 msoo 
 im was mn^ 10 
 nann 
 
 is 
 
 Ma DB3n. J So nrw. a Ma nwnn. * So nsN^oa. Ar. 
 Ma . So maw. 6 Mi anxi\ ' nbinn . . . omnN = Ar. 
 
 . . . omnK. Ma 
 Br HOT. ' Ma ^ov. 20 
 
 13 Thus Ma 
 
 for 
 
 s Mi 
 10 Mi nmro |na 
 
 Ar. 
 
 DHBS1B. Br DDHH 
 
 oann 
 
 n 11 ?? no So 'ts n"n new "Qta Mi n mwn v>y oann 
 iTto HP"n no -ima. Vocalized edd. na^a construed with D' 
 So n*yh. s So nann. 16 Ma nan. Mi > -pin 
 is Mi > IBP . . . nea. i So > n^nn. So 
 
 nro. Br > 
 
 edd. 
 ' Ma 
 
 in 
 
 So + 25
 
 p , 
 i 
 an 
 
 15 
 
 vb 
 
 na IBT nivin nnon 
 
 nnp!? 
 
 rnna *)U? BW 103 rn nwia 
 jna nt?ynt? *roaian rrp^n n^am nnaian rrnnt? 
 niiaro nnaian rrnnt? wn ntom , niton sni^ysrn nman TBJI 
 "WB ,niiUDn ntojHjm 10 rojnn Tn jna rwynv waian rrp^n 
 5 nifiin ^vw ICDI ,v^y "iipnn mwenn 12 nD^o i^m jun-ni^"Q 
 no i48innB^ ,10 "wrwpwa vw non ^nm^in nosn*? IDT 
 nanni onwn pmm , 
 
 10 
 
 moai 
 
 HBB 
 
 i So ^ina. 2 Br So v ^, Ar. osaW iiDnpt* 1 ?** ^>p. 3 Br > iea 
 
 , , . "him; Ma er ID = wv 102. Mi warn B Mi naian. So 
 inn. 7 now = Ar. njoon^M nn^. Ma nAwan i. Br 
 
 Mi Tnn. 10 nwin = Ar. rwcbin nn^K. " So nafim. l Mi 
 
 20 n3^tt3. 3 Br nrrrwjnn. 1* Ma > tow. 18 So and edd. in n3 
 no inw pwD tnrw nea^ pno mnw 10. > Ma iKiro So nnwa Mi *pwa 
 
 Mi nrg. attempts to correct. " Ma ni!?. Ma ^3 D^na^. 
 
 i Ma 1J?S. 20 Ar. annbl dn&bw ^Btt^K "mud, coal, and dust". 21 Ar 
 flS1BJ>b; Br DVBPn; edd. Basel, Dessau, Groningen, Slucki, Lemberg have 
 
 25 variant D'EflBsn. See ed. Slucki, p. 6a, n. 36; and Mil. ha-Hig., ed. 
 Slucki, c. VIII, p. 41. So > n0. 23 Ar. Y1B61. Br So in 
 
 mni. 24 Thus Br cod. 73 (see Ro., p. 30, n. 4, and p. 77, n. 8) = 
 
 Ar. ntCNiVN "aims, purposes, utmost limits". So nuVfinS Ma ni^Bn/i. Edd. 
 + nun n^WB or nun. 25 Mi "a'*, edd. -f o'iBun. J 6 Br > an. 
 
 30 So H- n^n -jsna mm. 27 Ma o-'nan. 28 So 
 b
 
 a pis D'pns ruie 16 
 
 t nra *om w 6 n non m nn m 
 
 n 'p^rn ^ 
 
 5 
 
 nn ] s w ,TV neTo m w woi ^osi w 12 iy a IK 
 nn 16 i"ot lysity no m 
 
 Ma nn\ Br en ntn\ mm = Ar. n^n^tn = nii^ao, in c. IV. 
 
