USQUE, ABRAHAM oprx crrax ',), was one of the thousands of Jews who were expelled from Portugal by King Iinmanuel (1497), after enjoying five years of comparative rest from the terrible sufferings consequent upon the expulsion of his family ancl co-religionists from Spain by Isabella and Ferdinand (1492). He sought refuge at Ferrara in Italy, where his great Hebrew learn ing secured for him the superintendence of the cele brated Hebrew press 0552-1558). In this capa city he not only edited various rabbinical works.
which are important contributions to Jewish litera ture, but published, in conjunction with Duarte Pinhel of Lisbon, the celebrated Spanish trans lation of the Hebrew Scriptures, entitled Biblia Lengua Espanola, traduzida palabra par palabra de la verdaa' hebraica, tormuyexcelentes letraa'os. Vista y exanzinada par el oficio a'e la V, ***,..t, lib _zqui_z_z_ 71, 1,7.1.C... he dedicated to Hercules II. and the Donna Gracia Nasi, Ferrara 53'3 = 1553. Usque and Pinhel began this version in 1543, and completed it in 1553, after ten years of diligent labour. And though the names of the translators are not given, it being simply remarked made by very excellent scholars' (por ?tizzy excelentes letrados), which has led some to believe that Usque and Pinhel edited this version, yet there can be but little doubt that they were the principal authors of it. Usque and Pinhel adopted into their version the literal trans lation of the five books of Moses published in the Constantinople Pentateuch Polyglott 1547 ['Post], which was commonly used by the Jews in Spain in the middle of the t3th century, and which is most probably the early Spanish translation of the middle ages falsely attributed to David Kimchi (comp.
Steinschneider, yewish Literature, i32). There were two editions, published simultaneously, of this Spanish Bible ; one—the cost of which was defrayed by R. join Tob Athias, who is erroneously taken to have been a co-translator of Usque (Bartolocci, Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica, 49)—was intended for the Jews, and the other—the expense of which was paid by Geronymo de Vargas—was designed to acquaint Spanish-speaking Christians with the O. T. New editions of the former appeared at Ferrara 1630 ; Amsterdam 161r ; Venice 1617 ; and with corrections, improvements, and an intro duction by Manasseh b. Israel, Amsterdam 1630 ; with tables of the Haphtaroth [HAPHTARA1, of chapters, judges, kings, and prophets of Israel according to the Seder Olanz (thw -no), as well as with an elaborate introduction by Gillis Joost, Amst. 1646-1661. Comp. De Rossi, 7)/pog. Hebr. Ferrariensi, 28-46 ; La Long, Biblioth. Sacra, i. 364, 540; Steinschneider, Catalog. Libr. flebr. in Bibliotheca Bodleiana, 195; Fiirst, Bibliotheca yudaica, iii. 463-465.—C. D. G.