Page:Eight chapters of Maimonides on ethics.djvu/42

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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, including its introductory chapters, the Peraḳim, at the request of the men of Lünel,[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 Peraḳim. 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 original, 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 אללהם אלא, meaning “unless indeed,” into the Hebrew אלהים אם לא, 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 criticism. 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 Peraḳim, and consequently at obscure points introduced glosses, noted by the expression “that is to say” (כלומר), or “I mean” (ר״ל), or “the explanation of” (פי׳). An instance of this is seen in Chapter II, where, after the words “as moderation” (כזהירות), there is added the phrase “that is to say, fear of sin” (כלומר ירא חטא).[4]

At the beginning of Chapter IV, where the doctrine of the

  1. ↑ See I.T.’s Preface to his translation of the Commentary on Abot: כאשר ראו חכמי לוניל עיר מולדתי פירוש זאת המסכתא והפרקים אשר הקדים הרב בחבור [some Mss., בבאור] עניניה בקשו ממני להעתיקו להם כאשר עשו במאמר מורה נבוכים. See Preface to Porta Mosis, p. 4, and Peraḳim, ed. Slutcki, p. 3.
  2. ↑ See Hebrew text, c. V, p. 32, n. 28.
  3. ↑ See I.T.’s Preface to the Moreh.
  4. ↑ See Hebrew text, c. II, p. 16, n. 1.
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