 Ar. iw^n = nu, in c. IV. 3 Ma nvvwn. Ma 
 
 So naunan. 5 I. T. adds nJ1fi, and Poc. magnificentia. 1^3 ion!? 10 
 = Ar. rnn ^ ensrtK. Br So iVD. ' Ma p^n. s Ma So io\ 
 
 9 Ma So nto& ^. 10 im 1 ' ^j> ] wnw = Ar. neNpnoK by na na. Ma 
 -i^s So "i^u BTH. n So ite. nw ^ none in i = Ar. IN 
 
 nONpflDN ^9 nj in "or it (the imagination) is in good condition". Ar. in 
 refers to an antecedent rp!?5n "his imagination", and is not "he" as Poc. 15 
 translates. Of. Wo. p., 12, n. 2. So > 1^3. is Ma 
 
 IB So rato.
 
 16 a pis D'pis 
 
 mna nNt?a p ;w no 2 ?wn nya wy ^iBiom jm Vi ,intan 
 DJ nan ma 
 
 njn nno w a njn 
 ,nno way 
 
 ,nre&ni niYayn WJMD* 7 nnn 
 r snvte n^yrn nnan ni^yo ,DTD w nn 
 p^r6 wso s on 
 
 nyf nn "nnnpni nipvnn nnon njpr s ni noann 
 10 
 
 mno "wan nann i^V? wni niann aw ruiann mat 
 
 : "OTjaatp w i*? isn nan nr 8nvn s nBi , 17 anp 
 nta ty s i"in p'rnm ,na^> "iniynttn p^n^> IKSD^ nnon 
 15 2 oniTnta ,ne man p^nn nt n^ji ,"nivon pbrb && pn ^ S N pyn 
 
 reads K&mDp 1 bezwingen, but in the later one (p. 9, n. 2), on evidence of 
 Berlin Codex, reads as does Poc.'s corrected text. Scheyer (ibid., p. 103, 
 note) suggests M&mttp 1 leiten, and Rosin (p. 54, n. 4) Dyrurft lenken, instead 
 of DBJfloX but both revisions are untenable and unnecessary. Instead of 
 
 20 leiten (Scheyer, p. 103, line 1) and lenken (Ho., p. 54, line 15) it would be 
 well to read beschranken, or its equivalent. Wolff (p. 9, n. 2) finds fault with 
 I. T.'s translation DttPDb, but without ground. 'Vj? ixp=o shorten, curtail, 
 restrict or confine a thing to, which idea is expressed in DBJflo!?. 
 
 i Br > n^n. 2 So -f- nn^> mrrp&n r6wan. 3 Ar. HTTI "perplexity, 
 
 25 confusion, uncertainty". Cf. Ar. title of the Moreh VVKn^N rft!n. 4 Ma 
 
 > ]3 DX 5 Ar. rrnt *x-\ npn IK nos xn nNpnv anna "in so far as one 
 believes a false or a true article of faith (dogma)". See Kaufmann to 
 Ouzari, I, 13 (>>^3 >lX&\ V^); Holzer, Einleitung zu Chelek, p. 24, n. 5 
 (nxnxpTOK'jN \0 !?1S ^ = nuiDn ]D D-'lppa, Prinzipien der Dogmeri). 
 
 30 Ar. may \s nista bsy DD == map i mso mt?j> D, Scheyer, ife^d., p. 103, 
 note; Eo., p. 56, n. 1. Mss. and edd. > Hit??. I. T. did not translate *7bV. 
 ^ So nb>n. 8 So nr^3n. 9 So nin^ns Ma nrn^ns. 10 Br So 
 
 mbD. 11 Br Ma mpnini nmpn. 12 Ma U&B batsn. 13 Ar. 
 
 Nri ^srr. Br 133 N5MS3n. * Ma > 3B3. is Late Talmud edd. 
 
