Some Notes on Hasdai Crescas’s use of Abraham Ibn Daud

Abstract

Abraham Ibn Daud is known as the philosopher who in his Ha-Emunah ha-Ramah (written originally in Arabic c. 1160) transplanted the Aristotelianism of the Muslim falāsifah al-Farabi and Avicenna to Jewish soil. Some 250 years later, Ḥasdai Crescas subjected this system to a severe criticism in his Or Ha-Shem (c. 1410). In his introduction Crescas classifies Ibn Daud as an Aristotelian philosopher but does not refer to him any further. Drawing on previous research by other scholars the paper examines the question to what extent Ibn Daud’s work was relevant for Crescas. Exact literary parallels that point to a unique influence of Ibn Daud on Crescas regarding philosophical doctrines are hard to uncover because Ibn Daud’s philosophical sources are the same as Crescas’s. Moreover, Ibn Daud’s thought displays many similarities to that of Maimonides and also to Gersonides whose views Crescas criticizes. The area of Biblical exegesis yields more results: Crescas can be shown to have drawn on Ibn Daud’s use of certain Biblical verses. Ibn Daud’s interpretation of Psalm 139 in relation to the key problem of God’s knowledge as well as his use of the light metaphor is likely to have inspired Crescas to ponder the question of the relation between philosophy and religion.