82
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Abot de-Sabbi Nathan
Abraham
This method
may
be illustrated hy
to become truly piois and virtuous, let him study and practise the tcachinirs of Aliot (H K. *)(0. The high estimation in which this little ticatisi> is held was cmin .Iiiduism is evident from the laet that it bodied in the old prayci -liook asa part «{ Ihelituriry for the Saturdav al'leiiidon service during the sum-
with the
In that |iniyer hook, the live chapters moiitlis. of Ahot are increased by li sixth cliai)ter containing rabbinical sentences collected in a Haraita (extraneous Mishnah). called " Kinyan Tondi " (Ac(iuisilion of the Law). Through lliis iittirgi( al use the treatise Abot became the most |ii>iudar of all rabbinical writings, and in this way its ethical contents exercised the'mo.st beneticial intlueiice on the Jewish masses. There is no Gemara on Abot. as the nature of the contents of this treatise admitted of no discussions:
" How [does the world rest] on charity ? Behold, the proplift I desir>-d charily »)l said In the name of the Lord, The world was cn'ai.Ml only liy [mercy], and not sacrillce. as Is salil IPs. I.xxlx.:i). 'MiTiy shall lie l)ullt charity [mercy], up foreyer' (or, a.s the rablils translate tliLs imssaRe, "The world Kalitil ,lohanan ben Zakkal, accompanied Is built on mercy"), by U. Joshum once pa.s.scd .Icrusalem [after ILs fall). While lixiklnif u|Kin the city and the ruins of Ihe Temple. 11. .lashua exclaimed. 'Wo unto us. that the holy jilace Is destroyed which atoniMl for our sins I' !(. Johanan replied. "My son, do not grieve on this aiTonnt. for we haye another atonement tor our not saertsins it Is charity, as Is said, I desired charity, and
'"
mer
but see
AuoT
de-IUui!I N.vtii.vn.
(1) Kditinm: The treatise yl/>r,( Is printed In editlims of the Tnhiuiil ami In thiwe of the .l/iWoiiili. u.s well u.s In nuiiiHr.iiK si'iianitc I'llltlnns. .An edition of Ihe Helirew ti'.Nl. arc"Mi|);inlid Willi UM-tuI literary notes in (iennan,
all
lliTiiiunn 1.. Slnii'k, Lelpsie. iss:.'. liesidi*8 the peneml coiniLipnliirli'S on niniTiienall pans of Ihe Mi.-^hiinh thei-e aiv numerous IN'lin-w niiiontary A collei'live nirli's I'xilusivciv on Pirlji- Alitit. pulill-iliHil
(L'l
h
I'nif.
Cuiiiiiii iilarifti:
Miilra.'^liSliriiiiirl was pulilisli.'.l l.y Samuel passrd Ihroui-'li sryen l.'iT'.ii. and has siiiir Valuahlecouiiiii-ntsonthelll-sl Iliri'iM-haploT-sot .l/iof
luidorlho titloof
da ICc'da iVrniir. editions.
ail' piihlishi-il in Iv. :>l-:ill.
(ieiger's JS'oihiirla.-^nir Scliritliii. of Ahiit from a liisioi ic-al point of viey
Aliralmm
The value
iiivi-sli«ated bv Z. Frankel, in his artli-U- I'fhfi- thii Lniiiiiiirxtiil ilrr TiiliiiiKlischiH HiMorik, in MoiMti^chrift, 1H52,
was pp.
•Mid
s../.,
Kttc/
at'i.
i:i) Trau.-'kilinn.i: Latin translations of Ahnt were pulillslied. one hy Sehiustian Miinster, the celeliniled illsi'lple of Beuelilin, Basel, sine aiiiin. and one hy I'anlus Fajrius, Jsny, l.Ml. It tias sinee l)een translated Into almost all niodei-n lanifuages. Asto EnRlish tninslatlons. special nientlr>n may lie ma«te, on account of Its vahiablo notes, of Charles Taylor's Fiitlnrs. 'M ed., CamliildKe. ISM). .S(i)/in(;.s of ()if Jciei.s(i For a full list of iniiislations see BischoCf, A'rid'.sc/ic (.'i'-
svhicliti
till-
Tiiliiuiil-l'rlirrsctzuinieti. S 3«.
lymhn (m Alint in modem lanffiiages (4) Hniiiilflintl Lazarus AilliT. Sjirlklir iltr TiVro'. Fiirtli, 1851 W.Aloys Moi.sel. Hnmilii II llhn- ilir SprUi-hr ilrr Vilter. Stettin, IS.").): Alexander Kohut, Tin- Ulliirs of the yalheis, translated from the German by Max Cohen, New York, 1885.