 35 njisnn mat. In c. VIII, the opposite is niunn pnni naann BI S I. " ini 
 
 wan^l = Ar. *vhx hv Din finw Kim. ^jA* t/*-*^- deviner, decouvrir 
 
 par voie de conjecture, Dozy. "Qin !?J? nittj?^ "to understand a thing"; cf. 
 Y. Shekalim, I, 45 d '21 to 'S1K !? llti^ 'jlD' 1 nns ]W "you cannot understand 
 the nature of" etc. " Ar. nii ynp = nx anp. is So 
 
 40 19 Ma D36n IK I^K ^ii^ nan nt So oasn IN I^>N -ma nton nan m. 20 
 Ma nwnn.
 
 plan 
 
 mjnm nnwn nn&n 
 
 rose* DI nnuin nra&m nwayrw 
 to fir D'p^nn 3< ot!Oi ,1:6 "niynen p^nm Bunen ptoin Kim 
 
 nrae PK nenen ptoi 
 tor ^ , 5 ^D wye 
 nnn Sn ,'nn n^iyso naye^ IK orwye hvnb 5 
 
 i Thus Br. = Ar. 'SN1>D '6 "concerning the disobediences of". Add. 27070 
 (Brit. Mus.) mm Br. nMg. Add. 27070 marg- Ma So Mi edd. T3. 
 "Wolff (AZDJ, 1902, p. 576) suggested that by changing the Ar. <SMMi to 
 S 3KB it would agree with the Hebrew ^JJD. This suggestion he himself, 
 however, gave up, since he found the reading 'XNJH3 in the Berlin Codex. 10 
 see Wo., p. 9, n. 1. As Wolff points out, S SJ>B fits the context, since the 
 chapter deals with transgressions. Rosin (Ethik, p. 54, n. 2), with Scheyer 
 (Das psychol. Syst. d. Maim.., p. 102, note), on the basis of the Ar., offers 
 rvnaw instead of ^vao. The reading w nM is to be preferred, however, as it 
 has Ms. substantiation. I. T. translated ^KVD now by TPQS and now by '10. 15 
 See chap. VIII (Wo. p. 31, line 22) rPSSB^M Hwt&ta 10K ]b = nwon ] s 3yB 
 nnajn, and (Wo. p. 31, line 24) frcy&taa mp nW ) = noa nitJ 11 nnt?, 
 Rosin (ibid.) is of the opinion that the word njJHW has fallen out of the 
 Ar. text after <XKa 'B, and suggests that the title should read: WOP3 
 '31 B3ii nina^ 1 nilSOl. Scheyer (ibid., p. 102*) suggests as the title ttTOSS 20 
 mn"nsni rtbv&n iHse 11 n!?nn n n p^nn WTM san mns. If a part of the 
 title has been lost, this happened before I. T. translated. * I. T. > Ar. 
 bl = r6nn (see preceding note, end), which Mss. and edd. omit. Ma has 1^ IK 
 after 13, but this is probably a variant of 12. 3 Mi ^BO. 4 Ar. NDiTB 
 = DiTMW. 5 Br Ma b!?3 . . . . ^KW = Ar. KOiT'B IKVON^KI *VCbh D^ n 25 
 
 nan has. Ma in^. So bhs nx3 bi nn-'iWD (Mi int6) into HTWI TOT ] s . 
 s Ma imjn. 7 Mss. and edd. nn n^WBfi DBj>Dl? = Ar. o ^>a ^s> KBmxp', 
 Poc. n^SB ^ S0nnp <1 , but in the Errata corrects to the proper reading 
 of which Rosin and Wolff were unaware. In his first edition (1863), Wolff
 
 13 pna D'piB 
 
 SN TB OKI >6 DK ainwj^ IPSK DM 
 
 5 , 
 
 10 
 
 HST TON njn 
 :njw 7"B 
 no TIJPBP m 
 
 na 
 
 rrnn 
 
 * 
 
 ^v 
 nra 
 
 nt 
 
 ITTttQ 
 
 So > vwj^ I-WT n na. 2 Ma > inw^> wan DK. 
 V 1Wj?^. Ma DM for T-M. * Ar. W ]K Ma npiW, 
 
 Ma So .Tp^ni. ' Br So jmn. 8 Br ViT. Br So + 
 15 nnpnD^K "readiness, ability, aptitude". 10 Ma 10K. 
 
 12 Ma mwn. 13 Ma mg. aie h . . . Vn. 
 
 Ar. ^pj>Si. Br ten TOi. Ma nisrp. So nwnni 
 
 s So I^BH 
 
 Ma > nnMH. 
 
 . Ar. 
 
