Thursday 13 October 2016

history - What Egyptian/Greek text was Ibn Ezra consulting for his commentary on the name "Moshe"?


Ibn Ezra suggests that Pharaoh's daughter, who spoke Egyptian, most likely called the baby Monios, the Egyptian word for drawn; the Torah translated into Hebrew as "Moshe." He then writes that he knows this Egyptian word because of some agricultural text containing several languages, including Egyptian.


As the Rosetta Stone wouldn't be rediscovered for another 700 years ... what text was Ibn Ezra using?



Answer



The ibn Ezra is almost certainly referring to the Nabatean Agriculture, a work that was widely cited by many rishonim (medieval authorities), most notably the Rambam. (Ibn Ezra appears to have erroneously believed that the work was originally written in Egyptian.)


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