M. M.
ABOT DE-RABBI NATHAN (]n:
IT DUN): A form now extant contains a mixture of Mishnah and .Miilrash, and may be designated as a homiletical exposition of the Mishnaic treatise Pirke Abot. having for its foundation an older re-
work
which in the
Touching its original form, age, and its dependence on earlier or later recensions of the Jlishnah, there are nmny o]Miiions, all of which are ably discussed in fschechter's introducThere aretwo recensions of this work, one of tion. which is usually jirinted with the Babylonian Talmtid in the appendix to the ninth volume, containing also the so-called Minor Treatises, and another wliieh. until recently, existed in manuscript only. In bSS7 Solomon 8chechter puhlished the two recensions in jiarallel columns, conttiliuting to the edition a critical introduction and vahuible notes. In order to distinguish the two recensions, the one which is printed with the Talmud may be called .4: and the other. 7), The former is divided into forty -one chapScliechter has ters, and the latter into forty-eight. proved that recension 7> is cited only by (Spanish Hashi knows of recension A only. authors. In contents the two recensions ditTcr fiom each other considerably, althou.irh the method is the stime The se[>arate sentences of the Mi.shnah in both. Abot are generally taken as texts, which are either biietly explained the ethical lessons contained therein being suppf)rted by reference to Biblical or fully illustrated by narratives and legpa.ssages Sometimes long digressions are made by inends. troducing subjects which are connected only loosely
cension of the treatise. its
—
—
"
f Hosea, yl.
'
Uce"
(eh. tv.).
of the two recensions of Abot deRabbi Nathan corrcsiiond with those of the Mishnah .liot as follows: Chaps, i. to .xi. of recension ,1 and chaps, i. to xxiii. of recension ZJ correspond with 1-11 in Pirke Abot: chaps, xii, to xix. of .1 chap. and chaps, xxiv. to xxix. of /? correspond with chap, i, Vi-» and the whole of chai>. ii. in Pirke Abot; chaps. x.. to XXX. of .1 and chaps, xxx. to xxxv. of B correspond with chaiis. iii. and iv. in Pirke Abot: chaps, .xxxi. to xli. of .1 and chaps, xxxvi, to .xlviii. of B corresiwud with chap. v. in Pirke
The chapters
Bibliocbaphy:
wa.s
text.
the f(dlowingexami)le: Conunenting on the sentence of Simon the Just, in I'irk;!' Abot, i. 2. which designiiles charitv as one of the three pillars on which the world ri-sts. the Ahot de-Kabbi Nathan (recension .1) reads as follows:
i.
Abot. Habbi Nathan, whose name appears in the title of the work under treatment. can not possibly have been its only author, since he flourished about the middle of the second century, or a generation jjiior to the author of the Jlishnah." Besides, several authorities are quoted who flourished a long time after U. NaThe than: for instance. R:ibbi Joshua ben Levi. designation "De-Habbi Nathan " may in-rluipsbe exjilaiiicd by the circumstance that K. Nathan is one of the first authorities mentioned in the opening chaiitcr of the work. Perhaps the school of the tanIt is also iiaite R, Nathan originated the work. called Tosefta to Abot (see Horowitz," rralte Toseftas."i. 6, Frankfort-on-t he-Main. 1889: Briills'-JahrThe two recensions of the bi'icher," ix. i:i9 I'l wf/.). work in tlx'ir present shaiie evidently have ditTerent aiitliofs; but who they were can not be ascertained. Probably they belonge(i to the jieriod of the Geouim, between the eighth and ninth centuries, BiBLiooBAPnT siK.
Zunz, G. V.. 1st Munich,
Slialiim.
JV'ciCfh
ed.. pp. lOS ft scq. : S. Taus1ST3. In which pamphlet a
part of Allot ile-Uiitilii ]'iittmn, recension R. wa-s for the llrst tlmepublislii'd. accordinir hi a manuscript "f the Munii'h Library; s. Srhecht.T. -lb"( il'-llnhhi .YoOi.ni. Vi.-iina. IssT; Moii'ii^silirii'l. Is-'^T. pp. ;iTt :i'<:i: sti-in.schmidci. Ilrhr. ISilil. A Latin translation of -Uio/ iti-Uiililii Xiilliini xli. 7.) it "i-'i. was published by Franz Tayler. London, 1(It4: TravlatuH iliPiifri'iK.s liatilii yitlhan Anctmr, in Liiniiitim Liitiiiiim TrniifUiliix. An Enirlish ycrsion Is tnven by M. L. Hodkinson New York. in his troiislalion of the Ualiiiloiiinu Tnhiiint. i. Schcclilcr cives the cdiiiinciitancs lo Ali"! il'-ltiililii 1!«HI. Aatlidii ill liis edition. xxvii.(( s, ,,. F.uicndallons were made hy Benjaiiiiii Molal in bis collci-lanea. called Tliliuiiiit IVslinrim. Venice. pl-.'-J. ('oiiimenlaries have lieen written liy sc-. Zolkiev. 17Si: by Klijah ben AliraF.liezer Lipman of Za ham. and noli's by Kliiali Wilna, Wilna. 183:3: by Aliraham Witmand. Aluilmi Hc^ii/. Aiiisieidam. I... ; by Joshua Falk. Jiiiijian YtliimlHra'. Uvhernluith, 1788. Stelnschnelder, Cat. Bvai. col. 2034; Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 654. '.I.
M. M.
ABRABALIA,* JOSEPH and MOSES: ish statesmen
Um
who
tloiirished in
Aragou
Sp:in
in the latter
it possible that this name Is derived from Albalia: stelnschnelder. however, thinks that It is not an
Kaufniann thinks
Aniliic
name
i./. ic.
(jiiart.
Itn:
x. 1311).
Don Samuel Abraballa
of a ilepuuitiou sent in 1418 to Pope Martin V. ed.. pp. m. 12R). A Solomon Ah(tiralz. ircscli. (I. Jiutiii. ralialia is mentioned a.s a printer liviiiii In Salonlca lu the year G. 9«7«). ViXi (Stelnschnelder, l'(i(. limll. No.
was a member
M