 Ma So 
 
 > Br 
 
 edd. 
 
 See Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, pp. 444, n. 126, and 446, n. 129. 
 Scheyer (Psychol. Syst. d. Maim., p. 66*) suggests D^aiwn or 
 20 I. T. > Ar. Ti ^Dl, Wo. ttwd wie sie beschaffen sind. " Br 
 
 is Mi im nsna. w Ma marg. i,-n. 2 Ma > vn\
 
 pIB D'plB nJ10 12 
 
 way aw nan ^TW iyT Nbi ,^ B nena b ^ ,a,wn^ D-IK *aa 
 
 j lanart? iaa ,yaaa WIIK*BP 
 
 IK 3 nn "ir6 mn appiw ia -IPK nan Kin vnynan pVnni 
 , 5 iaaa nnnani wn n^pa *nitoyfin p KW nan ntai ,IHDKB' 
 ,miaam nnsni ,pnm oyani ,iaaa .'pmnni nn nan snvnai s 
 ,D*Btean anpan i^a nanni ,nitrm nanKm ^niaennni nnoKm 
 ^owy^aa ^i nann nrrp 1 ? ^ Tn naa , 9 )ian na'K to nman ^K ^ai 
 IK "naann^ abn nai ,mnn ty ) s vn nai ,na^nn ^y ^ann nai 
 n6 o^a "DiTninai on onnoam n^Kian *)ian na^K n{y pi ,KT^ 
 
 tTnynen nan 10 
 
 ,^a^ n iK m^ Ksan nan Ki 
 p nam naiaen p ^na^ iai ,meann 
 
 /avy pai /ya "pa ni^iysn 
 yr ia ntyK Kin wyni /ana iaaai 
 
 f ify p na ^y 15 
 ona^ ia *MK nan Kin 
 nan Kin 
 
 i Ma m ^3. 2 Ma n pin\ So \1D3M ppvw u. 3 Ma Mi nnt. 
 
 Ar. B nV "to something". * Ar. ^PBb p TW nipb rnn pi "from 
 
 this faculty result the (following) actions". Br 1"2\ So ^> for p. Mi 20 
 s 1100 . . npa = Ar. nn^Ki 2bbV. So nn^-ai Mi mar - 
 
 ' Br pnirn i. Ma maonii. )wn . . . ^31 = Ar. 
 
 KSJ>K SJ^Oi *1p^8 rnn ril^NI "and the instruments of these faculties are 
 all the limbs of the body". Br *yiin *13'M (a superlinear) ^33 WrOH 1^8 ^31 
 So jun H i3 bs nsn nt ^31; Ma *pan ^2 ^3 nsn mnsn I^K nt ^31 combines 25 
 the two readings. Wo., p. 90, note to line 5 from bottom, emends Ar. Mpbtf 
 to sing. nip^W, but Br and Ma point to the pluraL Wo.'s emended reading 
 agrees with So. The word niro "powers" is used here by M. possibly 
 instead of m^1J>D "actions", the meaning he wishes to convey being that 
 the limbs of the whole body are the instruments of the actions of the 30 
 psychic qualities just mentioned. 
 
 o Ma So 13T for I3in. TTO\IJ . . by = Ar. &3^H rfhy. ll Ma Mirk. 
 
 12 So in&n ran rvrab. ^ Mi m r s- + obis edd. D'-Vs 0^3. 
 
 i* Ma So H31, Ma So W^nnn, s ^no partitive, "some". 
 
 17 ruffno n3K^o= Ar.^no. 35 
 
 vto ]n no to = Ar. T'to --n no 'to "as they really are". Cf. HUb., 
 p. 421. Br. >3 for to. 
 
