three (1158), in Spain, and was completed at the age of thirty-three[1] (1168), after he had taken up his residence in Egypt. In this Talmudic 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. Grätz attributes its existence to the author’s striving for “clearness, method, and symmetry.”[3] 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.[4] Most of the theories and principles established in the Commentary were retained in the Mishneh Torah.[5]
- ↑ See infra, p. 10, n. 1.
- ↑ Geiger, Moses ben Maimon, p. 59; Harkavy, in Hebrew ed. of Grätz, IV, Appendix, p. 52.
- ↑ Grätz, VI3, pp. 266 and 274.
- ↑ 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 Peraḳim. See Moreh, I, 39; III, 35 (twice), 48. Scheyer, in Das psychologische System des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1845), which he designated as an introduction to the Moreh, draws largely from the Peraḳim, 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 Peraḳim. In Vol. I, p. 210, n. 1, he quotes at length from Peraḳim I on the rational faculty, and on p. 232, n. 1, from Peraḳim VIII on the attributes of God. Other references are found in Vol. I, p. 125, n. 2, to Peraḳim II (the classification of the virtues); p. 286, n. 3, to Peraḳim VIII (miracles); p. 355, n. 1, to Peraḳim I (the faculties); p. 400, n. 2, to Peraḳim I (the theory of imagination of the Mutakallimun) ; etc.
- ↑ Ziemlich, Plan und Anlage des Mischne Thora, in Moses ben Maimon, I, p. 305, “Die im 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 Commentary and the Mishneh Torah, see Derenbourg, in Zunz’s Jubelschrift (Berlin, 1884), Die Uebersetzungen des Mischnah Commentars des Maimonides.
1842), p. 27, n. 1. On the Arabic language of Maimonides and his style, see I. Friedlaender, Sprachgebrauch des Maimonides (Frankfurt a. M., 1902), Introduction; and by the same author, in Moses ben Maimon, I, the articles, Die arabische 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), Introd., pp. xiv–xxiii.
