Spinoza and his Relationship to the Hermeneutics of R. Abraham Ibn Ezra: The Super-Commentaries and the Semantics of Narrative

[...]I will propose a semantic approach to the different narrative levels of the biblical text, capable of resolving several textual difficulties that drew Spinoza's attention. The ambiguous relations of Spinoza to R. Abraham Ibn E^ra Recall that contrary to the apparent esteem which Spinoza expressed with respect to R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, in Chapter II of the TTP Spinoza opposes R. Ibn Ezra's interpretation of the etymology of the term prophecy (nevu'ah), stressing that he "did not have an exact knowledge of Hebrew" {qui linguam Hebraicam non adeo exacte novit), despite that R. Ibn Ezra is considered one of the greatest Hebraist of the Middle Ages, having himself written five books of Hebrew grammar. If Spinoza quotes the words of R. Ibn Ezra in full, he also specifies what R. Ibn Ezra never said explicitly: "With these few words, he indicates and at the same time establishes, that it was not Moses who wrote the Pentateuch but someone else who lived much later; and finally Cambridge University Press, 2014: 59-60 3 Yirmiahu Yovel, Spinoza and other heretics. [...]R. Ibn Ezra would then not refer to the last twelve verses of Deuteronomy.