 19 Ar. pt6tDK3 "general or absolute acceptance of a word". J o Ar. 
 
 "inp- 1 pass. So no^ Ma mn TID!?\ 21 Ma > nnjis. 22 Br mon^oni. 
 " So new 1313 mn tonar 13 n nan Kin. 40
 
 11 
 
 K pis D'piB 
 
 nni T&n 
 
 anc HOT 2 n*na inn nfca 
 nt arep 
 
 nra 
 
 5 , 9 nunn ,s)inn w mooiiBen rwonn 'ronan wao t^an&n 
 Vaa 
 
 i aien 
 
 nnsp te onsp 
 
 10 
 
 2 7 
 
 15 
 
 nonai , 
 nan 
 
 naiaon 
 ant? , 
 
 nt 
 
 nami 
 
 nmp 
 
 6 
 711 
 
 i Better, WV nt1 = Ar. 
 "by what means they work". 
 nn K^tti. * Ma one noi 
 20 Ar. ac^N nr3sV. Br nunsnn 
 
 K021, not "what" the faculties do, but 
 2 So rbto inn n13 ini\ 3 So Hftl 
 
 ono noi. s Br im^. s Thus Ma. 
 So nisin ns!?JD3. ' Ma mm. 
 
 s Ar. iirmi^K nas nnntws^K. nninisn3^ = ra Mo^a = mooiiBtsn. See Millot 
 ha-Higgayon, c. VIII; Munk. Guide, I, p. 39, n. 1; Scheyer, Das Psychol. 
 Syst. d. Maim., pp. 2223. So D'fiDn&on. 9 So rttnn on. 10 Ma 
 
 antWDni. " Br ntna. 
 25 12 Ma + Di2 na ro^a ^33 wa !?sa IK via^e inxa waaa top' 
 
 originally a marginal gloss. Mi mnsn. Ma + niKin DH 
 
 oytsni vawnv i* Mi nnnDn. Mi > nsn. Ma isrn. 
 
 Ar. nNDIDHD^K moi "trace, impression". is Ar. Knwa "their absence". 
 
 30 is Dnjnnn . . . ii3P i misplaced in So after DTyyn ] nsn nt 3'3T mbi. 
 20 Ma 3"31TI1 Da'n. Ar. 33ina "to combine, to compose". 
 J i Ma TlBni. The fern, forms of the verbs probably go back to I. T. 
 to agree with Ar. But see Introduction, p. 26. 
 
 22 Ma n'avton p. 23 Ma Drn. 2 * Mi w D. J5 Br 
 
 35 omT V So Da" ^. 2 6 Thus Br; Ar. <iin. So ynn Ma tswn 
 
 "float". 27 Ar. ^y (sing.); So D'. 2 ^ Ar. nKWnDtt^N "impossibilities". 
 
 2 Ar. miiril "invent". so Ar. ]lt^3nt&K "the Mutakattimun" . 31 So 
 
 nwe. 32 Ma nauon ^nan. 33 So wsni. Poc. ioni i iai; Wo. 
 
 (p. 90, note to p. 3. line 17, not 7) unnecessarily emends to Nlfimtfl NUB. 
 
 40 Ar. Dm IV "to make anyone form an opinion about" (3Wflb '3n). Of. Fried- 
 
 laender, Sprachgebrauch, sub voce.
 
 pis nyis 
 
 pi , 
 DT*O T 
 twnnn in 'an nn 
 
 nt 
 
 ]tn 
 
 nt 
 ntwin ^is p 
 
 m 
 
 :p 
 nts 
 15 rnt 
 
 ana 
 
 nt pm , 
 
 nnnm , 
 
 n 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 i AT. DDi6N *]K=iTO8S "homonym". On ^^i, see Munk, GrwitZe, I, pp. 133, 
 n. 3; 239, n. 1; 262, n. 3, and Kaufmann, Attributenlehre, pp. 460, n. 148, 20 
 and 461, n. 149. 2 So DM'OJNP t6l; some edd. -f- 0^123. y, here like 
 
 Ar. 'e "meaning". 3 n^n b21 "animal" = Ar. Jw61. So 1W1 
 
 n^n ^w Ma n^nn toai. * So n^iinn \n mn fn n njinn n H nn t6. 
 5 o^n ^w na = Ar. ]vn*? "B. Br So ^M. 6 So nwnnn. 7 Ar. 
 S>1i^> "class, species, kind". 8 nn WBi 1^> W "has a soul peculiar 25 
 
 to itself". 9 inn t?ai ^nte == Ar. n5Nb osa TJ. 10 So n^s. 
 
