The Aristotelian Theory of Chance and its Application in Gersonides’ Biblical Exegesis

Abstract

One of Gersonides’ fundamental postulates in his biblical exegesis is the idea, developed by the Maimonidean school, that Scripture teaches Aristotelian doctrines related to physics, metaphysics, and anthropology. For Gersonides, this applies chiefly to what he learned from Averroes’ commentaries on Aristotle, supplemented by other theories he developed on his own in the Wars of the Lord. In a recent article I showed that Gersonides uses the Aristotelian theory of chance as a research tool that allows him to reach conclusions about the issues he investigated in his own philosophical and theological work, the Wars of the Lord. Here I want to show that in four places in his Bible commentaries, Gersonides ascribed to biblical characters the use of the Aristotelian concept of chance as a demonstrative tool, just as he used it in the Wars of the Lord. These are: the authentication of Moses’ prophetic mission at the burning bush (Exod. 4:1–9); the Earth’s swallowing up of Korah and his company and of Dathan and Abiram (Num. 16:28ff.); Eliphaz’s speech in Job 4–5; and the survival of those who adhered to the Lord and did not worship Baal Peor when the Israelites were at Shittim (Deut. 4:4).