INTRODUCTION. ill-int'ormed rabbi ? reads these Midrashim, he will find no di?culty; for possessing no knowledge of the properties of things, he will not reject statements which involve impossibi- lities. When, however, a person who is both religious and well educated reads them, he cannot escape the following dilemma: either he takes them literally, and questions the abilities of the author and the soundness of his mind doing thereby nothing which is opposed to the principles of our faith--or he will acquiesce in assuming that the passages in question have some secret meaning, and he will continue to hold the author in high estimation whether he understood the allegory or not. As regards prophecy with its various degrees and the different metaphors used in the prophetic books, we shall give in the present work an explanation, according to another method? Guided by these considerations I have refrained from writing those two books as I previously in- tended. In my larger work, the Mishnah Torah, I have contented ? myself with briefly stating the principles of our faith and its fundamental truths, together with such hints as approach a clear exposition. In this work, how- ever, I address those who have studied philosophy and have acquired sound knowledge, and who while firm in religious matters are perplexed and bewildered on account of the am- biguous and figurative expressions 4 employed in the holy ?'ritings. Some chapters may be found in this work which contain no reference whatever to homonyms. These chapters will serve as an introduction to others; contain some refe- ? ?'?'t ]11:)?1:) ?2D seems to have been used here as distinguished from '?]?'9 ? ?'?"1? r?19, mentioned above. This supports the translation of '3?1'? by "Rabbanite." ? ?ome of the editions of Ibu Tibbou's Version have 'll9? ']'?l?l instead of ?bl Tt'?'?; Arabic 't?bl, another; different from the two mentioned; "h?'i?g explicit on one part, reserved on the other" (r'i?l? ,-ID?D? ? Charizi: 'rl.?l.l:? *rl?l "and I. directed my attention." Arabic, R-?"t?Jrl?Rl; Chanzx perhaps read tq:?'l?l. (Scheycr, Charizi's Version of the liere Nebuchim, page 6, note 19.)
- i?tqC*l12,91 in both the Hebrew translations is a corruption of