 11 So aww. 12 Ma D on. " Ma > ono. So mt. 
 
 Ar. vhti. Br nTn Ma Tn. i Ar. nsK^to = nnni. " Ar. 
 
 iiHiD ,TB inc. is Ma rum. i So rmonn. >o So Ma win. 
 
 2 Codd. 71 1161 -iDnn. See swpra, p. 9 n. 9. ** Cod. 71 nntwin cod. 30 
 
 1161 lenn. So mJ. 24 Ar. HTW& "which is common to them". 
 
 2 s So ^na. 26 Ma ^3. 27 Br. n3. 28 So + m 133. 
 
 29 Ma n^SD^Bnttno edd. D^Bioi^BnD. Ar. pBD^Bne^N \o "of the philo- 
 sophists"; Wo., p. 4, n. 1, Philosophanten. D^BD^BDD coined by I. T., based 
 on Ar. tp^BflD, see HUb, p. 419. 35 
 
 so Ma WWM. si Ar. na "absurdities". 32 So nviDSi for ^3 
 niTPttK. 33 So Ma Tiais. 34 Some edd. ns. 35 So nans. 
 
 36 Ar. B^>3 = r\\rb, |NDJK!? is^5 "the humours of the body". 37 Thus 
 Br. Ar. h\vr\ T\n. So edd. w\w Ma BT'iBnw. 38 Ma + Kin.
 
 pis D'pna 
 
 ro ^ ,mn &&>in pn 
 
 ]?n p^ni pw cn^n '3 , 7 Diom nenn u pw pnsn s ro 
 ,minn pen p )tn pte pw nianni ,rwij 
 pw ^an ty new DJDKI ,r6 T pesn p jm ptoo pw 
 
 5 i Thus Br So Ma = Ar. in KfcJN; edd. Dm See Introduction, p. 25 
 (bottom). Ar. nnit6 = tnruN^K. 3 (Ma DIK) mn 12 jin* = 
 
 Ar. jKDitM H^M. * So > ^ TIT hv. So nas. e menn ia |n< 
 = Ar. -many? *i^. 7 So -nonrn Dion. So + iV IBM. Ma 
 
 marg. (iter hand) C od. 71 (Parma) iiwvtt = Ar. nS5lbl. Br So Mi Ma codd. 
 10 (Parma) 46 261 378 438 802 959 1246 1262 edd. 1Jm "and the eagle". Ma 
 may have been corrected by comparison with some other Heb. text, but 
 hardly with the Arabic. Cod. 1161, which will be referred to below, is 
 defective here. Since a palm is nourished by a nutritive faculty (]tn pVn), 
 it was proper for M. to use H^M^W. Later, (p. 10, lines 10 12) in speaking of 
 
 15 the faculty of sensation (nBOin bB) of the various species, M. refers to that 
 of the eagle (Ar. 2SpJ^K). All Heb. Mss. and texts, except codd. 71 and 
 1161, have correctly ntwn. Codd. 71 and 1161 read itsnn. Thus, in describ- 
 ing the nutritive faculty of the different species, the Ar. refers to that of 
 man, the ass, and the palm, while in discussing the faculty of sensation 
 
 20 it speaks of man, the ass, and the eagle. Ma with its marginal reading, 
 alone, agrees with the Ar. The texts which read ~\V17V\ in the first instance 
 have itwn in the second, while cod. 71 has nann in both cases. This con- 
 sistency in the Heb. texts is suspicious. The Ar., cod. 71, and Ma mrg-, 
 no doubt retain correctly the first list of species, namely, man, ass, and 
 
 25 the palm, and it can safely be said that I. T. translated accordingly. 
 The present condition of the Heb. texts arose, perhaps, from a mis- 
 understanding of the original I. T. version. Some copyist, thinking prob- 
 ably that the same word should be used in both places, must have changed 
 iDnm to agree with the later occurring IBttn. Another copyist, thinking 
 
 30 that IBttn in the second instance was an error, changed this to IBnn (codd. 
 71, 1161). That M. need not have used the same list of species in both 
 instances is apparent from the context. First of all, he speaks of each 
 species as having a nutritive faculty (]tn D3) peculiar to itself, and states 
 that this faculty of man differs from that of the ass and the horse, the 
 
 35 two latter representing one species. Then, discussing the nutritive faculty, 
 he illustrates from human, animal, and plant life, saying that the nutritive 
 faculty which nourishes man differs from that which nourishes the ass, 
 and both from that which nourishes the palm. Later, however, no longer 
 speaking of the nutritive faculty but of the faculty of sensation, M. very 
 
 40 properly avoids referring to the palm as being endowed with such a faculty. 
 Instead he uses the eagle (3pJ>b) as an illustration. Thus, M. may well 
 have used two different illustrations, one from plant life, and the other 
 from animal life.
 
 pawn 
 
 jn 
 
 5 mm nwfii 4 m*6 s nt TOJD aatfrn ,JWBJ nnn n^iyan mp 
 nrrns 
 
 nn 
 
 nn ^2 ,niswn p^nna np^nn jorw ^b 
 onn "D^pnno lainon ^ IOD^^HD tysin ^^ taw 
 
 12 nnan i^n^ ^v nnsi 
 
 'n ,nn na irpm i 10 
 p ,on 
 
 nsnm 
 
 nnw 
 
 nn 2 3B>sn 'p^n^ IOIK nr ^SDI 
 nn ^uoin *mi am "niynom nini ^iem 15 
 
 So > B3. Thus Br Ma Mi = Ar. 'Bon, with phrase JYl^Bn mp 
 
 Dnn as subject. So and edd. DlJOp^ ; cf. "Wo., p. 1. no. 1. 3 So and edd. 
 awm. Ma + i 1 ?. s Br nm. 6 IIBD . . . IP = Ar. ins^ nn 
 
 DnDl. For clearness, I. T. has D^KBlin n instead of Dtftn (Ar. DnD^I). 
 ' See Munk, 'Melanges, p. 40, n. 3; p. 54, n. 2. 8 Ar. NnbtMmD 11 "make 20 
 
 use of, employ". For nJ> in this sense, see I Sam., VIII. 16, 
 "and he made use (of them) for his work". So ^D. 10 So 
 
 n^m. i So Ma D'-pbno. a nnan yipTi = Ar. 
 
 is So Ma ton. * Ma KSnn. Ma on marg. " Ar. 
 
 = jiin ^ni. '7 So TUMP. Ma > onm in^rv. nfi^i (some 25 
 
 edd. llfien) pass. = Ar. SiniriB "so that they should be averted". t9 Ar. 
 DB3^ 3B 11 ''ib ^^^5 "likewise he who cures the soul". 2 So edd. nnD 
 
 onxn. 2> So rrmnsi. 22 Br nbb. So BJ. J1 Ma on 
 
 pun nen. So noisn ini. See Introduction, p. 26. J5 So uiKi 
 
 30
 
 n 
 
 10 
 
 5 npi ,ITB 
 naan K^ DSI 
 
 rto 
 
 ,mpn p 
 
 n^ jsi 
 
 inn } 
 
 DD 
 .TSI ,D 
 
 rn 
 
 nan 
 
 m 
 
 ISDO 
 ,yn nt 
 
 Kinn 
 
 nm 
 
 mn 
 
 15 
 
 Ma 
 
 So M3W^a nttWI. 2 So + ^fi. 3 So )" Ma 
 
 * Ma WS^K, but corrected by later (?) hand. & Ma 13 y* 
 
 rby\n. 6 Br n\T. 7 Br So + pnat. s So pn ib Ma ^n. 
 
 So vn. 10 Br Ma ^&fc. " Ma DnWMn DW. Ar. "since it 
 
 is my intention that profit should be realized for the reader." Br Ma 
 20 N-npn Hv6 vuw So iip^> n^inn ne!?!? viiow. 3Br So 
 Mi
 
 rnsTpn 
 jraa 
 
 ye 
 
 *wia toaa ^K rnia 
 iron i^fa ,,Tp'pn 
 ipi , 
 
 name 
 
 TO , maite Ti niTDnte pis 
 
 nrron itep 
 
 p ns nps ,enpn nn 
 
 rin 
 
 ta 
 
 Taa 
 
 p 
 
 TIX^ D -si ,?is5 n-n S B 
 nmana yii in D^ mob* p 
 
 p 
 
 
 pi ,) s 
 
 pa 
 
 p 
 
 mi 
 
 p 
 
 2 na 5 
 
 nrrona 
 nwaan 
 "iann nan ,enipn nn ^ n^aa 10 
 
 nann 
 p"?n 14 
 
 t^nnana 15 
 
 mip a^ 
 
 na^n na^n 
 
 Bna 
 p 
 
 nana Q^ntDp D^ap an 
 f anniana 2 'wbw iio^nni niamaa 25 
 
 p aa B^BiD^sn 
 nain anianai , 
 s aa nan 
 
 i Br So Wbtob. 2 So ma. So Ma h"r\ Ma 'iribV. 30 
 
 s So 'bba p>^. s Ma + "inv. 7 Ma D '3. So + V'n. 9 Ma 
 
 So dvpa. 10 So nbb. n So Kan. 12 Ma innbK. 13 So 
 
 i* Br So > hy. i So + nwen. i Br So > ns^n. 
 
 So ifiTi. is So nnBbi a. 19 Ma IDS. 20 Ma ia^. 21 Br i 
 
 Ma 4- ^V So IDI i. 22 Ma + ona. 23 So "ma nnai. 35 
 
 Mi D"b3n. 27 So nnbw. 28 Ar. onp^K. 29 Ma a. 20 Ma
 
 -TO 
 
 narp jnN j *ib* ssob* 
 ,VID^K Kin * nDDD^ nnn 
 Tina riyBai^K tt& 
 5 o -"B rttna Krrjn npi 
 Djom tufcta *ptonto *nn p mpn 
 ,H*TBB ^>"ii *B Brooch rrin * 
 
 10 
 
 nt 
 
 iiia nan 
 
 na 
 
 p oa won ,*non nta roofin 
 n^yinn nn 
 noa 
 
 mp na 
 
 no 
 
 1 Since the Arabic of M.'s foreword is inaccessible, being found only 
 in the Mss. and in Pococke's Porta Mosis, the editor has deemed it 
 advisable to reproduce it here. The text is that of the Porta Mosis, pp. 181 
 183. The Hebrew is found in the editions of the Peralcim by Hurwitz, 
 15 and Slucki, and a Latin translation in Suhrenhusius' Mishnah, Pt. IV, 
 p. 393; see supra, Introduction, pp. 31, 33. 
 
 Thus Ma. Br V't p& "i sin p WD i3"3i hnm ain ne So Tin ION 
 
 V'2 lanen. Of. the introductory phrase of M.'s Introduction to the Moreh: 
 
 "j mirr Ta f'v IDV "i aiwnn T'e^nn wvbrb nann ann ana. I. T. translated 
 
 20 the Perakim in 1202 (see supra, Introduction, p. 10) while M. was yet alive. 
 
 Therefore, in referring to M., he could not have used the abbreviation h"\ 
 
 or *>". See HUb., p. 438. |" = n ^nnfitf "may his Rock protect him", 
 
 preterite for optative; see Munk, Guide, I, p. 3, n. 4; idem, Notice sur 
 
 Joseph ben-Jehouda, Paris, 1842, p. 69, n. 2. Fiirstenthal, Moreh I, p. 2 
 
 25 has, incorrectly, Gemeindevorsanger (=Tias rfhv). 
 
 Ma r6nro, nnviB = Ar. "ns "introduction, prolegomenon". M. uses 
 this word to designate his introduction to the Moreh. See Munk, Guide, I, 
 p. 3, n. 1, and idem, Notice, p. 23, and 26. 
 
 The man #or excellence is M.'s Mishneh Torah. Of. Munk, ifoU, p. 23, 
 30 and 28. B Br rby\r\ Ma n\hy\r\. Ma > mann m& D^W noa. ' So 
 n-nai. 8 Ma n^>pi. Ma Mi wwto. Br n^iai?; So n 
 a na
 
 mn 
 
 p 
 
 nn 
 
 p 
 
 ay 
 
 p
 
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